Hello, everyone!!!

We here at RAD are absolutely astonished by your response to our One Room Challenge project; you guys are wonderful, and we are so grateful for your continuous support and encouragement throughout this whole experience. Seriously, THANK YOU!!! As promised, we have a post on the living room that was briefly featured in our ORC posts! We did not include this room in our ORC project because it would have been too much to do this on top of the kitchen and dining area, and we were not sure we could finish it on time. But if you’ve seen our reveal post, you know we did finish it. And here is the final product!

We love how the room turned out, and we’re happy we had it ready for our One Room Challenge photo shoot! It has been super fun to share our progress in the kitchen and dining area with you guys, and this room is so connected to those that we felt we had to share it as well!

We also promised you all a list of sources for the pieces we used during the one room challenge, so here it is:

1. Chandelier – Brendan Ravenhill

2.Buffet – Contact us for information

3. Dining table – Circawho

4. Dining chairs – Vintage, found on Etsy

5. Juju hat – Etsy

6. Lucite Console – Modern Glamor

7. Mursi girl photograph – Mario Gerth

8. Countertop – Calacatta Quartz, Backsplash – Calacatta Mini Bricks

9. Cabinets – UltraCraft

10. Nook table – CB2

11. Paint color – Benjamin Moore Gray Owl

12. Faucet – Wayfair

13. Sink – Wayfair

14. Dishwasher – Bosch (clients’ existing dishwasher)

15. Microwave – GE Monogram (PEM31SFSS)

16. Hood – GE Monogram (ZV830SM)

17. Refrigerator – GE Monogram(ZICP360NXRH)

18. Range – GE Monogram (ZGP304NRSS)

We were very fortunate to work with an amazing contractor who deserves credit as well: Arthur C. Lange. We could not have done this without him!

We also wanted to share some of the pieces we used for styling:

We hope this helps, but if you guys have any more questions about our sources, feel free to email us at alwaysrad@rajnialexdesign.com, or contact us on Instagram or Facebook. Hope you have an amazing weekend!!

HAPPY THURSDAY, EVERYONE! IT’S WEEK 6!!!!!! We can’t believe we’ve made it! These past weeks have been insane here at RAD, but we’re so glad we decided to participate in the One Room Challenge! We’d like to thank Linda for creating this amazing event! We’ve learned it is about so much more than designing a room in a short amount of time: it is about fostering community. It has been so great to  share our work, but even more so to see what the other participants have been working on, and to know that we’re all working toward the same goal and encouraging each other as we go along. This has been a very special experience, and we’re glad we got to be a part of it!

Okay, let’s go through a quick recap. If you want a more detailed recap, feel free to go to our previous One Room Challenge posts:

Week 1/ Week 2/ Week 3/ Week 4/ Week 5

The room used to be a separate kitchen and dining room, and it was such a tight space that it was difficult to get a before shot. So this a not-so-great before shot.

And then we decided to knock down the wall separating the kitchen and dining room, transforming it into one big room. This was the plan:

With everything in red in this floor plan gone, we had the space to transform it into this: And now it looks like this!

And here are a couple of before and after shots from similar angles so you guys can see the transformation:

With the wall on the left gone, we decided to add a peninsula to create some extra counter space, storage, and seating.

We wanted the client to have a better view of the window from the sink, so we switched the sink and the stove. We also chose to do this because it makes the hood the main focal point in the kitchen.

And though these last two pictures aren’t from the same angle, they show how we opened the staircase to the rest of the room.

Crazy transformation, isn’t it?!?! We are so glad our clients were game to knock down that wall. It really makes a lot of difference. And we’re glad we moved that closet out of the way to the stairs. The walls around that closet took up so much space, and now the space is just open and it flows beautifully!

Now let’s tackle one area at a time, starting with the kitchen! Oh, and we’d like to apologize in advance for the few iPhone shots mixed in this. Hours after the photo shoot was over we kept thinking of great shots we should have taken, and so we went back Tuesday to get a few more shots.

Let’s get a closer look:

If you’ve been following us through this process, you know that we ran into a couple of setbacks with the countertop and the backsplash. And even though we had not designed this with the Calacatta Quartz or the mini bricks in mind, we could not be happier with the way this turned out!

We went with a beautiful stainless range and hood to keep it clean and simple.

We moved the sink to this side so that more natural light hit it during the day. And we added some open storage on top, so our clients could keep things like cookbooks in full view.

We LOVE the breakfast nook! We added a mirror behind it so it can reflect the natural light from the window into the rest of the room. It makes the room look so much brighter!

Another shot of the nook, just because we adore it!

We chose a single door refrigerator because a double door one would take up valuable storage space, and our clients really need the storage space! And since we’re talking about storage:

We added this hutch for more storage, and so our clients can display the beautiful things they’ve collected over the years.

We loved styling this area! Now let’s move on to the dining room!

And from the other side:

We still cannot get over this room! The table and chairs are absolute treasures! And the art with the Mursi girl just gives the room so much character!! It all works perfectly together!

We were so lucky to find the Lucite table and gorgeous chairs on Etsy! The chairs had to be reupholstered, but they look perfect!

The buffet is perfect for added storage, and it anchors the stunning Mursi girl photograph by Mario Gerth. We went with a more subdued buffet so it would not compete with the art for attention. And the flowers seen here were absolutely worth the 5 a.m. trip to the flower district! We thought exotic flowers would accentuate the mood created by the art, and we were right!

We added these for some styling, and they look wonderful! Now let’s move to the other side of the room:

We really did not like how the stairs were previously blocked by the closet, and so we decided to make this side of the room as open as possible. We chose this Lucite console because we wanted a console there, but we still wanted for people to get a straight shot of the stairs when they walk through the door into the house. We chose to go with a light Juju hat because while it reinforces the exotic mood set by the art, it does not overpower the delicate Lucite console.

We styled this in a very simple way because we felt like the other side of the dining room should be the focal point. But we still love these pods and the box we used here. A couple of weeks ago we showed you guys the glass wall that divides the dining room and the living room. This is what that looks like now:

We did not include the living room in our One Room Challenge for two reasons: first, it would become a very big job, and second, we were not sure we would get that room done in time. We’re glad we did finish it in time, and that means we save our photographer a second trip! So if you want to see more of the living room, we will do a post on it next Thursday! And we’ll also share where we got a lot of the things we used in this project. Honestly, we were planning to do it today, but we ran out of time. But that gives you guys another great reason to check out next week’s post 🙂

Thank you for following us in this wonderful journey that is the One Room Challenge! And make sure to check out the reveals for the Wednesday participants and the other linking participants! Also, you can follow us not only here on AlwaysRAD, but also on Instagram and Facebook!

Happy Thursday, everyone!! Hope you all are doing great! Here at RAD we’re working super hard on our One Room Challenge project, and we’re just so excited. One more week to go!!!

Six weeks is a short time to transform a room, but this challenge is such a great way to commit to a timeline! We fell behind last week, so we’ve been catching up this past week, and it’s been crazy busy! In case you’re new to our blog and want to know more about the project, you can check our previous ORC posts:

Week 1/ Week 2/ Week 3/ Week 4

This past week we’ve been dealing with the cabinet crisis, and the fact that it put us a few days behind schedule. Hopefully we’ll finish this project on time, both for the ORC and for our clients, who really need to move in!

It’s been madness on site, but we got a few pictures:

We’re happy to announce the cabinets are grey!!! And they’ve been installed! We were nervous about having them painted on site, but they look amazing. And the countertop and backsplash are also in!

The mini bricks were not our first choice, but we’re glad we went with this choice in the end. It looks beautiful! We did not take a closeup shot of the countertops, so  you guys will need to check our Week 6 post for that 🙂

The hardware is also in:

We chose very simple and sleek hardware because even though the kitchen is very versatile and would have looked great with more traditional hardware as well, this more modern hardware works well with the dining room. Also, it doesn’t draw attention away from the beautiful countertops and backsplash.

The bulk of last week was spent on the kitchen part of the project, but we’ve managed to install the light fixture in the dining room:

We love it! It’s gonna work so beautifully with the accessories and art! We can’t wait to have it all in the room! Oh, and talking about art:

Our gorgeous Mursi girl is back in the office!!! She’s just so beautiful, we keep getting distracted!

It’s been a very productive week, but we’re still a bit behind. At least the worst of the crisis is behind us (we hope!). All appliances should be in by tomorrow, and then we need to put some finishing touches in the kitchen and get everything installed for the photo shoot on monday. It’s gonna be a very busy week for us, and we’ll definitely be working through the weekend, but we’re thrilled to see this room come together! We can’t wait to have everything in place!

Thank you guys for the amazing comments we’ve been getting! We really hope you are enjoying our One Room Challenge posts. You should also go check the other linking participants and Wednesday Participants! They have some great projects!

Hello, everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend!!

With Mother’s Day around the corner, we’re all looking for something special for our moms, and the other mothers in our lives. We know we can always fall back on the classics, like flowers and chocolate, and they’ll love us just the same. Still, we’re determined to find gifts that they’ll really appreciate and use. We’ve been looking everywhere, and we found some great stuff that we thought we’d share with you guys:

1./ 2./ 3./ 4./ 5./ 6./ 7./ 8./ 9.

We love these not only because they’re super pretty, which they are! We love that these gifts are for her. They’ll last our moms more than that box of chocolate that she’ll open right away and then serve to everyone present. Especially you. Cause she’s your mom. Admit it, it’s true 🙂

Good luck to you guys as you find the perfect gifts for your mothers! And just go ahead and buy her that box of chocolates, too. She deserves it!

Happy Thursday!! Hope everyone is loving all this fantastic Spring weather!

 If you’re new to our Spring One Room Challenge posts, you can catch up on all the fabulous fun by checking out Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3. Transforming a room in 6 weeks can be very stressful! Don’t get us wrong, we are having lots of fun sharing our ORC project with you guys, but 6 weeks is a very tight timeline! Even more so when your clients must move in by the end of the 6 weeks.

We’re in full-on crisis mode right now! It’s been a super busy week, and it looks like this next week is gonna be even more busy. With only two weeks to go, there’s still a lot to do, so we were super excited to receive our kitchen cabinets last Friday:

One slight problem: they’re white. And they’re supposed to be grey!

Because there is no time to send them back and have all this finished on time, we’re having them painted on site. We are literally living on a prayer that they will turn out great, but this is very stressful. It’s even more stressful because our team spent half of this week at a trade fair, and we could not have them painted without some supervision. Hopefully we’ll be back on track by next week!

Now for some good news. We mentioned before that we were going to demo the wall separating the kitchen and dining room to create one large open and inviting space. What we did not mention is that we also decided to open up the space to the family room. We’re also doing our clients’ family room, but we chose not to include that in our ORC project because, frankly, a kitchen and dining room already put enough pressure on us!  The family room is going well and will probably be mostly done by the end of the 6 weeks, but we’ll save that for a different blog post. Still, we’re excited that the glass divider between the spaces has been installed! It looks absolutely perfect, and will go beautifully with the Lucite dining table and the Lucite console!

We’re starting to receive some of our gorgeous styling accessories!

These beauties have arrived as well! They’re off to be framed, and may even be ready for next week’s post.

Also, we’ve made a decision on the backsplash! We’re going with…

(drum roll please)…

THE MINI BRICK!

Thank you all for your input! We loved all of the options we showed you guys last week, but in the end we thought this would work better with the design, and was also the best option considering our budget and the time constraint. And most importantly, our clients love it!

We’ve received just about all our orders, with the exception of the appliances, which should be arriving next week! In the meantime, we have a lot of work to do in the kitchen. The cabinets are in the process of being repainted, and once those are finished and installed, we can move on to installing the countertops and backsplash. As we said, it’s gonna be a very busy next two weeks for us, but we can’t wait to see it all come together!!!!

Hope you guys are enjoying our One Room Challenge posts! Also, make sure to check the other linking participants, as well as the Wednesday Participants!

Happy Friday, everyone!

This past Tuesday we shared a post with some beautiful pictures that have us very excited about spring and the idea of being outdoors!!  These are a couple of the looks we shared:

The outside areas of a house, such as a backyard or porch, are not usually a design priority. They are more like the areas that people plan on working on, eventually. But we’re determined to work on our outdoor spaces now, so we can enjoy them this coming summer! This week we want to show you guys a couple of looks inspired by these pictures. We didn’t try to recreate these specific looks; we just tried to capture the relaxed feeling in these looks, and then we put our own spin on them. So here are a couple of looks we’ve created to give you guys an idea of what we have in mind:

1./ 2./ 3./ 4./ 5./ 6./ 7./ 8./ 9./ 10./ 11./ 12./ 13./ 14./ 15./ 16.

Every space is different, and everyone’s taste is different, but these are some great finds that give a basic idea of what pieces to use in your backyard, porch, or outdoor dining area.  And the amazing thing about these looks is that you can easily switch items around to fit YOUR taste. So if you want more color, use more color! And not all of these brands fit everyone’s budget, but many of these brands carry very similar pieces, and so you can create this look even if you cannot afford every single item we have shown in these looks. With summer just a couple of months away, now is the perfect time to get to work!

So good luck creating your own beautiful outside space, whether that’s a fire pit area to have s’mores with your kids or a nice outdoor dining area to host dinner parties with your friends!!! Hope this post helps 🙂

And remember to follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

Happy Thursday! Hope you’ve all had a fabulous week and are ready for our next ORC post!

Our kitchen/dining room reno is moving very quickly – hope you guys are keeping up! Just in case you missed any of the fun details, be sure to have a quick look back at Week 1 and Week 2. This past week has been crazy! We’ve had some good news and some not-so-good news. We’ve passed our inspections (yay!), and can now move on to some of the less interesting parts of the project, like closing the walls (yawn).   On a much more interesting note (at least from a design perspective), we have decided on a countertop!!

And the winner is:

The Calacatta Quartz!!!!

This stone is gorgeous and very low-maintenance, and our clients LOVE it!

We absolutely love this stone for the countertops and we’re thrilled with this decision, but it is a big blow to our budget. In our original design, we wanted the backsplash to be a whole-slab stone backsplash like in the picture below:

However, the bad news is that the price for this backsplash design went up A LOT when we switched the material, so we ended up having to adjust our design. We are now considering these four backsplash patterns, and will have one picked by the end of week.  We’re discussing each option with our clients to see which they’d prefer, but we’d love to know which one you guys think we should use!

Now for some more good news – the gorgeous chairs arrived!! They look spectacular now that they’ve been reupholstered, and we couldn’t be happier with the way they’ve turned out!

They look absolutely perfect, and we still can’t believe we found them online. How lucky were we?!

Also, our beautiful Juju Hat has arrived:

We are excited to finally see some of the pieces coming together in our design, and to know that by the time we are done, our clients will have a beautiful new space!

Be sure to check back with us every Thursday to see our progress, and to look in on some of the other wonderful linking participants in the Spring 2015 One Room Challenge. We’ve also been checking in on the Wednesday Participants and are excited to see the projects they’re working on; make sure to check them out as well!

Hey, everyone! Hope you’ve had a great weekend!

Here at RAD we’re still super excited with the arrival of Spring! It’s finally warming up in NY. After a long winter, we are beyond ready to start spending some time outdoors, and we strive to make the outdoors as beautiful and inviting as any room indoors. We believe that with a little bit of planning and effort (and yes, money), any outdoor space can become a relaxing space! Here are some pictures that have us checking the ‘Outdoors’ section of every furniture store we can think of!

     

Aren’t these spaces gorgeous?! Later, we’ll show you how to create the perfect look for your porch or backyard, so stay tuned! In the meantime, be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook!

Hey everyone!

We  are absolutely elated about Spring over here! For us, the escape valve for all this excitement is: BEAUTIFUL DESIGN! We want to spruce up our homes a bit, and we bet you do too!! And because we know everyone has different budgets, we wanted to show you guys some drop-dead gorgeous steals we found at Target. Yes, TARGET! There are so many wonderful new things out at Target right now, especially by the Threshold and Nate Berkus lines. So you should go check it out. NOW! Before they are gone. (P.S.: We are not in any way affiliated with Target. We just love their new stuff that much!) So here are 12 of our favorite Target finds:

 1./2./3./4./5./6./7./8./9./10./10.1 (lampshade)/11./12.

Aren’t these great?!?! And they are super affordable!

We’ll be back soon with more updates on our One Room Challenge progress, and more wonderful tips!

Happy Thursday Everyone!! We’re back this week with an update to our Spring 2015 ORC. In case you missed last week’s post, you can check it out here. It’s very exciting over here at RAD as things are starting to move into high gear! We are determined to give you guys a FANTASTIC transformation!

Last week we shared with you our very ambitious plan of transforming this outdated kitchen by knocking down the wall that divides the kitchen and the dining room, and merging the two rooms.

Again, our motto for this project is Dream Big or Go Home, and we are truly living by it! Here’s a quick recap of our big dreams for the space:

And here’s what we’ve dreamed up for the new space!

 

The new plan makes the space seem larger and brighter, which will be great for our clients as they are downsizing from a bigger home. We’re also happy to be giving them a lot more storage.

Luckily, our clients are absolutely amazing and have complete faith in us and approved the plans! Without missing a beat, we jumped right into demolition!

Demo is definitely one of the more daunting phases of the project, but the great thing about it is that once it’s done, we get to really see the space that we’ll be working on!

We’re super excited that things are finally becoming a reality! And here are some of the things we think will work perfectly in this new space:

We were lucky to find a fabulous vintage lucite table for the dining room, as well as chairs that will look AMAZING once they have been reupholstered.

We’ve also ordered the custom lighting fixture as well as the kitchen cabinets, appliances, and everything we need for our lovely breakfast nook.

Now, of course, we couldn’t live in a dream world forever. Sigh. Reality set in just a little as we had to make a tiny adjustment to the design per our clients’ request. Instead of using marble for the backsplash and countertops, we’re looking into different options since marble is a bit high-maintenance for them. So these are our top 4 contenders, and by next week we need to have a decision!

Even though these 4 stones look similar, and would all be equally great for countertops,we are looking into which will the best one for our clients. When choosing a stone for your countertops, make sure to consider not only the price of the stone, but also how resistant to stains it is, how much maintenance it needs, and how durable it will be.

Be sure to keep up with our progress every Thursday, and also check out some of the other amazing bloggers who are participating in the Spring 2015 One Room Challenge. We’ve checked on the Wednesday Participants and we are excited to see the wonderful projects they’re sharing. Make sure to check on them as well!!