03 Oct How to Transform a Small Room in 6 weeks – One Room Challenge | Fall 2019 | Week 1

Never say never!

Before we get to how to transform a small room in 6 weeks, let me tell you that I now realize why so many designers do the One Room Challenge every fall and spring.  It IS totally addictive, especially if you have “unfinished” rooms that need a complete transformation.

I think we can all agree that there is at least ONE room in our homes that needs a little more love, right?

I bet you are thinking of that room right this very minute. It might need new curtains, or fresh paint, or a total makeover.

That’s how the One Room Challenge was born.

WHAT IS THE ONE ROOM CHALLENGE (ORC) –

ORC is not a competition. It is a celebration of creativity, inspiration, original ideas, and grace under pressure.

The One Room Challenge is a biannual online interior design event that brings together designers from all over the country with one simple goal — to transform a single room into a masterpiece in six very short weeks.

If you follow each designer’s journal of six blog posts, and Instagram posts and stories, you’ll see that the entire process is no bed of roses. There are interesting — and sometimes dramatic! — twists and turns along the way, especially with a looming six-week deadline.

Thanks to founder Linda Weinstein, who in 2011 teamed with online friends for motivation to finally finish a long-drawn-out single room project, the One Room Challenge has grown into an anticipated fall and spring event showcasing the designs of 20-plus featured designers and 200-plus guest participants.

The Best Part

I swore after Spring 2019 One Room Challenge (my first!) that I would NEVER do this again! The One Room Challenge is stressful. At the same time, however, it also is TOTALLY exhilarating. And it is a fun way to connect with an entire community of designers supporting each other as we walk on nails along the way.

The best part? At the end of six weeks you have a beautiful room completely redone!

The experience was incredibly rewarding. (See the BIG Reveal HERE and all the other posts.)

SPRING ONE ROOM CHALLENGE – My BOLD Blue + White Bedroom 

Always Learning

For years I had followed many interior designers in this challenge, but I was naive about what I was getting into. On Day One, I felt like a racehorse breaking out of the gate at a full gallop and then discovering that the race was the Iditarod. At the end of the six-week/42-day/1,008-hour/60,480-minute sprint to the finish line, I had learned new skills as well as how to do things normally out of my comfort zone, such as:

• how to plan and manage a 6-week timeline,
• how to wallpaper,
• how to chalk paint a chest of drawers,
• how to make curtains and valances
• and much, much more.

 

Maybe I’m crazy, but having one challenge under my belt, I felt confident to tackle
another. I’m SUPER excited to be a Guest Participant in the Fall One Room Challenge . I can’t wait to share the process — and the sweat — of my new room transformation over the next month and a half.

ANNOUNCEMENT – Main Sponsor for my Fall 2019 One Room Challenge 

Global Textile Leader

I am honored to announce that KRAVET is the main sponsor of the small room I’ll be transforming. Established in 1918, Kravet is the global leader in gorgeous textiles, representing brands from all over the world.

Known for their luxurious and high-performance fabrics, I feel very fortunate and am incredibly grateful to have Kravet sponsor the main textiles that I’ll be featuring in my room project.

In Austin, the Kravet line is represented by Stockton Hicks Laffey, a wonderful and highly-regarded To-the-Trade showroom featuring thousands of beautiful textiles and accessories. My interior designer Patrick Landrum and I visited Stockton Hicks Laffey this week to select fabrics.

Usually it’s easy for me to select fabrics from my own studio for my decorative pillows, but when I entered the showroom and saw the extensive array of GORGEOUS textiles, I was overwhelmed. (Thankfully Patrick was with me and helped me catch my breath!)

A Lightbulb Moment

Big Plans

Redoing an entire bedroom from top to bottom was very intense during my first spring One Room Challenge, so I thought to myself ‘How can I do a room, but keep the project a little smaller?’

I have BIG plans to remodel our kitchen and living room – hopefully in the 2020 Spring ORC- as these spaces are really all one big room. As you can see from the image below: living room is on left and kitchen on right.

BUT, what connects these two important spaces?  You guessed it, our Breakfast Nook. Or, rather, Dining Nook, as we eat all our meals in this cozy space.

When we remodeled our 1950’s bungalow years ago, we jutted out the wall to provide an everyday dining area and give us more room in the kitchen. We added the window seat years afterward. This “Dining Nook” is the room I am doing for the fall One Room Challenge.

When Spaces Create Memories

In looking for Before images of our breakfast nook (below shows you how its smack dab in the middle of our kitchen and living room) I couldn’t find one of it by itself.  I think this is because it is nothing to look at without the people and experiences that have made our breakfast nook so meaningful.

Every image I have includes friends and family: from doing homework to celebrating birthdays to countless holiday parties, you know, where EVERYONE gathers in the kitchen no matter how small it is.

Our breakfast nook has been a vital centerpiece of our home and family for the past 20 years, and that’s a wonderful feeling.  But it’s ready for a makeover.

Breakfast/Dining Nook Before

The photographs below show how the space has looked the past year! I’m purposely sharing these Before images in black and white to emphasize how unattractive the dining nook is. (Also I don’t want to reveal the new color of the walls until my BIG REVEAL on Thursday, November 7.)

Problem Areas Identified

Dining Nook Makeover Desperately Needs

• Old cushion (or NO cushion!) needs to be replaced
• Tacky, temporary paper shades must be transformed into pretty shades
• A modern table that we bump our knees into must change to a pedestal table for legroom
• The ugliest pendant must go and a new gorgeous one needs to become the focal point
• Cheap wooden folding chairs need to be replaced with 2, or maybe 3, comfortable chairs
• And of course, lots of new beautiful Pillow Goddess luxury pillows

 

How to Transform a Small Breakfast Nook into a sophisticated dining area in 6 weeks

Week 1 –

• Identify the problems. Think about what you want to change in your dining nook.
• Plan out your strategy and make a timeline. Figure out exactly when you need to shop, order, or make a product.
• Order ahead of time and clear your calendar. A new table can take up to 6 weeks to be delivered in order as much as you can the first week. Be sure to leave room for the unexpected delay.
• Check with your workroom. If you don’t have one, find a great seamstress and/or upholsterer.
• Reach out to brands for product. If you’re a blogger, like most of the designers in this challenge, collaborate with sponsors for some of your products.
• Plan your DYI work. If you’re a big DIY-er you can do a lot of the work yourself, like the painted chest of drawers and wallpaper I did for the BOLD Blue + White Bedroom in the Spring ORC. But be sure to schedule this in your timeline.
• Start selecting your fabrics, lighting and other materials. If you’re a pillow designer like myself, decide your fabric colors and patterns pronto and schedule sewing time in your studio.

 

NOTE:  As you see below, your Instagram choices — from a selection of my in-studio
pillow fabrics — helped me to narrow down the overall color scheme this week. Thank you!! Please subscribe to the blog HERE as I’ll be sharing my final selection of fabric choices in Week 2.

 

Week 2 –

• Make final selections and order fabric. This is important to get all your big decisions out of the way and start to enjoy the fun part of playing with fabrics.
• Create a mood/inspiration board.  Many do this in the first week, but I find I’m so busy making decisions that I’m not able to make the board until the 2nd week when everything is finalized.
• Secure a professional photographer and get that date on the calendar.
• Start shopping. This is a great week to shop in person or online for any of the
  products you will need. Be sure to confirm delivery times — and be double sure to build
  in room for changing your mind.

 

Week 3 –

• Time for any DIY part. This week I’ll be making the shades with the help of my seamstress.
• Get cushion fabric to upholstery shop. Unless you are DIY-ing it, the upholsterer needs 3 -4 weeks.
• Finalize home decor ideas. Start thinking about what you’ll put on the table and the walls.

 

Week 4 –

• Make sure new table has arrived. If you do not order a new table and you’re DiY-ing a vintage one,  give yourself an entire week to get it done.
• New chandelier. After shopping for this statement piece, be sure it’s on its way.
• Schedule an electrician. Remember that there are items to be installed like the lighting and the shades.
• Styling the breakfast nook. Think about how you want your final table to look like and start shopping for – or using what you have at home – tabletop decor, a centerpiece, and wall decor. (I have no idea yet!)

 

Week 5 –

• Installation week. Start wrapping it up and putting everything in place.
• Last-minute errands.  There’s always something you’ll forget, so leave time to run errands for any items your missing. And do NOT sprain your ankle!  More on that HERE.

 

Week 6 –

• Photograph your room. As a Guest Participant, it is best to photograph professionally, but it is not required.
• Last but not least…The Big Reveal. If you’re a guest participant or featured designer in the One Room Challenge, this is when it all comes together, and your room is
  completed.

 

Thursday, November 7th – Mark it on your calendar for — ta-da! — the Pillow Goddess’ BIG REVEAL! This is the time to kick back, pop the cork, and celebrate the accomplishment of transforming a room in six short weeks.

Below is exactly how I felt after finishing the Bold Blue + White Bedroom in the spring One Room Challenge. Happy, relieved, and victorious!  But most of all I LOVE our new bedroom and so does my husband.

Be Part of the One Room Challenge without Picking up a Paintbrush

You can be part of this event by following the twenty featured designers (below) and 200-plus guest participants each week online. You can add your comments as they share their trials and tribulations — and, yes, disasters.

In the process, I can guarantee you’ll be inspired by hundreds of incredibly unique room transformations and perhaps even start working on one of your own rooms. I know I was inspired and in awe for years before I decided to jump in and accept the Challenge.

Featured Designers

 

Visit the featured designers and guest participants online and see who inspires you. Start following them, subscribe to their blogs, and check in once a week to read about and see photos of their progress.

The entire six-week event also is on Instagram. You can follow your favorite designers there as well.

Please follow our Instagrams and PIN this image:  @thepillowgoddess , @oneroomchallenge, @betterhomesandgardens and the hashtags #oneroomchallenge #BHGORC and #thepillowgoddess.

 

PIN ME PLEASE:

Till next week, Week 2 in the One Room Challenge, please subscribe to The Pillow Goddess blog HERE and follow my progress on Instagram @thepillowgoddess.  You will no doubt learn a lot as I have following some of my favorite designers.  Wish me luck and thank you for your support! XO PG

NOTE: This post is sponsored by KRAVET. After photography is by Gregg Cestaro; before photos by me. All opinions are my own.