Everything has its place — and it makes a great salon!
Amy Neville, 28, is a model and lives in North London with her partner. She says:
As a little girl — and already a child model — I preferred trying on my mum’s clothes to playing with toys, so it’s no surprise that every home I’ve ever owned has had a dressing room.
When I bought this house six months ago, I had the fourth bedroom converted into a chic £8,000 walk-in wardrobe.
It has white gloss fitted cupboards and drawers from Hammonds, a pale grey upholstered window seat and walls painted in Farrow & Ball’s Purbeck Stone.
Four British women who’ve built luxurious dressing rooms in their home, revealed the cost and inspiration. Pictured: Amy Neville, 28, from North London, who converted a bedroom into a walk-in wardrobe for £8,000
The wood floor and large natural rug add warmth. I chose a glass chandelier from John Lewis for a splash of glamour and sparkle.
It is easier to put oufits together with everything on display. I have separate sections for jeans, blazers, dresses and coats.
My handbags and shoes are on open shelves. When I first came here I had 200 pairs of shoes but I’ve whittled those down to 50.
The room also serves as a salon where I get my hair styled for social events or meetings, and hang out with girlfriends before nights out. I’m always packing and unpacking suitcases for work, so it can get messy. Luckily, my lovely cleaner restores order so it stays a clutter-free fashion haven.
One unit is for shoes and bags . . . but I still have a separate shoe room!
Lisa Tonkiss, 51, a housewife, lives in Little Aston, Staffordshire, with husband John, 52, a CEO, and their children aged 21, 19 and 17. She says:
The thought of having a dressing room had never occurred to me until we converted the loft of our three-storey home into a master suite. The space is so vast it would have been daft not to create one.
The top floor is just for John and me, and the dressing room is the first space at the top of our staircase, leading into the bedroom and bathroom beyond.
I wanted something with a contemporary feel, with an island and soft seating. We paid about £10,500 for it and it’s added a giant wow factor to our home.
Lisa Tonkiss, 51, (pictured) who lives in Little Aston, Staffordshire, revealed her deluxe dressing room is also used as a space to talk away from the chaos of family life
All six double wardrobes have white gloss doors to bounce light back into the room. Longer items hang on the top rail, smaller ones lower down. There’s a unit for shoes and bags.
We have three double wardrobes each and the island is full of John’s things. I’ve got a separate room downstairs just for shoes.
The dressing room is kept looking as if it’s in a show home, with pretty cushions and scented candles.
But it’s so much more than just a place to store clothes or get dressed.
My husband works away in the week, so I love to join him there for a proper chat away from the chaos of family life, while he’s packing for the week ahead or unpacking.
And when we have people over it’s the most lovely, light, bright space to sit — my girlfriends love it.
A sparkly chandelier hangs over an island for our undies
Joanne Clift, 37, a hairdresser and owner of Reef Salons, lives in Durham with her partner Warren, 49. They have four children between them. She says:
Two years ago we decided to move. Although our old house had five bedrooms, Warren and I never had enough space for our clothes.
So when we moved to our three-storey, seven-bedroom home in 2018, we decided to turn a first-floor suite into a dressing room.
Joanne Clift, 37, (pictured) who lives in Durham, said her dressing room cost £14,000 and is also used as a place to style her hair
We imagined our ideal space and hired a local family-run business, Essential Interiors, to come up with the final design.
As we would be sharing, we didn’t want anything too girly or masculine, nor so on-trend that in ten years it would look old-fashioned. We chose gorgeous shades of pale grey.
The finished room cost £14,000.
We have four double wardrobes, plus one large ‘open-plan’ shoe wall each. My clothes are organised into whether they are for work, casual or social events.
In the centre beneath a chandelier is a stunning 1.2m by 2.5m island with drawers, in which our gym gear and underwear is kept.
There are a couple of sofas and chairs by a window from which we have gorgeous views, so I love to retreat there to read a book or answer work emails in peace.
I style my hair in the dressing room. My eight-year-old daughter loves to come in and have a pampering blow-dry, too. I may have to put a lock on the door when she’s old enough to start borrowing my clothes!
It’s a lovely place for a glass of fizz
Louise Millington, 39, is a sports lawyer and property developer and lives in Surrey with her husband and two children, aged six and three. She says:
Louise Millington, 39, (pictured) from Surrey, revealed the wardrobes in her dressing room cost about £20,000
It is no exaggeration to say my new dressing room has transformed not just my home but my life. I no longer waste mornings searching for clothes, as everything — even the kids’ school uniforms — is neatly laid out in there.
We bought our 1920s home in 2011 and spent eight years renovating it and adding a twostorey extension. Now it has seven bedrooms, a games room, cinema lounge, adults-only snug and an outdoor entertainment area.
I love my boot room and upstairs laundry room, too, but my 5m x 3m dressing room, to the rear of the master suite, is my favourite.
I chose bespoke mirrored fretwork on three of the double wardrobe fronts, and a mirrored dressing table, to reflect the light. The other three double wardrobes have Edwardian panels as a beautiful contrast. Seating was essential so my girlfriends and I could sit there with a glass of bubbly before nights out!
I won’t reveal the cost but the wardrobes, hand-built in the UK, cost about £20,000.
I have a collection of designer evening gowns. Bespoke storage for these, plus my husband’s suits, was essential. One wardrobe also houses about 40 pairs of my shoes, and I keep my handbags on specially designed glass shelves.
Now my clothes are mostly in one room, it makes it easier to put outfits together.