One Room Challenge Week 1: Moroccan Dining Room
The dining room as it currently exists
We are so excited to begin our journey with the One Room Challenge! First, I’d like to give you a little background on us both. James and I have been great friends for close to 20 years. We first met in my tiny Bridgeport apartment when my roommate brought home her new friend she made at UIC. His name was James, and we quickly became each other's biggest fans. James and I bonded over a shared passion of art, design, and music. Fast forward 20-ish years later, and we risked it all to follow our love of art and design by starting our interior design firm Studio Folklore in June of this year.
My husband, Jason, and I moved into our 1893 fixer-upper almost 2 years ago. While our new home is full of original character and features, there is a lot to do as this home hasn’t really been updated since the ’60s or ’70s. You should see my kitchen. It is a time capsule straight out of the ’70s. As other designers will tell you, you are your own worst client. When we decided to join the One Room Challenge, we chose straight off to pick one of the rooms in my house that I had been dragging my feet on, and the dining room fit the bill.
The space how it was when we moved in initially over a year ago
My dining room is open to our living room via a large arch, so whatever we do in the space will have to act as an anchor for the living room as well. I had somewhat of a vision for our dining room, but after talking with James, we decided to treat this as we would any client’s room, which has brought in new exciting plans for this space while solidifying some initial ideas. The space was originally painted a yellowed beige with very heavy drapery that let no light into the room and a beige carpet that had seen better days. We knew there were hardwoods under the carpet, so the first thing my husband and I did was rip up the carpet and paint the walls white and one wall a beautiful green. It’s been in this state ever since.
After James and I put our heads together, we decided to lean into my love of travel and Moroccan design, artisanship, and architecture. Though we obviously don’t live in Morocco, we wanted to bring that feeling into the room. I can never quite put that feeling into words, but if you've ever visited Morocco or seen a Moroccan space, you know. There is at once a feeling of lightness and moodiness, of bright jeweled color and cool white. It’s a feast for the eyes but also a respite for the soul. It’s a tangible place yet feels ethereal. I wanted a space that I could share more than just a meal with guests, a space that offers a hint of the magic in the air. James helped me bring that vision into focus.
Mood Board
Here’s a rundown of everything we would like to accomplish in the next eight weeks.
We will be removing the terrible ’80s fan. While I love French cane, I could do without it on my ceiling. Once removed, we’ll have the electrician wire for two pendants that will hang over the dining table.
The plaster on our current ceiling looks like a jigsaw puzzle. Luckily, my molding has enough of a reveal at the top that will allow drywall to be placed over the current ceiling.
Once drywall and wiring is done, we will paint the rest of the walls the same as the current green color, which is Sparkling Emerald by Behr. The ceiling will be painted white, and we will create a stencil to add a border to the ceiling to draw your eyes up
I love vintage everything, so I found a vintage China cabinet on Facebook marketplace for $75 that will be getting a couple of coats of black paint. We will also be adding a fun element to the back panel of the China cabinet that is to be determined. Our first thought was a grasscloth or pattern of some kind.
While I would absolutely love to get new chairs for our dining room, it's just not currently in the budget. In the meantime, we will be reupholstering the chair cushions and perhaps figure out another way to give them a bit of a facelift.
Currently, I have long white curtains hanging that I do like but they are a little boring, so I am going to embroider the edges with a pattern that will echo the ceiling stencil to add some more interest.
I splurged a bit on our pendants. They are Moroccan brass pendants with tons of cutouts that will project a beautiful pattern all over the room when on. They are coming from Marrakesh. Let’s hope these beauties get installed in time. They are really the central focus of the whole room.
The arch that leads into the dining room from the living room is aching for special treatment, so we’ve decided to gold leaf the arch. It will echo the drama of the brass pendants and really frame the room when viewed from the living room.
The door that leads to the kitchen will get a coat of paint, most likely in a complimentary terracotta color.
The rug we currently have will be out of place after everything is in place, so we will be sourcing a new rug for the space.
Then there are the little details: installing a threshold, moving the router into the basement, adding a new switch and replacing the outlet covers, and updating with a new thermostat since our current thermostat was probably from 1971.
Stay tuned over the next eight weeks as we get started on rendering the environment in 3D, start repairs and electrical work, and get to work bringing this fantasy to life!
Please check out all of the participants in this year’s One Room Challenge at their blog here: https://www.oneroomchallenge.com/orc-blog/
Fall 2022 Sponsored by https://www.apartmenttherapy.com
-Karen
