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!