Week four is here, and I am happy to show you the progress I have made so far in the room during the last week.

If you are new here, thanks so much for checking out my Studio Office Space Design On a Budget project.  You can check my first , second post and third one related to this project if you’d like to see or get reminded what I started with when I entered the One Room Challenge event and the progress thereafter.

There were a lot of DIYs that I tackled this week and, may I say, this week was much more labour intensive than the previous week.

First, I started with altering the store bought roller shades. I found grass cloth ones in black, just the right colour I was searching for and it was a pure luck to find them in stock at the store.

However, the shades were not the size I wanted, so I had to alter them to fit the size of the window. Beside altering the size of the shades, I also added a white stripe corner detail using the leftover fabric from the shades that I did for the windows of the work room.

Ideally, I wanted a one piece shade for this window, but I wasn’t such a lucky person to find the right size so I had to take what it was available in stock. I am happy with the end result as they fit perfectly in the window and have added a moody mode to the space.

After finishing the roller shade alteration, I started with the daunting stencilling job using a sharpie. The sharpies that I was using were not of a good quality as there were no good quality ones available for purchase.

I was so scared to start and do the first little square. It took me several attempts to start and I withdrew again, because I knew that if I mess this up, at the start, than it will get really, really messy and I have to redo the room again with the paint.

At one point I just had to take my chances and START! So I did, and it is not without a lot of challenges, and some cheating along the way, that I am keeping up with applying this stencil.

My DIY stencil is really sloppy, lacking the proper cut, precision and material, so it is very difficult to line it up and keep the straight line along the way. However, I have somehow managed how to deal with the way this pattern goes, so the whole thing does not get completely out of control. I hope that I will be able to complete this task without a major failure at the end. Wish me much luck guys!

The real challenge is to finish the corners. What I am doing is this; I cut a piece from the stencil which I, based on my estimation thought would work for finishing the corners, and I keep using it for the corners and at the top and the bottom of the wall. It is working pretty muchf OK so far.

If you do not want to go through the adventures I am going through with this stencil than you may purchase the proper one at this link.

Just a small recap about the ORC event:
 
The One Room Challenge is a 6 week room makeover challenge for designers and bloggers In North America, all started by Linda from Call It Home blog.  There are 2 sides of this event. One side being the 20 selected designers competing for the win.  On the other side, there are hundreds guest participants like myself.  At the end of the 6 weeks, the editors of Better Homes & Gardens will select 2 guest participants to be FEATURED DESIGNERS in the 2019 Spring ORC challenge! All featured designers and most of the guest partcicipants work with various sponsors. I am not a lucky one to have a sponsor!

Now it’s time to head over to the 20 featured designers and all the guest participants to check out their week four progress at One Room Challenge!

Besa

The third week of One Room Challenge came faster than anticipated.
If you are new here, thanks so much for checking out my Studio Office Space Design On a Budget project.  You can check my first and second post related to this project if you’d like to see or get reminded what I started with when I entered the One Room Challenge event and the progress thereafter.

The beginning of the past week was quite labour intense for me as I was rushing to get the painting of the room done, and I am releived that this task is over.

I had to get it done fast as I had scheduled the floor refinishing company to come and do the floors. The old floors were in a terrible state and I was debating whether to refinish them or install the new flooring. At the end, driven by the nostalgia of this old building, I decided to keep the original flooring and refinish them.


The floors look so much better now!


The floor refinishing project was completed two days ago and I am proceeding with the prep work for painting the window.

Since the floors are refinished I was able to bring my office desk in and check how it will look into this new space, which is much smaller than my previous spacious studio premises.

I think that the desk will fit just fine. Now I need to get back to work and hopefuly by the end of the week to start with the stenciling job.

Just a small recap about the ORC event:
 
The one Room challenge is a 6 week room makeover challenge for designers and bloggers nationwide.  There are 2 sides to this coin.  One side being the 20 selected designers competing for the win.  On the other side of that same coin, there are guest participants like myself.  At the end of the 6 weeks, the editors of Better Homes & Gardens will select 2 guest participants to be FEATURED DESIGNERS in the 2019 Spring ORC challenge!  

I kindly invite you to take time and visit the One Room Challenge blog where you can check the progess made by the featured designers and other guest participants of the event.

Thank you for checking this blog.
Besa

(IMAGE VIA GREG NATALE)

The second week is already here and for me as well as, I believe, for all other ORC participants the time is just flying. If you are new here, thanks so much for checking out my Studio Office Space Design On a Budget project.  You can check out my first post related to this project if you’d like to see or get reminded what I started with when I entered the One Room Challenge event.

As far as myself is concerned I can say that, this week was an intense working week around here and there were a lot of major tasks that I had to undertake on the first week of this challenge. First I cleared up the room from all the stuff that was in it, took off the sofa slipcovers and arranged that the old sofa and loveseat are taken to the junk yard. Arranging these tasks, due to some complications, took me almost two days.

After the room was freed from the bulky stuff, I started with prepping the walls so I could apply the paint on the walls and the ceiling. I did the filling of the cracks and nail holes on the walls and applied the primer. I also managed to start with the first coat of paint.

After I am done with the paint, there comes the hard job and I may say an intimidating task of stencilling the walls with a sharpie!

I was inspired by the talented Julia from cuckoo4design who created the most chic little square stencil which she used on her powder room walls. She turned a small powder room into a such lovely space in her home. Thank you Julia for creating this stencil, I am in love with the design.
(IMAGE VIA CUCKOO4DESIGN)

To create this stencil she was inspired by this bathroom designed by Greg Natale. Everyone may agree that this is absolutely a stunner bath!

(IMAGE VIA GREG NATALE)

Unfortunately I couldn’t order the stencil, so I had to make my own.

I figured out how this stencil works for the repeat, and then I marked the small squares in a double A4 sheet. I enlarged the double A4 sheet twice using a photocopying machine, and laid the sheets with the design underneath the clear vinyl sheet.

Using the exacto knife, and following the design underneath the vinyl sheet, I started cutting the small squares. I ended up with not so perfect stencil, but I am still determined to go ahead. I ask everyone to keep the finger crossed so I will not mees up the accent walls with this DIY stencil.

So this is all I have to share for this week. I am back to painting the room and hopefully will be ready by Saturday when I expect the floor refinishing guy to come and do the floors which are begging for refinish.

Be sure to check out the One Room Challenge Blog to see all the great participants as well as featured designers and their amazing home transformations!

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Besa

I am so happy that I finally made a commitment to take part as a guest participant in the fall edition 2018 of One Room Challenge event. For those out there who wonder what the One Room Challenge (or the ORC) is, it is an interior design/decor event that happens twice a year and is put together by the incredible Linda from Call It Home blog. The event starts with a group of talented designers selected to transform a room in short six weeks. The rest of us get to be guest participants that start a day later.

This is the second time that I am taking part as a guest participant and I am even more nervous than the first time. The first year I took part was for the spring ORC edition 2016, and I did a makeover of the room shown in these pictures.

For this year I am redoing again this room as shown, and which will be used as my Interior Studio Office space.

Since my business is in baby steps at present, I have allocated a minimal budget to complete this space in 6 weeks. Therefore, there will be a lot of DIY’s involved and most of the job will be done by myself, so I am just crossing my fingers that everything will go smooth, and I will be able to deliver something worth of showing in six weeks time.

So my friends, lets the fun begin, and I happily invite you to follow my journey through these coming weeks as I will try to make BESA GM’s Interior Studio space to a cool and chic interior all on a budget, and follow as well the challenges I may face during this journey.

Below, a few more photos of the current look of the room wich is about to get a completely new vibe in six weeks.

Please take time to check the progress of the work of the featured designers who are taking part in the One Room Challenge as well as other guest participants, where you may get tons of inspiration and learn on the hottest trends in home decor.

Thank you for visiting this page, and stay in touch by following this blog.

Besa

Almost thirty years ago, when my husband and I were renovating and decorating our first condo, we pretty much drained our budget with the first two purchases: kitchen cabinets and living room furniture. In fact, not only we drained our entire budget, but we had to pay for the purchases in instalments for one long year. Our budget was drained and our condo looked pretty much empty without any decorative items. However, I wasn’t prepared to live in an empty looking space so I started a series of DIY projects to make our condo a functional, well decorated and happy living space.

The first DIY in our first condo was creating a much needed shelf in our bathroom to put our toiletries, towels, toilet paper etc. I DIY-ed a hanging shelf then from a leftover long board from the kitchen install using a long piece of rope that we already had. THe created shelf was a completely free item which turned so stylish and chic, and for us was a life saver as it gathered all necessary bath stuff.

These days also, I did a few hanging shelves which I needed for a project, and I want to share them with you the process so you may get inspired to make them too. It is an easy and supper fast project that can be finished in less than an hour.

For this project you need a piece of board 45 cm long 15 cm wide (any size will work), cord, a ring, measuring tape to mark the openings for holes, drill for the holes, scissors to cut the cord.

First you mark the holes and drill through the marks.

To hang your shelf, cut two pieces of cord to your desired length, remembering to leave room for the knotted ends. I cut 2 pieces of 1 metre cord.

Fold the two pieces in half, and place the folded end underneath the metal ring.

Pull the folded end over the metal ring, then pull the rest of the cord up and through the loop.

Separate two of the strands. Pull each strand through one of the drill holes. Repeat on the other side.

Adjust the length of the cord to make your shelves hang as high or low as you want. Then, tie knots at the end of each piece of cord. Trim off the excess cord if needed, and hang your shelf.

The result is a simple design that makes a big impact in your space, and the most important thing is that you did it yourself!

If you make one please share it with me. I would love to see how your’s turned out.

Thank you for visiting this blog!

Raftet Varese – Nje projekt “Beje Vet” i shpejte dhe i lehte

Gati tridhjet vite me pare, kur une dhe bashkeshorti im ishim duke e renovuar banesen tone te pare, e kishim hargjuar pothuajse tere fondin e parave te nevojshme per renovim dhe mobilim pas blerjes se elementeve te kuzhines dhe kolltuqeve te dhomes se dites. Jo vetem qe i hargjuam te gjitha parat, por pjesen me te madhe te blerjeve u dasht qe t’a paguajm me keste per nje vit. Pasi qe pothuajse e kishim shterur bugjetin tone per ate vit, mundesit per te blere gjera dekorative per zbukurimin e baneses ishin te vogla. Megjithate, une nuk isha e pergatitur te jetoj ne nje vend te padekoruar bukur i cili edhepse i mobiluar dukej si i zbrazet dhe pa jete; keshtu qe fillova me nje vazhde te projekteve te tipit Beje Vet (DIY) ne menyre qe t’i beja hapsirat e baneses sone me funkcionale dhe te dekoruara bukur.

Projekti i pare i tipit Beje Vet ne banesen tone ishte punimi i nje rafti vares ne banjon tone i cili ishte me se i nevojshem per vendosjen e toileteris, peshkirave, letres toalet etj. Une e punova atehere nje rafte te tille vares duke e perdorur nje derrase e cila kishte tepruar nga instalimi i kuzhines, si dhe nga nje cope litari te cilin veqme e kishim. Rafti te cilin e krijova ishte nje gjesend qe nuk kushtoi asnje cent ( dinar ne ate kohe) dhe i cili rezultoi te jet shume i bukur dhe funkcional pasi qe ne te i grumbulluam te gjitha gjesented e nevojshme te toaletit.

Keto dite, duke e involvu metoden Beje Vet, i punova disa rafte te tilla varese per nje projekt ne te cilin jam duke punuar dhe do t’a ndaj me ju, lexuesit e ketije bllogu, procesin e punes se krijimit te ketyre rafteve duke shpresuar qe kjo te ju inpsiroj qe edhe ju VET ta beni nje te tille. Ishte nje projekt shume i lehte dhe i shpejte i cili u kompletua per me pak se nje ore.

Materiali i nevojshem per kete projekt eshte nje cope derase me gjatesi 45 cm dhe gjeresi 15 cm (ose cfardo gjatesie ose gjeresie qe ju konvenon), nje unaze cfardo madhesije, litar ose cfardo shiriti tjeter sipas deshires, metri per caktimin e vrimave, drilli per hapjen e vrimave, gersheret per keputjen e litarit.

Se pari i beni me shenje poziten ku do te hapen vrimat (ne kater skajet anesore te derrases) dhe me drill elektrik i hapni vrimat. Madhesija e vrimes duhet te korespondoj me trashesine e litarit.

Per t’a krijuar pjesen varese te raftit, i preni dy fije te litarit ne gjatesi te cilen e deshironi, duke pase parasyshe qe te shtoni edhe pake gjatesi per nyjet qe do te lidhen perfundi derrases. Per kete projekt une i keputa dy fije te 1 meter gjatesi.

Te dy fijet i beni bashk dhe i paloni ne mes duke e krijuar keshtu nje vegez siper se ciles e vendosni unazen.

E terhiqni pakez vegezen e krijuar nga unaza dhe neper te i kaloni fijet e litarit.

I terhiqni fijet fort ne drejtim te unazes ne menyre qe ta beni nje nyje
I ndani nga dy fije ne secilen ane. E kaloni secilen fije pertej seciles vrime ne te dy anet.

Bejeni nivelizimin e fijeve te litarit ne menyre qe raftet t’i varni ne lartesine e deshiruar, dhe pastaje secilen fije te kaluar neper vrime e lidhni ne nyje. I preni pjeset e teperta te fijeve nese ka nevoje, dhe e beni varjen e raftit.

Rezultati eshte: nje dizajn i thjeshte qe bene impakt te madh ne hapsiren tuaj, dhe me e rendesishmja Ju e keni bere VET.

Nese e Beni Vet nje te tille ju lutem me thuani se si doli i juaji.

Ne Miremengjesi Kosove – RTK live, ku per shiquesit e ketije programi bera prezentiminnse si mund t’a punojme vet nje raft vares!

Ju faleminderit qe e vizituat kete blog!

Besa

Every functional living room has or needs a coffee table. It is a necessary furnishing item in a room where we place our drinks, remotes, magazines or our books while reading etc. Since in most households the coffee table might be also a focal point of the room, it is a good idea to dress it up nicely so, beside its functionality, the well decorated table will bring some style and personality into a room.

What to consider when styling a coffee table?

There are no strict rules as how to decorate a coffee table, as this always depends from the life style, creativity of a person, and other personal preferences for the coffee table use; however, for all those who aspire to have a well curated coffee table look it is good to know where to start to achieve that look.

Decorating a coffee table is really simple, and you don’t need to go shopping for decorative items for coffee table decor. In most of the cases you can find those around the house.

Few things that are a good idea on a coffee table and which you may already have:

Books
Books, specially those that inspire you or are a good conversation starters are always a god idea for a table decor. Stack them together so to create height and create visual interest. Way to stack the books together for a great look is to go with the largest one at the bottom and continue with the smaller at the top; this way we create height and add visual interest. While stacking them it is always good to look how those will look from the sides.

Tray
Tray is another classic item when it comes to table decorating.
A tray serves both a practical and stylish purpose by showcasing your favorite small finds while also making them easily removable should you need to clear the surface for entertaining. A tray is also useful for giving structure and symmetry to a freeform table.

Candles
Candles are another classic decorative item in coffee table decor. They create a warm ambiance, especially some good scented ones, so it is a good idea to incorporate them in our table decor. They come on various forms and styles making it possible to add a proportion, texture, height and style to a coffee table. When using scented candles I recommend not to use two or more different scented candles at a time as sometimes different scents mixed together may create a bad smell, thus ruining the enjoyment.

Flowers and Plants
It is non disputable fact that nobody can go wrong by using fresh cut flowers in table decor; and in my opinion, flowers should be a must in any coffee table decor. Flowers and plants add natural texture and color, and even the dullest coffee table may look pretty and styled by using a bunch of fresh cut flowers or a nice planted one.

Accessorise and Keep It Personal
To create a stylish and meaningful coffee table decor, beside adding accessories that are also functional, consider adding an item which is personal to you as a homeowner. Personal items, such as small items for your memorable travels or vacations, an inherited item of a sentimental value etc. are a good conversation starters and make your coffee table decor look unique and personalised.

So if you if you take into consideration the above tips such us using decorative items which vary on height ( created by a stack of books, flower vases , candles), using texture ( flowers and items with different forms and finishes) and by adding something personal, you are, without doubt, on a good track to create a great coffee table decor.

Update: My appearance at RTK Live – Morning Show chatting about this topic

Thank you for visiting this site!

Besa

Si t’a dekorojme tavolinen e kafes

Secila dhome funkcionale e dites e ka nje tavoline te kafes ose, nese nuk e ka, i nevojtet nje e tille. Eshte nje vend i domosdoshem ku mund ti vendosim gotat e pijeve gjat konsumimit te tyre, pastaje librat ose revistat e ndryshme si dhe teledirigjuesin e tv’s etj., dhe kjo ka te beje me ate pjesen funkcionale e tavolines se kafes. Pasi tek shumica kjo tavoline munde te jet edhe pjesa fokale ne dhome, atehere do te ishte ide e mire qe ate t’a dekorojme bukur, ne menyre qe perpos funkcionalitetit, dekori i saje do te sjelle stil dhe personalitet ne ate hapsire.

Cfare te konisderojme me rastin e dekorimit te tavolines se kafes?

Nuk egzistojne regulla specifike se si te behet dekori i nje tavoline te kafes, sepse kjo gjithehere varet nga stili i jeteses se personit, kreativitetit, preferencave personale etj.; megjithate, per te gjith ata te cilet deshirojne ta ken nje pamje te kuruar te tavolines se tyre te kafes, atehere eshte mire te dijne se nga t’ja fillojne per t’a arijtur nje dekor te bukur qe ata ose ato e aspirojne.

Edhepse per disa dekori i tavolines eshte art ne vete, per te gith ata te cilet deshirojne qe ta ken nje dekor jo edhe aq extravagant, dekorimi i nje tavolineje te kafes eshte shume i lehte; dhe, shumica prej nesh nuk kan nevoje qe domosdoshmerisht te blejne gjesende dekori per kete qellim. Ne shumicen e rasteve ato gjesende dekorative do ti gjejne ne shtepi.

Disa gjesende te cilat do te ishte ide e mire qe ti perdorim ne dekorin e tavolines se kafes e te cilat mund ti keni ne shtepi:

Librat
Librat, e posaqerisht ata qe na inspirojne ose jane inicues te mire te bisedes, jane gjithehere ide e mire qe te jene pjese perberse e dekorit ne tavolinen e kafes. Dhe libra kemi qe te gjithe, edhe pse ndoshta jo ato nder me luksozet te botuar enkas per t’i vendos siper tavolines se kafes. Lbrat e perzgjedhur I radhisim njerin siper tjetrit ne menyre horizontale duke filluar nga me i madhi i vendosur ne pjesen e poshtme, dhe duke vazhduar me te vegjlit siper; ne kete menyre ne krijojme lartesi dhe interesim visual. Gjate radhitjes se tyre eshte mire te shiqojme se si po perputhen ngjyrat e kopertinave dhe si duket radhitja nga anet tjera.

Tabaka
Tabaka eshte nje element poashtu klasik dekorativ per sa i perket dekorit te tavolines se kafes. Ajo e ka edhe ate elementin funkcional e edhe dekorues ne tavolinen e kafes, pasi qe ne te mund te vendosim gjesende te ndryshme dekoruese e qe krijojne simetri dhe strukture ne tavoline; si dhe ne anen tjeter e bene te mundur qe ti largojme shpejte te gjitha dekoret ne tavoline duke e menjanuar tabaken ne rastet kur na nevojitet tavolina per shfrytezim (p. sh. lojra me miq dhe familje si shahu, letrat etj.)

Qirinjet
Qirinjet jane nje tjeter element dekorues shume te perdorur siper tavolines se kafes. Perdorimi i tyre krijon nje ambient te ngrohte, e sidomos perdorimi i qirinjeve aromatik, andaje eshte mire qe t’i inkorporojme qirinjet ne dekorin e tavolines. Ata i gjejme ne forma dhe madhesi te ndryshme duke e bere keshtu te mundshme qe me perdorimin e tyre te shtojme proporcion, stil, lartesi dhe teksture ne dekorin e tavolines. Nese perdorim qirinje aromatik, atehere rekomandoj qe te kemi kujdes dhe mos ti ndezim ne te njejten kohe qirinjet me aroma te ndryshme, pasi qe aromat e tyre mund te mos lidhen mire me njera tjetren dhe si pasoje te kemi nje ere te pakendshme qe pastaje e prishe ate ndjenjen e kenaqesis se perdorimit te tyre.

Lulet e fresketa dhe ato ne saksi
Eshte fakt i pamohueshem se askush nuk mund te gaboj me inkorporimin e luleve ne dekorin e tavolines se kafes dhe, sipas mendimit tim, perorimimi i luleve te fresketa do duhej te ishte imperativ ne dekorin e tavolines. Lulet e fresketa dhe ato ne saksi shtojne teksture dhe ngjyre, ashtu qe edhe tavolina me e thjeshte dhe mbase edhe me e vjetruara do te duket e bukur, e fresket dhe me stil nese ne te eshte e vendosure nje buqete lulesh ose ndonje lule ne saksi.

Akcesorizimi dhe personalizimi
Per nje dekor me shume stil rekomandoj te behet akcesorizimi me gjesende dekoruese te cilat perpos qe munde t’a ken nje funkcion ne tavoline, ato kan edhe nje sentiment per ju. Keto munde te jen gjesende interesante te sjella nga ndonje udhetim, ndonje gjesend i trasheguar nga familja, ose gjera te tilla personale te cilat munde the jen gjithashtu edhe inicues te bisedes, dhe per me teper e bejne qe dekori i tavolines s’uaj te kafes te duket me unik dhe i personalizuar.

Andaj, nese i merni parasysh keshillat e siperme s’i; perdorimi i gjesendeve dekoruese te lartesive te ndryshme (qe munde te arrihet me perdorimin e librave te radhitur njeri siper tjetrit, vazo te ndryshme, qirinjeve me lartesi te ndryshme); perdorimi i teksturave (lulet e fresketa dhe ato ne saksi, si dhe gjesendet me forma dhe finishe te ndryshme), si dhe duke e inkorporuar ndonje gjesend personal ne ate dekor, padyshim se ju jeni ne rruge te mire per te krijuar nje dekor mbreselenes te tavolines s’uaj te kafes.

Ju faleminderit qe e vizituat kete faqe!
Besa