The Shiny Pebble Designer Challenge OR Please, Make this Pebble Shine Again!

A few days ago, I stopped by American interior designer Amanda Burdge's blog, AB Home Interiors.  I love reading her blog because she actually explains the whole designing process and freely shares insightful information and tidbits about the designing world.  It is almost like being in class, watching a lecture from a very cool professor.  Well, I just think she is great and she made it to my daily read list.  This day I  asked her on a whim for some tips about updating my five year old, traditional dining room.  How could I make it more hip?  Amanda, then, generously offered to write a post on it.  Well, I jumped at the opportunity.  Wouldn't you?  She came up with the most fantastic design, based on very little information from me. When you have a chance, please go check her post here.

Amanda is a personable gal, so it seems are the rest of the blogosphere.  I have made some lovely friends in the short span I have been here.  We send little messages to each other now and then discussing one thing or another that we would like to delve into further...  we share experiences and ask for guidance.  We even discuss our plans or ideas that just pop up here and there.  The whole concept of blogging is based on this sharing of info and knowledge.  My plan all along when I started blogging was to create a forum where ideas were exchanged and we all learned from each other.  I thought I was being so innovative... pfft...

Charlotta Ward from Space for Inspiration is one such friend - a smart little cookie, Swedish and mother of two.  A former marketeer turned artist, living in Sydney, Australia.  We were corresponding about all of the different points of view in the design world and an idea emerged.  Wouldn't it be fun to have several designers come up with their own interpretation for my dining room?  So we agreed I would contact a handful of designers whose styles I thought were distinct and ask them to participate in this challenge.  They gracefully agreed and let me just tell you how impressed I was with each one of them, who within sometimes minutes of looking at the pictures I had sent them, had already formulated a look for the room.  These are very talented folks, you all!

Together Charlotta and I, with the input of the four other designers as well, spent the next couple of days working out the rules of this fun game and agree that:

1. This is not a competition, it is an opportunity to showcase YOUR (the designer's) style in a Virtual Makeover.
2. There is no budget, but don't spend a fortune and don't make it cheap either.
3. Use the current furniture if you can, but DO NOT compromise YOUR style.
4. Put together a visual concept along with your thoughts.
5. Have fun with it.

Each designer consecutively will submit a guest post that will be published here every Wednesday.  All previous posts will be linked up to the most recent one so that you all, the readers, can easily hop from design to design in one spot. How much fun is that?!

Here is the line up of the fabulously generous designers who are helping me kick off this party and will be featured in the next few weeks:

4/21   Raina Cox, If The Lampshade Fits
4/28   Christina Fluegge, Greige
5/5     Beth Connolly, Chinoiserie Chic
5/12   Amy Forshew, Pemberley Style
5/19  Charlotta Ward, Space for Inspiration

I will keep this schedule over to the right and update it as needed.  I am also asking the designer to be featured to post the above badge at their site, if they wish to.  Wear it with pride!  :)

But wait, there is more, I'm opening an invitation to all designers who would wish to participate in this challenge.  Please, contact me at theshinypebble@gmail.com so I can send you some material and we can set up your guest post date.


Now I will leave you with a few shots of my dated dining room.  Try not to cringe...

I bought this furniture 5 years ago, in a hurry in order to fill in the dark, Victorian looking home I had moved into.  The dining room was the very first room you saw as you entered the house.

The buffet was in the entryway at the other house and was bought separatly from the dining table, chairs and china cabinet

This chair used to be in a sitting room off the entryway.  At the new house, I have tried to stay away from the greens, reds, and golds from the previous house.  My new color scheme throughout the new house is browns and blues.

That little bench and painting were also in the old sitting room

I hate it that all of my walls in this house have this yucky shade of beige on them, which always photographs pink.  Wouldn't this wall look great with one of those stressed gray/gold finishes on it?  I guess I will find out...

Mark your calendars and I'll see you all here next week, when the multi talented, super funny, crazy creative, Raina Cox from If the Lampshade Fits will be featured. I can't wait to see what she comes up with, can you?

You can see all of the designs related to this post by clicking on the Designer's name on the top right corner of this blog.