One Room Challenge Week 5: Change in Plans!

Why did I volunteer myself to participate in the One Room Challenge when I have a full-time job plus a number of on-going interior design projects (in addition to my DWL participation), my family of six to manage, along with working towards growing my independent Rodan + Fields skincare consultant side business? I guess I am just a perennial optimist who needs to have multiple creative projects going on at once to motivate me to complete at least ONE of them!

Well as is my typical ORC style (fall 2015, spring 2016), I am changing up my plans on week 5! Even though I love my design plan for my laundry room revamp, I have had another project on my mind for quite some time. So my laundry room will have to stay unorganized for a bit longer. We will survive! I even bought everyone extra socks just to make sure (least favorite task is looking for clean socks each morning!!!)

Curious what my designer-switcheroo plans involve? About a year ago, I was contemplating renting a salon suite to host product training events for my Rodan + Fields skincare business. While I would love to host these types of events in my own home, we just are not set up for entertaining anymore. I joke that I live in a frat house, but honestly it’s not very girly over here anymore with a bunch of teenage boys in the house (and their friends!) Not their fault, of course, but a room of my own in a controlled environment just sounds so perfect to me! And I could brand it and decorate it as I wish. It would be similar to investing in a show house space, which has always been one of my favorite projects! So that is what I am about to do – create my own show-and-tell studio space. And the beauty is that the location for this room of my own is just 5 minutes from home and 5 minutes down the street from my day job.

It is at Salons by JC in Stoneham, MA. They rent single or double sized rooms to independent beauty care professionals who then manage their own clients by appointment only. The lobby and utilities are handled by the property managers. And they also host monthly gatherings for the tenants, which of course I am looking forward to as well! It is a great business model and I feel it is very much aligned with the business model of representing the Rodan + Fields brand. Working independently, but never alone. 

It may be small, but it will be my very own!

Above is what my studio space looks like now (I just picked up the keys this weekend – eek!) By next Thursday it should have all of the items below in place and then I will be ready for business (if you are local, please schedule a visit!) I have to say, the time feels right to commit to a room of my own in a collaborative environment that enables small business owners to succeed without the typical overhead of owning and managing a full time business location. While having a stand-alone location to meet with my skincare clients is not required to do well with Rodan + Fields, I just feel that for me it is a worthwhile investment in my business, and that it will help me to help others who want to learn more about the brand without having to meet in a public location or at someone’s home (my boys are already saying thank you!)

It’s funny how as my family has grown (and our expenses), I have had to come up with creative ways to make all the financial pieces of the puzzle fit while still being available to take care of everyone’s needs. When the boys were small, it was all about being at home. Decorating our interior spaces was so important back then! But now that half of them are driving and have jobs, and the other half manage most of their free time on their own, I feel I have more freedom to expand my own creative pursuits to the outside world. Guess we are all growing up over here, and you know what? It feels kinda good! Although I did have a FULL day of crying when my oldest left home to move into his first apartment recently, but that is a story for another day!

Please come back next week for my Salon Suite Makeover reveal! I do love a design challenge, and as long as I can get my husband to provide some install assistance, I think I will just make the deadline!

Have you been following or participating in the One Room Challenge this fall? Would love to hear how it is going for you. Visit me on Instagram and leave a comment so that I can check out your progress!

Thanks again to Linda of Calling it Home for the motivation to start something new. Just being encouraged to set goals is sometimes all that’s needed to move forward! And even if the design path veers in a different direction along the way, as it often does, the effort to change our environments and our lives is what matters, right?

See what changes everyone else has been working on at the following links:

Week 5 Sponsored Designers

Week 5 Guest Participants

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ORC: Laundry Room / Week 4

It’s week four of the Calling It Home design bloggers #OneRoomChallenge and I’m getting excited to see the selected design elements for my laundry room makeover all come together! What do you think of my design board above? This is how I imagine our completed laundry room will look. I especially like that there is one perfectly white, fluffy clean towel ready and waiting on the folding table (island available online from Lowe’s) for each member of our family of six!

As I mentioned, I am working as a designer on call with the Design with Lowe’s online interior designer program (powered by Decorist) to source key pieces for this space that has been seriously neglected, organization-wise, for years. I really can’t wait for this room to be beautiful, intentional and welcoming! It will make the chore of washing, folding, and sorting so much more enjoyable!

Backsplash tile option that I am considering from Lowe’s:

Elida Ceramica Brushed Glass Hex Mosaic Glass Wall Tile

Laundry sink faucet option:

Brizo Artesso Single Handle Articulating Faucet with Smart Touch

This very cool articulating kitchen faucet (you can remove the spray nozzle and semi-flexible tube neck from the repositionable chrome arm) is actually in my personal design inventory (I won it at a design event, thank you, Brizo and Designer Bath!) The original crystal finial faucet I was thinking of installing (see it here) will actually be featured in a unique design project that I will be posting about later.) While the Brizo brand (Delta’s luxury line available only in showrooms) is not carried by Lowe’s, they do have some pretty nice top-of-the-line faucets along with on-trend and classic styles available in a variety of price points from budget friendly to investment worthy. I am quite impressed with their selection, to be honest. After spending many years in a luxury kitchen and bath showroom environment, and being married to a licensed contractor who specializes in these types of projects, I certainly appreciate what it takes to make a hard-working fixture that can be relied on for years to come. My advice? Don’t skimp when  it comes to the fixtures you use every single day, over and over again! The brands that may cost a little more will usually serve you well, and will look and feel good to the touch. 

What exactly does with Design with Lowe’s offer?

The process for the DWL’s program is pretty similar to how I would approach a consult with any one of my own clients in real life. First, the online client chooses a space that needs help (bath, kitchen, laundry room, living room, bedroom, etc.) Next they can select a designer to guide their project (please pick me!) or they will be assigned one for a flat fee of $149 (hello, this is quite a bargain!) The client takes an online design quiz answering a series of questions ranging from what type of home decor styles they favor, to what items they will be keeping in their room, to how they envision the space will feel when it’s done. They upload photos of the space, pictures of items they are keeping, and even attach floor plans for the designer to review. The more info the better! The chosen designer is notified that they have a project in their queue and then the fun begins! And the whole process only takes a couple weeks from start to finish depending on how quickly designer concepts are approved by the client.

 Take the Design with Lowe’s online Style Quiz here

If you ever have a project that you are struggling with, DWL is such a valuable service! Just to get a professional’s opinion, someone who has seen your type of project completed from beginning to end, someone who is there to answer your questions with an objective eye, someone who is familiar with the brands offered through Lowe’s as well as some additional home decor categories that are available through this program ... how cool is that to have this type of peace of mind so that you can make purchasing decisions with confidence?

Sample concept boards from my DWL project

My current design client that I am working with via this program has expressed her sincere gratitude at having access to a design professional who is up on design trends as well as experienced in specifying products for kitchen and bath. She is thrilled to have discovered together fresh design ideas that she may not have come up with on her own. Together we have come up with a beautiful design solution for her kitchen renovation. The DWL program is a a really fun process and I love that I can work at my own pace during the hours that suit my schedule (designer night owl over here!)

Work with me via Design with Lowe’s

Next week is crunch time for the One Room Challenge (week 5 of 6!) and I hope that I will have some real photos to show you of the progress in my space. Until then, I hope all of you that are participating in this online event are finding success with your own design plans. This is my 3rd time participating, and each season has had its own challenges. But each go around, I learn so much, and am seriously inspired by the others who are also giving design accountability a shot. Check out the other guest participants here and sponsored designers here. See you back here next week or follow me on Instagram here.

MEDIA PARTNER:

ORC: Design Selections / Week 3

Inspirational Prints Wall Art

When you are in the laundry room as much as we are in our household of six, there needs to be something to do while folding all of that laundry! As part of my Design with Lowe’s focused laundry room makeover for the Calling it Home One Room Challenge, I discovered the inspirational quotes artwork above in their home furnishings section. My boys do a lot of their own laundry, so I love the idea of having these words of wisdom front and center for them to read each day while tending to the ritual of clothing care. 

Boston Loft Furnishings Burnt Oak Kitchen Island

A beautiful table upon which to fold clothes is also in order. This rustic open shelved version on casters is perfect! I found it located in the kitchen island section of the Lowe’s website, but I imagine it will make a great surface for laundry sorting. We will probably even store clean towels on the bottom two shelves, and items that need to hang dry could go on the towel bars located on each end. I really love this piece and know it will be gorgeous in our modern farmhouse style home.

allen + roth Faux Wood Plantation Shutter

We have three standard size windows in our laundry room. Two of them look out onto the backyard, so they may not even need to be covered. The one that requires more privacy will likely get a set of shutters. I like that I can still get plenty of sunlight and sufficient ventilation when the shutter vanes are open. This is very important in a busy laundry room!

Surya Hand Knotted Oriental Rug 

There’s already a wool carpet in our current laundry room (somewhat similar in color to the one above), but if I decide to replace it, this one would be stunning! It’s a high quality hand-knotted Oriental made with New Zealand wool. So pretty!

Have your design questions answered via Design with Lowe’s

I am getting so excited to transform this space for the #OneRoomChallenge! I know I still have a lot to do, but I feel confident in moving forward now that I have made the majority of my design decisions. That’s half the battle, right?

Did you know that the Design with Lowe’s program offers FREE advice via their Ask a Designer feature? They also have an option to schedule a Q+A with a designer via their Video Session option where you can show a designer your space during a 30 minute online consult (for a small fee). What a great way to have access to professional design advice right in your home with a designer who could even be across the country! I’m looking forward to participating in both of these design service options along with the complete Room Design process. I am working on design plans for a Lowe’s customer now, and hopefully will have another design project reveal to show you after this personal challenge is over.

How is everyone else doing with their One Room Challenges now that we are at the half way point? Check out their progress here (sponsored designers) and here (guest participants). How fun is it to follow along and find inspiration in how others face their own design challenges at home?

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ORC: Laundry Room Inspiration

Elan Imbuia Chrome Fabric

Semi Flush Mount Light

Schuler New Haven Cabinetry

in Harbor Mist Maple Square

Brizo RSVP Chrome Widespread Lav Faucet
with Swarovski Crystal Finial

Freestanding Folding Ironing Board

Chrome Steel Garment Rack

Sherwin Williams paint

Currently, our family laundry room is in utter chaos. It is my job this weekend to remove all of the offending baskets of no longer worn clothes that are on the floor (and destined for Goodwill), then take a true “Before” photo of the empty space to share with you all. Once it is cleared out, I can get back in there to paint the walls (will select a Sherwin Williams color ... to be determined), trim the windows (on my husband’s to-do list), and plan on how to incorporate built-in storage to this good sized room (9'6" x 10'6") that really could function as a walk-in closet. I found the above items (with the exception of the sink faucet which I had on hand from participating in a design show house) all at Lowe’s.

I also plan to take a field trip to my local Lowe’s store in order to see what else they may have available for my laundry room makeover. I have three windows that need treatments and I am contemplating some type of shutter for the bottom half of each window if possible since this room often serves as a changing room. I also need to choose a solid counter top and hardware. I really love the lighting fixture that I found (pictured above). It is just the right combination of elegance and whimsy for this hard-working space. 

Come back next week to see how I made out with my design finds and space planning! As I mentioned last week, I am working with Lowe’s and Decorist as a designer on call, so my goal is to treat this project as a way to show what is possible when utilizing this online design service.

Follow along with the other Calling it Home

One Room Challenge designers here:

Sponsored Designers: week 2

Guest Participants: week 2

media sponsor

One Room Challenge Time!

For my third adventure as a Calling It Home One Room Challenge guest participant, I will be making over one of the hardest working rooms in the house ... our laundry room! We transformed a small bedroom on our 2nd floor into a full size laundry area quite a number of years ago. We put up freshly plastered walls, plumbed for a laundry sink, and pretty much stopped right there after moving in our washer and dryer. Unfortunately, the room never underwent the proper organization needed to function efficiently. And now that our boys are old enough to do their own laundry, we really need a better system in place to handle the constant use.

My goal over the next six weeks is to set up this room as it should be and add some decorative touches along the way. I am pleased to announce that I am going to take advantage of my new position as a virtual designer via the “Design with Lowe’s + Decorist” online design program to do as much as possible to finish up this space. Come back next week to check out my design plan that will incorporate items specified from the brands available via the Lowe’s website. I will also show exactly how this newly launched design platform can work for others hoping to receive professional advice, at a great price, for their own home makeover projects! 

Have a room in your home that you would like to transform? Book me at this link and I will be in touch! 

Check out my office makeover from the Spring ORC here.

Follow the other participating One Room Challenge guest design bloggers here. And the featured designers here.

Good luck everyone!

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7 Beauty Must-Haves

While making our homes look their best is rewarding, treating our skin to the same pampering is a makeover that travels with us (no need to pull out our iPhone to show our latest renovation project when our healthy glowing skin can radiate the results!) And truthfully, it costs a lot less to invest in great skincare products than it does to makeover a room, plus the “after” is so very worth it!

I have had a lot of happy interior design clients over the years. I now also have a large group of very happy Rodan + Fields clients who are loving their new looks! One recently was raving to our mutual friends about the difference these products have made for her complexion AND for her confidence. As someone who is face to face with her own clients every day, she was thrilled to see her skin improve so quickly. She had been feeling like there was nothing she could do to stop the signs of aging. And while getting older is truly a gift, not many of us enjoy looking tired (even when we are not) or seeing the signs of prolonged sun exposure looking back at us in the mirror each morning. My friend’s new daily routine of proper hydration and effective exfoliation has left her now well-cared-for skin with a noticeable glow ... even her co-workers have commented on the difference!

Having youthful looking skin really is just a matter of using the right ingredients in the right order to get the best results. R+F products are clinically proven to do just that. Below are 7 of my customer favorites.

REDEFINE Daily Regimen with Daily Cleansing Mask, Pore Minimizing Toner, Daily Moisturizer with SPF 30 and Overnight Restorative Cream (60 day supply)

Works wonders while reducing the appearance of lines, pores, and loss of firmness. Use this twice a day for best results. Did you know that going to bed without washing your face at night can age your skin by 18 days? If this is your typical routine, do the math. Scary, right?

REDEFINE AMP MD System with Micro-exfoliating Roller and Night Renewing Serum (Roller lasts one year, Serum is a 60 day supply)

Improves product absorption, enhancing results, while creating a more luminous and refined appearance. Check out the video below to see just how easy it is to incorporate the roller into a daily routine. To have micro-needling done at a salon or spa can costs hundreds of dollars per visit. This at-home tool enables the same benefits for far less on a daily basis. And no, it does not hurt! Applying light pressure goes a long way and allows the products to get below the top layer of the skin for best results.

Watch AMP MD Roller Demo Video

Acute Care “Fill a Wrinkle While You Sleep” Skincare Strips (One month regimen includes 10 pairs of strips)

Award-winning alternative to injectables. See long lasting results after just 10 sessions. I call these “special occasion” strips. Perfect to use a month before a special event like a class reunion or a wedding. Lots of my customers love to order these before the holidays when they have lots of events to go to, but little time to rest in between.

Redefine Multi-Function Eye Cream

Best eye cream out there! Use morning and night to significantly reduce the appearance of puffy eyes, fine lines, and crows feet. Also keeps dark circles at bay (my personal skincare nemesis!!) One jar lasts about 5 months!

Mineral Peptide Powder SPF 20 with Retractable Brush

When your skin is starting to look its best after treating it to a daily skincare regimen from Rodan + Fields, you will find yourself able to ditch your heavy cover up foundation completely! A nice alternative is this light wearing powder (comes in Light, Medium and Bronze) which provides a layer of sun protection while imparting a soft matte finish to your complexion. I love how easy it is to simply dust-and-go, plus the retractable brush can be filled with powder then thrown in a purse for travel purposes. 

Essentials Foaming Sunless Tan

With summer in New England coming to an end, there is still a way to keep that golden glow. This foaming tanner goes on easy, has a pleasant scent, and creates a sun-kissed look without exposing the skin to harmful rays. Customers love this one!! Pair it with the sugar-salt scrub formula of the Micro-Dermabrasion Paste below for best results.

Enhancements Micro-Dermabrasion Paste

High glide formula for a brighter, refined complexion. Features vitamins C and E. Great as a mini-facial or to smooth rough spots on elbows, heels, and more.

Want to give any of these result producing skincare products a try? Email me for a sample (yblacker@verizon.net) or visit my website to place an order. Be sure to register first as a Preferred Customer so that you can enjoy 10% off retail prices PLUS free shipping on any order over $80. One time PC enrollment fee of $19.95 will also ensure that you only receive products when you need them (I will personally check in with you every couple of months to see how you are liking your results – which I know you will!)

Want to save up to 25% off these products and more? Enroll as a Brand Ambassador on my team and you can be paid to share these products with others! If you are already a social sharer (facebook, instagram, twitter, etc.) then this a great business model for you! That’s why I love it. Ask me how to get started!

Rodan + Fields on Instagram