The Ultimate Guide to Designing a Dream Dressing Room
From glamorous finishes to hardworking storage, designers share the ideas that transform dressing rooms into the home’s most personal retreat
The exquisite couture salons below Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s apartment in Paris have captivated generations of fashion and design aficionados alike, all eager to re-create her magic in their own homes. The coromandel lacquer screens, sheaf of wheat tables, and Art Deco accents remain hallmarks of her style as much as the interlocking C’s. Today, dressing rooms still rank among the most personal commissions designers undertake, with clients seeking similarly tailored environments that reflect their wardrobes, routines, and personalities.
Such was the case at a young family’s Arts and Crafts–inspired estate outside Cleveland, conceived by Peter Pennoyer Architects, which transformed an oversize storage space into the wife’s richly considered hideaway. “A successful dressing room should feel like a room, not a closet,” Pennoyer states.
The client sought a strong sense of character, prompting Pennoyer and interior design firm Redd Kaihoi to insert expressive details. A hand-painted bamboo motif executed by Paul Montgomery unfurls across the ceiling, a theme Pennoyer echoed with custom bamboo molding applied to the wardrobe’s monumental doors. Redd Kaihoi pushed the concept even further: “We dunked the entire room in pale blue and made it this chinoiserie fantasy,” says studio principal Miles Redd. “It’s like a fabulous cage with an adorable little bird who flies in and out when she wants.”
Silver Screen
Even in Manhattan’s grandest apartments, dressing rooms increasingly serve purposes beyond storing clothes. Ferguson & Shamamian Architects embraced that reality when uniting two Upper East Side duplexes in a landmark Rosario Candela building into a palatial residence whose dressing room doubles as a study. “It’s a place to take Zoom meetings, to relax before starting the day, and to decompress,” says partner Thomas J. McManus. To shape the most effective spaces, he recommends blunt conversations with clients and pantomiming their routines as well as taking an early inventory of their possessions to decide whether the design should reserve room for a jewelry safe, additional shoe storage, or extensive hanging racks.
Designer Michael S. Smith approached the interior as a glamorous retreat tailored to its owner’s soigné sensibilities. Verre églomisé panels by Miriam Ellner veil the wardrobes in a shimmering lattice, revealing what Smith describes as “the ghost of the clothes” beyond. Influenced by the aesthetics of Emilio Terry and Maison Jansen, Smith devised a plan that pairs a Grecian chaise with a coordinating table and silvery surfaces that lend an unhurried elegance. “In dressing rooms, you’re at your most vulnerable,” says Smith. “It’s extraordinarily important to have a sense of comfort.”
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Social Studies
For younger clients whose wardrobes often serve as social media fodder, photogenic dressing rooms can be a hot commodity. Architect and designer Dean Levin, principal of Los Angeles firm 22RE, kept that in mind when overhauling a spare bedroom in a relaxed Beachwood Canyon residence into a walk-in closet suited to the fashion-informed lifestyle of entrepreneur Alexia Elkaim. Drawing from a trove of vintage garments inherited from her Parisian relatives, Elkaim sought a space that could both display and protect clothing while also providing a handsome backdrop for impromptu photo shoots for her clothing brand, Miaou.
Levin responded with floor-to-ceiling cherry millwork lined in cedar, a safeguard against moths, and glass-paneled doors that keep garments visible. “Closets are like art studios,” he says. “You make a mess to create something, and then you clean up that mess.” References range from the finely detailed cabinetry of Italian landmark Villa Borsani to Rubirosa’s, the Paris boutique that stows colorful items in wooden niches. A fringed ottoman and lantern-like Bruno Munari pendant, meanwhile, add washes of creamy yellow. Levin has already seen the closet act as an extension of the client’s brand: “It’s become part of her fashion persona.”
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Main Event
Some dressing rooms are designed for everyday life; others are made for grand entrances and stylish soirées. The latter applies to a sprawling Manhattan pied-à-terre by Pembrooke & Ives, whose client visits the city monthly for entertaining and charity events. “She comes here to dress to impress,” says Stephanie Schabot, managing director of the firm’s decorating department. “Everything needed to feel quality and special.” That meant cloaking the corner dressing room in rich colors and luxe finishes that reflect the client’s social calendar and penchant for evening affairs.
Deep sea green dominates, appearing on plush carpet and hand-polished, high-gloss lacquered millwork, which Pembrooke & Ives offset with the island’s specialty floral-pressed finish as well as rock crystal hardware and opal glass pendants that project a hint of Art Deco glamour. Such lavish flourishes are precisely where Schabot recommends directing the most attention. “It’s really about the touch and feel,” she says, citing leather insets, intricate stitching, and recessed lighting as details that can enhance the experience. Whether preparing for a black-tie gala or the morning commute, the subtlest gestures can imbue the daily act of getting ready with a sense of gravitas.
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A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2026 Fall Issue under the headline “Private Affairs.” Subscribe to the magazine.