Dressing Tables: Mid-Century Modern Vanity

“You’re so vain..” Carly Simon’s hit song just seemed to apply to this week’s focus on mid-century modern dressing tables. Time to bring back the nostalgia of powdering noses and freshening up! A vintage vanity is just the ticket for a glamour-deprived environment.  Get some inspiration from our favorite vintage darlings and find one that suits your own space.

Vintage Dressing Tables

As much as we love vintage all-in-one package deals, a vanity can be created with just the right touches.  Create your own dressing table by combining vintage one-of-a-kind pieces.   You don’t have to have your makeup sprawled on the table top to get the vanity effect.  Display your favorite collectibles with a jewelry box that has a mirror.  Use a favorite desk and chair combo and make sure it’s by a window with good lighting!  Makeup can be tucked away in drawers using any of our favorite storage solutions.  Way to get on board with our goal for minimalism in the home.

Wire Loop Vanities

You can scour thrift shops or peruse an online site like Chairish for mid-mod vanities all year long.  Great ones are unusually hard to come by!  Thank goodness you can still find dressing tables with mid-century modern inspired design.  Urban Outfitters carries a gorgeous Wire Loop Vanity for $159. It can be easily warmed up with Bohemian accents and a matching Wire Loop Chair is also available.  Get inspired with our favorite floral curtains and doll up your sleeping space with the right amount of modern-meets-country charm.

Gold, Glitz + Glamour

For makeup aficionados, pile on the glam.  Give dressing tables star quality by topping vintage desks with ornate or French gilded mirrors. Keep the focus on the details!  Upcycle an older piece with the right color of paint and add crystal knobs.  If you’re going for the gold, reference our article on gold accents for more inspiration.  This look should be a balance of delicate and in-your-face razzle-dazzle.

For the Humble Type

Not the kind of girl who needs that much mirror time?  For better bedroom Feng Shui, keep your reflection time to a minimum.  Simplify your dressing tables with vintage decanters and makeup in pretty containers.  Bed, Bath & Beyond has a pretty cordless vanity mirror in nickle if that window with good lighting isn’t an option.  (Or, if you put makeup on frequently in the evening Miss Sorry-For-Partying.)

Pin Up Girl

If rock-a-billy style is more your thing, then get all eclectic, why don’t you?  Mix-and-match dressing tables with funky chairs and your favorite vintage finds.  Stick to natural woods and incorporate black, white, or red as much as possible!  This is the perfect spot to apply a pretty pout or the perfect winged liner.  If your vanity is small, add additional pieces of furniture to extend the space.  This is a welcome addition for any girl that wants a little beauty nook in her place.

Breaking Up

They say that breaking up is hard to do. Although you shouldn’t break mirrors, we love the idea of incorporating full-length mirrors into dressing tables. A tall, leaning mirror not only reflects light, it adds a sense of space to a small bedroom.  Put one behind a simple mid-century modern inspired end table, and voila!  A great way to get the most use from an underused night stand.

Time to Play Dress Up

Every girl should have a little place just for getting ready.  Dressing tables can take up as much or as little room as you want.  Well, I guess it all depends on your vanity quotient.  Some girls just need more face time than others, and that’s all right.