It’s WEEK TWO of the Spring 2024 One Room Challenge, and this week I’ll be sharing the Mood Boards for my Outdoor Oasis!
In case you’re new here, my name is Justine Dennen, and I’m the owner of Blue Leopard Interiors, a boutique residential interior design firm in Great Falls, VA. In case you haven’t heard of the One Room Challenge, it’s an eight week online event which happens every spring and fall, where interior decorators and home bloggers, undertake redesigning or designing from scratch a room of their choosing, while sharing the progress along the way. It’s not a competition, as there is no winner, just a supportive group of like-minded design enthusiasts challenging themselves to complete a room in eight weeks. Huge thanks to Linda Weinstein, the creator and director of the One Room Challenge!
As I mentioned last week, this is my fourth ORC, (take a look at my Fall ’22 Dining Room and Butler’s Pantry, Spring ’23 Whimsical Parlor, and Fall ’23 Bistro Kitchen reveals to get an idea of my style and process) and this time I’ll be transforming my back deck and patio into an Outdoor Oasis! I jumped into this challenge at the very last minute, so to be perfectly honest, I haven’t made any progress I can show you since last week, since I’m still percolating all of the ideas in my brain and figuring out exactly how I’m going to get THIS:
To look something like THIS:
One thing I know, is that I have a long way to go!! But, a tool I use in every project, whether for a client or myself, is to create mood boards. I usually create two: one digital, one 3-D, so let’s take a look at the mood boards I’ve made for my outdoor spaces…
Outdoor Oasis 3-D Mood Board/Flat Lay
Although I’m still making decisions on exactly which fabrics I’m going to use to recover my patio furniture cushions, I’ve ordered lots of samples which I’ve been having fun playing with. I ALWAYS recommend ordering fabric samples when starting any interior design project. It’s difficult to tell what the scale of the pattern is, the feel of the fabric, and of course, the exact color of a fabric is, from photos on a website. Most fabric retailers (my favorite for affordable home decor fabric is fabricguru.com), offer samples for a few dollars each, and usually have free shipping for samples. It’s also super helpful when mixing patterns, to see how they all work together before investing in yardage. I love pulling all of these elements together – for a client or myself – at the start of a project. It really helps us touch, feel, and see what the vision is!
I am loving this mix of patterns and colors, but unfortunately that gorgeous green animal print outdoor fabric is out of my budget, so I’m looking for an alternative. I am going to need lots of yardage to cover all of the outdoor cushions, so I need something durable AND affordable! I’m also searching for a brush fringe similar to the one shown that I can use to add some fun and texture to some of the pillows. The one pictured is a great color, but isn’t made for outdoor use 🙁
Now let’s take a look at my digital mood board…
Outdoor Oasis Digital Mood Board
As you can see, the digital mood board is great for getting an idea of how the bigger items (that can’t be brought to a client’s home in advance!) will all work together. Here I’ve used images of some of the actual Grand Tuscan patio furniture, which I already own, and have refreshed them by adding fun cushions, an outdoor rug, and some accessories. Again, these may or may not be the exact fabrics and textiles I end up using, but seeing them all together is certainly helpful to solidify the design concept.
When working with clients, I will have a mood board similar to this ready to present at the Design Concept meeting at the start of a project, and I find it really helps my clients visualize all the ideas inside my brain, so that we can be on the same page moving forward. Sometimes I’ll tweak one or two elements after our initial meeting, but that’s also super helpful for me and my client to compare and contrast different products.
So that’s it for this week – now I have not only fantastic inspiration for this project – but also a clear vision to works towards in the coming weeks!
Be sure to click here to see what all of the other ORC participants are up to this week!
Cheers,
Justine
Here is my ORC progress
Week 1 || Week 2 || Week 3 || Week 4 || Week 5 || Week 6 || Week 7 || Week 8
