Hi guys. Have you heard of the One Room Challenge? It's a friendly race to the end between designers to transform one room in 6 weeks sponsored by Better Homes & Gardens. Sounds fun, right? We all signed on and then...the Covid-19 pandemic swept the globe. Best timing ever. Our organizer Linda pushed the start time by a month to try to help us all out and here we are at Week 1. This is happening. It's going to be a different version of the bi-annual event. I imagine more DIY and scalable changes, more shopping our own homes since stores and flea markets are closed. I'm going to tackle Ilana's room (my 8 year old daughter).
Her current room is really sweet. I have no problems with it at all, but after seeing her brother's tween room makeover she has been itching to shed the bunk beds and get a painted mural wall of her own. She even made a vision board in January (remember when we felt so emboldened to make vision boards in early 2020?! Such naive fools we were) for a new bedroom. When the ORC came knocking at my door, I thought it would be the right opportunity to force me to give her room more attention.
The thing is that this year's version will require all of us designers to think outside the box and attempt more DIY since a few items we need won't be available in time and bigger tasks that would require a handyman won't be possible. Bear with us as we problem-solve and end up with rooms that are probably more achievable for our audience at the end of the day.
You should know Ilana is an artist, and very strong-willed. I put off doing her room for so long because I know she and I will bump heads on how it should look and feel. She will want bolder and I will want boho desert hues so I'm not sure where we will end up, but hopefully it will knock your socks off and she and I will both be happy with the results.
Let's start with the mural. She has an interesting idea for graphic cutouts and I see a feature wall inspired by Matisse. I don't want it to feel too trendy and I do want it to tie into the rest of our midcentury ranch home in Los Angeles. I know painting shapes on a wall isn't ground breaking, but I also know it will make a big impact for the feel of this room and I want to give it a shot. Worst comes to worst it looks terrible and I paint over it. Do we paint the other 3 walls though is the question?
This will probably be the finished floor plan but I may I switch out the bed and dresser locations when the furniture comes in based on what feels better. After she begged for bunk beds when we moved in, we are now going to upgrade her to a full-size bed. I'm not sure the bed I have in the works will be fabricated in time, but don't worry because I have a back-up DIY up my sleeve just in case. This fashionista needs more clothes storage. Her 3 drawer dresser is bursting at the seems so she will get a wider one that's more feminine and mature. There is also her art table to find room for but we will figure it out later. I am much more organized and efficient with client work, but in my own house the pressure is lower and I like to feel it out. If I make a mistake on my own house, it's not as painful as a mistake on client work in a weird way. Basically the plan is loose because I'm not sure exactly how this will come together by June but you are along for the ride and it will be an interesting time indeed. Follow along with all the other ORC Featured Designers to see how we each approach the challenge differently.
A Glass of Bovino | Beginning in the Middle | Beth Diana Smith | Clark + Aldine | Coco & Jack | Deeply Southern Home| Design Maze | Dwell by Cheryl | Erika Ward | Home Made by Carmona | House of Hipsters | Hunted Interior | Kandrac & Kole | Kate Pearce | Katrina Blair | Liz Kamarul | Veneer Designs| Rambling Renovators | Renovation Husbands | Studio Plumb | Media BH&G