The One Room Challenge™ is my all time favorite interior design event, and I'm so happy to get to be here sharing my progress at Week Two. A huge thank you to Linda for including me in this incredible group! If you missed Week One, catch up here. I'm tearing down a wall in my kitchen to create an open kitchen/family/breakfast space. Well, not me personally, even though I think it might be cathartic. Remodeling is possibly my least favorite activity, so thank goodness we're almost ready for the fun part -- paint, moulding, furniture, fabrics, and accessories. Yay!

Last week, I shared the bizarre level of darkness that is the back part of my house and the area I'm transforming for my ORC project. A covered patio is the culprit. Here's a photo that shows the difference in the light levels between the front and back of the house.

And, here are a couple of photos of the front two rooms. Notice how light-filled they are compared to the back.

Spring 2017 One Room Challenge dining room from The Pink Pagoda with blue and white fabric and accessories

Spring 2017 One Room Challenge sitting room from The Pink Pagoda

I redid these rooms for the last One Room Challenge™, and my objective was to create happy, pretty spaces I'd love to enjoy. The level of light in these two rooms makes the happy vibe possible. Imagine my consternation with the main living space in the house.

UGH. I bought this house knowing it was a big renovation project. The two biggest issues that HAD to be addressed were the lack of light, and the fact that the entire house was carpeted. While learning about hardwoods and having them installed everywhere was daunting, deciding how to bring more light into the house was harder.

I wanted LOTS of light like the Velux skylight provides in this Coastal Living 2017 Idea House hallway designed by Mark D. Sikes.

Skylight from Velux in Coastal Living Idea House 2017

And, here are more Velux skylights in the Coastal Living 2017 Idea House.

Velux skylights in the Coastal Living 2017 Idea House loft

So, while skylights were hugely appealing to me, I'd heard years ago that they're high maintenance and leaked. On I moved to learning about sun tunnels -- something I hadn't known existed. There are some definite pros to using sun tunnels. The biggest is the ease of installation. They don't require much roof work at all, and they involve very minimal sheetrock repair. Nothing like the creating of wells involved with skylights. So, for awhile there, I thought sun tunnels might be the solution for our dark kitchen, breakfast, and family space.

This house has required a level of remodeling that makes living there not possible for us. However, we're close by, and I've had to be in and out frequently. After a bit, I noticed myself wanting to to be there less and less, and realized I was avoiding the lack of light. It was literally making me feel bad to be there. I learned why lack of daylight effects mood, how it impacts all aspects of our health, and even how it impacts test performance. After acquiring all of that motivating information, it was time to make something happen. My daughter and I visited a local showroom and saw different sizes of sun tunnels with different diffuser options and styles. We were both interested and impressed, but neither of us was ready to commit.

Here's what a sun tunnel looks like installed in a hallway.

A few days after seeing sun tunnels in person, I realized why I was hesitating to schedule installation. Sun tunnels provide the light I wanted, but not the feeling. Nothing but skylights would provide the level of light, the ability to see outdoors, and the option for fresh air. After doing a bit of research, I was super excited to learn that skylight technology has vastly improved, and leaking isn't an issue if you use the right product. It also was obvious that there's a clear consensus on which company to use. Everything I could find said that Velux manufactures the best quality skylights. FINALLY. Let there be light! More next week on the specific products that are making me very happy : ).

and, on to the kitchen...

I'll start with the biggest, most impactful part of our kitchens -- the cabinets. I actually don't have before pics as the cabinets had to be removed earlier than expected. The man installing the hardwoods had an opening in his schedule and could come sooner than planned. That meant the cabinets had to go immediately. Just imagine 50 year old darkly stained oak cabinets with pink-ish, taupe-ish, highly contrasting speckely granite countertops and a rough brown tile backsplash. Aren't you glad you don't have to see the before pics?

I wanted to purchase cabinets online, and had seen several things over the past couple of years about cliqstudios.com Cabinets are an important investment, and I wanted to really do my homework before making any decisions. After lots of investigating, I felt comfortable proceeding with cliqstudios.com. The number of reviews far exceed other online cabinet companies, and in addition, their reviews appear to be authentic. Other companies have reviews that upon close study have obviously been faked. The navigation of the cliqstudios.com site, along with all of the photos, information, and resources was another positive. The site is the most thorough cabinet site I've seen. There are answers to many questions I wouldn't have ever known to ask. I began working with a cliqstudios.com professional kitchen designer to create the cabinetry design that was delivered to my house Monday. The installation will start Thursday, and I'm dying to see all of this come together! I'll share more about my online cabinet purchase experience next week, but for now will show you the cabinet style I chose.

bayport cabinet door from cliqstudios.com

I wanted a flat drawer front, and a bit softer lines. This style is called Bayport at cliqstudios.com. This image, from At Home in Arkansas, shows cabinetry that looks almost identical.