Mood Board Monday... the pressure's on!

Two weeks ago, PK at Room Remix put forth a friendly challenge: design a room using one or both of the items you see above. On the left is a curtain panel from the very affordable collection at Pier 1. On the right, a medium weight trellis pattern fabric from fabric.com.

These are PK's "guidelines" (not "rules") of participation, paraphrased :
1) This is not a competition, but a fun way to see how many different results come from the same inspiration.
2) Use at least one of the inspiration items she has chosen.
3) Include sources and a brief description of the room.

So you see, the "pressure" I allude to in this post's title is not from PK, but entirely self-imposed. Not pressure to be the best or most creative, mind you, but pressure to simply show up. Making mood boards or presentation boards in a digital, virtual world is a skill I had not yet acquired when I accepted PK's challenge. I've made bunches of actual mood boards—for classes, for clients, for my own projects and just for fun—and knew that eventually, especially after I started my blog, I would need to know how to make this kind of board too. So I jumped feet first into Polyvore and after some fits and starts and a couple of shout outs for help from fellow bloggers, I present to you my first ever digital mood board (click on the board to get a bigger view) :

College Girl Goes to Grad School is what I'm calling this project. My client is a young woman who has graduated college and moved into her first "grown up" apartment as she continues on to grad school and takes on her first post-degree, real world job. Yes, she's a hard-working adult now, but she's still very young and loves bright colors, fun patterns and a little bit of trendy mixed in with classics and investments. I chose to use both the curtain panels and the trellis fabric in College Girl's small living room. Around these inspiration items, the room has been furnished with affordable pieces that might be acquired all at once or a piece at a time over a period of many months.

THE DETAILS
Delilah Window Panel in Spring from Pier 1, $34.95 x 4 panels, $139.80

Linden Street Window Hardware in Black from JCPenney, $62.99

Trellis Fabric in Lime from fabric.com will be used to slipcover the pair of slipper chairs, $8.98/yd x 8 yds, $71.84 (+ sewing labor)

Deco Slipper Chair from modernfurniture.com. The included lumbar pillows will look great across the back of the sofa, $200.00 x 2, $400.00

Kramforss 2-Seater Sofa in White Leather from Ikea will serve our girl well for years to come, $879.00

Pharmacy Floor Lamp from Lamps Plus in black is a classic, $260.00

Gum Drop Table Lamp in Hot Pink from Walmart, $30.00

Damask Black Pedestal Coffee Table from Target stands in for the eventual purchase of an affordable Saarinen reproduction, $60.00

Trollsta Side Table from Ikea, $80.00

Island Sisal Rug from Crate and Barrel is basic and hard-wearing, a more colorful, even patterned, area rug can be layered on top if College Girl decides to go really crazy!, $399.00

Bird on a Wire Pillow in Spring Green from supermarkethq.com brightens the sofa, $24.00

Mongolian Sheepskin Pillow in Gray from pillowdecor.com is a splurge and will look great on one of the slipper chairs as a way to "unmatch" them, $100.00

Floor Mirror with ornate Antique Gold Frame will stand behind the slipper chairs, inherited from Grandma. Yay for "free"!

Bouquet on coffee table from The Boyfriend. Yay for generous boyfriends!

Art to hang over the fireplace mantel is a 30x40 photo enlargement on heavy-weight paper from wizardprints.com. The original art is a black and white print from a book of old engravings. Finished print will be mounted onto a blank canvas. Approximate price $100.00

Adrien Leather Ottoman in Fuchsia from Pierre Deux is the big splurge at $895.00. But it's so great looking and comes from a company that I love and, extra bonus, Pierre Deux (and their little sister company fclstyle.com which calls this piece Klismos on their website) will make a donation from each purchase in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Here's what they say: "Make a style statement in support of a cause—$50 of each purchase of the Adrien (or Klismos) Ottoman in fuchsia will be donated to the American Cancer Society. A piece with extraordinary personality, it's the epitome of casual comfort to pull up for occasional seating, as a footrest or an extra surface. Artfully distressed semi-aniline leather upholsters a wood finish frame traced with natural brass nailheads and fitted with 8-way hand-tied springs." Who knows how many of these pricey little numbers they'll actually sell, but it's a nice gesture and a decent per-item donation. And it's a pretty fancy purchase for a girl who just graduated, I know. However, its classic styling and punchy color combined with multi-functional practicality makes it a nice investment piece for a young person just beginning to acquire fine furnishings.

The Grand Total: $3,500.00 and change plus some installation and sewing labor. Spread out over a bit of time and partially funded with graduation gift checks (!), it's an affordable, pretty room in which College Girl can continue to plan her bright future.

Questions? Comments? Critiques? Bring 'em on!

And be sure to go to Room Remix to see who else is playing "Mood Board Monday" today! Just click on the button below.

k's living room by Comfort&Luxury on Polyvore.com

Credit should be given to Lauren of Pure Style Home for the photo enlargement source. See hers in her home tour here.

And BIG THANKS to PK for helping me get past my bout of blog funk with this fun challenge!