One Room Challenge -- Where are They Now? My Crazy Dinette

True to form, I am continuing my headless chicken routine by linking up late to the ORC party. It's a wonder anything gets done around here, what with 70 rounds of the flu and a work load that just won't quit (thankful for that part, not thankful for the flu). But I really wanted to tell you about what happened with my dinette. When last you saw it at the ORC reveal, the walls were screaming acid green and the vibe was OTT:

Not to toot my own horn, but in the photos it looks money. Solid gold. I know my strengths, and I'm good at dressing a set -- which is exactly what this room is for me. It's my little corner of the world where I can experiment and run wild. It's small and easy to repaint, which is handy because that color got on my nerves. For real.

In the daytime it was ok, but at night it felt like I was locked in an insane asylum on the moon. It was SO BRIGHT and the room is so small... it was intense.

Add that to the fact that Bungalow Magazine asked to shoot my house right after the ORC ended and I panicked. As a self contained room this space worked, but when viewed in the context of the rest of my house it felt unbalanced.

So I did what I do. I repainted that shizz. Sanders helped me pick the color, of course -- Benjamin Moore Antique Glass.

And here's the photo Bungalow took. They made the room all dark and moody like, but you can see that the color is in the same vein but far less intense. I also swapped out the art with a vintage Round Top find and I think the whole thing is a vast improvement, although maybe not as bling bling exciting as the ORC reveal shots.

It's real world successful. My family can eat in here without sunglasses.

Next up for this room: figure out the horrible soffit situation. It can't be removed. Molding maybe?

Then I will probably repaint or wallpaper or get a new table and chairs or something. I can't leave well enough alone, you know. Designer problems!

***

I’m linking up to Linda’s ORC Now party.  To check out updates on all the ORC projects, please check out Calling It Home.

The Down low on Bungalow

Thank you SO MUCH for all of your kind comments on my very hasty post last week. I must confess that running a mini PR blitz focused on me me me left a bitter taste in my mouth. I worked super crazy hair pulling hard to get everything ready for the Bungalow feature, so I'm on cloud nine that the shoot turned out well (and is over!). I read and savored every single sweet word sent this way... but putting my name in flashing lights and hoping for cheery facebook comments and instagram pats on the back is not really where my heart is at. My heart is in the story. So let's talk about the shoot and subsequent interview. Let's talk about how intimidating and nerve wracking it is to know a fancy photographer (Buff Strickland), stylist (Ann Lowe), and writer (Tolly Moseley) will be scrutinizing you and your home. I'm a one stop mom and pop shop, and when I post tours of my place I take the pictures and do the styling and tell the tales. It is HARD to give over control to other people when you are an OCD nightmare.

Can you see it on my face? That is fear. That is the face of a cornered wild animal attempting to play it cool. IT'S NOT WORKING.

So the day of the shoot, Buff (aka photographer for House Beautiful and every other shelter mag on the planet) and Ann (stylist to stars like Tribeza and Camille Styles) show up at my doorstep with a boatload of equipment and gargantuan buckets of flowers. Holy panic attack, I am not a flowery flower kind of a girl. But look:

I am a changed woman. The importance of a few well placed flowers can not be overstated. I am obsessed with those orange gladiolus.

For those of you wondering where the green chairs went, fear not -- they are safely stowed in the attic. They do not look as good with orange gladiolus.

Buff and Ann were probably wondering why I sat watching them the entire time like some old lady who thinks whippersnapper rapscallions might knick the knacks from her shop, but I couldn't help myself. Beyond just feeling like a nervous weirdo, I was really interested to see what happens behind the scenes. And what happens is heavy furniture gets moved, flowers are constantly rearranged, and pillows are replaced from shot to shot:

 Goodby peach and ikat pillows, hello leopard.

Lamp cords are magicked away.

For this shot Ann reimagined the playroom as a cocktail lounge, which is frankly fitting. Because at the end of a long hard day negotiating lego wars between two boys, a good old fashioned G&T goes down right smooth like. You can see the rest of the room in a tour I shot HERE... man now that I've seen Buff's stuff I should seriously fix my old dark pictures.

Those of you who followed the One Room Challenge might remember my dinette makeover... and no the wall color here is not the result of fancy photo editing. Yes, I did repaint it AGAIN... five days before the shoot. And yes, Sanders chose the color.

Not much has changed in Luke's nursery since I shot the last tour HERE. I really like Ann's styling -- it's effortless, and that ain't as easy as it looks. Oh I did buy a cute mobile from Furbish. You know I love me some hot air balloons...

I lugged the chandelier from Ike's old room to our new house because it turns every room into a sweet fantasy land filled with sparkles and rainbow kisses. I need to shoot a full tour of this space because there are a lot of good nooks and crannies, if I do say so myself. I thought Buff did a super amazing awesome job here. This is a really really really hard room to shoot. Which is why I haven't shot it yet. And maybe never will...

I do, on the other hand, plan to shoot a full tour of my bedroom makeover. Blood, sweat, and tears people. I wrung my hands over whether I could transform our old master bedroom into this during the two (!) weeks that elapsed between when Bungalow asked to shoot my house and the shoot date... But I'm so happy with the way it turned out and I want to show you the other side of the space where my fancy Jenny Andrews Anderson jellyfish painting reigns supreme. It's sick.

I owe Buff and Ann a huge thank you for double shooting the naked lady pillow and gold pillow on every single setup... I just couldn't decide if naked lady was too risque. HA. Oh, also the quilt is too short and they had to cheat it from side to side in every shot. Let no one ever say that photographers and stylists don't work hard for their money, because they do. Also photographs lie, so don't ever beat yourself up for not looking like a magazine.

Honestly Buff and Ann are two of the nicest, most talented people imaginable. I can't think of two lovelier ladies with which to spend an afternoon biting my nails into the quick. And look -- I was so busy worrying for nothing. They did an AMAZING job.

Of course I would be remiss if I did not highlight the fabulous Tolly Moseley, editrix of one of Austin's oldest blogs Austin Eavesdropper, for writing a kind and insightful article to accompany the pictures. That girl is a gem. Adorable.

I hope you all have a chance to check out the magazine, and to look at some of the other features. Meredith Pardue's house is definitely worth the click over.

So there you have it. Thank you, Bungalow for inviting me into your network of talented people. It feels good to gush about someone else besides myself.

And thank you out there for continuing to read and comment on Design Crisis after all these years...

You guys helped make this happen for me, and I am eternally grateful.

Tears.

Finished Project Sneak Peeks!

Hi guys -- no baby yet, but my mama sense (and my doctor) say evacuation is imminent. I really wanted to bust out mega shoots of the rooms I've finished up, but I'm just too tired and uncoordinated. Like, I am physically unable to bend my body into the positions necessary to photograph small spaces.

So instead of trying to make some House Beautiful spreads happen (I wish), I told myself I could shoot just one sneak peek shot of each room. And I did. And now I feel all crampy and I'm racing just to type this before a baby shoots out of my bajingo...

In other words, this is going to be my last post until I show up with a bunch of sappy photos of a newborn baby. Let's jam.

The front room/playroom is finally finished... mostly. Is anything really ever finished? Anyway, here's my source list:

Paint color is Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor.

Couch is vintage Danish rosewood and wool boucle. You do remember Alexis, right?

Painting was thrifted long ago in California.

Rug came from Overstock, but the price has gone up since I bought it.

Chinoiserie etageres were purchased from Room Service and custom painted to match the walls by Matt. These were by far my biggest splurge -- about $550 for the pair.

Sconces were $2.99 each at a thrift store, but I had to buy harps and scored some ultra fancy shades at TJ Maxx for $15 each.

Bengal Bazaar pillows came from Etsy.

Everything else is vintage thrift.

I was kinda convinced I would have the baby before I could even move a crib into the nursery, but we actually got a lot further on this room than I thought we would. It's still missing some art and bedding, but it's 90% there. Source list:

Paint color is Benjamin Moore Frappe.

Chair is vintage Milo Baughman that I had recovered in Togo fabric. This was the big splurge for this room -- about $450 total.

Curtains are super cheap Ikea Ritva onto which my sweet MIL spent two nights sewing ribbon trim... LOVE THEM! Four panels cost $65 plus time. Can't beat that.

Mongolian fur pillow came from the West Elm outlet for $5.

Light fixture came from Ebay.

Vintage Raoul Dufy screenprint came from Room Service for $28. I cut a new mat for it.

Bookshelf is Ikea Expedit.

Sheepskin rug is old news.

Everything else is thrifted.

And last but not least is Ike's room. I think that I complain every time about how hard it is to shoot rooms in this house, but this room really is tough. I can't wait to shoot it with proper lights, but not now. Mama is tired. Source list:

Paint color is Benjamin Moore Deep Secret.

The big boy bed was the major splurge here. I got it off craigslist plus I paid Matt to paint it, so about $450 total.

Light fixture and rocker are both vintage and appeared in Ike's old room.

Rug is vintage and used to live in our old dining room.

Curtains are Ikea Aina.

Bedding is a super cute Ikea seersucker stripe that didn't photograph well.

Blue velvet pillows are Ikea.

Sheepskin is Ikea.

Leopard pillow is TJ Maxx.

And that's what I've been working on.

I'm not really sure when the baby will come out -- I'm not actually due for another week. But I think I need a few days to myself before the main event, so I'm signing off for now.

Please add DC to your google/RSS feed so you'll know when I'm back with baby pictures and more room reveals. Or you could just come and visit the archives. I used to write some pretty sweet posts before I got knocked up and my brain turned into jello.

It won't be too long before my triumphant return... pinky swear.

Until then, I'll miss you guys.

Be awesome.