One Room Challenge - An Introduction and My Home Office

Guys!  It's been quite a while since I've posted here, but I decided to blow the cobwebs off this blog and join in on the fun for this round of The One Room Challenge.  You know the one, it's where a group of bloggers select a room to redo from top to bottom in six weeks, sharing progress updates every week - Thursdays here - I'm one of the linking participants.

If we haven't met, I'm Kim Lemmon, and I own a  little design firm in Chattanooga, TN called The Green Room Interiors.  I'm all about classic design that feels fresh and vibrant, and since the room I'm doing for the ORC is in my own home, I'm excited that I can make it a true expression of my  personality and my personal style.  And isn't that what great design is all about?

Here's the room I completed for my very first One Room Challenge, about 3 1/2 years ago. It's the family room in my circa 1972 French Provincial ranch I affectionately refer to as "Project Dollhouse". The art on my gallery wall gets moved from time to time and I have since replaced the sofa with a vintage hunter green velvet Tuxedo sofa, but for the most part this room has functioned perfectly for our family. If only it stayed this tidy all the time.

My next ORC room was my kitchen, seen here:

I also joined in on the fun as a linking participant with my hall bath makeover seen below. I'm still completely smitten with the Brunschwig & Fils damask wallpaper:

and then finally, my living room and dining room combo: 

Do you feel like you know me a little better now?

Great, because what I'm going to show you now is tough.  Trust me, it's even more painful for me than it is for you.  It's an empty bedroom I'm claiming as my home office. I may or may not have organization/storage issues that need to be addressed.  Luckily my assistant is pretty cute.

When you don't have proper storage, stuff ends up all over the floor.  Infrequently used exercise equipment will be relocated to the basement, where it is even less likely to get used.

Nice.  The upside is that with before photos this bleak, there's nowhere to go but up.

I do hope you'll come back next week  to learn about my plans for my command central.  I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you that you won't see gray walls and neutral furnishings. I adore surrounding myself with beautiful color and find it so exciting to come up with interesting color combinations.  So that's what we'll be doing over here anyway.

Thanks for stopping by!  Please make sure to visit the main event bloggers  here and all of the other linking participants here

And a big thank you to  Linda at Calling it Home for dreaming this all up and hosting.

If you're in the Chattanooga area and in need of some design help,  please feel free to contact me at The Green Room Interiors 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com.  You can also visit my business website here.

See you next week!

One Room Challenge Week 5 - Finally Wallpaper

I bet you thought I was going to be a no-show today.  The reason I'm posting so late  is because my wallpaper ladies finished hanging my bathroom just moments ago and I wanted to wait until they were done so I could show you pictures of something more than sheet rock dust and a toilet.

But before we get to that, I want to thank you for checking in on my week FIVE (!) progress of the One Room Challenge.  In case you're not familiar, it's the internet sensation (if you like this sort of thing) where bloggers make over a room from start to (hopefully) finish in 6 weeks posting their progress every week either on Wednesday or Thursday. The entire concept for this event was dreamed up by Linda and you'll find links to all participants here and here.

Now, on to my bathroom situation.  If you follow me on Instagram then you already know I got cold feet where my wallpaper was concerned.

 Because although that damask pattern is pretty, it's also super traditional, kind of gigantic,  and somewhat formal.  So I did what any insecure, self-doubting decorator would do.  I put it in front of my Instagram followers to decide.

Yes, the damask had a formidable opponent in this latecomer. I mean who doesn't love a good bamboo treillage wallpaper?  I certainly do and apparently my Instagram followers do because they voted for the treillage paper over the damask.

And after all of that input and indecision,  I followed my heart and took a leap of faith with my original choice.

iPhone 4S photos cannot accurately capture the magnificence of this paper. And I also have to say that in this world of seamless glass and showers and understated finishes, my heart will always belong to pretty color combinations and interesting pattern mixes.  

In other bathroom news, I hinted last week that I was considering painting the wainscoting blue, yet I decided to keep it crisp and go with white. But now I think I want to paint my boring door black.  What do you think?

So there is lots left to do to get ready for next week's reveal.  We haven't even begun to convert the buffet, much less pick out  a sink and faucet. We are tired and somewhat overwhelmed.  But the good thing about week 5 is that the finish is in sight and it kind of gives you the shot of adrenaline you need to bring it all together for the reveal.  That's what I'm hoping anyway.

So I'll see you back here next Thursday.  If you absolutely cannot wait to see more bathroom tidbits or you just want to show some love and devotion, I suggest you follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.  I can't wait to show you my finished bathroom!


The Green Room Interiors provides Interior Decorating and Design Services in Chattanooga, TN.  If you'd like to discover the joy of living in a well designed home, contact Kim Lemmon at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com

A Few Updates at the Dollhouse

Hello there!  I hope you're having a great summer so far, even though it seems to be passing by so quickly!

Today I wanted to share a few little updates we've managed to get done at over here at The Dollhouse.

Let's start big.  Unbeknownst to you my foyer has been nothing more than a plywood sub floor for some time now.

  I'm elated to report that over the weekend my hubby changed that situation for the better.

Yay!  And I think there's an opportunity for some sort of fun albeit small piece for the wall to the left, so I'll keep you posted when I find my love match. 

Also, if you follow me on Instagram, then you already know that I recently purchased this sketch from a local artist.

and I've incorporated it into this vignette in my family room.  It's getting increasingly hard to find places to put things at my house.  I have no book cases or  mantels and my rooms are narrow so I don't even have side tables in most cases.  It's a struggle for this collector, so I'm layering art where I can.

So what's next you ask?  I've got my sights set on the hall bath.  When we moved in we tore out the old linoleum flooring and the tub surround  and replaced all of that with new white tile. 

Nothing extravagant, but I wanted white tile to brighten up this dark space and make it feel cleaner.  I don't want to spill too many details about my plan for this lackluster space but I'm very excited about moving forward and I think it will be one of my very favorite makeovers at The Dollhouse.  

In the meantime, this 1970's wallpaper is being stripped 

and will be replaced with a Brunschwig & Fils kind of gorgeous.

and that's just the beginning.  Stay tuned, and if you'd like to stay updated with all things The Green Room Interiors, the best place to find me is on Instagram, so please follow along!

The Green Room Interiors provides Interior Decorating and Design Services in Chattanooga, TN.  If  you'd like to discover the joy of living in a well designed home, contact Kim Lemmon at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com

Collected Family Room Project Reveal

Monday again!  How was your weekend?  Mine was a mixed bag of work, play and rest, with an emphasis on the "rest"  portion.

Most noteworthy this weekend was a nice surprise in my Inbox from a lovely client who happens to be a talented photographer.  She snapped some photos of her family room we've been working on and I wanted to share them with you.

A little background info - this is a very well traveled young family that just relocated to Chattanooga. They've lived and traveled all over the globe and have amassed a nice selection of meaningful keepsakes and family heirlooms - many of which we are working into their decor. Their design style leans very classic, light and family friendly.  They're not afraid of color, and wanted their home to be a reflection of their family and their lives.  

Nearly everything you see in the room above was theirs, with the exception of the drafting table against the back wall, the lamps which I sourced for them and the Asian wing chair, (which was purchased from me and reupholstered).   We also reupholstered their existing sofa and love seat with a neutral velvet and had her throw pillows re-made with a mix of new fabrics. The walls were coated with Benjamin Moore's Manchester Tan for light, neutral envelope. 

Just a few weeks ago we installed the photography wall so it could be seen from the new banquette in the kitchen (photos will be coming soon!).  I think the photography wall is the thing they love most about the space.  

The end tables are antique family pieces and the coffee table was purchased while they lived in Asia.

Everything we used to style the mantel has special meaning to this family.  The oars belonged to the husband's side of the family and we hung them with jute.  The brass lantern and green camping box also hold special meaning, as well as the books and pottery items. We have since added some fresh greenery to soften the look.

This is my favorite shot. I think it really speaks to my client's photography skills. Such a beautiful image!

While most of our efforts have been concentrated in the main living areas downstairs, we also added a book case in the upstairs loft area. Just last week I styled the book case for them using some of their favorite possessions.

I'm excited to share more of this special home with you as projects get completed, so please stay tuned for more!

The Green Room Interiors provides Interior Decorating and Design Services in Chattanooga, TN.  If you'd like to discover the joy of living in a well designed home, contact Kim Lemmon at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com

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ORC Week 2 - Some Progress in the Kitchen

I think I owe my kitchen an apology after last week's post.  The truth is I love this little kitchen even though it doesn't have fancy pants finishes or high end gadgets. What it does have is a perfectly laid out work triangle, plenty of countertop work space, and lots of potential!  

Remember what my kitchen looked like before we moved in?

Let me bring you up to date on some of the changes we've made so far.

The cabinets have been painted Sherwin Williams Dover White - its a clean, warm white, and we used an oil-based paint for durability. We also replaced the kitchen countertops and I decided to go with butcherblock countertops to add some softness and warmth.  I love lots of white combined with wood, so we replaced our stainless steel sink with white porcelain.  We also changed out the faucet.

After a lengthy search we found an almost counter depth refrigerator that fit the available space perfectly!

And we tiled the backsplash.  White subway tile was selected for its timeless clean look and budget-friendly price.

A very poor quality photo, but we've removed one of the upper cabinets and the ugly wooden valance that was so common in homes of this era.  Note new vintage light fixture above the sink.  It's so sweet and the prismatic shade casts the most wonderful, sparkly light.  In place of the deleted cabinet is more white subway tile, and soon I will have some shelves instead! Something like this.

What else?  Well, I have a small seating area that could  use some love in a large way. Between the nasty wallpaper and the 80's flooring I have 50 shades of blah going on here. Left side of the wall shows the wall repair in progress. 

And speaking of walls, these are crying out for help!! I think a wallpaper intervention is in order. 

Behold.

That's all I can share for now!  I hope to have my dining table and chairs figured out and ready to share with you next week.  

Let's head on over and see what the other ladies have managed to get done, but meet me back here next week for another progress report!!

Calling it Home 

Chinoiserie Chic 

Classic Casual Home 

Cottage and Vine 

Design Addict Mom 

Design Crisis 

Design Indulgence 

Design Manifest 

The English Room 

Henhurst Interiors 

Little Black Door 

Maddie's Nest 

Mix And Chic 

My Notting Hill 

Pawleys Island Posh 

The Pink Pagoda 

Shelter 

Simple Details 

The Vault Files 

The Green Room Interiors provides interior decorating and design services to happy homeowners in Chattanooga, TN.  If you'd like to discover the joy of living in a well designed home, contact Kim Lemmon at 423.653.3186 or email thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com