ORC Spring 2020!! - Form AND Function: Office Edition

Hey hey, y’all!!! Do you know what today is? It’s the first (well second) day of the Spring 2020 One Room Challenge! I’m sooo excited and VERY nervous at the same time, as this is my first time participating.

But, Sonya, What IS the One Room Challenge?? I’m so very glad you asked. Allow me to explain!

One Room Challenge Explained:

The One Room Challenge (ORC) is a biannual interior design event for interior designers, interior design enthusiasts, and design influencers. It typically occurs every April and November of each year. This year, the event was pushed back to May due to the current state of events surrounding the global pandemic.

Each round (April and November) there are 20 Featured Designers and lots of Guest Designers (like me!!), who join in this friendly and encouraging challenge to transform a space of their choosing (this is where the One Room comes in). Everyone is given six weeks to complete their transformations, and each person documents their transformation via their blog and/or Instagram. The process is documented and posted on a weekly basis, and the reveal is on the last week.

This time, instead of the ORC being six weeks, it’s eight weeks, and boy am i GLAD!!! I’m going to need all the time I can get!! Oh, and I forgot to mention that Better Homes & Gardens is the official media partner of the ORC! Isn’t that cool??

So now that you know what the ORC is, I hope you will follow along with me and the other participants, as we pour our hearts into our respective spaces.

ORC - Week 1

I have chosen to make over my home office for the ORC. Now, there is technically nothing wrong with my office at first glance. However, it is currently WAAAAAAYYYY more form than FUNCTION! Over the years, I have come to understand that I am a functional kind of designer, first. I mean, I’m ALL for pretty, but if pretty doesn’t work for the way YOU use your space, then it’s kind of useless. And my friends, that’s what my office has been to me as of late.

 
See, like I said, it’s a decent office, and has served me well. ‘But it’s time for an update!

See, like I said, it’s a decent office, and has served me well. ‘But it’s time for an update!

 
 
This corner has needed help for a LONG time. My chairs will be staying!! P.S. Those pink floors in the foyer are NO MORE!!!

This corner has needed help for a LONG time. My chairs will be staying!! P.S. Those pink floors in the foyer are NO MORE!!!

 
 
I actually LOVE this corner. However, the need for closed storage and a better storage system. This is my first dresser that I owned as an adult (college student) that I purchased for my first adult apartment. I painted this laminate dresser, and I …

I actually LOVE this corner. However, the need for closed storage and a better storage system. This is my first dresser that I owned as an adult (college student) that I purchased for my first adult apartment. I painted this laminate dresser, and I have loved it dearly.

 

Here are my main issues with the current space:

  • Lack of functional (enclosed) STORAGE!

    • You know, those gold open shelves were cute for a while . However, because I actually WORK out of this office now, I need better storage to hide those not so pretty, but necessary items.

  • Desk is too small

    • I’ve had that white desk for a decade and a half! Yes, 15 years, from TARGET!!! It has been moved from one home to the next, and repainted. I think I’ve gotten my $130 worth out of it! ‘And it’s just a tad bit too small to really spread out and get things done.

  • The FLOORS

    • My goodness, the orange 1990s laminate floors have GOTTA GO!

  • The Chair

    • That little acrylic ghost chair was mad cute! I had.to.have.it. Let me tell you something… it is also MAD UNCOMFORTABLE!

The Plan:

 
ORC-Gold-Logo.png
 
 
This is part of the “plan”; however, things are subject to CHANGE!

This is part of the “plan”; however, things are subject to CHANGE!

 
 
Do you see what EYE see???? ENCLOSED STORAGE!!! This picture give a more accurate picture of what the room will look like.

Do you see what EYE see???? ENCLOSED STORAGE!!!

This picture give a more accurate picture of what the room will look like.

 

There are still many accessory items missing from the images in the plan (including color!). However, I hope you can see where I’m going. Like I said earlier, I’m nervous and excited. There’s still SOOOOOOO much to do. I hope you’ll stay around to cheer me on, as well as the other participants in the ORC.

I’ll see you back here next week!!

With love,

Sonya B.