One Room Challenge | Fall 2021 | Week 2 | A Peek at One of the Big Projects We're Working On

This week we’re working on a ton of things at one time. Transforming my living room, bar area, hallways, and kitchen for the One Room Challenge is gonna be so much work, but I rarely say no to a challenge. Plus, I want this room done soooo bad! 8 weeks is gonna be JUST enough to get it all done and I can’t wait to be able to reveal these space(s) to you! So, what’s the One Room Challenge, you ask?

The One Room Challenge is a weekly series started and hosted by Linda of Calling it Home, where we transform a room from start to finish and reveal it at the end. Linda invites 20 participants as featured designers to post updates on Wednesdays, but anyone, anywhere, can join in as a guest participant and post their updates on Thursdays. Typically the ORC is six weeks, but this round we have EIGHT weeks to transform our spaces, having the big reveals on November 17th!

If this is your first time here, I hope you enjoy following along this process with me. I’m a New Orleans-based interior designer & influencer. I’m a few months away from my 2 year mark of having a separate-from-my-home design studio/brick-and-mortar – open to the public for retail. Definitely check out behind the scenes of my everyday design biz on IG and support me by visiting my online shop! If you’re wondering how I do all that, while also having a full-time, full-SCALE design business, ask the Lord, because ya girl is blessed, okay?? I absolutely love what I do.

If you want to see all the previous ORC challenges I participated in, check out my Week 1 intro post.

Now, for today’s updates. My home is a mess right now, with all the demo materials all over the place, but I wanted to share one of the projects I’m working on that’s gonna make a huge impact in my space: my bar.

It was a massive 7′ long countertop on top of shallow shelves and a brick façade. The brick was gonna be the death of me! So, I was ready for it to go!! We removed the brick and it’s already made my living room feel like a whole new space!

Here’s what this space looked like when we made an offer on the house:

It’s giving “maw-maw” vibes, and I’ve have it up to *here* with it. Seriously, our bar is what I’m most excited about, which is why I couldn’t wait to come here to the blog and share some of the plans for it!

And, now here’s what it looks like:

If you look back at the photo showing the bar when we first saw the house, you can see the sink and cabinet I want to reference. We’re replacing the cabinet with an inexpensive, unfinished one from a big box store and bringing in a gorgeous new faucet and sink. On top, we’re (as in my dad) building custom shelving to display some of my husband’s extensive alcohol collection.

I’m excited about what I’m doing with the walls to really help reflect some light back into my living room. You’ll love this, I promise!

You may not be able to tell from the “before” photo, but this corner is so dark! New, efficient lighting is a must. My ceilings are just 8′ tall, so I don’t want a distracting ceiling mounted light fixture in this space. Instead, I’m opting for recessed lights to replace this hideous ceiling light.

So, what am I doing with the bar? Initially I planned to get rid of the whole thing and rebuild it. I wanted to actually put the sink and faucet into the bar countertop, having two different surface heights. But, I thought about two things: (1) I really, really love having one large, continuous countertop at bar height and (2) moving plumbing from the wall to inside of the bar would just be more work than necessary, especially since it’ll break up the space too much.

So, instead, we’re actually gonna reuse the shelving cabinet. We’ll pull it away from the wall and into the living room area about 6 inches to provide more clearance behind the bar, but I’m torn between two different finishing options for the front side of the bar. There’s so much potential for it now that the brick is gone! I’m gonna share two ideas that I have for it – on my Instagram, so make sure you’re following me there (@whitneyjdecor).

Next week, I’ll share what I decide on, as well as what’s happening in the kitchen and on my fireplace. OMG, I’m too excited for this!

The plan for the countertops is remnants from a local stone yard, but I have no idea was I will find. Hopefully I’ll have that to share next week, too!

Can’t wait to share more! Be sure to follow me on Instagram, to catch the behind the scenes action AND you’ll get to see me actually go through the real mini-reno process of my own home.

And, if you’re in the market for home decor and fun accesories, be sure to take a peek at my shop!

Be sure to visit the other 19 featured designers below. You’re in for a treat!