Masculine and Feminine Design

What makes decorative accessories and furniture feminine or masculine? 

-Joey

What a great question! Femininity and masculinity present themselves in various ways across cultures, but I'll respond to this in the conventional American perspective. I think most Americans regard "feminine" furnishings to be primarily concerned with form, and "masculine" furnishings to be primarily concerned with function. Some may find this heteronormative way of approaching design to be dated, and even repressive! I think good design is ergonomic, functional, and aesthetically pleasing. Here are some side-by-side traditional comparisons.

Shape

Crate & Barrel Clara and Davis chairs

Feminine furnishings undulate like a woman's body, while masculine furnishings possess hard, clean lines.

More comparisons after the jump.

DIY Bathroom Cabinet & Vitamin Box

Bathroom Cabinet
I ended up having enough of the Wall Pops! Santorini Stripe decal to cover the drawer fronts of my IKEA RETUR cabinet hack. The project cost $55 total after using a coupon, and it probably took around 2 hours to cut out and adhere the decals. As I stated in the Economical Bathroom Storage post, the cabinet accommodates all of our toiletries. The decal adds great visual interest to our bathroom and coordinates with West Elm's Zig Zag bath mat and Park B. Smith Retro Stripe white shower curtain.

I think this is a great hack because it's so customizable. Stack as many IKEA RETURs as you need, and coordinate the Wall Pops! stripe with your decor. Use the cabinet anywhere you need storage!

The vitamin box is after the jump.

Economical Bathroom Storage

I could use suggestions on creative and inexpensive storage ideas for living in a very small apartment. By storage I mean places or ways to store the basics of clothing, kitchen items, and bathrooms items so they are organized and easy to get to. 
-Alice

This epic entry is in response to Alice's bathroom storage inquiry. You can read the kitchen storage post here and the clothing storage post here. 

My small bathroom lacks both a linen closet and an under-the-sink cabinet, but I figured out how to store my toiletries in private, economical, and attractive ways. I'll list my own solutions, and then I'll provide images and links to others.

1) Edit your toiletries and don't buy in bulk
Editing was my initial response to clothing solutions. Do you have hair products you rarely use? Make up you save for special occasions? Expired skin creams?* A plethora of used tiny hotel shampoos? Clumpy, half-dried nail polishes? I did, and I threw them away two years ago during our first move, and haven't looked back. Now I only keep items that I use on a daily or weekly basis, and I don't replenish my supply until I am almost out. I also stopped wearing make up two years ago, which has greatly decreased my need for storage. 

Buying in bulk is cheaper, but if you seriously lack storage space like me, then buying in small quantities is the way to go. I made the mistake of buying an 18-pack of toilet paper the other day, and now the rolls are stacked up 9-high, like tissue towers. 

*The period after opening label will show a number followed by the letter M, for months. Eye makeup is good for 6 months, foundation a year, and lipsticks two years. Preservative-free products degrade more quickly. Source

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2) Hack a cabinet
Since our bathroom only has a small and shallow medicine cabinet for storage, I'm unable to drill shelves into the wall due to wiring, and I hate the look of over-the-toilet shelves, I had to get creative. I repurposed 9 of IKEA's RETUR recycling bins into a unit that holds my mini straightening iron, comb, razors, and lots of other toiletries. Although the units stack well, they either need to be glued or taped together. I recently placed an order for Wallpops' Santorini Stripe to put along the sides and bottom of the unit to help it stay together and to coordinate with my bathroom accessories. The unit can be hung on the wall, but I have mine sitting on the tank of my toilet. Here's a photoshopped image of what it will look like once I adhere the decal.

What I like most about this hack is how customizable it is. You could stack several RETURs to create a narrow floor unit, and Wallpops offers dozens of solid and patterned Stripes from which to choose to match your bathroom decor.

View many more storage ideas after the jump.

Whew.

Sorry for the delay in posts. I am still going to address the bathroom storage inquiry, and I've also received a question about the difference between masculine and feminine furnishings and design, which I'm really excited to answer! I visited friends in New Hampshire over Labor Day weekend, and I've been working on another design package for my business. Thus far I have a Mid-Century Modern bedroom package and Room Reboot, and a Hollywood Glamour bedroom package.

Here are some images of my hard work. Your comments/criticisms are welcomed and much appreciated.

I'll get started on the bathroom solutions tonight!