Let’s take a second and think about how long I spend in front of my mirror doing my make-up. On average it would be about 15 minutes a day, for 5 days. Basically, I spend, 5 hours a month putting on make-up. Isn’t that crazy? LOL. Even though I spend so much time in my vanity area, it’s actually a complete mess. I’ve been telling myself for months now to re-organize it. Sadly, I haven’t gotten that procrastination monkey off my back… till now!
If you might be looking to change up your vanity area with a DIY reno, here’s how I decided to tackle this project without breaking the bank. (Shout outs to the dollar store for having my back on this one!)
Here’s what my make-up area used to look like:
At a distance:
Up close:
(I know it looks cluttered to the max but I actually know where everything is, haha)
Since I live at home with my parents, I’ve got this HUGE dresser (a gift from my grandmother, thanks lola! <3). It’s got a vintage feel to it I think- I get a very mirror-mirror-on-the-wall-who’s-the-fairest-of-them-all kind of vibe.
I usually keep brushes in this small vase (which is incredibly overcrowded right now with eyeliners and lip liners) and my compacts/small eye shadow palettes (along with everything else) in these holiday themed boxes. I think these boxes used to contain gifts and after the holidays I decided to reuse them. All in all, not so glamorous, amirite!
Dollar Store Haul:
Have you ever seen those tumblr/pinterest posts of make-up organizers that are GORGEOUS but cost a fortune, like this?
(le sigh, it’s so beautiful)
Since I don’t have a fortune to spend, I booked it to the dollar store where I spent a grand total of 12 dollars!
A ‘medicine cabinet organizer’ which will become my make-up organizer:
I was looking in the make-up section of the dollar store and came across this organizer. It isn’t as fancy as the ones you’d find online, but it looks pretty promising! (And at 3 bucks, who am I kidding – it was love at first sight).
Glitter/ Fake Rhinestone stickers:
I wasn’t going to get these at first but I figured I could glam up the organizer a bit with some sparkle.
Glitter Gravel:
Usually, people put this stuff at the bottom of flower vases as décor or for an extra oomph in their flower pot display. For this DIY, I’m going to use the glitter gravel to hold my brushes in place. I LOVE the colors- so fun!
Cylindrical Vases (x2):
I figured my make-up area would be less crowded if I got 2 extra vases to hold all my brushes.
Now for the fun part! Getting Started:
The first thing you want to do is clear your make-up area and give it a good dusting/wipe down. (It’s been ages since I’ve done that, haha).
Next, I’m going to take my brushes out of this vase, and redistribute the grey colored gravel into my three vases like this:
Now, I’m going to take the blue and green glitter gravel and layer them ontop of the grey gravel. I made sure they were filled as equally as possible!
When you’re finished they should look like this:
For a little extra oomph, I took the glitter stickers and stuck them onto the vases (the adhesive on them is pretty good!), making sure they went all the way around. Of course, you can design/place them however you want. Get creative! Since my imagination wasn’t exactly overflowing with design ideas, I just decided to put my initials onto the vases, LOL. After that, I put my brushes in and voila! This is how it turned out:
Now there’s just one thing left to do, re-organizing my make-up! I keep most of my bigger palettes just off the side of my vanity area, so I don’t have to worry about putting them out. I basically just took all the products I use more often than others, and put them into this organizer.
Ready for the unveiling? Here are the before and after pictures side by side:
(Before on the left, after on the right)
I really hope I don’t end up cluttering this set up anytime soon, haha. If you plan to take on your own DIY vanity reno, don’t forget to make it a space that works for you. And if you’re anything like me, you should make it into a space that you love since you’re going to be spending so much time there anyway haha.
Cheers,
Vanessa
Photo Sources:
http://www.repostudio.org/bedroom/glamorous-classy-bedroom-vanity-with-m…
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/85146249180269731/