One Room Challenge Week 1: Powder Bathroom Plans

Hello! Today I am excited to share I will be joining in as a guest designer for my very first One Room Challenge! If you haven’t heard of the ORC, it is a bi-annual event showcasing 20 designers and guest participants as they transform one room of their home. Starting today, every week for the next six weeks, everyone will share their progress and updates on the room!

If you are here from the One Room Challenge site, welcome! I’m Zahra, and I am so excited to be joining in as a guest this season. My design philosophy is that every great room should consist of four things: Something old, something new, something vintage, and something uniquely you.

I first learned of this challenge from one of my favorite interior design bloggers, Alisa Bovino – I followed along as she did one of her rooms and it was so much fun to see the process, that I thought I would try to do it too!

The room I chose to makeover is our powder bathroom. A little background: our home was built in 1916, and even though it has been renovated, details like the brick chimney and original hardwood floors have (thankfully) been preserved. This makeover is not a full renovation job, thank goodness, don’t think we’d be able to handle that right at the moment! But if you are in the thick of it I hope you’ve planned out everything that you need to, as even the smallest thing is important. We had friends recently re-do their bathroom and the pipe situation got a little messed up and they had to call in a plumbing repair in Port St. Lucie service. There was a lot going on!

Here is the before:

First, what I love about the room is that it has the gorgeous brick from the original fireplace, it is pretty spacious (albeit narrow) for a powder bath, and I appreciate the original doors and hardwood floors and trim.

My vision for this space is to make it a bold statement. A few years ago I visited New Orleans and I fell so deep in love – the art, music, food! Most of all, I fell in love with their style – the mix of traditional and whimsical, old and new, glamorous and eclectic. I want my entire home to feel like that – one day! It definitely will happen, but I don’t want to put a time stamp on it just yet. I have a lot of things that I need to get organized first before I can think about renovating the rest of the home.

I’ve always wanted to renovate our other bathroom. There is nothing particularly wrong with it, but I just think it could do with a bit of revamping if you know what I mean. Take my shower, for instance. I love a shower but it is not very visually appealing. It wasn’t until I saw my friend’s new shower glass doors, that she got from somewhere like http://www.glasscraftersinc.com/ that I actually thought about renovating this room. They just did something to the space that is hard to describe and I would love to see that in my own home one day. Until that time comes, we will place all our focus on the powder bath.

My first step will be to swap out the pedestal sink for a vanity with more of a vintage vibe, and I know I’ll have to get a helping hand from a service such as MetroPHA with installing this as it’s certainly not something I can do myself, I’m just planning out the new designs I want! I want there to be a mix of metals, including brass. I will also change the wallpaper to something with a little more of a bold story. At the moment, I’m thinking of putting up tiles to brighten up the space a bit more but I’ll have to buy tiles, filler, grout, grout sealer, etc. so I don’t know if it’ll get done in time. We’ll have to see! In the end I hope it will be a little masculine, a little feminine, and overall a lot more interesting.

Here is mood board I created with the actual wallpaper and mirror I plan to use. The framed pictures I picked up from a street artist during my visit to New Orleans.

I’m excited to share more of this room makeover with you!

XO,

Zahra

Follow Me! @zahra_sandberg

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Last week we took a quick trip to escape the snow for some sunshine in Key Largo, Florida☀️ We spent every moment possible outside, Tom and Adam got their Scuba Diver PADI certification (yay!) while Sophia and I spent our days either swimming or drawing marine life and landscapes. This was my first trip after my sister passed last November, and even though I look so happy here, there were so many moments I felt the grief and sadness, as if it happened just yesterday. I am still figuring out how I want to show up in this space, as I have changed so much as a person since the loss. I just don’t feel called to post some of the things I shared before. Maybe that will change someday, or maybe it will just naturally evolve into something new. I think I will take this year to just process it all. (Even the idea of taking an entire year to think through something is a huge shift for my usually hyperactive type A personality) My focus at the moment is just living in the moment with my family and friends, spending time doing things that make me happy and healthy. I hope to share some of that journey here with you ~ thanks for following along ❤️
I had planned to shoot this outfit in collaboration with @lenacoutureofficial right before my dear sister passed away. Saba, the designer, was more than understanding if I didn’t want to anymore - but after thinking on it for a while I decided I wanted to - in my sister’s honor 💗 She was always my biggest hype woman. When i would feel like I’m not good enough or that I should quit (which was often) she would tell me I was unique and great and to keep it up. When I think of my sister, beauty and love is all that she embodied in her being. She expressed that on the outside also - as she loved to wear everything glam, bright & colorful, and full of bling. Hair done, nails done, everything did - that was Nusrat. For this shoot I took the time to get glam after a long hiatus - and makeup and hair took so long because I think I forgot how to do it, but afterwards I was surprised how I felt transformed. When I wore this gorgeous outfit that I know was designed with such love and incredible attention to detail by @lenacoutureofficial, I felt all of that beauty - like a walking piece of art, and very much at peace. Thank you so much to @divmophoto for capturing the feeling so well 💕
Ski weekend with my favorites ❄️❄️ So proud of Sophia for skiing on her own for the first time!
There are some trees with seeds that only grow after a fire. Their seeds are completely sealed with a resin that have to be physically melted off by a great fire in order to propagate. So to do we as humans, gain wisdom only after great pain and suffering.*
A month ago (and one day) I lost my sister and best friend to cancer. I am still completely gutted and broken. But, I’m also so so grateful to have had felt the love that now brings me so much heartbreak. ❤️ I am so inspired by her - and I will forever live my life to honor her memory. Miss you sis ❤️
Classic outfit combo: oversized blazer + denim 🖤fendi mules @shoeslutz
Just a mom who loves mums 🌸 🪴
Cozy for a coffee date ☕️
French. Toast. Egg. Bake. Save this recipe for a weekend or holiday brunch - it’s SO good and fool-proof! I’m not even a sweet person and I love it. The pecans are a non-negotiable IMO - I get honey bourbon vanilla pecans for this and it is just heavenly. Enjoy!