ORC Spring ‘21 Week One: What Have I Gotten Myself Into?
You can read all my posts about this One Room Challenge project here: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8. You can also watch the whole ORC process on my Instagram highlight. Don’t forget to check out the reveals of the 20 Featured Designers and the rest of the Guest Participants!
Welp, no turning back now. I’ve publicly committed to doing the One Room Challenge as a Guest Participant and as we all know once you’ve said something on the internet you can’t take it back. The internet is forever. But you know what isn’t forever? These yellow-beige walls in my apartment. Who picked this yellow-tinted white color for a south-facing apartment? Give me a name, I just wanna talk.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the One Room Challenge, it’s a biannual event where people across the interwebs get together and commit to finally redoing one room in their home. You know the one they said they would get around to doing but never have. It’s basically a support group but with more fabric and paint swatches.
The room I have chosen to makeover is my living room. I’ve lived here for seven months so it’s about time I finally put up curtains.
Project Goals
My goal over the next two months is to create a space that is functional and beautiful. By the end of this challenge, I will be fully vaccinated and I want to be able to host a few of my friends. I moved into this space at the beginning of the pandemic and have yet to play host to anyone. My bar cart is getting lonely.
Speaking of moving, a lot of my stuff is still in boxes. My dining room has become a storage unit for my boxes and boxes (and suitcases) filled with books and tchotchke. By finalizing this room and creating a space for all these items, I’ll be able to finally take them out of “storage” and reclaim my dining room.
If you would have told me in 2019 that I would be decorating my home so that it was visually pleasing on a video conference call, I would have told you to back away from the bottle. But fast forward through the fever dream that was 2020 and here I am, a permeant remote employee irritated by the fact you can see my very unattractive TV in every video call.
What a time to be alive.
Living Room Before
This is what my living room looked like when I first moved in and thought I was all settled:
After I had this all set I realized a few things:
My TV is hung too high and I can use that wall in a more intersting way than just a focal point for my TV
This is a very ineffective use of my space. All of the furniture is crowded on one side of the room, while the other is just a wide open space.
The colors and patterns are just a bit overwhelming
The flow of the room from the time someone enters the space to getting to one of the seats is awkward
First a I tried rearrange the furniture to better utilize the space and fix the flow:
While space is more functional its…. bland. Despite the blue couch, it’s just lacking in the wow factor that I just know this room can embody. So this is my starting point. I know where my couch is going to go and that’s about it. Yay.
Project Design
I am often asked about my design style. Is it boho? modern? coastal? traditional? It’s a mix of all the above and then some. I like to use the term “curated” to describe my style. My family is from the Caribbean so I’ve always been surrounded by bright colors, patterns, and textiles. However, I grew up in the Northeast so I saw plenty of homes with grand wingbacks and Queen Anne chairs. I’ve also spent a large chunk of my adult life living abroad and traveling so those trips have also inspired me. From the apartments in Paris and Shanghai to soaring cathedrals in Florence and capsule hotels in Sydney, and riads in Morrocco — I’ve taken it all in and tried to find a place for it in my own home.
But my home is currently a rental and so that limits what I can and cannot do. As such, this rental-vation (yes, I made that up) will not include any permanent changes. If you were hoping to see a wall knocked down my security deposit and I will leave you disappointed, I’m afraid. But if you were looking for fun budget-friendly DIYs that won’t piss off your landlord, welcome! Take a seat, mind the dust.
Something else I have to take into consideration is that I have a lot of plants. I’ve learned the hard way that you need to put plants where THEY want to be not where YOU want them to be. Since my living room gets a lot of light, many of my plants live there. I want to incorporate the plants into my design while still keeping them in a place that lets them thrive.
The third thing I need to consider is the unique architectural design of my apartment. The living room is very large for an apartment at 24 feet x 13 feet. In addition to the odd size, it also has two entrances as well as the pass-through window to the kitchen. This means when you are standing in the living room you can see into three different other rooms at the same time. This means I really have to think about how the living room design will connect with the design of the other spaces.
To that end here is what I plan on doing over the course of the next eight weeks:
To-Do List
Build Faux Built In Bookcase
Relocate and Paint Fireplace Surround
Create Custom Wall Art
Rewire and Revamp Table Lamps
Hang Curtains
Paint Room
Install Picture Light
Photo Gallery Wall
Fluted Bar Cabinet Makeover
Create a cover for the TV
Follow Along
Ready to watch me transform this living room? Come back next week to see how I build my faux built-ins. For daily updates, follow along on my Instagram where I’ll share clips on my stories and attempt not to lose a limb. Or get evicted.
To see the designs of the other ORC participants, bookmark this page where we’ll share our progress every Wednesday and Thursday!
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