Dream Playroom Makeover~Part II: The Vanity

One of the goals of this playroom makeover was to create a vanity for the little girl. I wanted a place where she could do her hair, keep her jewelry and to begin to plant the seed of a place for everything and everything in it's place. When I did this room, I wanted it to have a clean, modern feeling but also I wanted her to play in it and didn't want it to look too sterile. The easiest way to do this was to bring in something old to balance the new items in the space. Since she was going to sit her to do her hair, I wanted something that was child size and this desk was the perfect item. I spoke with the homeowner regarding the need for a child size desk and she actually found the item and purchased it. It turned out to be the perfect vanity. Let's see what I did with this.

Picture of the child's desk (vanity) before. Notice the old hardware.

One of the first things I did with this desk was to have it painted and to replace the hardware. I loved the old hardware however it wasn't very functional. The handles were hard to use and very challenging for the little girl. I added new shiny nickel round knobs that were easy for her little hands to use.

From there, I purchased these unfinished hooks to hold her necklaces and bracelets. I painted them white and hung them above the desk. The hooks are large so she can put things away easily, which was one of the original goals of the space, to make organization easy. Had I used smaller hooks, the necklaces might fall off the hooks or she would have knocked them off easily.

Next, I purchased some of these little stickers for the desk area and for the jewelry holders. I found them in the scrapbook section at Target.
You can see where I started to add the stickers to the jewelry holders. I took the letters and spelled out her name and the word, "star". I added the remaining stickers to the holders and used Modge Podge to seal them.

The flowers below will hold her bracelets.


Once I knew how I would store her jewelry, I started to think about her hair accessories. She had a lot of headbands and I was looking for a creative way to store them. I decided to use a paper towel holder. I mounted the paper towel holder to the side of the desk and then put a roll of paper towels in there and placed the headbands around it. It looks great and cost less than $3.00. Now she has a place to store her headbands.

In the top drawer, I created some space to store her hairbrush and combs. She was staying at her Grandma's when I took this photo so all that was left was her combs. She absolutely loves this drawer. She exclaimed, "For the first time in my life, I have a place to store my hairbrush." Remember, she is only seven years old. Who knew this was so important. LOL!

Hair bands and hair clips are stored in craft organizers that fit nicely into the top drawer.

Next is a photo of her hair supplies. You can see that everything is accessible with her headbands on the left and her hair bands and hair clips in the center drawer. Her hairbrush is on the right, and yes, she is right handed. I used some of the other stickers on the top of the desk and the remainder on the necklace holders. I just set the stickers under the glass top. The stickers were inexpensive and she can change them as she gets older. Remember, one of the goals of this room was that it would grow with her.

To personalize the space, I added a monogram from wallwords.com. (See photo below). I liked the floral pattern on the monogram. Next, I added this fun little box for storage.

This little box is the perfect size to store her little bottles of nail polish. She has some nail art and fake nails as well. It also helps reinforce the idea of organizing everything. We now have one spot for all of her nail supplies. Who wouldn't want to stay organized with a pretty box like this!

Next, I focused on creating some simple routines for her. She can read so that isn't an issue. For children who don't read, you can use pictures. I kept the routines very simple. She was so excited to see them! I placed them in a plastic page protector and taped them to the pull out shelf.

Here is a picture of the desktop and the routines. You can see the necklaces on the right. She has already added a picture under the glass top.

Another view of the vanity. You can see the new hardware in this photo.

In the photo below, you can see the chair. I superglued a bow to the back of the chair to add a little whimsy. The black and white polka dot ribbon is girly and repeats the black and white color scheme.

Another view of the vanity.

Next, I wanted a place to store her empty school bags. I found these LOL hooks but they were in the wrong color so I painted them. Here is what they looked like before.

And here is the after photo.

The LOL hooks are next to the vanity area behind the door. The black really pops against the green walls.

One final view of the vanity.

A black oval wood mirror completes the vanity.

Come back tomorrow for more makeover pictures!

To see the entire playroom makeover, click here.

Note: I am a Professional Organizer/Home Stager and run a business named, "Dream Organizers". My motto is, "Keep it simple. Get organized. Make it beautiful."