ORC Spring 2017: 10 Makeovers to Watch This Season

It’s that time of year again when Linda from Calling It Home, 20 featured designers/bloggers, 250+ guest designers/bloggers, a slew of product sponsors and House Beautiful magazine take over the design blogosphere with 6-week full-room makeovers.

It’s dizzying, let me tell you — the sheer amount of work that is tackled and the number of projects completed is just astounding.

I jumped in the mix for the first time last fall with my “Artfully Fresh Foyer.”

And a couple before shots.

But I’m sitting it out this season! No client projects that I have in the works fit the time schedule, and frankly, staying up until 3:00 AM to link my post every Thursday morning was killer to my usual 5:30 wakeup! Perhaps this fall again.

This spring, I get the pleasure of being a spectator, but even if you’re just on the sidelines, trying to scan more than 270 projects can dull even my enthusiasm for design.

Then one of my readers asked me if I would perhaps create my own guide to the Spring 2017 ORC and save her and her employers some wasted office hours surfing the internet. So my furniture post will wait ’til next week!

Home Glow’s Guide to Spring 2017 ORC: 10 I’ll Be Watching

“By a partial, prejudiced, & ignorant Historian” (Jane Austen)

The operative word in the above title is the “I.” I will be watching according to my tastes and my interests: fresh, classic style, inspired color choices, quality over throw-away decor but value for the dollars spent, and something different that catches my interest. Fads are not my thing, and I’m not a huge DIY-er (but those who are have my inordinate respect), so projects that may fit those bills, while useful to others, I will probably pass over. Perhaps unfairly so.

How do I determine who I’ll watch? History, my friend — previous ORCs done by the same blogger that have been successful IMO. For bloggers who have one, I look at the design portfolio. And lastly — where the guest bloggers are concerned — the lead pictures they post on the Calling It Home site. In my former life pre-children, I was a public relations and marketing exec for multi-national corporations. A picture speaks 1,000 words, people. Your awful, pre-makeover basement isn’t going to stop me in my scrolling. Neither is another mood board, unless there is something fabulous on it. Show me something different, and I will give you a look. Also, show me good quality pictures. If you don’t know how to take a good picture and can’t afford a pro, look to the internet for tips.

Lastly, I reserve the right to be totally wrong. 😉

Let’s go.

The Featured Designers

Of the 20 chosen to receive delightfully free or drastically reduced products from the bountiful sponsors to aid in their design endeavors, these have caught my eye.

1. Christine Dovey

This girl definitely has a flare for the dramatic and her style is interesting and imaginative without veering into the unlivable.

2. Dwell with Dignity

This is a story to pull on your heart strings. Dwell with Dignity believes that your home should reflect your best self. It should be a place of comfort, an inspiring destination to live out your dreams and a safe haven to nurture yourself and your loved ones. Although their families have overcome homelessness and now have a roof over their heads, they often still do not have a bed to sleep on, blankets to keep warm, the tools to create meals, and tables to do school work and to dine together.

Dwell with Dignity Atlanta volunteers Cate Dunning and Lathem Gordon of GordonDunning have put together an immaculate design plan for Tie (pictured above) and her 3 boys’ new 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment.

 3. House of Brinson

William and Sue Brinson have created their own brand and cornered the market on moody food and vignette photography while redoing their romantically run-down estate of Stonyford.

And some redone rooms that leave us to wonder what they’ll do next….

4. J and J Design Group

Friends Jennifer and Joanna were working for the same design firm when they decided to open their own Scottsdale, Arizona group in 2010. Their work is exactly the traditional-with-a-twist I dig.

5. The Pink Pagoda

The Pink Pagoda is all about chinoiserie, with some happy color thrown in. Her previous two entries in the ORC were lovely — the foyer in particular thanks to great art and a fabulous pagoda lantern — and I’m intrigued by her beautiful fabric scheme for this round.

The Guest Participants

1. Kelly Rogers Interiors

Kelly is one of my design mentors, so of course I love practically every design move she makes. She’s a color lover — but the gorgeous-not-garish kind — and a neo-traditionalist. Her portfolio is awesome, but we’ll just take a look at her former ORC entries and her plan for this year’s “Sister Act” room.

2. Kim Macumber Interiors

OK, I’ve met Kim before, and she’s lovely and does lovely work. But that’s not the reason I’ll take a look at her post next week. I will because she led this week’s post with this image.

Pirates!

The hook (haha! Get it?!) is this: according to Kim, her inspiration for this year’s ORC is the Netflix series Black Sails. “What I have loved about this show is the play between rough and grungy, with a wonderful patina as a backdrop. Whether that patina truly grew from something fine or not, you can see, feel and sense the layering of collections that have been acquired.  Inheritance or plunder …  the history is there and I love it.”

Very few clues as to what she will create beyond the above, but she’s in a rental and has to reuse many of her current belongings in a new setup with a “new, beautiful wallpaper” as yet undisclosed. So I’ll take another look next week and see if I stay intrigued.

Her other work:

3. Bliss At Home

I check in on Kristin’s very popular blog every once in a while. She’s been very successful and did her midwest home beautifully — lots of black and white and gold and glam. She and her family recently relocated to Connecticut, so now she has a whole new house to play with. This is her first ORC foray.

Peeks at her previous home:

And her plans for her new living room and foyer:

4. The Curated House

Ontario designer Sarah Walker has transformed a number of spaces in her own home through the ORC, and this time she is taking on a brand new natural wellness center on behalf of her naturopath. Sarah, herself, has been diagnosed with Lyme Disease, and is seeking to make the new wellness center feel more like a spa than a clinic.

Her previous ORCs and some bits from her portfolio:

5. Katie Campbell Interiors

Toronto designer Katie Campbell has a lovely and tasteful portfolio. This, too, is her first entry in the ORC, and for it she is tackling her basement — moving her design office from downtown to home (she’s a new mom) and making playroom for the new kiddo as well. I’ll be interested to see how she handles it.

 

And there you have it, folks! Will I be watching more than just these 10? Of COURSE! I love this stuff. And I’ll bet you any money I’ll have more favorites by the end of the 6 weeks than just 10. For now, I’ll go to bed at 9:30 as usual, and let these crazy kids burn the midnight oil. 😉

Next week, I promise I’ll be back with the behind-the-scenes tour of that gorgeous, heirloom furniture designer/maker. Want a hint who it is?

 

What do Ted Kennedy, Tom Scheerer, Mel Gibson, and Nicole Kidman all have in common?

Nope, it ain’t religion and it certainly ain’t politics.

See you next week!

-Amy