ORC: Week Eight Reveal
Thanks again for joining me for the Spring 2021 One Room Challenge!
If you’re new to this blog series, start at Week One to see all the initial design plans and follow along each week to see the progress.
Outdoor Living Room Reveal
We’ve come to the end of the Spring 2021 One Room Challenge and it’s time for the Big Reveal!
Are you ready?
Ta-da! Didn’t it turn out great? Let’s see where we came from and where we ended up, shall we?
Isn’t it lovely? It’s hard even for me to believe that this is the same space. I mean, how does this beautiful Outdoor Living Room even fit where those ugly tables were?
Here are a few more shots of the interior of the living room.
The Al Fresco Dining Space
I absolutely adore the way this umbrella came out. It looks so incredibly cute.
My favorite thing about this part of the project is that I was able to take a table, chairs, and umbrella I already owned and take them from bland, big-box store staples, to gorgeous custom pieces.
The Philosophy and the Details
The goal of this space was to produce a usable Outdoor Living Room and Dining Space that would be just as functional and comfortable as an indoor one.
"Whether we’re sipping morning coffee or an evening nightcap, all our senses are fully immersed. "
I used a sectional sofa, a sofa table, layered lighting, curtains, and a rug to bring indoor comforts outside. All the fabric is outdoor safe “performance” fabric including all the fabrics and trims I used on my custom pieces.
The lamps, string lights, and ceiling fan are also rated for outdoor use, of course.
To really bring comfort to the outdoors I wanted to hit all the senses with this design. Whether we’re sipping morning coffee or an evening nightcap, all our senses are fully immersed.
We installed a water feature to add a calming white noise and has the added benefit of blocking out some of the more disturbing sounds a suburban neighborhood can experience.
Now, the soft rushing of water combined with natural birdsong is incredibly soothing and relaxing.
I even took smell into account when designing the space. On the south side of the patio we added trellises with honeysuckle plants growing up them. So there is the most deliciously sweet scent on that side of the room.
In the planters between the living room and al fresco dining space, I planted lemon thyme. It has a lemony sweet scent to invoke the taste buds and is one of my favorite scents.
Wrap-Up
I am so proud of myself and the hard work my husband and I put in. I simply cannot wait to spend the summer enjoying my Outdoor Living Room and Al Fresco Dining Space.
If you also participated, congratulations on making it to the end of the challenge! I hope your project turned out fabulous and that you learned and laughed along the way.
If you were following along with myself and the other participants, are you inspired to try the challenge next time? The Fall 2021 One Room Challenge will be here before you know it. (And it’s the perfect chance to spruce up a space before the holidays.)
Make sure you check out all the other reveals over at the One Room Challenge website and join me in celebrating their success.
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