Hi All! I’m so excited (and honestly a bit nervous) to be a part of the One Room Challenge! Over the next six weeks, twenty Interior Design bloggers will completely transform a room from start to finish, blogging progress updates every Wednesday. The One Room Challenge (ORC) was started a few years ago by Linda of Calling it Home; I’ve always been so amazed and inspired by the spaces the designers have dreamed up! This is my first time participating & I’m delighted & humbled to be included in this roundup of crazy talented designers!

A little about me…

If you are new to Jana Bek Design, welcome & thank you so much for stopping in! I’m an interior designer in Ann Arbor, MI. Most of my designs are implemented through my E-Design Services, although I also do live interior designs as well. More recently I have launched my line of Hand Painted Brushstroke lamps (woo-hoo!) the first category of what I’m planning to be a full line of Home Décor products. I love color & pattern but built on neutral foundations so I have flexibility to mix things up as my taste change. I love layering vintage & modern pieces and as of late I’m entirely in love with light, airy, coastal aesthetics. Find me @janabekdesign on Twitter & Instagram to see additional photos of my style.

The room…

I have a lovely office (see below). It’s great but here’s why it’s not everything I need:

This room is upstairs & gets the absolute best morning light, which I need for painting my Brushstroke Lamps. So whenever I want to paint, I have to completely “paint proof” the room, proving quite inefficient.

I’ve also found I prefer doing interior design work on our main level. I like moving around when I work and it feels isolated being in the upstairs office for long periods of time. The space is perfect for painting – I turn on music and work for a few hours in a calm beautifully sunlit space, but for the many hours required for design, I get cagey.

This space is going to become a studio space for painting & wiring my lamps. I’m not designing this space for ORC – it will be lots of lovely Ikea I’m sure.

When I was gripping to my husband about the shortcomings of my existing office (cue the violins, I know) he generously offered up his office for my designing and business related work. Separated through large French Doors, the space is perfectly located off the kitchen & TV room (I’m obsessed with the Food Network & Bravo which often play in the background while I work).

Obviously this was a sweet gesture but let it be known that he’s always hated it & never uses it. Before he met me, he hired a designer who convinced him to paint it the saddest shade of burgundy. No wonder he never liked it, it is depressing!

Here are some photos of its sorry state. (It was even worse – overstuffed with a huge wood desk & barristers abound) but I failed to take photos because as soon as hubs offered it up I leapt at the chance before he could change his mind.

Helpful to know as you travel with me on this adventure...

Whether designing for myself or my clients, I pride myself in being practical. Is there something that can be refurbished? What do we have that may still work in the space? Etc.  So I’m definitely carrying pieces from my previous office into the new space (desk, chair, & coffee table).

Also, we plan on downsizing at some point in the not-so-distant future. I moved here from NY almost two years ago and lived in a petite 600sqft studio (tour it here) and love the efficiency of a more compact space: you have what you need & not much more. Our current house is 6500sqft, and while beautiful, it can be a bit overwhelming!

So for these reasons, I’m taking the mindset that anything I do to this space will be:

Relatively inexpensive

OR

If more costly, it will be something a) I absolutely love & b) will be versatile enough to use in smaller space

Vibe for the space…

I’m a huge fan of color & pattern but lately I’m loving everything lighter with a coastal lean - a little less tailored and more relaxed. I think designing this beachy abode for my NY client got me jazzed about everything being easy on the eyes, you can see more photos of that design here & here.

I want the space to feel like a big sigh of relaxation with pops of glamour. Here are some photos that are inspiring my design; you can view more on my Pinterest board here.

I MEAN this Palm Beach Bungalow by Anna Burke is the perfect balance of coastal & modern, cannot stop dreaming about it!

Claiborne Swanson Franks NY apartment is seriously swoonworthy

And I love the lived-in easy elegance of India Hicks Bahamas home

 I’ll be sharing more in depth plans next week so be sure to stop back! Also you can keep up with any scheming in the interim on instagram & twitter @janabekdesign.

Thanks so much for stopping! Be sure to check out what rooms these talented ladies are transforming via links below!

Abby M. Interiors

Because It’s Awesome

Bijou & Boheme

Chinoiserie Chic

The Decorista

Design Chic

The Design Daredevil

Design Darling

Design Indulgence

Design Manifest

House of Turquoise

Jana Bek Design

Jill Sorensen

Maddie G. Designs

Mimosa Lane

A Piece of Toast

The Pink Pagoda

Stone Textile

Waiting on Martha

The Zhush

Trademarked by Calling it Home

Hope to see you all here next week!

I'm so excited to share this project with you all! I met this client, now friend, Kilee Hughes, just as I was in my last few months in my NY studio, planning to move to MI. She had just moved into my same apartment building from Australia. We got a long smashingly so, when a year later, she contacted me to help her with some final details to bring her decor to life, of course I couldn't wait to help her.

Kilee has fabulous taste so it was only a matter adding some texture, pops of color, switching up some furniture pieces & layering on a few fun accents.

Starting with her entry, and I'm not a pro so didn't capture it perfectly, I accessorized her console by leaning an existing art piece she had against the wall, then flanking it with glass bottles & palm fronds to add some height. The beachy vignette is the perfect introduction for Kilee's relaxed resort inspired studio. 

In her dining area, we had been on the hunt for some directors chairs for some time so I was thrilled to see that Suzanne Kasler's new outdoor line for Ballard included these gorgeous campaign chairs - they are the perfect fit for the dining area. 

The bench in her dining are was originally the ottoman in her seating area - but I wanted to break up the linen ottoman & linen sofa so we added the CB2 coffee table (which we then scored on Craigslist) & moved the ottoman into the dining area for additional seating. 

Here's some photos so you can see how her dining, sleep space, & sitting area relate to each other:

When Kilee visited my apartment, she loved my DIY gold Ikea shelves, so she used three to divide her dining area from her bed & living room space. Didn't they turn out fabulous?

I love adding texture in mostly neutral spaces to create interest, in her living area we draped this faux sheepskin over her West Elm John Vogel chair to cozy it up, paired this raffia tray to continue the coastal vibe, & finally a fig tree always makes a space look & feel fresh & welcoming. 

Her rug is from Turkey - it's gorgeous - and I love that the lucite coffee table doesn't cover up any of the beautiful colors. 

Finally, with her bed space, we orientated her bed length-wise simply by layering pillows against the wall to have it act more as a daybed. I love this approach because instead of hiding it away, it opens it up as additional seating, preventing guests from feeling like they are invading their bedroom. The Juju hat is the perfect finishing touch to her romantic resort retreat. 

I adore how this space came together & it was only that much more fun because Kilee has incredible taste & is just the sweetest person to boot! Does any part of the design really resonate with you? I'd love to know!

Sources for Bedding:

Striped Lumbar Pillow

Block Print Pillow

Reversible Throw

Dot Pillow

Juju Hat

I'm so excited to finally share the before & after photos of our powder room! Moving from a tiny studio in NY to a house in Michigan has been overwhelming at times in terms of what project to tackle next. My husband & I had been long distance for 6 years before I moved to Michigan & in that time I grew to loathe the little mustard yellow bathroom on the first floor. So although it was not a high priority to renovate it for my husband he knew how much I hated it so he lovingly dived in to replace the sink, lighting, & fixtures. For a while before, I had been mentally keeping note of what artwork I would use to create a gallery wall so I was excited to make it come to life. 

Here's some of the before photos (apologies for the quality, and I look like a troll!):

As you can see the original sink was an outdated cabinet, the fixtures were a horrible brown – overall everything felt heavy so I wanted to create a space that felt super light, starting with the light gray paint (Benjamin Moore's Metro Gray) & a pedestal sink. With many spaces to spruce up, I didn't want this update to be a major investment - pedestal sinks are relatively inexpensive & I always think they are so versatile. This one is from Lowes. 

I searched forever to find the perfect faucet, again I wanted it to look great but not break the bank - finally scored these!

The mirror (from One Kings Lane) definitely inspired a black & white theme but I wanted to keep it fresh by layering in color via the gallery wall & mixing metals with the gold table & roman shades juxtaposing all of the polished nickel hardware. 

It was tricky finding black & white monogram towels that I loved the look of - I ended up getting ours from Pottery Barn & think they are the perfect fit.

I always wanted a ChanceLee gesture study drawing & this room seemed like the perfect opportunity to display one. 

Privacy is never really an issue in this powder room so I decided I'd do faux romans for the window coverings (DIY here). Again, I had been wanting to use Caitlin Wilson's gold scallop fabric for sometime and I loved that it would play into the mixing of metals theme.

Finally, you know I love a gallery wall & this one was definitely a labor of love! I had purchased the vintage gem prints on Ebay last year & I had always loved the blush "Love" print from SS print shop. As I was laying out the wall I saw many of the gallery wall prints read quite feminine so I layered on the sexy Marble Aestate print, an amazing cheetah from Pink Pagoda, & striking Influential Madebygirl print to anchor all of the sweetness. 

I am so in love with how it came together! It's a far cry from the sad yellow space it was!