May 11, 20145 min read

One Room Challenge: Sources and Secrets Revealed

Now that the One Room Challenge Spring edition has ended, I am already missing the rush and excitement…….and the FUN of putting together a whole room in 6 weeks and blogging about the process each week.

It was something that I had to look forward to, and since the big reveal last Thursday, may 8th I am finding that I am ready for another challenge 🙂

I think I am going for the Fall edition of the One Room Challenge coming up on October 2nd. I am leaning towards re-doing the old worn kitchen in my design studio. Pretty ambitious, but I think I can pull it off. I think I may have shared this kitchen with y’all in the past, but here it is again.

This is a BEFORE shot of the kitchen in the design studio for Casa Vilora Interiors

Yep, someone painted the cabinets red! Which is not a bad color for kitchen cabinetry, but the paint job is really bad! It needs a lot of help!

Because it is a rental property, I will have to get really creative with doing it on a really tight budget. I am planning to purchase the property soon, so everything has to be done with property value in mind. We will see. I will announce my decision in the coming months 🙂

Well, enough about my ambitious goal for the next One Room Challenge. Today’s post is all about sharing some of the sources and secrets of the dining room makeover. It is a really long one, so brace yourselves 🙂

As I mentioned, I am leasing this old Victorian cottage as my design studio, so any improvements to it has to make financial sense. Needless to say I had an impossible budget to work with.

I started with a lot of pieces that I already owned which was obviously great for my budget. A lot of the pieces are also from my “to-the-trade” vendors, which means that you need to purchase them through a designer or an architect.

Here’s the mood board I presented on week 2 showing the pieces planned for the room.

Created Using SampleBoard.com

The Sources

A few of these sources are retailers where you can purchase these items yourself. Some of the sources are to-the-trade

The paint color is Benjamin Moore Silver Chain 1472.

Let’s start with the pieces I already owned:

The adjustable height dining room table is from Stanley Furniture
The drum table is from Stanley Furniture
The Bench is from Wholesale Interiors
The skirted chairs are from Restoration Hardware
The French cane back chair is from Restoration Hardware
The faux orchid arrangement is from NDI
The place setting (Can’t quite remember, I’ve had them forever)
The sunburst mirror and most of the plates on the wall (I’ve had these forever)
The cow art is an original done by my daughter, Courtney and framed in an Ikea frame
The abstract art and landscape art are from Paragon
The twigs are from Melrose International
The demijohn bottles are from Pier One. They are also available at World Market

The other pieces:

The blue sideboard is from Joss and Main but it is a Safavieh piece that I paid less for
The console behind the bench is a custom piece made from scrap wood by my carpenter and then I had a skirt made by my seamstress. The fabric of the skirt is from Kravet (Sorry, I don’t have a link but I think a similar version is available on Tonic Living)
The drapery fabric is from FabricGuru and was custom made by my workroom
The drapery hardware is from House Parts
The area rug is from Surya
The yellow pillows are custom made by my workroom; the fabric is left over from the table skirt fabric
The pillows on the bench (3 of them) are from Ballard Designs
The faux bois pillows in the chairs are custom made by my workroom; fabric is from Hobby Lobby
The small striped pillows in the chairs are also custom made by my workroom; fabric is from placemats I picked up at HomeGoods
The napkins are custom made by my workroom; fabric from Hobby Lobby
the ornate frame with the wreath inside is from Hobby Lobby
The small green plates on the wall are from Goodwill
The lamp, pig, some plates on the wall, teapots, frame are from HomeGoods
The preserved boxwood topiaries and wreaths are from Bella Marie
The yellow ginger jars and the artichoke tealights are from Global Views
the Chandelier is from Ikea
The yellow throw is from HomeGoods
The white ceramic garden stool is from Ross
The carousel horse is from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child

I think that’s everything. Let me know if I missed anything.

The Secrets

It is crazy how much can go wrong with a looming deadline. When I am working with a client I am sure to factor in time for minor mishaps and changes, so this rarely happens with projects for my clients. But the ORC is 6 weeks and I knew that going in.

Here are a few blunders along the way

While the paint was going on, it looked like Lilac and I honestly freaked out a little bit. But then I remember the advice I give my clients: trust me, and wait till it’s done to decide. Sure as ever, it turned out to be the color I picked. I think the original puke green paint may have affected the way the color went on.
The ginger jars showed up and I freaked a bit because they were wider than I expected. I think in the rush of ordering it I only paid attention to the height which was perfect. There was no time to order something else, so I made it work, but I wish that they were just a tad smaller
The topiaries were slightly shorter than I wanted, but I needed them a bit taller to hide the thermostat (yep, there is a thermostat behind one of the topiaries), I simply propped them up on a couple of decorative boxes I had laying around. Problem is the boxes were a coppery color – the solution – gluing grasscloth wallpaper samples around the visible edges.
I literally shot the room myself the night before the big reveal. I had arranged to have a professional photographer but at the last minute had to cancel because I was still waiting on some finishing touches
My seamstress literally delivered the last few pillows right before I shot the room
My camera was majorly acting up and my seamstress literally came to the rescue and helped me out with her camera. She even took a few shots for me while I tended to my son (see below)
My son was accidentally locked out of the house, so I had to rush home to get him in the middle of styling the room. He was at the neighbors playing with their cat. By the time we got back to the studio he started experiencing some severe allergic reactions (face swelling, eyes watering, itching, tongue swelling), apparently to the cat. I had to rush to the pharmacy across the street to get Benadryl STAT! It seemed to help except now he was super drowsy. I had to cut the shoot short to take him home.

The One Room Challenge was a lot of fun and Yes, I am ready for the next one! 🙂

Here are a few more photos for your viewing pleasure 🙂

Thanks for stopping by to check out the sources and secrets of this adventure called the One Room Challenge. Please let me know if I forgot to mention any of the items from the room.

If you need interior design help, I offer a Mail Order Decorator service anywhere in the United States, in addition to my local Interior Design service in the Houston area. Please use the contact form in my side bar, leave me a comment below or email me here if you have questions or need help.

Wishing you a marvelous Monday!

Be Inspired!