If you want to find out where I sourced many of the items, you can SHOP THE ROOM BELOW. P.S. Some of the items are now sold out, so I tried to find similar pieces for you. Now, onto the details…
Dear Design Diary: 🙂
To say I had a blast filming Trading Spaces is an understatement! I absolutely LOVED working with Tressa and Dave and still keep in contact with them. If you watched Facebook Live after the show, I called her to get a follow-up. I totally lucked out on getting the best homeowners. Also, I obviously was so thrilled that Nicole and Mike loved the dining room (apparently they haven’t changed a thing in the room since we left). When it comes to the design, I was told they wanted to keep their dining table and moulding white and wanted the space to be “farmhouse chic”. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to be able to source locally when I got there, so I ordered as much as I could beforehand. Obviously, not EVERYTHING could be ordered… especially given the time frame (I didn’t have the budget to pay for rush/overnight shipping). I also didn’t know if there were any flower shops nearby, so I brought olive branches, seeded eucalyptus and lavender from my yard with me (yes, I checked it in as luggage)!
Because it was my first Trading Spaces rodeo, I wanted to keep things simple. I didn’t know how much help I would get or how intricate the carpenter projects could be, since we only had 2 days. I figured I would only create projects that I could tackle myself. I even told the producers that I would sleep at the house, if I needed to, in order to get everything done (which wasn’t necessary). Now, Nicolle and Mike don’t know this, but I was given their name before we filmed and I searched for them on social media so I could get a glimpse of what they liked, where they traveled and tried to see if I could see any other part of the house. I wanted to make sure the room I created worked seamlessly with the rest of the house and still give them the most high end looking decor on my limited budget. At the end of the day, I’m super happy with the way it turned out and I’m so happy they are, too! I was watching the reveal on the monitors in the backyard and I started crying when they walked in. What a relief to see smiles! So, what did YOU think? Tell me below in the comments. xo
Here is before and after:
shop the room:
