THE ONE ROOM CHALLENGE SPRING 2021

AN OUTDOOR ROOM

OK Peeps,

Here we go again, it is that time of the year, the time we take on the ONE ROOM CHALLENGE and transform a space and do it in eight weeks.

This time we are redoing our Patio/Terrace which is a well overdue project as are pretty much all projects in my home. We moved to SoCal almost eight years ago from AZ, bought a patio set and began to add plants and make the best of our outdoor space in the beautiful SoCal weather.  Since then- 2014, a few entertaining nights and days have occurred on this patio and now it is showing wear, a little neglect and our then new furniture has seen better days.

#interiordesign, #hometakestime, #styleyourhome, #bringtheoutdoorsin, #SoCalDesigner, #designoutdoorroom

MY VISION

AN EXTENSION OF OUR INDOOR SPACE.

The plan for this space is to turn the patio/terrace into an outside room. An outside room with rugs, furniture, some outdoor art, fun decorative pillows, mix patterns, spruce the storage situation and make it so comfortable, neat and inviting that it becomes an extension of our inside space again .

As any good challenges present guidelines and rules, we believe that genius is born in limitation. Let’s just call it a self imposed rule. We have set a budget, and I will give you a breakdown of that budget and how we stretched it every which way to be able to accomplish what we want. Not everything we want, but a lot of it.

MAIN ITEMS WE WANT TO CHANGE

The bar cart, since we had no space for it inside, we moved it outside and quickly realized that dust, bugs and spider webs got on it and made the glassware dirty and dusty. It became a chore to have to clean the whole bar cart and the glassware every few weeks. Further, it would only look good for a day or two while the glassware remained clean.

Solution: A closed metal cabinet from IKEA that would also serve as additional storage.

 

#barcart, #storage, #ikeausa, #ikeahack

     

FROM DUSTY EXPOSED BAR CART TO THIS… But that is not all wait & see what we do to this piece.

 

The floor:  A while back we had to replace a rickety wooden deck at the end of the patio/terrace by the stucco fence as a couple of years into our tenure here, it became unsafe. We found the pavers and the landlord paid for the labor.   Win win….

Adding another 25sf of useable floor space:  We had to take the dead Ficus tree stump out from a corner of our patio. By pulling the stump and the rocks out of that corner we added extra solid surface floor space.  To make this corner usable square footage we wanted to use the same pavers as we used in the area where the rickety deck was.  When we set out to make this change, we could not find the same type of pavers we used before… so we made do – and had square pavers in a similar color installed instead.

 

COMPROMISE

Honestly, anything was an improvement on what we had. Paving this corner, we added another 25sf of usable solid floor space to our patio. The square pavers {12”x12”} make it easier to set a chair and a small table than if it were smaller pavers. This area is also under the covered side of the patio and it is a perfect relaxation, reading, meditation space. Or at least, we are making it into one.  

Concrete floor on the patio is stained and not the good stain, but the old concrete that is stained with grease and and stains from years of use. Challenge #2 of the Concrete Floor: The concrete area of the patio also has huge drain gaps that overtime have become so wide due to settling of the concrete- that debris, dust, dirt, and all kinds of unpleasant stuff gets inside them. We hose them off, clean them out and the gaps fill up again. 

Solutions, we had the drain gaps filled with decomposed granite and a sand with a polymer so that the gaps still drain, yet not fill with dirt. I had the concrete power washed when I had the pavers installed, but I recon the concrete could use another go with the power washer at the very least. When we did this work, we had no idea we were going to take on another ONE ROOM CHALLENGE. But I am glad we are participating because, it is a lot of fun to transform a space, have accountability and a limited amount of time in which to complete the project.

 

ONE OF THE RUGS

ONE SOLUTION FOR OLD CONCRETE FLOORS. PLUS IT’S NICE ON YOUR FEET.

#accessories, #homestyling, #decorateyourhome, #designyourhome, #hometakestime

 

Set of double doors on the patio to our laundry room/closet. The doors are as old as the condo I am sure. Whenever there is laundry happening, there are unsightly piles of laundry waiting to be run on the floor in front of the laundry closet.   Aside from the fact that the inside the laundry closet also needs updating. 

Solution? I am at a loss other than switching to disposable clothes, towels, and bedding. 🙂

The doors themselves are worn, unaligned, and need some care if not total replacement. Besides the doors being an issue, our washer and dryer also need replacement, those too are at least 15+ years old. The laundry closet could use a stunning re-do… may not make it during this round.

I am thinking now as I type this, I should reach out to @Maytag, @GEappliances, @LGUSA and other appliance industry partners, and see if they can partner up with me and get two lovely beasts in here and make this ONE ROOM CHALLENGE a really big deal. (wishful thinking).

Solution for laundry closet doors: Wait and see!

Deficient kitchen storage. For additional surface space when we are grilling, and additional kitchen storage we had to place our butcherblock island (from our old house) on the patio. That “island” serves dual purpose, counterspace during grilling and storage. We store small appliances, party trays, grilling tools, and project miscellaneous. (Why you may ask, project miscellaneous?… there is always a project going on in this household or at least the intention to get projects done.

 

A LITTLE FLORIDA CUBAN VIBE

Just hint of what we have in mind.

 

Our old patio furniture was a coffee table and chairs which worked well for having drinks, gathering, and chatting but if we wanted to eat outside it was not comfortable because the table was lower than the chairs.

Solution: This time I had to take my husband’s suggestion of a right height table and chairs. The chairs are ok for gathering and chatting, but they are great for eating at the table outside.   Even more of a reason to create a relaxing spot in the corner. 

2^nd Challenge on the furniture, the budget. Not huge and with the sold out and lengthy timeline issues we waited a while for our 2^nd choice. If it were all up to me the new furniture would have consisted of four Black Acapulco chairs with loads of pillows, a hanging chair in the corner, a center table, side tables, more rugs and a gorge cement and metal bench I found. But I am staying flexible and considerate – to his requests- so we are going to go with more traditional patio furniture than I would prefer. @wayfairprofessional.

To overcome this huge compromise on my part, LOL jk. I am adding fun patterns to the outside to make it all feel  outdoorsy, with a little whimsey, and a tropical vibe by mixing patterns and colors.

Stay tuned and check out the introduction video to this sad little patio about to get transformed.  

So, there you have it folks. I can’t give it all away on the first blog post. So, stay tuned so you get to see and learn more about this transformation and the details I am adding.

 

(www.oneroomchallenge.com/orc-blog)

 

Thank you ONE ROOM CHALLENGE AND BETTER HOME AND GARDENS FOR HOSTING THIS EVENT.

Thank you @Schaubhardware for always supporting me/SEA INTERIOR DESIGN and the ONE ROOM CHALLENGE PROJECTS I embark on.