One Room Challenge Week 1 – Spring 2015

Hi there,

If you are new here, welcome! Feel free to browse around and check out some Before and Afters in my Portfolio.  I’m an Interior Decorator living in a suburb (Milton) of Toronto, Canada with my husband and soon-to-be teenage daughter.

Today, I am excited to share my plans for the space I am working on for the One Room Challenge. I was a linking participant in the last ORC and transformed my kitchen. You can read all about that here. The ORC is a semi-annual, six week challenge where participants transform a space in real time and provide updates, inspiration and advice every week.  Yes, six weeks – well actually 5 weeks from today. Yikes!

This time around, Linda from Calling it Home, the originator and leader behind the ORC, invited me to be one of the 20 designers/bloggers participating and look at the company I am in!

I knew right away what room I wanted to tackle. It’s a room that hasn’t been touched in the almost ten years we have been in this house, save for a rotation of shower curtains – my daughter’s bathroom. She will be 13 in two months and has a lot of opinions on the space – what she likes and doesn’t like. She vetoed a few of my wallpaper and fabric choices. (I kind of liked it when she was younger and I could decorate as I wished! Kidding.)

Let’s take a look at some Befores so you can see what I am working with.

I know – it’s not a ghastly Before from the 60’s or a different era but it certainly is lacking in style. It’s a little bigger than your typical 5′ x 8′ bathroom because of the location of the door. The only thing I like about the current space is the shower curtain which I have used in a few client bathrooms like this one. But even that will be changing. I do love the look of black and white and that will definitely play a role in the revamped bathroom.

I cringe looking at this. The vanity will be painted black with new hardware. And no, your screen isn’t dirty, that would be nail polish stains all over the vanity. The counter will change to a white quartz and the faucet will be black. I love the look of round mirrors in bathrooms so I will be replacing the large builder standard above and then placing sconces on either side.

When I help clients pick their finishes at builder decor centres, I always advise to choose the simple, white glossy 6″x6″ tiles which are usually standard. Upgrading to subway tiles (if they even offer that) is exorbitant through a builder and these look just as good. These simple tiles are being used everywhere these days. Do not choose anything in the beige family, especially the small rectangular ones that offer an “accent” tile – can’t believe builders still offer those! (Sorry, I digress.) All that to say the tiles in the tub surround will stay as they are in good shape and don’t look dated 10 years later. The toilet, however will be going as will the nondescript floor tiles.  I’m thinking either marble hexagon or herringbone. So, there will be some demo/construction and I’m hoping that everything comes together in 5 short weeks.

The towel bar fell off the wall a few times over the years so we didn’t bother putting it up again. She hangs her towel on hooks on the back of the door but this wall is definitely calling for more hooks and art above.

When designing a space, I always think about where do I want the pattern to go as a starting point. Do I even want pattern in a bathroom? (If you are a long time blog reader, you already know the answer.) Do I want an all white, calming space? I am my own worse client and spent much time browsing through the almost 1000 bathrooms on my Bathroom board on Pinterest to figure out what exactly I, and my client (daughter) really would be happy with.

Do I want pattern underfoot using a graphic floor tile like in this bathroom by Amber Interiors?:

Do I want pattern, in the form of wallpaper, on the walls like my ensuite?:

Or do I want pattern on the shower curtain, keeping everything else neutral like this bathroom from House and Home?:

I have decided to use wallpaper (no surprise!) for pattern on the vanity wall only. Come back this time next week, for a look at all of the sources and the concept.

I can’t wait to see what my fellow designer/blogger friends are up to. I hear that there are a few of us doing bathrooms so I’m interested to see how different our designs are. Click below to be taken to their site.

Jana Bek
Autumn Clemons
Coco+Kelley
The English Room
Greige Design
Hi Sugarplum
I Heart Organizing
Jenna Sue Design
Stephanie Kraus
The Pursuit of Style
Julia Ryan
Savvy Home
Simple Details
Simply Grove
6th Street Design
Jill Sorensen
Swoon Worthy
Waiting on Martha
Kimberly Schlegel Whitman
Trademarked by Calling it Home

And don’t forget, anyone with a blog can link up tomorrow (Thursday.) If you are on the fence, jump in – you won’t regret it. It’s motivation to complete a room as well as meet other bloggers who cheer you on.  Read some info from Linda here.  And be sure to follow the hashtag #oneroomchallenge on Instagram and you can follow me here.