Office Update.The 14' Bookshelves. ORC Room Challenge Week 3

April 17, 2024

One Room Challenge week 3 is fast upon us! With an approved design plan and an excited client, it was time to get moving on the custom built-in bookcases.

If you missed week 1 or 2 of the Home Office design, you can find it here and here.

A quick bit of history about myself for those of you that do not know me. I am not a trained designer or a general contractor. I started my business in 2011 with the encouragement of a friend who thought I had an eye for design and talent to execute. Everything that I have learned has been through on the job training, tireless research, magazines, books and design shows. My team that I have worked with over the past decade has helped me improve, grow and bring my ideas to life!

I submit sketches that are not to scale and by no means architectural, but they get the job done! I sent designs to my client before we began the process with all of her wishes taken into account. These are the initial drawings that I handed over to my extremely talented carpenter and then we began the process of editing & measuring and measuring & editing and measuring & editing some more.

My carpenter has been building homes, kitchens, cabinets, vanities and more for decades, but I am proud to say that this has been the tallest project that he has ever built. We also had an element in this design that neither one of us had ever worked with before. My client has dreamed of her library since she was a little girl, and always wanted one thing: a library ladder. This was designed to be used on either side of the built-ins. The design and production of the ladder was 6-8 weeks. This not only made it a tight timeline for ORC, but by not having the ladder on sight, we would have to make sure our measurements were perfect. There was absolutely no room for error!

I chose the Classic No.1 from Putnam Rolling Ladders and I am so pleased with the quality of their products. They were so patient with me and my million questions and were super easy to work with. Stay tuned for later ORC weekly updates to see the process of putting the ladder together and the final outcome.

Building Off Site

My carpenter always starts by building cabinetry off site when he can, especially when we are limited on space at the project. By having most of the cabinetry built off site, we can limit the time we are invading our client's home and keep the mess to a minimum - well, as much as you can on a project site. Since we were literally starting with a blank slate and there was barely any demolition involved, we were able to do just that.

And so we went from a blank wall, to a pile of lumber, to the beginning of my client's dream office. In the meantime be sure to follow along on the official ORC blog page and on Instagram. See you next week!

Home Office.One Room Challenge Week 1

Home Office. One Room Challenge Week 2

Office Update.The Details.ORC Week 2

Welcome back to week 2 of the One Room Challenge series. If you missed week 1 of the Home Office design, you can find it here.

This week, I want to elaborate on all of the details we chose for my client's home office space. In the initial consultation with all of my clients, I ask a few questions that help inspire me to begin the design process: how they want the room to function, how they want the room to feel, and to share inspiration photos. I take all of this into consideration when creating each design, which allows me to make their design completely personal.

This client wanted to create a moody, beautiful and functional space for her to work from home. She is young, beautiful, fashionable, business minded and motivated. She runs a highly successful beauty products manufacturing company that she started in her own kitchen.

Based on our conversations, I knew that artwork should be the focal point of the room. The perfect piece would capture her beauty and capture the essence of what she envisioned for her company. I knew I would find exactly what I was looking for on Etsy. I love using Etsy to find unique and affordable pieces, especially when I have something specific in mind or working on a tight timeline or budget. I found three pieces that I thought would work as the focal point, and she fell in love with this piece below.

When creating design, I love adding texture upon texture and design upon design. Though we would be painting the bookcases a dramatic color, we needed an extra little something special behind the artwork...WALLPAPER! It's so fun when I have a client who will try something new and she really excited to move forward! I have used this grasscloth before and absolutely love it.

After deciding on these two huge design elements, I was able select that dark moody color she was craving that would be a showstopper. And the winner is.....Sherwin Williams Dark Night. With this color, I highly recommend that you have a room with a lot of natural light and you have a very well prepped space, especially on cabinetry. Dark paint will show every single imperfection the room may have.

We knew the desk would be the furniture piece to center the room. My client saw a picture of a desk she loved that had curved edges. When I saw the photo, I knew exactly which desk she was speaking of and thankfully everything about it was perfect for the space. The richness of the wood matched the library ladder. I knew the built-in shelves would shrink down the space of the room significantly, and the desk still fit perfectly. The clean lines kept it simple and modern.

With the richness of the furniture, the dark paint color and tone on tone elements, bringing brass elements into the space seemed like a natural option to brighten up the room. I went back to Etsy to find unique hardware, using a vendor that has had stellar products in the past. I turned to my favorite lighting manufacturer for the picture light over the artwork. And finally to "cover" even the smallest detail, I selected brass covers for the switch plates and electrical outlets.

Below is a reminder of what my client's office looked like before and the initial design plan I presented her.

Just a reminder that this project is part of the Spring 2024 One Room Challenge (ORC) where bloggers, designers, and influencers makeover one room over the course of 8 weeks. Be sure to check out all of the other ORC week two updates on the ORC website. Catch up on my project with the week one office design plan.

Home Office.One Room Challenge Week 1

April 3, 2024

I can’t believe it is finally here! I am so excited to be a guest participant in the Spring 2024 One Room Challenge. I’ve been following the incredible ORC room transformations for years and I have always dreamed of having an ongoing project to participate. This year, I had the most beautiful client project and the timing was absolutely perfect.

ONE ROOM CHALLENGE

If you’re not familiar with ORC, it is a highly anticipated biannual event where design influencers and hundreds of guest participants completely transform a space in eight weeks. It originally started in 2011 when Linda from Calling it Home gathered a group of friends to hold each other accountable as they finished one room in their homes. The ORC has continued to grow tremendously and for the tenth anniversary year in 2022, the ORC partnered with Apartment Therapy and moved away from featuring a small group to shining a bigger light on the amazing community with a commitment to featuring as many transformations as possible! It also began sharing sponsorship opportunities to bring brands and influencers together. The One Room Challenge® has been providing community, motivation, inspiration, and helpful information to designers and DIYers across the globe for more than 10 years.

FOLLOW ALONG

Get ready for your Instagram feed to be filled with tons of gorgeous design inspiration for the next eight weeks. Every Wednesday, I will be documenting the progress on the BeylaBlue blog as well as linking up with all of the other guest participants, so be sure to check them out!

You can follow along with the progress here as well as on Instagram. Follow @oneroomchallenge and @beylabluedesign so you don’t miss a thing! And of course be sure to check back on May 22 for the final room reveals.

ORC SPRING 2024: PROJECT AZURE SPRINGS OFFICE REMODEL

I have chosen my client's office for the Spring 2024 ORC. I knew this would be the perfect project because the transformation is going to not only be drastically beautiful but functional as well. My client is a highly successful and creative entrepreneur. Since she was a little girl, she dreamed of having a beautiful library in her home. Books are her passion, and now with her extremely busy business, she needs a place other than her kitchen counter to conduct meetings.

THE OFFICE: THE BEFORE

When my client built her house during the pandemic, she carefully selected all of the materials and furnishings and her house is absolutely stunning. She decided to wait on her office knowing that she would need some help to achieve the vision that was in her head. I was blessed that she saved her office for last and I get to start with a completely blank slate.

When I say blank slate, I absolutely mean blank slate! The only existing item in the room was her fabulous chandelier.

The hardwood floors she chose throughout her home were so easy to design around and the walls are a neutral paint color, but would not stay that way for long!

OFFICE/LIBRARY DESIGN PLAN

My client came to me with a clear vision of what she wanted, but did not know how to achieve it. She knew that she wanted bookcases on both walls all the way up to the 14 foot ceiling!!! She did not want them to stop at 8 or 9 feet. The bookcases had to be grand and dramatic and she wanted a library ladder. That was a first for me. The other request that she had was that the office needed to be "moody." With those requests in mind and a few images that she had, I got to work on the design plan.

After presenting my client with the initial design plan, we made a couple of revisions by adding lighter colored chairs and an all wood desk. I suggested drapery to match the bookcases and a patterned wallpaper behind the artwork, to add another layer of design.

ONE ROOM CHALLENGE PUNCH LIST

With a final approval on the design plan, I’ve created a punch list that I will refer back to each week to keep a check on my progress.

• Conceptualize and draw bookcase plans

• Select paint color to achieve maximum moodiness

• Order furnishings, drapery, rug and finishes

• Install bookcases

• Center chandelier on new bookcases, install rough electrical for lighting & new plugs

• Prep, prime & paint bookcases, trim, ceiling and doors

• Install new cabinet hardware

• Build and install library ladder

• Install wallpaper

• Install new sconce, pocket lights, switch plates & add crystals back to chandelier

• Install drapery

• Install rug and furnishings

HERE WE GO!

I couldn’t be more excited to participate in my first ever ORC and I can’t wait to get started. I am looking forward to following along with the other ORC participants and I am especially looking forward to seeing my client in her beautiful new space!