At last! It is here. The final reveal of our One Room Challenge guest room makeover/revamp. The concept for this room was to be reminiscent of a boutique resort hotel set in Panama City, Panama or any other Latin country, enveloped in vibrant tropical Caribbean vibes and tones. In the design, we incorporated materials such as natural woods, black metals, marble, and gold brass. When I think of Panama, my beautiful home country, I always remember the green, lush mountains and trees, and all the colors I see on the buildings: the pinks, the reds, the bold yellows, oranges, etc. So, in this room, it was important for me to transcend all of those colorful memories into this guest room revamp. All of the furniture selections and materials were selected to be "wow factors" individually on their own, and as a "collective whole." This room is so plush, so inviting, so warm, super cozy, and my personal tropical getaway in my own home. When I enter this room, I smell the beach, I feel the sun of Panama, I can taste the delicious food of the country, I see the colorful buildings I admire so much, and the unique artwork birthed in the streets of Panama. More than that, I am reminded of my mom, her dancing while she is cooking, cleaning, or taking care of us, and my extended family members that I miss so much, and all the gorgeous memories we built during my childhood, and all that makes me - ME! This room is my Happy Place, indeed.
This week, we jampacked Phase 10: Furniture Install & Styling; Phase 11: Reveal Day; Phase 12: Defects Walk-Through; Phase 13: Resolving Defects; and Phase 14: Project Closure of the Design Process all in 7 days. For the artful accent wall, my team (my oldest sister and niece) noticed that some of the lines of the yellow/orange custom print design needing cleaning up and reapplication of paint. They took care of that on Friday morning. I spent 3 days going around town shopping and finding the perfect accessories to elevate the styling of this room. Let's just say, I went to 7 different Targets, 2 different Kirklands, 2 different West Elms, the new CB2 (first time in Houston), Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Tuesday Morning, Casa Vilora Interiors - Veronica Solomon, to find the accessories for this room.
In any hotel room, you will find a mini bar. I love drinking red wine, so of course, I had to include this in my guest room tropical getaway. Sometimes, in my wine, I add fruits such as orange and apples, I guess, my dumb-down version of Sangria. Also, I love to read, so having an area to store my most favorite books was a MUST! I love the bookends because it reminds me of the buildings and cobblestone streets of Panamá Viejo (English: "Old Panama"), also known as Panamá la Vieja, is the remaining part of the original Panama City, the former capital of Panama, which was destroyed in 1671 by the Welsh privateer Henry Morgan. Lastly, but most important to me, I had to include in this room, was Jesus carrying the Cross, along with Mother Mary and The Bible. In every part or room of my household, I have to include religious items to remind me to pray and also think of God, Jesus, The Holy Family and all the hosts of angels and the Church. Having these things around me, grounds me, and keeps me level headed throughout the day.
In the entry area of the room, I hung a Mola textile art piece alongside of the electronic dimmer switch by Legrand. A mola is a traditional textile made by the Guna women of Panama from layers of colored fabrics that are stitched together and cut using applique techniques to create patterns and pictures. The Guna, formerly known as the Kuna (or Cuna), are an indigenous people of Panama and Colombia. In the Guna language, mola originally meant bird plumage. Molas are very popular in Panama. I have clothes, shoes, art pieces, bags, handkerchiefs, etc all in Mola motifs. Therefore, I had to include a mola into this room.
Finally, the most exciting design element to this room is the artwork by Panamanian artist, Melany Allen (sorry, we are not related). When I first saw this print promoted by another Panamanian, I had to purchase a few. When I look at her artwork, I see me, I see my mom, I see my sisters, and of course, I see Panama, so I had to purchase. I purchased the prints about 6 months ago, and the revamp of this room, gave me the perfect opportunity to get the prints framed and installed into this room. For framing, I chose to go with white frame, and teal mat. The teal colored mats bring out the teal tones appearing in all the prints...it was the color that joined all them together.
Thank you so so so much for joining me on this journey. It has its ups and downs, but we are ending on such a high, gorgeous note. I am in love with this room, and will enjoy this room, for years to come. Not only me, but my entire family; which is, priceless. In this room, I can go from my morning coffee straight to my evening wine, without stepping into the kitchen. This is golden!
If you have not been following our journey, and you want to see where we got started, click here to read our first blog post, and take it from there.
One Room Challenge has been so exciting and the community support of the other designers have been valuable and synergic. Don’t forget to look to see how all the designers, especially the featured designers,have completed their room with #oneroomchallenge hashtag or click the links below to follow their respective blogs or visit the ORC official blog at http://www.oneroomchallenge.com/orc-blog.
Thank you for your support. Don't forget to love, comment and share with your friends and family. We would love to hear from you!!
Until next time....
Un abrazo grande y muy fuerte y muchas bendiciones (huge hug, very strong hug, and much blessings)
--- Keesha
Sachi Lord | Susan Hill Interior Design | This Is Simplicite | Tiffany DeLangie | Victoria Lee Jones
