Well, week 3, and things are not going as planned. I spent time making a design board, a few months back, and now I've pretty well scraped the entire thing. I love what I designed and the items I put together, but it feels too casual to be next to our most formal space. That's the tricky part about our sunroom. It should be a more casual space, but you look through the formal living room, to see it, and it can be seen upon immediately entering the front door. I want a casual/chic vibe in there, as well as a light and airy feel, but now I'm struggling to buy furniture for the space, having dumped my design board.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is I was prepared to finish a room, according to my design plan, but now I feel lost. I went off script, and I'm struggling to come up with a new plan, off-the-cuff.
This feeling is all too familiar. It's reminds me of a time, many years ago, when I was in sales. My superior (who happened to be my boyfriend at the time/now husband) was explaining to me the importance of "qualifying leads". When you qualify leads, you call to ensure you have the correct point of contact, etc, making it easier when you arrive in person. This is all done, in the office, prior to hitting the pavement. I thought it was a dumb idea. Sitting in the office, wasting the day away, on the phone. I told him it wasn't worth my time, and we went out together, for my first day of cold calling. We went a few places, and he took the lead. After a while, I worked up the courage to get out of the car, and do it myself. I walked in and said, "Good afternoon, my name is Ashley and I'm looking for Mr. Smith, is he available by chance?" The woman looked at me funny, rather perplexed actually, and then in a somber, yet irritated voice said, "Mr. Smith passed away last year." After what felt like 5 minutes of standing there, dumbfounded, I walked my beat-red face out of their office, and vowed to never cold call again. My boss said, "so now do you think it's a waste of your time to qualify leads", with a smirk on his face, and a look that only a wise, been-there-done-that, boyfriend could have.
I feel like I need to sit back, and instead of continuing to spin my wheels, and endlessly wander around, from shop to shop, design the space all over again. This time, with the casual chic vibe I'm desiring. Without it, I feel unprepared, and red in the face from trying and failing. Once again, I'm realizing preparation is key, and I've lost sight of that.
That said, I'm looking for some input on this Ikea couch. Do any of you have it? Do you like it? I'm not looking to spend a lot of money on a sunroom sofa, as I know it won't be super frequently used, but I want something that looks nice. I do believe you get what you pay for, and this baby is pretty inexpensive, but it has some serious perks, with the price point and washable covers. I'd love some feedback from anyone who has this couch.
All this being said, I did make some progress this week. Not complete progress, but partial progress. I decided on bamboo roll-up shades to add a little warmth (not originally on my design board), and I have all but two shades hung. So far, I'm pleased with the look and the warmth it brings, but now I'm on the fence about curtains. My original thought was to add a curtain rod, and some white curtains, above the roll-up shades. Now that the shades are up, I realize there isn't much room above them, and I fear it will look a bit too cluttered up there. That and the only place I know to find 124" curtains (West Elm) doesn't carry them anymore. I even contacted them directly to see if that was definitive. I'm out of luck.
So for week 3 of the the One Room Challenge, I definitely feel behind, but I like the pressure it puts on me to move quickly and get to work! Nothing better than a hard deadline to get you moving.
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