How do you like me now? ORC Update!

Linda, prompted by Elisa ... is doing a little espionage work to see if we actually have done anything different to our original ORC rooms.

Here's my Round Up
Go Here to check out all the other Rooms 
Made Beautiful during the ORC!

My First ORC... for a young family ... while the pieces are the same in their family room, it is now filled with their love!

My Second ORC ... turning an unused eating area into a Keeping Room for a young family to gather, wait for mom to finish cooking, and read books. The only change they made?  A new puppy!!

My Third ORC, here's where things start to change.

My Office Illusion ... 

What's different ... this illusion was ripped down and here is my NEW reality and it is NO illusion!  Definitely a contender for the April Link Up!

10' X 7' ... remnants of a Dark Room.

All Mine.

My Fourth ORC I joined in the ORC Link Up Party ... 

Our Powder Room.

What's different ... we Moved.  I am now faced with this.  I cannot even call this a Powder Room.  Another Contender for the April ORC Link Up.

I'd like your Opinion ... 

Which one would you like to see me tackle in April?

Powder Bathroom OR my No Illusion Office?
And, YOU can help me Focus!

Plus ... Pick a room and join the Link Up. Here's HOW.
You need some Motivation?  This is It!

Making the World More Beautiful.  One Room at a Time.

Oh, Don't forget to enter to Win
An Affair with a House 
here.

xo,

kim

ORC and Link Up!

Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare yourselves for a 

Blogging Design Star Extravaganza 

to begin!

One Week from today, Linda, of Calling It Home, and 20 designers, DIY'ers, Interior Lovers will kick off the next One Room Challenge.

Six weeks of 20 Designers changing up one room each in 6 weeks!  

I was fortunate enough to participate in the first 3 Challenges and heres what I was able to create ... 

Challenge 1:  Family Room for a young couple and their 3 daughters.

Challenge 2:  Transforming an unused room for a young family into a Keeping Room.

Challenge 3:  Creating an Office Space for me!

Let me just tell you the competition is fierce ... these participants know what they are doing and I am certain we are all going to have a ball watching them!

On October 2 Linda kicks off the official One Room Challenge.  And

On October 3 Linda invites anyone who wants to link up their own challenge to her blog can join in!  Find the details here. Take advantage of all the fun and talent and get a project done!  You will be glad you did!

I am Linking Up this year to take my Powder Room to a new level and hope to you'll join in as well as we all attempt to:

Make the World More Beautiful.  One Room at a Time.

xo,

kim

Custom for ORC! Week FOUR

Welcome back to ORC!  If you are new to our challenge and want to start at the beginning, click HERE and you can see what we've been up to!

Now here's what's going on ...

These wonderful New England Colonial Homes that were built in the 60's and 70's ... that we love ... have  low ceilings and NO mudrooms.

This brings on a big DUMP of things when kids, husbands ... and yes, even me!  ... walk in the door.

For our Keeping Room we wanted to address this clutter thing with some personality, function and BEAUTY!

Our Custom ... portable ... MUDROOM!!

Okay ... I know the baskets are ASKEW!!  They USE this piece every minute of the day ... so please, no judging!!

And the Ceiling ... remember the inspiration rooms ?  I wanted to paint these beams so badly ... so did SHE ... we sampled a few ... we got stopped by her husband.  I hate to admit this ... but HE was RIGHT!!!


So ... I have to say the past couple of weeks have been a little boring and we put together the neutral basics of this new room ... well stay tuned PLEASE ... because next week ... We Bring on the BLING baby!


xo,


kim


Please check out my ORC girls ...

Beth - Chinoiserie Chic                    Lauren - The Cottage Mix

Sherry - Design Indulgence             Lindsay - Everything LEB

Barbara - Hodge:Podge                   LisA - Lisa Mende Design

Tiffany - Living Savvy                       Jessie - Mix & Chic

Linda - My Crafty Home Life           Alison - My Little Happy Place

Danylle - Nana Moon                       Nicole - Nicole Scott Designs

Julia - Pawleys Island Posh             Jennifer - The Pink Pagoda

Bethany - Powell Brower Home      Lindsay - The Pursuit of Style

Emily - Rue de Emily                         Lindsay - Sadie + Stella

Lisa - Trapped in North Jersey

One Room Challenge!

Every Wednesday, For the next six weeks you are in for a treat ... Linda from My Crafty Home Life is doing it again!  Remember the One Room Challenge?  Well this time there are 20 DIY-ers and Designers to complete one room in this short span!  I hope you will join us all as we journey through 20 rooms!


My ORC is a Keeping Room.  I have been enamoured by the idea of Keeping Rooms forever.  That is a strong statement ... it's a fact.

The original definition of the Keeping Room dates back to Colonial times when families would actually sleep in this room off the kitchen to keep warm when the weather was not so friendly!  It is truly the pre-cursor of the family room of today. I still prefer the smaller cozier Keeping Rooms as opposed to the giant open spaced Great Room.  


The fireplace is generally the focal point.


Here is our Focal Point ... Before!

The whole idea of a keeping room is to have a family gathering place that is near the kitchen. And even though we don't have to sleep here to keep warm, children still play and families gather to read, talk and often keep warm by the fire. 

My love for the Keeping Room revolves around our family gathering together in the evening to share stories of our day, preparing dinner and the laughter and loudness that ensues. 


I don't have the space for a keeping room ... but my client does ... And she was game! 

More "Before"  ...

I am not a Tiffany Chandelier lover ...  I really know nothing about Tiffany Glass.  I hedged around this one with kid gloves till I figured out it wasn't a sacred piece ... whew ... we will be moving it along!  Too heavy and brooding for this little space.

Please join me as we move through the transformation of this kitchen drop zone into a beautiful Keeping Room ... where this family will Keep for a long happy life!


And please pop over to my ORC friends and see what they have drummed up for this fun challenge!

xo,

kim

Beth - Chinoiserie Chic                    Lauren - The Cottage Mix

Sherry - Design Indulgence             Lindsay - Everything LEB

Barbara - Hodge:Podge                   LisA - Lisa Mende Design

Tiffany - Living Savvy                       Jessie - Mix & Chic

Linda - My Crafty Home Life           Alison - My Little Happy Place

Danylle - Nana Moon                       Nicole - Nicole Scott Designs

Julia - Pawleys Island Posh             Jennifer - The Pink Pagoda

Bethany - Powell Brower Home      Lindsay - The Pursuit of Style

Emily - Rue de Emily                         Lindsay - Sadie + Stella

Lisa - Trapped in North Jersey