The One Room Challenge...Week Four

If you are a regular visitor to RueDeEmily you know that I am involved in a One Room Challenge makeover series with 14 other bloggers. We each picked a room in our home that we committed to transforming in six weeks. I picked my pre-teen son's room. The time had come to take it from "planes, trains and automobiles" to "RL (Ralph Lauren) Industrial Hip"... at the bottom of this post I have links to the first three parts of this makeover. I mentioned last week that I would give more details about the light fixture we made for over the bed.

Besides artistic pursuits (my son is a painter) and snowboarding and water sports my son really loves animals.  I thought it would be kind of fun to incorporate animals in his new room design in an unusual and fun way. He agreed.

I happened upon a store that sold these wire balls in various sizes. You buy them in halved pieces and easily bolt them together....the rest of the design is up to you. You can put light bulbs in them, fill them with holiday lights, put anything in them that inspires you....at the store they used them in outdoor urns filled with interesting white balls.

Well, I saw this owl (vegetarian taxidermy is how the salesgirl described him since he is not a stuffed animal- but he isn't a real owl either-just a good faux) and I envisioned what you see above. My son and I both like owls. The are smart and since Monsieur " R" has always been a "night owl" this seemed just like the right and ironic element for the room.

My son named him Thornton. He sails above him as he sleeps. The light that it emits is soft and it sets the perfect ambiance which you will see in Week Six in the final reveal photos. I love that this was so easy to do and I can easily change out the insides of the ball or spray it eventually which will reinvent the piece as my son gets tired of it. We created a light switch on an extension cord (purchased at any hardware store) so my son can turn it off and on from his bed.


We are framing and filling the wall space with my son's artwork...

 I know I sound like a proud Mama here but he did these two when he was 9.

This is one of his recent works...and the one in the hot air balloon below is a self portrait he did a couple of years ago.

This is one of his first paintings so we had to keep it as a sentimental favorite!

 Remember our inspiration from Week One?


Well here is what we came up with. Found at Anthropologie by Monsieur "R". It was a must have purchase! He is covered in French newspaper. Doesn't everyone need a french paper mache elephant in their room? I must admit I love him too!

We found the best chair at IKEA for the desk. We found a leather chair for the room too but I will wait until the big reveal to show you that fun find. As you can see below the chair.... I pulled out  an oriental rug I had put in storage....for use in the room. It fit perfectly..spatially and from a design point of view. I am not usually a "saver" but I am so glad I put this rug away for a rainy day!

Here are some old sweatshirts the kids have outgrown. I am turning them and others into pillows. Using the fronts of the sweatshirts with the logos and then backing them with cool fabrics...linens, plaids...I am still on the hunt. So stay tuned!

We are getting closer to the big reveal of our room in Week 6 (only 2 weeks to go)

In the meantime if you want to see what my blogging buddies are up to as they work on their spaces please visit.....

Suzy at Saved By Suzy (girls room)

Jadyn at Dutch.British.Love ( dining room)

Nicole at Nicole Scott Designs (master bedroom)

Kim at Kim Macumber Interiors (living room

Jennifer at The Pink Pagoda (girls room)

Lisa at Trapped in North Jersey (dining room)

Kelly at Refreshed Designs (office)

Danylle at Nana Moon Shop (girls room)

Taylor at Taylor Morgan ( waiting to see)

Jen at Inside Ways (office

Linda at My Crafty Home Life (dining room)

Janet at House Four (dining room)

Sharon at (a life style thing) (master bedroom)

Tiffany at Living Savvy (master bedroom)

They should each have a button on their blog that will link to their posts. If you are interested in following my project from the beginning please click on Week One and then Week Two and Week Three and then Week Five.