One Room Challenge Week Two- Moodboards

Victoria Ford

3 years ago

Happy Wednesday, ya’ll! Welcome back to another week of One Room Challenge. I’m so excited to share with you guys my mood board for my two rooms. Yep, roomS. You read that right. If you need a reminder of what our rooms look like currently, you can see them in my week one post as well as some inspiration images. Other than that, I’m jumping right in today with two tips that I use in every space I design and moodboards.

But first…

Catch up on other weeks

Week 1 / Week 2 / Week 3 / Week 4 / Week 5 / Week 6 / Week 7 / Week 8: Guest Room Reveal/ Week 8: Bathroom Reveal

Tip 1- Bridal Design Trick

My rule of thumb when renovating at least for us is the same rule of thumb that brides use at a wedding; something old, something new something borrowed, something blue. Why? Those things tend to line up very nicely with my design aesthetic. As someone who is increasingly less preppy in her old age but still loves the classic things in life, this works for me. I also recently went hunting through One Room Challenge archives and noticed that Cheryl recommended this same tip when renovating her kitchen #greatminds.

Something old- Ground the space and gives a nod to the home’s age. Preferably something that was apart of the design scheme before.
Something new- Keeps the space from feeling fuddy duddy and dated before it’s even complete.
Something borrowed- Should always be something meaningful or borrowed from the past. For us that’s often a piece from a previous home, a family member or an antique.
Something blue- Every single space I design incorporates blue even if it’s just a piece of art. Color theory says that the color blue is calming and peaceful so it just makes sense to include in every room for us.

Tip 2- What Sparks Joy

Whenever I decorate a room, one item usually sparks my inspiration for everything else. Need I remind you of the time I renovated an entire bathroom after a vase sparked my interest or the time I accidentally renovated our kitchen because I needed new pillows? True stories. And while my overly imaginative mind lands me in design trouble from time to time, being inspired is the easiest way to complete and love a room. So if you see an item that catches your eye, even if it’s small, use that to propel your design forward.

If you do decide to risk it with a small item, make sure to put it on a moodboard with the rest of your items. Even if you aren’t a designer, you can create simple boards to convey your ideas using Canva, Pinterest or Powerpoint. Mine are created in Powerpoint because that’s where I think best but there are pros and cons to each method.

Guest Bedroom Moodboard

In our bedroom, the item that is propelling me forward is the piece of art, “Once Upon A Time” by Mark Maggiori. And while the rest of our home doesn’t really lend itself to the western feeling, I could not leave this painting. That “I can’t live without it feeling” is always a prerequisite for bringing an item into a space.

Guest Bedroom Mood

Since, I’m insisting on the cowboy painting as my jumping off point, I need the other pieces in the space to really resonate with the style in the rest of our home. For our something old, I’m pulling in a French bed from our old guest room. It was an incredible find and no matter where we go, we’ll never let go of that piece. It’s also doubling as our something borrowed since it’s both an antique and from our previous homes. For our something new and blue, I’m bringing tons of masculine patterns in varying shades of blue. I’ll mix that with warm, earthy materials like leather and cowhide to make this room feel cohesive with the rest of the house. I’ll finish the space with antique brass accents to give it a polished and elevate feel. Think Oobe brand flagship store (may it rest in peace) mixed with Camp.

Family Bathroom Moodboard

Our family bathroom was actually a lot easier to design than the complex wilderness that is the bedroom. For this room we are just leaning into what’s already there and who we already are. We have been joking that the wallpaper in our bathroom is ironic; of course we inherited a little nautical bathroom. We are going to take what we have and bring it to life in our true style.

Guest Bathroom Mood

We want this bathroom to feel a little bit like the coast without feeling cheesy. Instead of making any permanent nautical changes to the bathroom, we’ve chosen this 2×8 subway tile in the color, “Nautical” from Fireclay Tile. Not only does the color remind me of the choppiest ocean waves but the elongated subway tile feels like it as well. We’re introducing nautical to the permanent fixtures like tile in a way that isn’t overt.

That thought of course does not extend to the art in this space. I am going all out on the art. I had this beautiful idea to include a gallery wall of black sailor oil paintings. As you can imagine, it’s not the easiest task to amass enough for a gallery wall in only eight weeks. Rather than settle, I’ve pivoted my vision of the space to include different ship paintings, many of which I already own.

The key something old and something borrowed in this space will be the vanity. We are going to take a piece of antique furniture and convert it into a vanity by inserting this trough sink. What’s that you say? Another trough sink? I like what I like. And the world really opens up and is your oyster when you aren’t insisting upon brass fixtures and exposed plumbing. Boy did I do myself a disservice in our last house.

ORC Featured Designers

Okay folks. I will meet you back here. Same time, same place for week 3 of ORC. In the mean time, please check out my the other Featured Designers who are also mixing up some fantastic projects.