I'm incredibly excited to be participating in my all-time favorite interior design event, The One Room Challenge™. My daughter and I have a new (to us) house that we're looking forward to someday moving into if I can just force myself to power through the abyss of darkness, otherwise known as remodeling, that this very outdated ranch house requires. For me, it's super fun to redesign a room, but oh my goodness, the renovation part is pretty much the worst. I definitely have some stories to tell -- and I will! Thank goodness Calling It Home's Linda, the creator and owner of The One Room Challenge™ invited me to be a Featured Designer. Participating in the fall ORC will provide the motivation I need to refocus on my ranch renovation. And, take a look at the company I'll be keeping for the next six weeks! Half of me is absolutely dying to see what these crazily talented designers will do, and the other half is more than a bit intimidated : ).

My Project:

Here's my plan, and it will work much better for us than the original design. The whole kitchen is being reconfigured as it was very awkwardly arranged. The door from the garage opened right into the kitchen, and that's being moved to the laundry area. There's a wall that separates the kitchen and the family room, and it's coming down. Banquette seating is being added in the breakfast area along with an entire wall of built-ins where before was a door to a bathroom (yes, really).

So, the kitchen, breakfast and family room will be one open space which we'll very much enjoy after we recover from the trauma of the remodeling phase. To give you a visual of just how far aesthetically this project this is from where I'd like, take a look at the graphic below. It shows the formals that I recently completed for the Spring 2017 One Room Challenge™ which you can see more of here.

The Pink Pagoda Spring 2017 One Room Challenge™.

Above, you can see what makes me happy. Below is a pic from inside the family room looking into the entry. Let's start with the obvious. You're wondering what type of Poltergeist situation allows for both day and night to occur simultaneously at one address.

There’s a covered patio that obscures light from this entire space. The former owners kept the area even darker by keeping the dark brown stained paneling and kitchen cabinets along with lots of heavy drapery that couldn’t be opened. It's very clear that they do not suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, and while they seem to have been quite happy living in the dark, I'm not. I actually need lots of bright daylight shining in on lots of white paint. Before purchasing the house, I was assured by many that there are things that can be done to address this lack of daylight. I've now thoroughly researched the situation, and will share the very interesting things I've learned along with my solution next week.

Since I'm taking three spaces with three separate functions, and creating one large space, the scope of this project is huge. It involves a complete kitchen renovation, a breakfast area redesign, and a total family room makeover, so I have much to share. For now, I'll leave you with a few of my inspiration images.

source

Love this direction above for the family room, and the kitchen inspiration below.

white kitchen and banquette with marble countertops and brass hardware

source

bertazzoni range, chelsea house pendant, silestone quartz, wisteria counter stool, emtek and schaub hardware

range, countertops, pendant, counter stool, knobs, pull

Some of these gorgeous items will definitely be installed in my kitchen, but I'm still making decisions. They're all lovely. Don't miss a single ORC project -- the links below will take you to all kinds of incredible interior design.

Fall 2017 One Room Challenge Week One

My Project:

Week Two: Fall 2017 One Room Challenge

Dorm Room Essentials