In planning for the move to NYC I have been researching how to downsize and live comfortably with much less glut.

I have always been a fan of pieces that do double duty but am now looking at everything to see if there are pieces we already have that can reveal a hidden double duty.

For instance; our beautiful, king sleigh bed. I first thought it would have to go. After all, a king size bed will be a tight fit in most NYC one bedrooms as it is, and this bed frame, even more so.

Then it hit me. If we added some bun feet to the existing legs of the frame, lifting it another three inches, we had the square footage of a double size closet under there. And the alcove that the headboard creates behind it is the equivalent of an additional small closet. Result!

As I looked around the house, another piece that was on it’s way out revealed a usefulness that hadn’t occurred to me. The small secretary desk that had served as my bill paying station could become a vanity.

We will be living with one bathroom and a vanity that houses not only my make up but also my jewelry (allowing me to sell my jewelry cabinet) would free up storage space in the bathroom as well as free up the time I would spend in the bathroom putting on my make up.

Here’s what the desk looked like before.

And here it is primed and ready for it’s new paint, hardware and new duties.

I’m excited. I haven’t had a vanity since I was a little girl and had a pink & white plastic one. And no, this one will not be pink & white. It will be, I hope, just girly enough while also being slightly sophisticated.

And just wait until you see what I have planned for the wall above it and the stool I am making!

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