Erin Andrews's Flawless Dressing Room Is the Real Dancing With the Stars Winner

Updated on Jan 26, 2017 at 11:30 PM

Between her jobs as NFL sideline reporter and host of ballroom dancing contest Dancing With the Stars, Erin Andrews is a busy woman. When she's not bouncing from city to city and hotel to hotel, she's stealing a moment of quiet in her DWTS dressing room. But the bare, 200-square-foot space was, until recently, less than hospitable.

Wanting her on-set respite to be more inviting and beautiful as well as functional — it has to accommodate not only, Erin but also her hair stylist, makeup artist, stylist, assistant, and her show wardrobe — she teamed up with online interior design service Laurel & Wolf. "It's just a really difficult space so I try to make it functional and nice given so many people and so much stuff — it's not the easiest task," Erin explains.

Laurel & Wolf paired her with talented designer James Tabb and allowed her to complete the decorating process entirely online, communicating frequently via email. The finished result is a cozy, stylish space perfect for getting ready and recharging between shoots. Erin loves how it encompasses her complex style. "I have two alter egos. I'm a girlie girl for the ballroom but then super tomboy for football . . . And that's what I think is so cool about the dressing room and what Laurel & Wolf was able to put together. I feel like there is a little bit of a rustic New York kind of vibe and then a girlie feel with the makeup area. It's the perfect mix." James echoes Erin's sentiment, describing the space's aesthetic as "modern eclectic."

Take a look inside the space and hear more of what Erin and James have to say about the design ahead.

"As Erin has a very crazy schedule, one requirement she had was to have a relaxing sitting room area," James explains. As a result, he designed this cozy nook with layers of lighting, fabric, and textures for the host to unwind between takes.

Erin's favorite design element is a subtle but key one: the lighting. "As weird as it is, my boyfriend has such great taste with lighting around our house, and so I really like the light fixtures in the sitting area."

The steel coffee table is James's favorite piece of decor in the dressing room. "It's a little bit taller than a standard coffee table, which makes it easier if Erin or any of her guests are eating/drinking while relaxing in the space."

There are many small-space living decorating tricks that translate from a dressing room to an apartment. James explains, "We included two ottomans under the console table when you enter the dressing room. This is perfect example of how to add seating without taking up more space."

Another great trick James incorporated into Erin's dressing room that translates easily to the home is wall-mounted lighting. "It's a perfect example of how to really make the most of your space and utilize your walls for additional lighting. It also adds a fun and interesting design feature to the space," he says.

James managed to bring together Erin's two convergent styles in the dressing room. Erin explains of her decorating taste, "I would say our house here in California has a beachy, homey kind of style. Everything is comfortable — a lot of blues, grays, and whites. And then when we go to Montana, we like a more mountain modern vibe."

Since the space doubles as both her relaxation zone and getting-ready area, it had a lot of design requirements. Erin explains, "It has to be functional and it has to be comfortable and be able to work within the space without being cluttered or looking too sparse."

The workspace side of the dressing room has been streamlined to easily accommodate Erin plus her four-person team. Erin explains, "There's just a certain flow in the space when everyone is in there, and so I went back to James letting him know this and he was very accommodating. He was able to change pieces out and we went back and forth until the final design was perfect."

All of Erin's makeup and hair supplies as well as her dresses and shoes are housed in the 200-square-foot space. James explains that Erin wanted "to have a functional and organized hair and makeup area including seating as well as furniture pieces with enough space available for her team to utilize."