Adding functionality with an Urbansize floating dressing table

One of the spaces that we needed to make work for us is in our dressing area, which is a rather grand name for the space between our bedroom and en-suite which also contains a built in wardrobe. The wardrobe is big, though the dressing area is small but with potential.

So I started to scour the internet for a small piece of functional furniture. I wanted something with a drawer, so that our clutter could be out of sight, and after much internet searching I found a unit that worked with the dimensions I had. It arrived in the summer, flat packed, and the afternoon we had the Red Arrows fly over MOH spent some time putting it together, with just a few swears here and there. We had doubts about it then, and well let’s just say it was in the ‘too good to be true’ category and while it technically should have worked, functionally it didn’t.

Just for clarity the Urbansize floating oak dressing table pictured is our replacement option, and one I wish we’d gone for in the first place. Sigh.

Anyway, after a month or two of not actually using the original piece of furniture for anything like we planned, we agreed enough was enough and we should try again. I’m not naming the company we bought the original piece from here and they have since closed their order book, which speaks volumes.

I remembered that I’d pinned the Urbansize floating oak dressing table when our new house was just a possibility - I’ve no idea why I hadn’t remembered before, and it would have been a lot easier, and less expensive, if I had. What’s more the dimensions worked too. Even better MOH was on board with the replacement.

Urbansize aren’t a company I was familiar with and so after my previous experience I thought I’d do some research and digging. The company was formed in Greenwich, just down the road from our previous house - who would have thought, and their registered office was just off our local parade of shops when we lived in London. The founder Sallie King designed her first piece, the floating bedside table frustrated at not being able to find furniture to fit her urban sized flat.

I’m very glad she did.

We ordered our floating dressing table, and it was despatched quickly and with us within a week - and in fact, much quicker than we expected. It looks great too. It comes with instructions on how to fit, which in fairness could have been more detailed, and optional brackets. We have plasterboard walls, and as I’m keen it stays on the wall, we opted to use these.

The drawers are small, but that’s kind of the point of it. It’s furniture for a smaller space so the drawers were never going to be huge. They’re big enough to hold some toiletries, and deep enough to have a mirror on the top. The mirror is from Ikea and a steal at £19 - it’s one that I saw and liked when we visited the Cotswolds in September.

Before we started using the drawers though I added some paper as a liner to help protect it - my thinking is that it will be much easier to replace the paper, than to try and clean the base of the drawer!

It’s a small addition to a small space that has really added value and made the space functional, rather than just a walkway to the bathroom - and I’m really pleased with how our version 2 worked out. So much so, that I’ve been back on their site to see what else they have. I’ve not made another purchase yet, but I’d definitely use them again.

I’m sure over time we’ll add more to this space, and we definitely need to revamp the inside of our wardrobe so it works makes full use of what is a relatively large space. It currently has a single shelf above the hanging space which is across the full width, which doesn’t work for us, so if you’ve used a company to fit out the interior of your wardrobe that you’ve been impressed by, I’m all ears.

Love this #90 Contemporary Upholstery

At Grand Designs Live earlier in the year there were plenty of smaller and unique stands which I could have spent much more time looking around. Somehow though I’ve shared very few of those here so far. So it’s time to put that right.

These traditional chairs, have been given a modern look with this contemporary upholstery by Ray Clarke. Every time I look at these pictures, even now, I can’t help but smile.

I think I’d be sitting down on them carefully though.

And did you see the signs? They’re more inviting than usual, aren’t they?

They definitely give that traditional ‘brown’ furniture a fresh new, and fun, new look. What do you think?

Love This #78: Mirrored furniture

It's funny the things you lust after isn't it? I mean, if I were to plan my dream bedroom I'm pretty certain it would include mirrored furniture.  There used to be a shop in the village which I think secretly knew of my dream bedroom design, and for many months - or it felt like many months anyway - had the most gorgeous window display of mirrored furniture.  And of course I found myself walking past it everyday, wanting to stop and admire it more than I should when I had a train to catch.

I'd visions of the lifestyle this furniture would bring, which if I'm honest with myself, no single piece or set of furniture could bring. In reality, of course, my life wouldn't be much different - there'd still be the day job to get to every day, too many pots and potions to make a dressing table have the minimalistic approach I have in mind, and of course mornings would still be a rush because, well, the bed is cosy, and you're much more likely to find me up in the small hours of the night, rather than the early hours of the morning.

But that's life, hey?

Photo credit: All images courtesy of Zurleys

That doesn't stop me daydreaming though, and when I browsed the Zurleys site, I knew which furniture range I'd be sharing.  The essentials in my dream bedroom would be bedside tables, a dressing table and a chest of drawers. Having become a bit of a self-appointed expert on mirrored furniture, I've realised like any furniture there's more than one style. 

So whether your style is sleek, modern lines or a more Art Deco feel, or like me taking the opportunity to fulfil my equally long held French-style shabby chic dreams, there's plenty to choose from. I'm already working on my sales pitch to MOH in my head...

Not that it'll be a big pitch, but I need to combat his questions and sometimes, as you know, because sometimes we all need to back up what is essentially "because I like it" with more hard fact evidence. There'll be the added light reasoning, they have mirrored surfaces and so I'd expect them to bring light into any space they're in, that's what mirrors do, right?

I'd have to counter the "what's wrong with the furniture we've got" and actually the answer right now is nothing, I love that too. But even I know suggesting we have backup bedroom furniture isn't going to be a winner, so it'll be a case of picking my time, as these aren't exactly items that could be snuck in and fall under the "this old thing" approach.

Of course an obvious plus is their sheer good looks, and the my killer argument drawers in the bedside tables!  For my clutter-loving-wannabe-minimalist-self, it'll be a winner.  I like my stuff and can artfully arrange it (in my eyes anyway), but MOH would rather it was all shoved, or rather carefully placed, into a drawer.  Now thinking about it, this furniture is a compromise, now that really is a winner!

What reasoning do you deploy, and more importantly what would you deploy those tactics for?  

* This is a collaborative post, but all views and opinions are my own.