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Home Style: How To Turn Your Bathroom Into A Beauty Room

Sophia Hughes09 mins
Home Style: How To Turn Your Bathroom Into A Beauty Room
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This story is featured in the March/April 2025 issue of ESSENCE.

Traditionally, the bathroom has been a preferred area of the house to prepare for whatever the day will throw at you—from big meetings at work to errand runs to a date. But what if you could create a place for that prep plus much more? A corner that can serve as a soft, relaxing haven as well as the ultimate glam spot?

According to Justina Blakeney—interior designer, artist and founder of home brand Jungalow—it’s more than possible. She would know. She’s an expert at designing beautiful spaces filled with vibrant personality. “I love expressing myself through color and pattern and bringing in items that reflect a part of me—whether that’s my cultural heritage or places I’ve traveled, people I’ve loved, experiences I’ve had,” Blakeney says. “Layering these things together creates a sort of colorful, patternful, exuberant space.”

When it comes to helping her clients design their sanctuaries, including their very own beauty room (also known as a glam room or vanity space), she invites them to focus inward to decide what the room should feel and look like. She also encourages them to stay open to moving on from what has run its course—a timely reminder for the spring season. “For me, the first step will always be a cleanse,” she says. “Let’s purge what no longer serves us, to welcome in whatever new energy is coming.” 

Blakeney believes that adopting this method benefits Black women most. “We should think about what we want to make space for in our lives, what’s essential for us to cultivate from the inside out, and how can we have our spaces support that goal and that intention,” she says. She suggests that everyone should have a “queen space”: an area of their home where they can tune into feelings of self-­sovereignty, which is the concept of having authority over one’s body and mind, and of being able to be their best selves. Making sure that they feel beautiful is an essential part of that.

“This new house that I’ve been in for the last few years is the first time I’ve ever had a space like that for myself—where I really can dedicate an area not just to making myself look beautiful, but really making myself feel beautiful, and that is so important,” she says of her beauty room.  “It’s nice to have a fun, fancy vanity where we have all of our makeup and creams and bubbles and beads—and for me, I love jewelry. So I have all my jewelry hanging up on all my walls, and it’s a way to also decorate the space.”

To create a glamorous beauty room, Blakeney encourages us to start with the basics, like nabbing a comfortable piece of furniture to sit on, selecting a unique lighting option and opting for a dreamy color palette. The main design tip she wants us to apply when curating our beauty space is to be mindful.

In her own home, she does this by cultivating a ritual for her vanity area that ends with a meaningful affirmation. “Lighting a candle, for me, is always number one, because it’s important to create an atmosphere where all of our senses are activated to bring in the energy we want,” she explains.  “What I love most about it is the ability to create space to express my dreams and what I want to call in. My affirmation is this: ‘I honor this time for myself, as an act of love and renewal. I connect to my body, my breath and the beauty of this moment. I release what no longer serves me and invite peace and beauty into my body, soul, home and community, and to our planet.’ ”

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