A makeup vanity for your bedroom can not only give you a designated place to keep all of your makeup, beauty, and styling products, but it can also be the perfect aesthetic addition to the room if chosen carefully.
And while you do need a makeup vanity that looks good, you also want one that delivers what you need from a piece of furniture designated for this type of activity.
You need space, you need storage, and you need good lighting.
So let’s take a look at how you can choose a makeup vanity rather than actually use it.
Measure First
Before you do anything, you need to look at the size of the space you have and measure the size of your room so your new vanity fits.
Don’t forget to factor in clearance for a chair or stool in front of it, too. You’ll need room to pull it out and push it underneath each day when you sit down.
So measure the width and the depth of the space and include the chair in the depth, as this will be the moving part that impacts the space the most.
If you have a small bedroom, this will be more important to factor in. A corner vanity could be optimal if you don’t have enough space around the vanity itself for your chair.
Look for Storage
Sure, you can buy pretty boxes for your countertop, but when looking at makeup vanities, you need to look at the storage they come with. For the most part, it will be drawers, but some configurations come with door storage too. The style and size of the vanity will dictate the number of drawers and size, so you need to understand what you’ll be storing in those drawers to assess if it’s enough for you or not.
Vanities with more space underneath give you the option to add additional storage under your feet, but again, this isn’t applicable to all makeup vanities. So assess your storage needs, then compare them to the vanity you are considering buying to ensure you get what you need.
Understand Lighting
The lighting is an integral part of your makeup vanity, and you need to get it right.
Built-in lighting is absolutely worth paying for if you use your vanity every day for makeup application or hair styling. Hollywood-style bulbs around the mirror give even, shadow-free light, which is preferable for applying makeup than overhead lighting.
But it’s not just the lighting that comes built in, or that you add to the vanity. It’s the lighting in the room overall. You need to match the lighting style and build layered lighting so you eliminate shadows and poor lighting, and give yourself a space that is lit effectively for you to do what you need to when using the vanity.
Mirror Set Up
Mirrors and lighting go hand in hand, and you need both working together for a more practical vanity you’ll use more often. You don’t want a mirror that you’re leaning to see yourself in or squinting to get a clear view in. Nor should it be too oversized; this won’t work well either.
Ideally, your vanity mirror should be large enough to see your full face and most of your neckline without moving.
Trifold mirrors are great for checking angles, but they do take up more surface space, so this again is an important consideration when choosing a vanity you’ll actually use.
