It’s week #4 of the One Room Challenge.  If you want to see my progress so far:  Week #1, Week #2, & Week #3.  Please check out all the great work going on with the Wednesday Designers and the other Guest Participants.  A big thank you to Linda at Calling It Home for hosting all of us!

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about the design process involved in the One Room Challenge.  I’ve had a few people comment on my posts, saying, “I can’t wait to see how it turns out.”  Well, me neither!  When I’m working with my clients, I think out all aspects of the design before we start.  I’ve drawn up plans, checked stock on the proposed fabrics, etc.  Then when the space is ready, the custom window treatments and furniture are ready, and the new lighting and other construction is complete, we have a one day installation, and the space is transformed.

I work totally differently for the One Room Challenge.  I know it’s coming up twice a year and I might spend a little time thinking about which room in my house I want to do, but  I don’t really plan it out.  I’ll file some pictures of design ideas on Pinterest or my laptop, but that’s about it.  Then once the six weeks starts, I start this roller coaster ride of decorating adventure.  I never know where it will take me, but it’s always fun!  This week I want to talk about a few of the happy accidents, unplanned design choices, that have happened so far this time around.

Poe’s Perch:

Poe hanging out with me while I was painting the bed.

This is not only our Guest Bedroom, but it’s also our cat, Poe’s, room.  Last week when he was hanging out with me in the room while I was painting the bed, I started thinking that  I should really give him a dedicated space to hang out in there.  He loves to lay on our window seat in the Kitchen, especially in the afternoon, when the sun is streaming in from the West facing window.

Poe on our Kitchen window seat.

The window in Poe’s room faces Southeast, so it gets lots of light.  It would be the perfect place for him to relax all day (because he can, since he doesn’t blog or anything) and especially in the morning.    So I started thinking about what would make a good perch for him.  It had to be fairly small, because we don’t have a lot of space.  I’ve recently hit all the local stores like Homegoods and Tuesday Morning looking for a vanity bench for my daughter, so I know there’s no small bench out there.  Then I remembered that I had a Dransfield and Ross bench in my attic that would be perfect.  I brought it down and put it in front of the window:

Poe on the Dransfield and Ross bench.

Oddly enough, the Eagles pillow pet  that  he was resting on last week fits perfectly on this bench.  Do you think my husband would notice if I recovered it and what would I do with that crazy Eagle head???  The reason that this was in my attic is because it has a weird crack on each side.  I’ll need to figure out how to fix the cracks and make a cushion on the top.  But that’s just part of this wild roller coaster ride.  I can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Roman Shade:

The second design surprise is that I’m changing my mind about the Roman shade in the room.  Last week I said that I wanted to use this sari as the Roman shade:

Sari for Roman shade.

However, this week I was rummaging through my fabric closet (yes, people–or at least I–have fabric closets) and I found this:

Back of orange silk Roman shade.

Several years ago I bought this battered Roman shade at a thrift store.  I’m a sucker for pretty fabrics and this is a beautiful orange silk and it’s already lined with blackout lining.  It’s very well made.  I was a little concerned about making that vintage sari into a Roman shade anyway ,because it’s a delicate older silk and even if I line it with a heavy-duty lining, I’m a bit worried that it won’t hold up.  This is already made into a Roman shade although the ribs have been cut off and it’s too wide and I need to mount it to a board, but that’s all!  It’ll save me lots of time and I think it’ll be more durable and I like its simplicity.  I know I’ll find another use for the sari, either in this space or another.

As for the other sari that I was going to make into a bedskirt, I’ve done that this week.  Here’s a sneak peek:

Sari as Bedskirt.

I love how it turned out!!!

So here’s to flying by the seat of your decorating pants!  I love this ORC process.  Poe’s space is going to be great, and he’s going to love his perch (even if it doesn’t have an Eagle head.)

Happy Halloween! See you next week!

Rachel