What's On Your Vanity Table?....

[CherryWry]

This thread is packed with drool-worthy goodies and inspiration.

I really want a vintage vanity. I have my mother's bedroom set from when she and my dad got married in 1971. Not quite the same....

Do you have a separate dresser or bureau for clothes? I'm trying to figure out how I could make a vintage vanity work in the space I have. Right now it seems like my best option is to put it in a nook in my office (which is just across the hall from the bedroom and right next to the bathroom), but really, I'd much rather have it in the bedroom.

 

[Black Dahlia]

Amazing ladies! Truly amazing. I now have to take a photo of my dresser and items.

It's so cool to see some of the same items that I own. And...more than one of you have 'lady head' vases and are using them to hold brushes, mirrors, etc. I collect those myself, have about five or six. What a great way to use them!

X
BD

 

[RosebudMarie]

Dressing Table?

Do any of you have a proper Vintage-style dressing table? Or do you do all your beautification bent over the bathroom sink or dresser?

I have always wanted a dressing table, but can't seem to find the room for one.

 

[RodeoRose]

Hello!

Yes, I have a vintage vanity (not that old... maybe 50s or 60s) that I've had since I was a little kid. I just repainted it this summer; I have to say, it injects a whole lot of glamour into my mornings! Here are some pictures; I apologize for the poor quality-- I took these on my laptop's little built-in camera. Sorry also for the mess, these are in my dorm room; why yes, I did bring my vanity to college with me...

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Not sure if you can tell from these blurry pictures, but the two top knobs are porcelain with Audubon-style bird portraits. I try to curate all of the things I keep on my vanity top to keep it looking vintagey; I even keep my witch hazel in that little glass pitcher.

 

[Smuterella]

Hi

I think there is a thread on vanities in "the display case" somewhere...

Anyway - here is mine, unusually tidy:

 

[ZombieGirl]

Here's the thread... the Powder Room version anyway.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=23209&highlight=vanity+table

 

[RosebudMarie]

I'd forgotten the other word for dressing table was 'vanity' when I did my search LOL! I only searched for Dressing Table and didn't get far. Thanks for moving my post!

The closest thing I have is a 1950's sewing table of my grandmothers, the kind that opens up so you can bring your attatched sewing machine up to use it. (but no modern machine fits) It has 3 drawers on one side and a matching chair that has a seat that opens for storage. I currently have it in my son's room for use as a desk, but I may take it back. I don't have a proper mirror for it though.

I've always wanted a vanity/dressing table, and now that I've begun setting my hair regularly and wearing makeup more often, I think I need one. The bathroom mirror is just a couple inches too short, so I have to bend down to see what I'm doing! Heaven Forbid Mommy have something to herself for once!!! Sorry, that's a whole different rant. lol

 

[Land-O-LakesGal]

! Heaven Forbid Mommy have something to herself for once!!! Sorry, that's a whole different rant. lol

Haha off topic but I understand your rant or even that mommies get time to themselves in the bathroom.

Back on topic I have a nice vanity but I never use it as such it is alway piled with stuff I never have time to put away and there is no good light. Anyone have any lighting suggestions for me? The best I can do is plug something into an outlet.

 

[Miss sofia]

I'm very jealous of all the vanities here, i alas don't have room, so i have a tall edwardian chest of drawers, very narrow with brass handles and five drawers for putting all my bits in, and a mirror on top. Although i have to put my face on in the spare room as the light is terrible in my bedroom too. Have you thought about those stick on lights, LOLG, or perhaps some fairy lights, you could string round your vanity, i have seen some lovely flower ones in the shops recently, or just a pretty lamp you can plug in somewhere? x

 

[Ada Vice]

I'm still hunting for a new dressing table....I already have one but it's more like a chest of drawers with attached mirror. I want one I can sit under with a stool to do my hair and make up

I've seen a lovely full mirrored venetian/hollywood one but it's £300 and I worry about scratches on a piece that expensive, and if it breaks how much bad luck would I get...?

Land-o-lakes girl - any lamp you can put a daylight bulb in would be a good idea.

 

[Cricket]

I have a piece of furniture that has two drawers that hold clothes. On the top, accented with a nice mirrror, I have jewelery, a hat box with other jewelry and hair accessories, as well as a few decorative pictures.

I use the chest/mirror combo more has a "finishing spot" where I pick my jewelery and brush out any stray hairs.

Most of my makeup ritual occurs in the bathroom at my counter vanity. I enjoy the counter space, but I have a question. When did the bathroom vanity-type area become popular? Or is it technically considered "popular"?

I see wonderful vanity sets on the FL as well as actual pieces at auctions, estate sales, etc. But when did females begin tidying up in the bathroom versus sitting in front of a vanity?

 

[ZombieGirl]

But when did females begin tidying up in the bathroom versus sitting in front of a vanity?

I wonder a bit about this too. I prefer doing my makeup in the bathroom but I'd still like a vanity table in there... alas... no room. Maybe someday I'll have a bathroom with extra space for a vanity.

 

[Sunny]

But when did females begin tidying up in the bathroom versus sitting in front of a vanity?

That's an interesting question. Possibly the trend of built-in vanities in the bathroom has something to do with it. I've seen them in ordinary 3 bedroom houses usually from the 1970s, and again in fairly new (less than 10 years old) but more upscale houses.

Another influence is probably the need for electricity for handheld hair dryers, electric curlers, and curling irons. The bathroom counter is honest more convenient and safer than nearly any dressing table. And if one's in the bathroom to do one's hair, why bother with the dressing table for makeup?

 

[Smuterella]

Bathroom counter? Is that a surface other than the sink? I've never had a bathroom with a counter of any kind.

Re: using power in the bathroom - not that common over here. I've very rarely seen a bathroom with even a shaver socket (aside from hotels). If I need to used heated hair tools I need to do it outside the bathroom.

I suspect most girls over here still get ready in their bedroom, but that due to space issues they sit on the bed in front of a mirror rather than having a dressing table. I know that its certainly a squeeze fitting my vanity into my room. I guess that rooms have got smaller and the space taken by our clothing that much bigger (I'd say more than trebled in most cases...) that the vanity is the easiest thing to get rid of.

Also we bathe and shower so much more often now that it makes more sense to keep all our cleansing and moisturising products in the bathroom.

 

[MissElainey]

home-made vanity

I actually don't have much room in my bathroom. I made my own vanity, you can see it at http://nongirlygal.blogspot.com/2010/09/cobbled-vanity.html and what I made it out of. It's not vintage and pretty simple, and I use a computer chair at its lowest, but it works for me. The lamps are better lighting than my bathroom, and I have more room to set my makeup where I can see it.
Meg

 

[LoserVonTeese]

Well I don't have a vaniety but but a bathroom sink/mirror... it will have to do until i can get a vanity one day...

*Mary Kay makeup remover
*bobby pins
*hairbrush
*Mary kay compact
*Mary kay eyeliner
*mary kay face powder
*polka dot makeup bag
*cleanser evening kind,
*face wash
* pink terry cloth hair band for face washing

** I love mary kay, i have a freind that does mk so i keep her in business

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Bathroom counter? Is that a surface other than the sink? I've never had a bathroom with a counter of any kind.

Re: using power in the bathroom - not that common over here. I've very rarely seen a bathroom with even a shaver socket (aside from hotels). If I need to used heated hair tools I need to do it outside the bathroom.

Yeah, it's funny, I've never been in American bathroom that *didn't* have a power socket, and I've never been in a UK one that did (apart from shaver points as you say). I think people are too paranoid of electrocuting themselves in the bath. lol

Also everything about American houses tends to be bigger, don't forget! I can barely fit my bed, vanity and chest of drawers in my bedroom, and there's about 1 square foot of floor in my bathroom! But I do have a six inch strip of tiled surface in there... more like a shelf than a counter though!

 

[RosebudMarie]

You guys are so inspiring...I managed to put my vanity together today! I took my sewing table/desk & chair out of the boy's room and put it next to my bed so it doubles as a nightstand. I placed the tablecloth from my nightstand on it, a lamp and found an odd mirror (it's a mirror that's made from a windowframe, so it's broken up into 6 parts, but I managed to arrange it so I can view my face and hair).

It is SO NICE to have everything all together, all my beauty accoutremants and doo dads, one area designated just for ME and my feminine needs. No more trying to polish my nails in the living room, no more trying to put my hair in curlers in the bathroom while the boys wait outside knocking... and maybe having it all there will encourage me to take care of myself, and use all those lovely bottles Crabtree & Evelyn lotions I have.

I feel like a movie star now... lol

 

[Ada Vice]

I suspect most girls over here still get ready in their bedroom, but that due to space issues they sit on the bed in front of a mirror rather than having a dressing table.

This is what I do and hate it so much! In hindsight I should have bought a dresser I could sit at it with a stool.

Electrical appliances in the bathroom do scare me, though I think (immic) the States have lower voltage so it's safer for them to do this??

Very sweet MissElainey and it works, which is the most important thing really.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yeah, it's funny, I've never been in American bathroom that *didn't* have a power socket, and I've never been in a UK one that did (apart from shaver points as you say). I think people are too paranoid of electrocuting themselves in the bath. lol

No power socket in my bathroom -- but my bathroom was built in 1911 and hasn't been renovated. There's a bare, wall-mounted bulb next to the medicine cabinet, and that's it. It's mostly the postwar houses that go in for electrical conveniences in the bathroom, unless it's an old house that's been heavily modernized.

I used to bring in a radio on an extension cord when in the tub, but my cat got a little too close to knocking it in once, and that broke me of that habit.