Hey friends! Welcome to week 1 of the One Room Challenge {ORC} where I will be transforming my formal dining room into a functional home office.
I'm so excited to be participating in my second ORC! There is something about knowing you have a set amount of time to finish a room that really gets me motivated. Otherwise knowing me it would probably take me months to do one room LOL.
If you're not familiar with the One Room Challenge, it's a biannual six-week challenge created by Linda from Calling it Home with House Beautiful as a media partner. Every April and October Linda invites 20 bloggers/designers to completely transform a space. They share their weekly progress leading up to the big reveal within a six-week period.
In addition, other bloggers {like myself} also join the ORC as guest participants to also transform a space in our home within the same six-week period.
ORC: Dining Room Office Week 1
I will be sharing my progress every Thursday here on the blog. So you might want to sign up for my newsletter so you don't miss a thing!
Can I tell you a secret? I've been looking forward to this challenge since the last One Room Challenge ended. I've made over several rooms in our home while participating in different challenges, but this is only my second ORC challenge.
Back in the fall I gave my master bedroom a long overdue makeover {the before was so tragic you guys}.
This time around I'm tackling my dining room, transforming it into my personal office.
We hardly ever use our dining room. Even on holidays, we seem to just gravitate to the breakfast nook.
Even when we've entertained upwards of 10 people. We still end up in the kitchen, breakfast nook and living room.
I think because the dining room is off to the side that it's not very conducive when entertaining. However, that makes it a great candidate for home office.
To start here is my vision for the new dining room office. I want it to be functional, pretty, and feminine while making sure it's still cohesive with the rest of our home.
I still haven't decided on a lighting fixture and some other details {like curtains} yet. However, Im really happy with the direction I'm going in so far.
This is what my dining room looks like currently {I'm in the process of selling my dining set}.
Unlike when I made over by master bedroom for the ORC Last fall. I'm lucky this time around to be starting with a space that already has great bones. So this makeover will be purely about decorating.
Notice Magnolia taking a little cat nap on the chair 🐱.
I don't even think I'm going to paint. A few months after we moved in, we painted the dining room Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams. I'm still loving the color and it will work perfectly with this makeover.
Keep in mind this is an extremely budget conscious makeover. To really stretch my decorating dollars I'm going to have to shop around for the best deals and definitely tackle some DIY projects.
Although this will be technically my office, I want it to be useful space for everyone in the house in some way. I'm so excited to get started on this project and create a space that is a much better fit for our family than a formal dining room.
I will be posting progress updates every Thursday and I would love for you to follow along with me on this roller coaster ride that is the ORC by signing up for my newsletter!
Also be sure to check out the other guest participants to see what they have plan for this round of the ORC. There is always so much inspiration to be found in the ORC link ups!
Thank you for visiting! See you next time!
Holly says
Yay! I'm doing the same thing for the challenge. I am converting my dining room to my home office. This is my first ORC. I will for sure follow your progress!
jen says
I was actually doing a you tube search on the ORC and came across one of your videos and came to your blog from there. I am loving your ideas for this space! I can't wait to follow along. I never thought about documenting my ORC on you tube (i started out on you tube first!!) Looking forward to your progress 🙂
Linda P. says
hi jen, glad you stopped by. Making videos for the ORC was a last minute thought last year. but this year I'm trying to be more intentional. If you started out on Youtube then you should definetly document it. It's pretty cool to see the transformation as you go along.
Victoria.L says
Excited to follow along, Linda. I love the items picked out, especially the bar cart.
Linda P. says
Thank you Victoria!
Nancy @ Slightly Coastal says
Awesome! I'm doing my dining room also! I love your mood board. The blue rug is amazing. I can't wait to see how you transform this space.
Linda P. says
Thank you Nancy! I will head on over and see what you got planned!
Andrea says
can't wait to see more! My husband always works at the dining table so maybe this will give me some ideas for our dining room
Linda P. says
Andrea, that's my husband too! I'm aiming to make a mostly an office that can be turned into a dining room when needed.
Zan says
Well, you know I had to pop over to see what you are going to do! I love your design sytle - so fabulous as always!! This dinning/office combo already looks nice on the design board!!
Linda P. says
Hi Zan! Thank you for checking on me, always appreciate when you visit!
mallory says
Very excited to be following along! Looks like we have a similar esthetic!
I am tackling my bedroom for my first oRC!
mal @ http://www.badwolfbrunch.com
Linda P. says
Good luck Mallory! I did my bedroom for my first ORC too!