Transform your spare space into a personal style sanctuary
Strike a balance between creating both a practical storage space and somewhere beautiful to pamper yourself with these stunning dressing room ideas. As relatively private spaces, dressing rooms are the perfect place to indulge more exotic tastes and striking design ideas. Opt for a bold, large-scale wallpaper for a luxurious feel and to draw the eye away from acres of practical storage – or add wallpaper inside wardrobe doors for a flash of colour when they are opened. Create a trompe l’oeil effect by wallpapering the exterior entrance to your dressing room to create a ‘secret’ door that’s less obvious from your bedroom – or make it the focal point by choosing floor-to-ceiling glass doors that offer a glimpse into a glamorous dressing space. An upholstered statement chair or chaise longue are the perfect pieces to add pops of colour. Prefer a more neutral look? Plush carpet and sleek cabinetry in calm colours will help to create a create a clean, seamless look. Alternatively, take inspiration from your favourite boutique and display favourite items on open shelving, and invest in a stunning island or statement chandelier, then dial up the glamour with marble, brass, stone, copper and multi-layered lacquers.
Explore more modern bedroom ideas
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Double Height
Salvaged doors divide the main bedroom from this slim storage room, with bespoke cabinets. The design makes the best use of the high ceilings here.
Get the look: The room is by Space Exploration Design and White Arrow, with metalwork by Mitchell Dose. The chandelier is by FontanaArte.
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Light It Up
Hidden behind double doors is an impressive walk-in-wardrobe with bespoke floor-to-ceiling cabinetry and lighting.
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Take It To The Limit
Floor-to-ceiling units make the most of space, plus they’ll look neater than wardrobes with boxes on top. Include high shelves for luggage and out-of-season clothes. Glass-fronted doors are ideal for reminding you of what’s stored up high, plus they’ll help break up a solid bank of units.
Get the look: For bespoke wardrobes like this, from £2,500m, try Cue & Co. The woodwork is painted in SC690 eggshell, £60 for 2.5L, by Papers and Paints. Lighting Styles’s Venetian Murano chandelier, £836, is similar.
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All That Glitters
Glittering brass door furniture and a copper-lined light turn this cupboard-filled landing into a super-glamorous dressing room.
Get the look: The pendant light is from Pieces Atlanta. The wardrobes and their brass handles were custom-made. The rug came from Francois Gilles. The stool was a flea market find, the bag is by Yves Saint Laurent and her red heels are Sergio Rossi.
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Flight of Fancy
Windows are rarely present in dressing rooms, so a mural or patterned wallpaper will create a show-stopping vista. Detailed motifs drawn from nature work well. Hang the mural behind the dressing table as this is the area you’ll spend most time looking at. You can tie furniture in by covering your seat in a coordinating material too.
Get the look This is Harlequin’s Cranes in Flight wallpaper, £61 a roll. The Maskara Frassino ash and marble table, £3,130, is by E Gallina for Porada at Go Modern.
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Customise It
Whether it’s compact or capacious, bespoke storage is a great way of optimising a dressing room as well as making the most of an awkward-shaped space or uneven walls. Narrow niches can be utilised for tie, belt and scarf racks, and shelves spaced out to avoid piles of creased clothes. Internal storage organisers will allow you to separate drawers so you can house more than one type of item together.
Get the look: For similar cabinetry, try Grigio Chiaro furniture by Rossetto, from £10,000, at Lida Cucina. Loaf’s Stasher footstool in Ringabella Plain Genius linen, £625, has a similar look.
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The New Romantic
Swap girlie for grown-up to create a lighter, fresh look that’s both sophisticated and delicate. A hand-painted silk mural or wallpaper will add to the softer look, but if wall space is at a premium, an alternative way to incorporate it is by inserting a thin, framed section into cupboard doors.
Get the look: The April Flowers mural, £155 for H2.4 x L1m, is from Surface View. This is Jasper Morrison’s Pirandello desk, £1,395, for Glas Italia at Made in Design. For a similar footstool, try the Aspatria, £163, by Fairmont Park at Wayfair.
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Grand Scale
Take design inspiration from your favourite boutique store and create a central focal point, such as a beautifully clad island or statement chandelier. Luxe materials help dial up the glamour – think multi-layered lacquers, brass, copper, engineered stone and anything with a pearlescent sheen. A glass partition keeps an elegant dressing room on show from the bedroom for a seamless feel between the two spaces, with the added bonus of boosting natural daylight when you’re getting dressed.
Get the look: Bespoke storage by the London Joinery Company with an island in Alpheus poured panels costs from £35,000. This is Element7’s Parquet flooring, £210sq m. The glazed doors, £7,440, were supplied and installed by Govette Windows. This is the Modo chandelier, from £4,330, by Jason Miller for Roll & Hill at SCP.
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Head Over Heels
Footwear takes up less depth than the hanging space required for clothes, so they can fit into a shallow cabinet or reduced-depth shelving. A narrow niche or awkward corner makes the ideal spot for bespoke shoe shelves. Include some seating nearby, so you can easily try on different pairs.
Get the look: Bespoke mirrored shoe storage, £15,000 by Alexander Owen Architecture. These are Lee Broom’s crystal bulb and pendant lights, £230 each. The French Bedroom Company’s Provencal Grande dressing table, £665, is similar. 1stdibs is a good source for curule stools.
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Calm & Classic
A sleek bank of built-in wardrobes is ideal for maximising the feeling of space, while keeping everything in place and hidden away. Use the same neutral paint shade on furniture and walls in a velvety matt finish to create a wraparound effect that reflects light without appearing stark, then add concealed hinges, elegant hardware, a pared-back pendant and comfy seating to complete the look.
Get the look: Shaker cabinetry by John Lewis of Hungerford, from £5,000, is similar. For a similar bench, try the HM93 double-sided sofa by David Chipperfield for Hitch Mylius at Viaduct.
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Fine Vintage
For a mix-and-match vibe that looks as if it’s taken years to put together, use contemporary fabrics and wallpapers alongside classic prints, traditional-patterned rugs and classic upholstery. Blending old and new elements will help prevent the space from feeling too contrived.
Get the look Bespoke design by Jo Berryman Studio, £21,000. The woodwork is painted in Farrow & Ball’s Castle Gray estate eggshell, £60 for 2.5L. Andy Thornton’s Manhattan display cabinet, £1,828, has a similar style. Havwoods’s Venture Herringbone flooring, £75.54sq m, has this look.
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Star Quality
Achieve a glamorous look by opting for doors with louvred panels, which not only create extra hanging space, but also provide a moodboard for piecing together an outfit, or simply displaying the things you love or that mean something to you. Add texture to the look with softly draped fabrics, fresh flowers and basket-style storage.
Get the look: Shutterly Fabulous can make bespoke elm wood shutters, approx £2,100 as shown. For a similar basin, try Devon&Devon’s Etoile console, £1,857. For similar tiles, try Mandarin Stone’s Bluestone and Calacatta tumbled marble, from £47.40sq m.
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Camouflage It
By decorating doors with a pattern or trompe l’oeil-effect covering, you can tick two trend boxes in one – beautiful storage with a statement surface. Recessing cupboards into the walls will amplify the effect further, with only handles to give them away. Another option is choosing a handleless opening for a seamlessly hidden bank of units.
Get the look: NLXL Brooklyn Tins wallpaper, £190 a roll, from John Lewis. For similar door pulls, try Ikea’s Osternas, £10 for two. The daybed is by Rune Bruun Johansen at The Apartment.
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Embrace Excess
More might be more, but the current trend for maximalism doesn’t equal mess. Think of your dressing room as a carefully curated Aladdin’s cave of treasures. As well as giving you access to favourite pieces quickly, it creates a feeling of ‘shopping’ for an outfit in your own private emporium. An open wardrobe system will mean lots of colour and pattern on show, so keep the furniture itself simple and visually unobtrusive.
Get the look: For similar bespoke shelving, try Barbara Genda, from £1,200m. The mirrored three-drawer Venetian chest, £645, at Out There Interiors, has this look. Indigenous’s Tall Ship Brown engineered timber flooring, £87.60sq m, is similar.
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Wild Side
The dressing table is topped with croc wallpaper, covered with glass.
Get the look: Walls painted in Pavilion Gray, Farrow & Ball. All furniture, Pedlar’s Place, painted in Manor House Gray, Farrow & Ball.
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Floor To Ceiling Storage
An impressive amount of storage space helps keep it clear of clutter.
Get the look: The wardrobe is bespoke by Daniel Hopwood, wrapped in an Alcantara fabric.
