I’m so excited to announce that I’ll be participating in the One Room Challenge! It will be a weekly series that follows the design process of ~20 bloggers for six weeks as they each transform a space in their homes. Because my apartment doesn’t really need six more weeks of work and I want this before and after to be as exciting as possible, I’m going to redecorate (drumroll, please!) my boyfriend Will’s living room!
He and his roommate Mike live in a beautiful Chelsea apartment and have a lot of awesome pieces to work with. But their apartment doesn’t get a ton of natural light and most of their furnishings are brown wood or leather, making their living room a fairly dark space even in broad daylight. I can’t wait to help make their space feel brighter, bigger, and better suited for all the entertaining they do (during football season at least). But first, the before pictures so you can see what we’re working with:
(Hey, Rory!) It’s definitely one of the nicer bachelor pads I’ve been in. (When my mom saw it for the first time, she was so impressed that Will and Mike own art and rugs. Low bar from my brothers…?) Like I said, there are definitely pieces worth keeping and repurposing. The goal isn’t to make their space less comfortable or masculine in any way but just to bring it from “pretty good” to “OMG awesome.”
Will loves these Albert Einstein paintings so they’re not going anywhere. But the couch? Let’s just say I’ve already found a much chicer replacement (stay tuned for that next week!).
I’m excited to streamline their TV set-up and hide a bunch of those cords. And we’re planning on a mega gallery wall on the same wall to add a little visual interest and keep the TV from being the focal point of the room.
This bar will be getting a fresh coat of paint and new hardware. It’s been a while since I’ve had the space to transform a piece of furniture so I’m pretty excited to tackle this one!
We haven’t decided what to do about the coffee table (any ideas?) but I can’t wait to switch out the rug and especially the lighting. I think those will both make a huge difference in terms of brightening this place up!
I’m a little nervous about the six week time frame (it’s definitely taken me much longer to decorate my own apartment) but I think there are a lot of small changes we can make in a short period of time that will make a big impact. (I sound like I’m on Trading Spaces getting ready to glue hay on the walls or something…) I’m really excited that Will and Mike are letting me spruce up their space and I can’t wait to share the process with all of you. Tune in each Wednesday for the next five weeks for new updates!
Where would you start with this space? I’d love to hear what you’d change about it!
Check out the other bloggers who will be participating in the One Room Challenge here:
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