The One Room Challenge comes twice a year, once in the Spring and then again in the Fall. It might be safe to say it is one of my favorite times of the year. Not only does it give us a chance to completely transform a space and bring our readers with us, it allows us to come together with a massive online community while each participant transforms their own space too! There is no winner and loser in this challenge. The ORC is a time to celebrate the love of design and just what can be done in a short period of time.
Wondering how you can join in on all the fun? I’ve got you covered. Today I am going to break down exactly what you need to know in order to participate in the One Room Challenge!
The best place to start is to check out what other people have done for the One Room Challenge. Lucky for you we’ve got plenty to show off. Take a look at all five of our previous ORC projects to start to wrap your head around how we document the process. Make sure to click through all 6 weeks of the process.
01 – Master Bedroom
02 – Master Bathroom
03 – Shared Kids Room
04 – Mudroom/Laundry Room
05 – Living Room
Now before I breakdown for you how to actually document the process and fully participate in the One Room Challenge there are some things you need to know first.
Set A Budget
This is always first on my list. Because you guys without a realistic budget you really can’t do much. So before you go any further with a project you need to decide on how much you’ve got in a budget to make that transformation happen.
Pick A Space
Next, based on your budget pick a space you want to transform. Remember that it is important to stay realistic with what you can actually do with your budget and the timeline of the ORC.
Create A Timeline
The ORC runs for 6 straight weeks from start to finish. This means when documenting you are allowing yourself time to capture your afters, so if you plan to do this live know that you really don’t have 6 weeks…it’s more like 5 weeks and maybe a couple days.
We like to create a full project timeline for any project we are working on. This way we know what is happening when and how we plan to finish the project on time. Pre-planning any project is key to your success. You need to allow for products to get to your space. Especially if you are dealing with any custom ordering! Timing is key here.
Sign Up
This is the easy part. Head over to the One Room Challenge and sign up as a guest participant. iImply give your email and answer a few questions and you’re in! From there Linda, the creator of the One Room Challenge, will be in touch. She’s amazing you guys and will guide you through the process. Here’s a full breakdown of exactly what will happen.
Create A Content Plan
As a part of the One Room Challenge not only are you dedicating yourself to transforming a space, you are also saying “hey world I am going to showcase to you just how I am doing this room.” Heck yes, you guys! This is the fun part as long as you’ve got it planned out before you start! Here’s a simple guideline we’ve used in the past.
Week 1 – Intro Project
Show befores of the space you are going to transform. Talk about why you chose the space and what you plan to do. This is a great time to show your mood board and what you find to be inspiration for you.
Week 2 – Progress + Design Decisions
Each week from here on out we like to share our progress with our readers. Or if you are doing this just on Instagram you can show your followers that way too! During week 2 it is always a great chance to talk through what your design plan is and why you are going in that direction. Remember you don’t have to have a degree in this to tell someone why you like what you like!
Week 3 – Progress + More Design Decisions + Teach Something
Again, give your readers an update as to what is happening in your space. Provide even more insight into what design decisions you’ve made and now you have the ability to showcase some of the decisions in real life. During week 3, if at all possible, we like to teach our readers something about the process or how we did something along the way. We love any opportunity we can to teach others to do better in their own line and this really provides us with a platform to showcase how to make their home feel more like home to them.
Week 4- Progress + Teach Something
Here you have it again. Give your audience and update and for sure teach them something about your project!
Week 5 Progress + What Is Still Left
This week you don’t want to give away your entire space, but do showcase some updates. Also, this is a great time to showcase all the things you still need to wrap up. Everyone loves a good storyline and a cliffhanger leaving them wondering if you will actually pull this off!
Week 6 – Final Reveal
This post is always my favorite. Here you want to not only showcase the beautiful space you transformed but how different it looked from the beginning!
***The spring 2020 One Room Challenge is Running for 8 Weeks Below is our revised schedule for this season***
Week 1 – Intro Project
Show befores of the space you are going to transform. Talk about why you chose the space and what you plan to do. This is a great time to show your mood board and what you find to be inspiration for you.
Week 2 – Progress + Design Decisions
Each week from here on out we like to share our progress with our readers. Or if you are doing this just on Instagram you can show your followers that way too! During week 2 it is always a great chance to talk through what your design plan is and why you are going in that direction. Remember you don’t have to have a degree in this to tell someone why you like what you like!
Week 3 – Progress + More Design Decisions + Teach Something
Again, give your readers an update as to what is happening in your space. Provide even more insight into what design decisions you’ve made and now you have the ability to showcase some of the decisions in real life. During week 3, if at all possible, we like to teach our readers something about the process or how we did something along the way. We love any opportunity we can to teach others to do better in their own line and this really provides us with a platform to showcase how to make their home feel more like home to them.
Week 4 – Progress + Teach Something + Share Challenges
Here you have it again. Give your audience an update and teach them something about your project! With this year being different from any other year we are planning to talk about what life has looked like for us through a renovation during a pandemic.
Week 5 – Progress + Teach Something + Share Challenges
During week 5 we plan to update our readers on everything that has happened or maybe not happened. How we are moving forward with challenges we cannot control. And of course continue to educate our audience along the way.
Week 6 – Progress + Teach Something + Little Details
Let’s showcase the progress while getting into the details that every project has. Here we are going to show you the details that might go sight unseen but really make a difference in any project you take on. We are going to teach our audience things to think about when doing the detailed work that come into projects.
Week 7 – Progress + What Is Still Left
This week you don’t want to give away your entire space, but do showcase some updates. Also, this is a great time to showcase all the things you still need to wrap up. Everyone loves a good storyline and a cliffhanger leaving them wondering if you will actually pull this off!
Week 8 – Final Reveal
This post is always my favorite. Here you want to not only showcase the beautiful space you transformed but how different it looked from the beginning!
Capture All the Content
Now that you’ve got a content plan you need to make sure you capture all the content. Yep, videos and images are what you need here. You honestly can never have too much of a good thing and you guys when it comes to capturing for the ORC you want all the content you can get.
Pro Tips:
It Does Not Have To Be Done Live
Trust us from experience. Of the 5 ORC we have participated in we have done 4 out of the 5 projects live and you guys this is a LOT. Not only are you trying to transform a space, you are trying to document how you are transforming the space. Don’t get us wrong, doing it live can be done and the 6 week timeline to transform a room is completely doable, especially if you are doing the room full time. But doing both at the same time on that timeline is wild and not worth all the stress.
Don’t Use All Your Content
When it comes to blog posts, having content there is important. But you don’t want to weigh down the post with 1000 pictures. We like to stick to the rule of 7 to 8 pictures per post…it is more than enough. With our final reveal post we drop anywhere from 15 to 20 because we want to showcase all the killer details there.
Share On Stories
Instagram Stories are a great way to use all that content you have collected. Not only does it bring your followers along for the journey it also allows for you to really see the full transformation happen.
Follow Along With Others
The ORC is meant to bring people together through the love of design. This is a great time to get inspired. Find other amazing stories and accounts out there. Connect with other people designing while you’re designing beside them.
Much Love-
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