Blog Archives

One Room Challenge Week 4

5/28/2021

Vintage Chandelier Re-Wire 💡

It’s week 4 of the #oneroomchallenge and I’m “plugging” away (pun intended) with my Home Office Re-Magined project as I take on re-wiring this vintage chandelier!

“Sure, I’ll take it” I hesitantly said as I was trying to figure out where I would put this sparkly ornate chandelier. Maybe my stairwell, maybe a bathroom, I’ll figure out someplace for this beauty...and that’s where my story of this chandelier begins, in a box, in a garage, offered to me.

This traditional crystal chandelier measuring 17” high by 26” wide is dripping with crystals in the shapes of teardrops, pendaloques, beads and a ball finial. I have seen and read about many versions of this type of chandelier and these types of cut crystals. History tells us about the original use of these elegant fixtures using candles with the flame to reflect off of the cut crystals illuminating a room. The only history of this piece that I know of, is that it once was in a dining room of a home built sometime in the 80’s. It’s now my turn to re-purpose it and give it new life, and I know just the room for it, my home office!

My goal is to make the scale of this chandelier work in my room and to figure out how to re-wire its existing “hard wire” to a “plug-in” version. I have an existing single light on a long cord that plugs in and I’m thinking of re-wiring that cord to this chandelier....I will spend this week figuring out where I want to hang it and how I will accomplish this task! I can’t wait to see it light up my office!

This weeks #oneroomchallenge task:

Re-wire the cord.
How to make the cord attractive.
Where and how to hang this light.
What type of bulbs will work best for this space.

Wish me luck and I’ll take any suggestions for the electrical re-wiring task!

Remember to follow along with the other amazing designers and follow along in my stories on Instagram.

#oneroomchallenge #bhgorc

@oneroomchallenge @betterhomesandgardens

https://www.oneroomchallenge.com/orc-blog

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One Room Challenge Week 3

5/21/2021

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HEIRLOOM pieces are my ❤️

Would you consider a piece of furniture a living memoir? These two memoirs, this queen chair and this understated desk, played a big role in the design and inspiration process for my Home Office Re-Magined of the #oneroomchallenge.

See this little gal sitting proudly on this chair? That’s me pretending to model at about 2 years old, while being introduced to antiques, fabric and texture. I can say I don’t remember this greenish fabric but I do remember and still have the chair in the red ornate pattern. I have carted this relic around with me for years. I’m not sure how it ended up in my home and not in another one of my large family members homes but probably because of my love for antique pieces that mean something to me. This chair, as the story goes, was not quite so ornate and apparently needed new fabric, shortly after this photo of my young modeling career. My dad, builder, creator, designer, and fixer of all things, embellished it and recovered it, making it fit for a king, only now it’s for a queen! I will carry on the tradition and recover this favorite chair of mine, with ornate and velvety fabric, too. I chose this yummy soft and velvety fabric made in Italy and beyond beautiful. The first time I experienced this floral print was in Paris. I was attending the International trade fair Maison and Object and while wandering through one of the many booths I saw a sofa covered in this floral fabric. I was actually able to sit on the sofa and I remember just sitting there and petting it. I took so many photos of that sofa and have referred to them often, dreaming of that fabric for the next 3 years. Then along came this carpet, the drapes and now this chair I knew this floral fabric would be the perfect choice. This fabric was not cheap it’s pricey! Believe me, I looked at many other alternative choices in blacks and grays and almost a hot pink but when I rediscovered this floral velvet I couldn’t look back. The fabric has arrived and it and the chair have been sent off to be reupholstered!

My new home office is not very big so finding a piece that fits in the space and looks the part was a little tricky. Thinking of the charcoal and black undertones in my carpet, this desk seemed to be the right feel and scale. It too is a piece my dad made, this time from scratch! He curved and laminated the top and attached the understated ornate legs creating this small and functional desk, perfect for my office.
You see, my dad has since passed away and he meant the world to me, he is the one that introduced me to the world of design. By having these 2 heirloom items, this chair and this desk, in my office, it is a way for me to honor my dad and the past, and carry each piece into the future.

This room has become a bricolage of new and old and I LOVE it.

Remember to follow along with the other amazing designers and follow along in my stories on Instagram.

#oneroomchallenge #bhg

@oneroomchallenge @betterhomesandgardens

https://www.oneroomchallenge.com/orc-blog

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One Room Challenge • Week 2

5/14/2021

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Home Office Re-Magined
Inspiration = Carpet • Paint • Drapes

Carpet

Where does inspiration come from? That’s a great question! It’s different for everyone and it shows up different all the time for me. For my home office space, the inspiration appeared at a flooring store. While I was looking for carpet for a client, I noticed this crazy carpet with pinks and grays and charcoal colors. Something about it struck me, the interweaving of the colors the movement of the pattern the excitement I felt looking at it. It’s crazy and fun but calming and fluid. The tactile effects were luxurious. I sat there and looked at it and debated about even bringing it home. The strange part is nothing in our home is gray or pink and carpet was not designated for this room.

Carpet sample in hand I toted it into our home and said to my husband, look at this crazy, fun, super soft carpet. He liked it, which is important because he will have to look at it everyday, too. Our styles our usually in sync and he said, why not, let’s have some fun!

So here is the inspiration! The luxurious crazy, intertwined pink and charcoal carpet! Now what!

Paint

I didn’t intend another wild and crazy thing for this room BUT while I was digging around in my surplus of paint samples, an unopened quart with the name Pleasure, caught my attention. Hmmmmm let’s see what this is. I opened the can and wowza, this bold and beautiful paint color appeared. There was just enough to accent a wall. The tone was right and again, why not, let’s have some fun.
The surrounding walls and ceiling received a much more muted color, Silverplate by Sherwin Williams. This room did not get retextured like the rest of our home during our recent remodel, and the texture on the walls and ceiling is referred to as a heavy “knock down”. It’s not my favorite but I didn’t want to change it so I chose to let it be part of the “texture” theme for this room and now I’m loving it.

Drapes

This is where it gets fun!
Repurposing, as much as possible, is always top on my to-do list! It’s a challenging task and requires a daring vision. These drapes have been “around the block” so to speak, they started out as drapes in my downtown office space. The ceilings were 12’ feet high, surrounded by tall ornate moldings from the vintage 1929 building they inhabited. Set from ceiling to floor and hung with grommets on rods with sound proofing material between layers, the subdued vertical Greek Key pattern offered strength, elegance and comfort. Their next adventure sent them to my booth at a local home show. There, they appeared grand and were the perfect backdrop to showcase my current designs. From there they ended up in protective bags stored away, awaiting their next adventure.
Here will be there next stop, they will have to be modified to fit the lower ceiling height of 8 feet. After a bit of measuring and determining the correct length and width, they are now safely in the hands of a skilled seamstress altering them to perfection.

Pattern, texture, repeat! What’s your inspiration? Is it daring, bold, or more subdued?

Follow along on my Instagram stories for behind the scene activity.

Next week we’ll look at the heirloom pieces I’ll be incorporating, bringing in more pattern and more texture....why not? Let’s have some fun!

@oneroomchallenge @betterhomesandgardens

To see other one room
Challenge designs follow

https://www.oneroomchallenge.com/orc-blog

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One Room Challenge Spring 2021

5/6/2021

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Home Office Re-Magined🌸

Week 1

The Spring 2021 #orc has begun and I’m diving in!

Do you have an EVERYTHING room but a NOTHING room in your home?

Ya, that’s what this room was... super embarrassing to show the before photos....

Sometimes it’s hard to get motivated and to follow through and complete a rooom in your own home. Thats why I’m participating in the @oneroomchallenge @bhgorc where I will be redesigning my own dedicated OFFICE space and the challenge is, to complete it in 8 weeks!

The ORC mission statement says it all:

One Room Challenge™ Mission Statement
The One Room challenge™ will provide participants with a supportive, enthusiastic forum in which to share the process of transforming a room. The ORC is not a competition, but rather a celebration of creativity, inspiration, and original ideas.

Working from home has definitely forced the workplace, dedicated space, to take full priority! But it’s not quite as inspiring for me to come home after work and design and decorate my personal office, it just hasn’t happened....until this challenge came along and I jumped at the opportunity...hey, we all love a good challenge, right? Well, I do!!!

Here’s my goal:
To create a dedicated office space that’s inspiring, comfortable and efficient!

Here’s my top priorities:

Find room for my magazine collection
Repurpose as much as possible
Remember to leave space for my yoga mat
Love my space

I will be repurposing:
•Draperies I had custom made years ago from my husbands former office.
•A desk my dad made many years before I was even born.
•A sentimental family (queen) chair.
•A Chrystal chandelier that was being discarded.
•A wild color of paint I happened to have a quart of in my storage closet.

I’ll be updating my flooring, wall colors, lighting and room configuration.

I’ve been keeping my inspiration piece, the flooring, a secret but I can’t contain myself anymore...honestly, it’s kinda bold! My husband and I both LOVE it, he even said, why not, let’s be daring! So it’s ordered and on its way!

Check out this carpet! To me it feels amazing, no only by touch but also the movement, the energy and the colors! It reminds me of the spring cherry blossoms budding right now, the vibrant pinks and the branches carrying soft white flowers. I may spend more time on the floor then in my chair! We were going to continue the hardwood flooring into the office but during the start of the pandemic, we were smack dab in the middle of a full remodel, everything in our upstairs was torn up and cleared out! Every room but this room, it still had the old carpet floors and something about it was familiar and cozy. It also had everything piled high like a storage unit....
That’s why I’m excited for this challenge, it’s inspiring and motivating!

Let the spring cleaning begin! Happy decorating!

https://www.oneroomchallenge.com/orc-blog