I always laugh a little bit to myself/die slightly of shame when people I've just met say to me, "You're an interior designer? Your home must look like a page out of a magazine!".
Some rooms look less cluttered-yet-strangely-sparse, but they almost ALL look like the cobbler's children live here, and all are in need of some TLC. I'm usually too wrapped up in client work or just too busy with life to give my own home the time and intentional planning it deserves.
The only room in our home that feels like the contradiction to this is our guest room. I transformed it back in Spring 2018 for the One Room Challenge (ORC), a six week challenge for featured and guest interior designers to complete the design of an entire room.
It was EXACTLY the fire under me I needed to get even just one room in our home feeling like people actually live here (and like they didn't start living here last week).
It's hard to believe it's already been TWO YEARS, and I started feeling it was time to get another room in order.
Just as I was gearing up to throw my hat in again for the Spring 2020 ORC beginning in early April......the Covid-19 pandemic hit and has created nothing short of a curve ball in everyone's lives.
(Side note: THANK YOU to all the health and essential workers!!!)
This made me super hesitant -- in terms of spending money right now, but also the uncertainty around logistics of getting it all done. With vendors shutting down, online shipping overwhelmed by back-orders and longer lead times, retail stores and even flea markets closing.....I really questioned if this was the right time.
As it turned out, the Spring 2020 ORC was postponed until May 7th and the timeline also increased from the standard 6 weeks to 8, glorious weeks.
Swayed by this, I also concluded what I've always known and what lead me to an entire profession of making homes beautiful:
Our homes are so much more than just a place to sleep, eat, stash our things and shower. The comfort, functionality and visual beauty of our homes impacts our mood, productivity, connection with others, shared and personal experiences and, to an extent, our well-being. We're all going to be spending more time in our homes now, myself included, and now is a great time to make some more headway on my own refuge (and rid myself of 2% of my self-imposed shame). I hope to also provide even a little bit of distraction as we all navigate back to normal.
So, a decision was made! What room will it be.....??
A: Our very underwhelming, master bedroom!
I reasoned that this room is almost halfway 'there', and since it's not one of the more visible rooms in the house, it will only continue to be neglected without an external push to complete it.
Some "before" photos:
(There's a chair under there, I promise.)
(Please excuse the laundry basket and random cup of golf balls.)
Sorta takes your breath away, doesn't it?
And if you're not impressed by those "before" pictures, check out our nondescript, builder-grade ceiling fan next to a gigantic, brownish water stain on the ceiling:
I'm still developing a concept, trying to keep it reasonable to execute within current events going on, but so far these are the "must-haves":
New sheets
Coordinating throw pillows
New headboard (Check! Keep reading on to see the new headboard)
Window treatments; preferably blackout curtains
Focal point above headboard (artwork or decorative mirror)
New lamps (or updated shades, at a minimum)
Seating (accent chair or pair of chairs; new or re-upholstered existing ones)
Ceiling light fixture
Paint (walls + ceiling)
Art + photos
Media/electronics storage
Next, the "nice-to-haves" are:
Nightstands - more appropriately scaled but still with adequate storage and preferably matching. These would be up in the "must-haves", but they'll need to check a lot of very specific boxes to work, including style and cost, so these may or may not materialize.
Feature wall element - wallpaper??
Ceiling molding and medallion
Bedskirt - to replace the existing, sorta sad but still functional one
Area rug
Removal of "Mission Control" - an intercom speaker from the 1700's and an obsolete alarm panel - both total eyesores and gallery wall obstacles.
Updated recessed lighting and speaker housing - these giant, almond colored saucers are also visually offensive, but I'm picking my battles and an update probably won't happen this time around.
Because we're being extra budget-conscious, I'm doing a lot of browsing on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace to get ideas for what's possible within the budget, and hopefully also to spot some unique items I wouldn't have otherwise considered that might help the design take shape.
We're also DIY'ing it all, so this will create some time limitations and my "nice-to-haves" list may prove to be way too ambitious. It all depends on how much TLC secondhand finds will require, how much time is eaten up by sourcing items and how fancy and/or OCD I try to get with my DIY magic. Going the do-it-yourself route can certainly save money but requires realistic expectations for time investment, feasibility and pace of completion.
To start creating a concept, with every design, I look at the starting-points:
the existing items that are staying in the final plan and become central for the rest of the design concept to branch off of. I'm less intentional about this in my own home, but that's why we're living with a hot-mess-house so the standard plan of action now applies to this room.
My design concept starting-points are:
Sky blue duvet cover and shams with monochrome, Greek-key embroidered border
Faux-bamboo, vintage Thomasville dresser - this may or may not be repainted in the final concept, but at the very least will be touched up
Tall dresser - will probably be repainted
Remnant of cut, velvet upholstery fabric in charcoal brown - I purchased it a few months ago for $10 at an estate sale, with the intent of making an extra long, lumbar pillow
Existing, general furniture layout +/- a few tweaks
The tall dresser lived in our guest room for eons but, when it became evident more clothing storage was needed in the master, it was moved from the guest room after completing the last One Room Challenge.
I would love to replace this piece with a vintage, faux-bamboo lingerie dresser, both for style and proportion (a "lingerie dresser" or chest is a taller + narrower dresser and a better scale for the narrower wall section in the corner of our room).....but I haven't had luck finding a new dresser like that on a shoestring budget, so will likely live with the existing one until luck intervenes.
We also already ordered this headboard online and it should ship in a couple weeks:
Ideally, I wanted straighter, stronger lines for a cleaner, more modern look, but this one was the right price, height and I liked the classic styling. It was available in two other colors - both grey - and since undertones in grey vary WILDLY and online orders can be such a crapshoot in terms of how internet images translate to the actual product that shows up at your door, the beige option seemed like the least gamble.
So, here's a start for my concept with what I know I'm working with:
There's not much here as you can see, and I didn't include the dressers in my mini mood board since, in their current states, they're more distracting than helpful for envisioning a bigger picture.
But it's a starting point to begin defining the overall color palette and style, and it's enough to keep building on.
I hope you'll follow along for week 2!
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