One Room Challenge Spring 2018 - Final Reveal

It's reveal day! This is like Christmas morning for the One Room Challenge, and I'm so excited to share my space with you! Just in case you are new to this little blog of mine, I'll introduce myself; my name is Nancy and I'm a long-time design blogger (since 2010) based in Vancouver. I started my blog to chronicle my home renovations and it has become a passion that I simply couldn't see my life without.

It has truly been a grueling 6 weeks; I'm now 4.5 months pregnant and managing a toddler, working 5 days a week teaching biology at a local college. Throw in a massive and short-timeline project to the already-crazy-mix and it was at times a recipe for disaster. My husband may have repeatedly announced that he passionately hates painting and will never take on such a task again ... but on completion I promise he turned around and asked what other rooms of the house I thought we could tackle next :)

To start off, I have to say a huge thank you to Linda of Calling It Home (she created this amazing challenge!), thank you to House Beautiful for sponsoring, & thank you to all the amazing partners that helped us beautify the space. I count myself pretty darn blessed to have been part of this ORC. Now, I'll let the "before" & "after" photos speak for themselves, and I will reference sources throughout as well as a complete list at the bottom of this post. All photography of the "after" space was taken by the lovely and wonderfully talented Tracey Ayton - honored every time I have the chance to work with her! if you are a designer located in the Greater Vancouver area you will want to get familiar with her stunning work as soon as possible. Thank me later. 

Here's our humble beginnings, the real estate photos from 2 years ago when we purchased:

And then what it looked like exactly 6 weeks ago - we had painted the walls white, changed flooring, smoothed the textured ceilings, and that was about it:

And now (drum roll please), the same corner of this room a short six weeks later:

What do you think? A big difference from the starting point, right? I think it's proof you can take any box of four walls and make it your own, always try to see past the things you may think you cannot change! There are probably many people who would have seen the space below and said, 'no way, I'm not paying top-dollar for a house like this!' Just for reference, every room was stuck in 1989.

Stroheim - grasscloth wallpaper, Tonic Living - roman shade, Bellacor - ticking stripe rug, Emtek - cabinetry hardware, Dynasty Kitchen - cabinetry, Gray Malin - artwork above desk, Couture Lamps - bookends, Jungmin Ko - portrait of my son

Over onto the wall before our handsome little vintage bed went in:

And a satisfying after:

Lamps Plus - plug in wall sconce, Arianna Belle - Les Touches pillow

Plain Jane doors and trim before:

Metrie - crown, baseboard & door casing painted BM Symphony Blue, Bellacor - ticking stripe rug, Stroheim - grasscloth wallpaper, Emtek - closet egg cabinet knobs

I'd have to say the first thing that speaks to me when I walk into this room is the Stroheim grasscloth wallpaper in Asana Natural colorway; the warmth and texture that it brings to this space is perfection. Combined with the cool blue of the cabinetry it creates a lovely contrast of shiny vs rough, dark vs light, smooth vs textured. This pairing creates so much interest! The flat roman shade was custom made to my specifications by Tonic Living, and the navy tape trim is the perfect detail. One of the true keepsakes of the room has to be this personalized portrait of my son, which was amazingly done without the artist Jungmin Ko ever even meeting him in person! 

And oh, those plug-in sconces from Lamps Plus, the fact that they are incredibly gorgeous, traditional, and easy to install and I didn't have to call the electrician makes me so so happy. Because they are triple pivot they swing out a generous 18.5 inches meaning they easily hover over the bed but then can tuck out of the way when not in use. I've decided I literally need these in every room of the house.

We actually re-used the Craigslist campaign dresser and Anewall artwork from Marcus' nursery, combined with the Couture Lamps Melrose table lamp and the new ticking stripe rug from Bellacor, these items are getting a new lease on life:

Couture Lamps - table lamp, Jill Rosenwald - planter pot

This handmade-to-order large planter pot from Jill Rosenwald is like the icing on the cake, and the gorgeous floral arrangement by Floralista helps show that off. It's so beautiful, and it's these subtle touches that make a room special. You can select your color for every one of her stunning ceramic pieces - for me, this will be a true keepsake in this stunning Veranda pattern in delft blue:

PopOColor - Plaisirs de la Chine pillow, Windows by Melissa - red ticking stripe window seat, Jill Rosenwald - planter pot

I'm really happy with how our cabinetry turned out, and I hope it ends up being useful storage and seating for Marcus into his teen years. So that we wouldn't lose any usable space, Dynasty Kitchen allowed me to create a custom side-shelf facing inwards for display and books. Oh, and there are my Craigslist Britannica encyclopedias! Who knows, maybe he'll actually crack them open one day - see what 1989 was all about (literally found a set from the year this house was built)! I'm really happy with our color choice of BM Symphony Blue paired with the classic Emtek egg cabinet knobs in solid brass French antique finish that will be safe and easy to grab with no sharp metal corners for our little guy:

You can see above and below that the Arianna Belle Les Touches pillows in blue were customized with the perfect pop of red piping & repeated on the bed and window seat:

Emtek egg cabinet knob in the classic French antique finish

And oh my, that perfect pop with the Gray Malin artwork over the desk nook! Red Balloon II couldn't have fit better into our design plans, it brings out the whimsy in the space with that elephant and stack of blue suitcases:

The accessories often make the design, don't they? I found tiny little red-matted antique frames for over the bed on Etsy and I used loads of Marcus' colorful books to style the bookshelves with these gorgeous coral bookends from Couture Lamps:

Oh, and let's not forget the most important detail of ALL, the new inhabitant of the room approves!

He's tested out every corner & got some practice jumping on the bed. And that's what's most important right?

A huge sigh of relief! And a big thank you to the generous ORC sponsors who helped provide key décor elements. Here's a full list of items that went into the space:

Red Balloon II Artwork, Gray Malin | Asana Natural grasscloth, Stroheim | Symphony Blue, Benjamin Moore | Triple pivot swing-arm plug-in lamps, Lamps Plus | Vintage bed, Campaign dresser, & Encyclopedia set, Craigslist finds | Ticking Stripe Rug, Bellacor | Coral bookends, Couture Lamps | Les Touches pillows, Arianna Belle | Melrose table lamp, Couture Lamps | Veranda planter pot, Jill Rosenwald | Floral arrangement, Floralista | Egg cabinet knob, Emtek | Roman blind, Tonic Living | Personalized portrait, Jungmin Ko Art Studio | Window seat cushion, Windows by Melissa | Plaisirs de la Chine pillow, PopOColor | Bamboo chair, Ballard Designs | Artwork above dresser, Anewall |Tricycle, Tassel, & Artwork above bed, vintage finds | Linen x-bench, One King's Lane | Clock and large basket, HomeSense |

Thank you so much for following along, cheering me on through your messages here and on social media, I truly mean it when I say I feel blessed to be part of such a supportive & enthusiastic creative community. It enriches my life daily, so thank you to all of YOU! (And if you are just catching up you can view posts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 for the whole process).

I am so excited to check out the other 19 spaces today, it's been a pleasure to follow along with them and an honor to be part of this talented Spring 2018 line-up:

Apartment 34 | Beginning in the Middle | Coco & Jack | The English Room | The Gold Hive

Gray Malin | Jenna Sue Design | Jojotastic | Kelly Rogers Int. | Linda Holt | Marcus Design

Michelle Gage | Natasha Habermann | The Painted House | Rambling Renovators

Sacramento Street | Shannon Claire | Sketch 42 | Stephanie Kraus | Bisou Style

Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by ORC

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