Wall Vanity

     Yesterday I put in some hard hours re-organizing my room so that I would have a sewing nook (you'll see that later) and a user friendly dressing area. Below you can see how I made out. I am so happy with the results.

     I had already moved a large trunk from the right side of this photo, just under my window. It has been moved to the other side of the room and it fits much better. Here you can see that the sewing table and dresser were just stuck next to each other awkwardly. The mirror was on a long wall, but was also out on it's own. The jewelry cabinet standing at the left is bulky and broken- in truth I've been dying to get rid of it for a while. I rarely even get to wear the jewelry in it because digging through the cabinet is a pain.

     To replace the jewelry closet and rectify the terrible mirror placement I decided to create a wall hung "vanity" of sorts. Obviously here in the city, we have limited space in our current apartment. I needed to make more space, not less. I saw someone use the empty picture frames as jewelry displays but they were just hung on a wall,  sort of on their own too. My goal was to integrate them in to the design of the vanity and actually make the whole thing functional.

     We hung the mirror, centered, directly over the dresser. Then on either side we hung a picture frame. Above the short one I finished off the space with a gorgeous wood carving we bought on our honeymoon and means a great deal to me. Above the long one we hung two, short and shallow shelves. We used a cut piece of 1x8 and mounted it with adjustable brackets. There I can now lay out bulky bracelets and watches.

     After hanging the frame I screwed in small "C-hooks" in a staggered pattern to be able to hang as many necklaces as possible. I also placed a few near the bottom to hang some more bracelets.

 

     Now I have an organized jewelry vanity with a huge mirror that takes up a quarter of the space that these items did before. I can easily access all of my clothes as well as my jewelry. The cat can no longer climb the jewelry cabinet, destroying pieces as he goes. I can pick and choose with ease as it is nearly all visible. And of course the best part is how cost effective it was. The frames were salvaged from my grandmother's basement and cleaned up with hot soap and water. The shelves, brackets and hooks cost roughly $18 and all other items were already in the room.

Peace of mind, organization, efficiency, and jewelry on display...worth WAY more than $18. That's what I call simplicity and happiness all in one!

Simple City Sam