As an interior designer, my areas of responsibility generally fall under Kitchens and Dining, as well as Children's IKEA. Because the other lovely ladies of on my team were quite busy with the demand of the Living with Textiles Exhibit, my manager approached me about creating a room to coincide with the "Back to College" message for the store. Needless to say, I was pretty stoked for the opportunity!

 Initially, our sales manager wanted to work with a loft bed (a solution that was already well-represented in the showroom) but nevertheless, I created several floor plans with this piece in mind. My manager and I were pretty disappointed by the selection of the loft bed - we preferred a bunk bed to really drive home the reality of college roomate living - so we agreed that I should also present an option with a bunk bed (you know, for good measure). 

The sales manager and especially the Work IKEA manager loved bunk bed floor plan the most, particularly because I was able to incorporate so many functions into one space (working, entertaining, sleeping, dressing) so they gave us their stamp of approval. The funny thing is, a roommate roomsetting (sharing a room with someone who is not your significant other) had never been shown in our store before, so I was pretty excited.

Here's the before!

And here's the after!
 

My most challenging requirement when I started the space planning process was that Micke had to be on the hot wall (the wall that people see first when strolling along the path). Because I was working with a room that only had two walls, as opposed to the normal three, I was able to design the space so that the Micke product and desk chairs were facing the path, but not actually on the hot wall. Doing so allowed me to decrease the time it normally takes for the point of interaction to occur with the customer. Talk about sales strategies!

Another requirement was that Work IKEA product had to be well-represented in the room. I did this by using Ekby shelving from the range on the hot wall. Below is an entertainment center that is concealed by the Micke desk and Klippan sofa pictured below.  Truth be told, I was pretty bummed about having to use the natural cover on the sofa (it's the lowest priced option) but fresh off of the Living with Textiles exhibit, I decided to have fun with it and use two yards of fabric to dress it up. It was a quick fix, and textiles make the natural cover very versatile.

If you swing on around, you'll see the bunk bed. Instead of doing a large print above the top bunk (which would have totally been okay here) I decided to incorporate some display storage with 6 Forholja boxes. I plan to add  a little somethin' somethin' to the bottom bunk wall when I get a chance.

Here's a little closeup

Notice that in the before picture I didn't have an extra wall for the closet. Our awesome carpenter fabricated one for me. Not only did the extra wall create a closet, it also framed out the bunk bed to make the space look more custom, and created a small dressing space of sorts when the curtains are drawn. My inner college girl kept thinking, how awesome would it be to get dressed in here and not have to require that your company or roommate's company leave so that you can get a little bit of privacy?

Here's the other side.

This project was amongst the most challenging I've experienced since I started with Com-In back in January. Designing and implementing a room from scratch is pretty time consuming, and a laundry list of things can and did go wrong. Through everything though, I had such a great experience and learned a ton! I also got some awesome support from my co-workers and my manager.

Everything is totally worth it though when I see customers so excited and how they immediately begin interacting with my design. A little boy walked by with his mom and his little brother while I was working in the room and said, "Mom! This is my DREAM ROOM!" I would have the top bunk!" 

That comment actually made my day - well actually, it made my week. I must admit, it's super cool to hear people talk amongst themselves and know that they get the concept right away. 

I've heard lots of, "It's a dorm room!" and 

"This room would be great for our boys!"

Needless to say, IKEA customers just warm my heart...well, nice ones anyway! :)

Aside from textiles, art is one of the most important elements that can transform a space into a home. For me, choosing art was always a challenge. I had no idea what type of art I preferred, but I eventually learned that as long as a piece speaks to you, it's more than justification for making it into your personal art collection. Quite often, a specific piece of artwork can also be a great jumping-off point for inspiration in a space. Just recently I started getting into local artists here in the Atlanta area. There are so many artists creating stunning works of art, and any time you can get an authentic piece of artwork instead of a reproduction, it's a pretty awesome thing to bring home.

Today I wanted to share the artwork of the incredibly talented mixed media artist Sharon Crumley. Her "100 Dresses" project is catching a lot of attention at local events and art fairs around Metro Atlanta. Inspired by the book The Hundred Dresses by Elenor Estes, Sharon decided to bring one of her favorite books as a child to life by creating a series of 100 dresses on canvas using various textiles, paper, paint, and other media. Check it out!

 The combination of textiles, paint and printed words is quite stunning. Plus, don't you just love the pup?

This piece is so striking and the ethnic print is gorgeous.

I love the raw edges and little studded belt on this dress!

This one is my personal favorite.  I love the abstract background, muddled blues, pops of oranges, lime greens, and of course the modern shape of the dress. In true form of creating a room around a piece, I thought I'd show you what I'd do with such a beauty.

Now Sharon's dress count is up to 63, and with sizes varying from 6x6 up to 48x48, I'm sure that there's something appropriate for any space. She also creates prints of some of her most popular pieces. I can totally see a large-scale print in a living room, or behind a bed or crib. Also, a  small collage of dresses used as nursery artwork would be adorable... you know, perhaps one day.

Sharon also specializes in various abstract collages, African-inspired pieces, and even textile fortune cookies. Definitely check out her website or Etsy shop. They're selling pretty fast! :)

So remember this mood board I did a little while back?

Well, I finally got around to hanging those sweet Janette curtains! Our office went from this when we first moved in:

How beautiful are these Janette curtains? They definitely make the room!

Closeup for detail oriented. And yes that's a Macroeconomics book in the background. Don't hate.

And as for the pieces on the P.S. cabinet in center meet Bamboo II. Bamboo I died (rest his soul) when I was in college. My mommy didn't water him regularly during my internship. This was a make up gift :)  We love him. Yellow tips and all. Let's call it a french manicure. I made Brandon responsible for his well-being for because he lives next to his desk.

And because people always wanna know about the vast assortment of books that one accumulates.

My flowers that seem to last forever. These puppies have been going strong for 3 weeks. Yeah strange, I know. Oh, and "boys are stupid, throw rocks at them." That is all.

Oh, and here's my grandmother's chair with my old school peacock feather pillow and the green pillow I kept from my pillow swap. I'm slowly pulling it all together! Stay tuned!

This is the story of the day when I almost lost my ever-lovin' mind at Target. I like pillows WAY too much, and began to fill my cart with them. Look how beautiful they are!

After I filled my cart to capacity I stepped back and began to edit, because truthfully, I'm cheap, and there is no way that I was going to spend nearly $100 on pillows.

Here's what I made it home with - a fresh collage of pillows.  Side note: I really loved the flokati pillow, but it was a little too rich for my blood at almost $30. You see, I like to ball on a budget. These were all under $15.

Then I went home and began to play.  Here's an arrangement I tried, but decided against.  What's wrong with it? Well, nothing really, but I'm too in love with my tree of life pillow not to give it center stage, and it felt like the red one (though I love the texture) completely stole the show and the chevron pillow (from Target's current dorm collection, wasn't strong enough to anchor the arrangement.

Here's another arrangement I tried out. The tree definitely looks better in the center.

I dig these four on their own, too.  If  I was going to start all over with my pillow collection, this is how I'd build it.

I played around with Luna too, even though Brandon would never condone the usage of a throw pillow in his man chair.

Frustrated, I eventually gave up on adding new pillows to the living room. So it still looks like this.

But I did take some into our office for our Karlstad chaise. The striped one looked right at home.

I loved that it picked up the various blues and added a few shades of green, which set the stage for our new curtains. What curtains? The ones that I finally hung!  But they're so gorgeous that they deserve their own post. Stay tuned. xoxo - Rae