WEEK FOUR: FALL ONE ROOM CHALLENGE

This week, I wanted to quit The One Room Challenge. I started to get quotes for all the different areas of the room that I want and need repair, and the custom closet design is over budget and not guaranteed to make it in time for the 8-week challenge. So, I’m stuck on whether it is worth breaking my bottom line or looking at other ideas. Secondly, I’ve had to deal with the emotional toll of designing a room for a family member. My daughter has a lot of opinions, and as a designer, I'm juggling functionality, budget, and a lot of ideas that change daily. Lastly, I'm starting a new project with a client, and with the holidays around the corner and all of the Halloween festivities—I’m asking myself if the fall ORC was such a good idea—ugh.

So, now that I've got all of that out of my system, let's get back to the fun stuff, some design talk. An area of the room that I want to talk about today is the music nook. My daughter loves to play multiple instruments in this tiny space, and I’m wondering how I can make it more functional and fun at the same time. She really wants a hanging chair to go in this space so she can relax sometimes and then play music other times. So, I pulled together a mood board with some concepts for this space and would love your thoughts on it.

On an amazingly positive note, Tempaper & Co. will sponsor wallpaper for the space, and I cannot wait to share which design I landed on for the room. I’ve finally started to sell furniture items that don’t fit in my daughter’s room so I can make room for the new ones. I emptied a closet and had four bins worth of items to donate. My daughter and I fell in love with some cute accessories from H&M Home. So—it’s not all bad over here. Next week, the focus will be on securing all of the products for the room and beginning to implement some of the design.

WEEK THREE: FALL ONE ROOM CHALLENGE

This week, I juggled a lot with work and pushing forward on the One Room Challenge design. I started doing probably the most stressful and necessary part of getting ready for transformational change. My daughter and I purged items, cleaned and removed furniture to sell, and stacked bins to donate this weekend. This process is always a headache—especially when your client is a family, and there are a lot of sentimental pieces from her childhood that we let go of. We said goodbye to Barbies, brat dolls, and countless American Girl doll stuff she hadn’t played with in years. It hit me how this makeover is a bit emotional for me—she’s getting rid of her childhood, too. Now, when we discuss what goes in her new room, she wants twinkle lights, a 3D floor mat, a vanity for makeup, and a spot for all her earrings.

The biggest thing happening now is a walk-through with a design consultant from California Closets. I'm lucky to have a California Closet showroom in my town, and updating the closets is a crucial part of my design. The ceilings in the closets are sloped, and I need a custom design to maximize the space. However, custom closets have a 4-6 week lead time, so it'll be down to the wire with my 8-week timeline. But to fit in a daybed, I need to free up floor space, and I can only do this by removing the nightstand and dresser.

So this week, I would love your help on what you would add to a custom closet design and your dream custom closet style. Thank you so much for your wallpaper votes on IG—I’ll confirm the winner this week. Week four will be about finishing the floor plan, donating and purging more items, and selling old furniture.

WEEK TWO: FALL ONE ROOM CHALLENGE

For week two of the One Room Challenge, a lot of my progress has been reaching out to potential sponsors to help bring my tween room makeover to life. Plus, measuring the room to begin the floor plan for the new layout. It’s also been a lot of conversations with my client, um hmm—daughter, about how the new room needs to be laid out, which requires her to sell or donate pieces to make room for the new. There are two areas in the room that really need some creative TLC, and I would love your feedback and thoughts on these two ideas.

My first is her room has two closet doors, which are great for storage, but they swing open and eat up floor space. I’m debating if I should keep them or remove them altogether. I love this idea from interior designer Emma Gurner and how it looks like a theatre curtain. What do you think?

Secondly, the ceiling needs a lot of TLC. It has an uneven surface, and even if I put in a new light fixture and add wallpaper, it’s still an eyesore. I was considering tin ceiling tiles since they fit the baroque style I’m going for in the room, and it’ll be a subtle pattern on the ceiling.

Let me know your thoughts and votes. Next week, I’ll have the new floor plan done for the room, and my daughter reluctantly will have to purge items to make room for the new.



Week Five: Spring One Room Challenge

We’re officially past the halfway point in ORC, and things are starting to heat up. This week, I got contractors to show up for estimates on paint, ship lap wall installment, and a Home Depot team member came to measure the space for a carpet install. I’m also excited to share that I have two new confirmed sponsors, Photowall and Wovenbyrd. The New York Skyline Collage mural which was the jumping off point for my entire room design will be a feature wall in the space, and the swivel chair and storage ottoman that you all agreed is a must for a toddler room will be in the updated reading nook!

This past week, I also focused on two areas of the room to update. I’ll admit one is a want, and the other is a need. I’ll get your votes on some of my ideas again to see what you think is necessary vs. splurge-worthy.

Wall-to-wall carpet inspiration

Home Depot carpet samples

Update Flooring

One of the major concerns in this process was creating a room with better insulation. Since I live in an older home, my son’s bedroom was built over a sun room, and it loses heat. It was an important design element for me to add carpeting to retain more heat in the room and make a soft surface for him to play on daily.

I scheduled a carpet measure with Home Depot to get a price estimate to install the carpet in the space. A week later, a Home Depot team member showed up on time, measured, and created a CAD mock-up of the room in less than 30 minutes. Then I went to the store to pick up carpet samples and see which options work best in the space.

Courtesy of @em_henderson

Courtesy of @mrorlandosoria

The 5th Wall

A design element I’ve always struggled with in my home are low ceiling. I want to make the ceiling feel taller than it is (essentially a design trick to draw the eye up!). One design trend I’ve been noticing is a shiplap on the ceiling. I recently spotted it in Orlando Soria’s guest room makeover and Emily Henderson’s space this weekend. The existing ceiling has a bumpy texture and needs some TLC. But my first estimate was way out of my budget, but it could also be the design element to pull the design together.

This week on IG I want to get your vote, shiplap ceiling yes or no? Is it really worth it or should I just focus on adding carpeting to the room?