September always marks the beginning of school and in my small college town the students roll in with packed cars and giddy anticipation. Soon after seeing their dreary and dark dorm rooms, they flood the local Target, Walmart, Goodwill and weekend yard sales to brighten up their space and make it feel like a home for the next 9 months. I’ve always enjoy observing the students repurpose their finds. I thought this experience would be a great fit for the monthly themed ? room feature. Below, I designed a college students’ first studio apartment/dorm using items from The Challenge September theme Colorful.
First, I imagined the clients, in this case the story of the students who would create the space. Bubbly and bright young eighteen year old female freshman art students were kindred spirits from the moment they met. Raleigh hails from the South and Vivian is a native of the North, both are sweet, sunny, and chipper. Their space needs LOTS of color to reflect their personalities with moments of glam, and a place to relax and soak in the California sun. The girls wanted to create a modern vibrant funky hang out lounge space by repurposing Hate This Mine Chair (color change) Rock~n~Roll spiked barrel chairs which they spray painted in fluorescent metallic colors that instantly cheer up the room. Pop Art inspired Hate This Expression Rug, Black Tulip Color Me Cat Shelf, Wiggly Lamp & Rug, Prime’s Style Wise No 5 Wall clock and comic book framed art finish the wall. As first year art students they understood the founding principal of proportion; when dealing with bright colors and large-scale items you need a place for your eyes to rest, such as neutral walls, or in this case softer palette bed.
Their creative juices started to flow in the bedroom area where they highlighted the matching twin Art Dummy! Slumber beds (blue & birch pink), with Plethora cut out paper mobile hanging lights dangle from the ceiling; a butterfly & house mobile each denoting the different personalities of the girls (*not part of The Challenge). The bedroom wall called for pops of color. The DIY’rs made their own floor lamps using a bare bulb and cut out painted plywood lamp silhouettes (Sway’s Floor Lamp Silhouette) which flank the two beds, and old balls of yard were woven together and framed (Kuro’s Color Framed Art) dividing the bedroom wall area. In need of a glam moment, the girls painted a favorite quote, framed and hung it. The Floorplan’s Sparkle sign (*not part of The Challenge) is the perfect piece to soften the space, and complement the Wimey Shabby Chickie Vanity Set.
The young ladies are lucky to have a large deck area filled with bright colorful chairs, and more do-it-yourself craft projects: repurposed old suitcases as garden planters, recycled broken tea-cup for side tables, upcycled lanterns and branches make unique lighting display, and a salvaged shabby chic mix-match painted bistro set. Vivian’s favorite spot to cuddle up and do her homework is on Sway’s Sydney Boomerang Chair (color change, 25% off till Sept 7). Raleigh’s most loved area is tucked on Kuro’s Colored Stacked Chair (color change) while enjoying shutter field Suitcase Planter’s on the deck railing. Both ladies chosen garden locations are over flowing with vibrant plants, fun and funky finds from Thaino Designs and shutter field that furnish the deck and overlook the sea. One of the great adventures of interior design is decorating and collaborating with others to blend a space into a livable unit. Everyone can inject a little more color in their lives, so be free, cheery and whimsical, and go check out the offerings at this month’s round of The Challenge!
The outside front yard has a small plot of land planted with a sunflower fence and hosts a home for some rescue bunnies the girls found at their local shelter, the adorable Fence Garden and Occupied Outhouse is from The Mustard Seed and is available at The Designer Warehouse Shopping Event till September 4!!!!
Gloria Silverstone 