One Room Challenge: Nicky's Hygge Bedroom (Week 1 and 2)
It’s week two of the One Room Challenge (ORC) and I am jumping in with both feet. For those of you who are new to Animal Cracker Studio, welcome. I hope you will hang out a bit and maybe check out the results of our daughters’ shared bedroom from last fall’s ORC. For those of you who are new to One Room Challenge and wondering what all the fuss is about, twice a year, adventurous, design-minded bloggers take six weeks to transform a space, documenting the process along the way. The challenge is hosted by Linda of Calling It Home (and sponsored by House Beautiful!) and you definitely want to check out the 200 plus projects going on this year after you pour a cup of coffee and check out this project.
You may have already noticed that this post is my first for this round of ORC. This is because I had no plans to participate in the challenge this spring. We are on the verge of a major remodel, which made my house totally out of the running. Last Thursday, as the challenge officially began, I had a huge bout of FOMO about not participating. I did what any questionably sane person would do and asked my Insta-friends if any of them wanted to donate a space for a little refresh. My lovely friend Deb raised her hand. Bless all the people who say yes to crazy ideas.
Deb recently downsized from a very large house to a three-bedroom apartment. If you know me at all, you know I am a small home dweller. Believe me, there is such a thing as too small (hello one bathroom for 6 people!) but I do have a pretty big soft spot in my heart for small spaces and down-sizing. I’m a firm believer that it is not how much space you have but how you use it that matters. It goes without saying then that Deb had me at hello on this project. All we needed to decide was which room to work on, and that was easy. Her teenage daughter’s room quickly rose to the top of the list.
There was one little wrinkle. Deb doesn’t live in Houston. Or anywhere within a day’s drive of Houston. We are going to do this entire project remotely. I have photos of Deb’s space but have never seen it live. I am totally dependent on Deb for measurements and light information and implementation and descriptions of furniture. I’m dependent on FaceTime to get a read of my client, Nicky, Deb's 13 year old daughter. Kind of scary situation for a designer. But great things come from crazy risks. So here we go.
Welcome to Nicky’s room!
It’s pretty cute already, right? Agreed. But it isn’t exactly what Nicky wants. She loves her desk and her bookshelf and her pretty new wall décor. She doesn’t love the polka dot cushions in the corner or the plastic container for craft items. Mostly, mother and daughter didn’t think the room felt complete.
We started by talking about how Nicky uses her room, her interests, her favorite colors and movies and places. We looked at photos of other rooms and isolated what types of things Nicky wanted most. Nicky loved spaces like this and this and this. Interestingly, while she initially said she wanted to keep the blues in her room, she was consistently drawn to black and white spaces and blush pink accents (perhaps this is why?). She was also drawn to a Warhol Marilyn Monroe print but felt it was too loud. Deb reminded her that they already owned this Warhol Chanel print. Nicky was smitten. One more thing? All the white lights. In particular, this look.
So we have a starting off point in Nicky’s existing pieces:
Clockwise from top left: Sheets no longer available, shelf (similar here), desk, Warhol Chanel Print, hanging grid, nightstands (similar), full bed (similar).
And we have a look that Nicky wants to achieve – soft, neutral, cozy, warm, inviting. Can we just sum it up with hygge? That's it then. Off we go to create Nicky’s Hygge Bedroom. Here’s a little sneak peek at how it might shape up…
Next week, we will talk about floor plans and rugs if we can find some options there. Until then, please check out some of the other amazing transformations at Calling It Home!