How I’m Building My Dream Dressing Room
Today I wanted to share the start of my journey, building my dream dressing room in our ‘new’ (very very old) house; the start of quite literally building the dressing room that I’ve always dreamt of, and that can now finally become a reality as we settle into our ‘forever home’. It’s probably quite obvious from my blog that fashion is a ginormous part of my life, so having the perfect space to store and enjoy my clothes and accessories has always been a huge priority for me, a space where I’d feel amazing, and somewhere that would be practical as well as beautiful. I’d spent many many years swooning over ‘dream closets’ on Pinterest, and my ‘Walk In Wardrobe’ board was filled with huge, grand dressing rooms that I could only ever dream of, until now. The most common theme on my pinterest board, was that most of the wardrobes I was lusting over were fairly traditional in design, beautiful light coloured wood with design details such as coving and panels, and one company stood out as being the absolute best at this type of wardrobe creation; The Heritage Wardrobe Company.
As so often happens in this digital era, I first enquired about my dressing room build over Instagram, and was soon put in touch with the owner of the company; Laurent. Laurent visited our home and showed us the various styles that Heritage specialise in; whether it’s a Edwardian design or even a Tudor style, he took the time to discuss which designs would work best with our very historical home, with consideration to the fact that our rooms are far from ‘normal’ with panels, beams, wonky floorboards and even historical ‘priest holes’ to work around!
A Bespoke Approach…
Thankfully the wardrobes built by The Heritage Wardrobe Company are absolutely bespoke, and the carpenter builds everything in your home; no flat pack wardrobes in sight! It was hugely important to us that this approach was taken, as there is quite literally not one perfect 90 degree angle in our house; it was first built in the 14th century, so straight lines and perfectly shaped walls and doorways are not a feature in our home! Every beam (and there are lots in my wardrobe room!) had to be accurately measured and built around to the exact millimetre, and in Charlie’s dressing room, the carpenters had to work around medieval panelling, being careful to construct wardrobes to frame the historic features, and not damage them – not an easy task!!
After we’d decided on a style, we worked on the design. I was asked to measure my tallest boots, my longest dress and calculate how many bags and shoes I have (and how many more I plan to buy!) in order to ensure the storage space was perfect to my exact requirements. The tallest hanging space is the perfect height for my longest gown, and the shoe storage has been perfectly planned to fit…. 200 pairs of shoes!
I wanted to keep the design sympathetic to the history of the house, and Heritage offered plenty of options such as Antique style mirrors, and panelled doors that mirror the original oak panelling found elsewhere in the house. I chose to make the most of the space by having deep ‘carcasses’ going into the sloping alcoves of the room, and an island in the centre to store accessories and more folded clothing.
We discussed options for keeping some of the storage spaces open, for visual effect, and even a few ‘secret’ cupboards too for more precious items.
The build for my dressing room has been scheduled for 4 weeks, the final day of which is tomorrow!! So I can’t wait to share another update with you very soon. We have a few last minute details to add, such as a couple of final doors which have to be even more precisely crafted which will take a week or so longer – so by the end of this month I will be able to share my finished dressing room!
The whole process has been so incredibly personal, a wonderful experience every step of the way, and I am eagerly waiting the moment I can move in to my dream dressing room!
Enquire at The Heritage Wardrobe Company here.
Keep a eye on my vlogs here to see the progress!
xoxo
