One Room Challenge - Fall - 2019 Week 1 - Let The Fun Begin!

In case you missed it on Facebook and Instagram, I am diving into the One Room Challenge for the 8th time this Fall! Call me crazy or call me someone who loves a good challenge, but the One Room Challenge is something I totally look forward to every season. Plus, how could I say no to Linda Weinstein, the founder of the ORC herself when I was asked for the second consecutive season to be one of the 20 featured designers.

If you have never heard of the One Room Challenge (ORC), you are in for a treat! 20 designers are chosen to make over a room in their home or a client's home over a six week period and share the progress with their audiences through blog posts and social media, leading up to the big reveal on week 6.

As always, this season's lineup features some amazingly talented designers and I am so happy to be among this group

At Charlotte’s House | Design Addict Mom | Erika Ward Interiors | Erin Kestenbaum | Girl & Grey | Gray Malin | Hommeboys | I Spy DIY | Jewel Marlowe | The Learner Observer | Making it Lovely | Nicole White Designs | Old Brand New | Oscar Bravo Home | Place of My Taste | The Rath Project | Room for Tuesday | SG Style | Undecorated Home | Veronica Solomon | Media BH&G | TM by ORC

Be sure to click through and follow along. You will be glad you did.

Why have I participated in the ORC now 8 times?

Well, why not? I first discovered the One Room Challenge and its founder, Linda Weinstein back in 2012, and I was totally in love with the concept. Designers are notorious for being the cobbler with no shoes - they are so busy creating beautiful homes for their clients, that they often neglect their own homes. The One Room Challenge was a great opportunity for designers to finally create their own retreat in a short, focused timeframe. Nothing whips your butt into action like a six week looming deadline.

The One Room Challenge for me was also about building a community. I found that my clients, friends, family, followers loved to follow along to see the progress of what I was creating. It is a treat to not just show the before and afters of the spaces we create, but to show the behind the scenes stuff - both good and bad.

My first go was my former studio dining room vignette back in 2013, and the most recent was completed last Spring - my Moody Master Bedroom

You remember............

As a featured designer I got to work with some amazing sponsors last season, and I am equally excited about the generous sponsors for this Fall. I will share that with you next week all the amazing products that I will get to feature in my space.

So what room am I working on this season?

Glad you asked!

It is pretty much the only room left to be completed in my builder basic home turned luxury retreat, and I am hoping that I have not bitten off a bit more than I can chew.

You'll see what I mean in the before shots below, but first, here is the room's concept

Did you guess which room it is?

Of course you did. It's my laundry room!

It's the smallest, most unglamorous room in the house and it is about to be taken up a few notches thanks to the One Room Challenge.

Ready to see what it looks like now?

Yep, a real hot mess!

You can see that it is the catch-all space and Rufus' headquarters. Rufus is my chiweenie, and the poor thing stays in there a few hours per day until my son gets home from school.

Can you see why I hate doing laundry? Like with a passion?. And truth be told, even after the makeover, I don't know that I will like doing laundry any more. Haha

So what's the plan?

Well, you can see from the concept board above it will be quite the dramatic laundry room. The gorgeous wallpaper will be quite the focal point.

The existing ceramic tile floors will be removed to make way for this delicious geometric marble tile floor.

Here is the floor plan for the laundry room. You can see that it is not a very big foot print, but I plan to get a lot of storage and work surface out of it.

I have since decided to delete the sink, since I doubt that it will get used much, and there is a bathroom just next door

To save on space, I am doing a pocket door. Yay for pocket doors! Why wasn't that done when the house was built is beyond me.

This is washer/dryer and clothes steamer wall elevation. I was hoping to bring in a new stackable washer and dryer, but decided to use my existing ones. They are still in great condition, and that will help the budget a bit. I am super excited to have a home for my new LG Styler.

Instead of a cabinet with sink, this will be Rufus' sleeping area. It will be open with a new custom designed doggie bed, and more surface space for folding clothes

The final wall will be more folding surface and storage for laundry and cleaning stuff.

I chose to use caning for the front of most of the cabinets to allow hanging damp clothes some air to dry. I think the caning will add a great texture to the space as well

I love to mix patterns and textures, and I often do that through textiles. But even in spaces where there are no opportunities to bring in textiles, you can mix patterns through the hard surfaces.

Take my recent master bathroom for example

This room features a geometric pattern in the floor, a "floral" in the wall covering, and a large scale pattern in the porcelain wall slabs in the shower and vanity countertop, and a natural texture in the vanity cabinet

The same for the laundry room. The beautiful bold pattern in the wall covering will be juxtaposed with the geometric pattern in the tile flooring, and even a small "mini pattern" in the caning.

Demo is underway and tile should be arriving any day soon. Millwork is planned for next week and then the painters will be next.

I am hoping to run through this one quickly, but I know better than to think it is smooth sailing. Haha Anything can happen once you open walls and floors. Fingers crossed

Please follow along for the next few weeks to see the progress of my One Room Challenge Laundry Room Makeover. You will find updates on Facebook and Instagram each week

@atcharlotteshouse

@designaddictmom

@mrserikaward

@erinkestenbaum

@girlandgrey

@graymalin

@hommeboys

@ispydiy

@jewelmarlowe

@thelearnerobserver

@makingitlovely

@nicolewhitedesignsinteriors

@dabito

@oscarbravohome

@place_ofmy_taste

@therathproject

@roomfortuesday

@sgardnerstyle

@carmeon.hamilton

@undecorated_home

@casavilora

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Veronica