Cozy Study: Design Goals

Products for this challenge were sponsored by Milton & King, Mohawk Rugs, and The Home Depot. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Thou Swell running!

This year is starting off with a bang for many reasons (I shared a brief overview in my latest Instagram post) but one of the most exciting reasons is that I am moving into my very own apartment this month! The timing could not have been better for participating in my first New Year, New Room Refresh Challenge and I decided that my study/media room would be the first space to get fully decorated, thanks to the help of the challenge’s amazing sponsors.

Here’s how the challenge works – I’ve got a month to refresh or decorate one room, and I will be sharing updates each Tuesday of the month until the final reveal, and it’s all happening with a great group of talented bloggers tackling rooms for the New Year. A huge thank you to Stephanie from Casa Watkins Living for organizing everything and inviting me to participate this year! Keep reading for a look inside the room I’ll be decorating…

I want to give a full introduction to my apartment once it gets a little more settled, but for now I will just say that it used to be the sales office for a development in-between Buckhead and Midtown here in Atlanta, so the space that I’m taking on for this challenge was used as the builders’ office! It is roughly 10×14 feet with one window on the outside wall. The small door opens to the bathroom, and the other doorway leads out to the kitchen/living space. Here are some photos of when it was an office and now that it’s cleaned out:

As you can see the room has polished concrete floors and a long rectangular shape. For this space I’m planning to have bookshelves for storing both books and my collection of vases and various styling props, and a TV and sectional for lounging and watching movies. As you can tell by the first image in this post, I’m inspired by a cozy, den-like vibe with dark brown walls. Here’s a rough outline of my goals for each week of this challenge:

WEEK ONE / Finish placing orders and pick paint color

WEEK TWO / Paint walls, install wallpaper and chandelier

WEEK THREE / Place rug and install all furniture

WEEK FOUR / Style and photograph!

Next week I’ll be sharing my design board with all the final decor selections and my progress with the painting.

New Year New Room Refresh: Apartment Study  was originally published in Thou Swell

Follow Kevin Francis O'Gara @kfogara