It’s finally here!!! Week 1 of the Spring 2020 One Room Challenge! To say we are excited would be a complete understatement. For the first time ever we get to bring you with us on an 8 week journey as we transform our kitchen, dining room and living room area! Not only is this our first time as Featured Designers it’s also the first time ever the ORC has been 8 weeks. Typically this is a 6 week journey but because of the current climate it’s been extended an extra 2 weeks and had a delayed start and we for sure can’t thank Linda enough for that! You get to see the highs, the lows and everything in Covid delays with all the unexpected timing of all things in life. So let’s get this party started!

If you’re finding us for the first time from the One Room Challenge, welcome! We’re Danielle and Michael Gutelli! And together, we’re Clark + Aldine.

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Clark + Aldine is named after the Chicago streets where we first met, and was born out of a love for purposeful design and everyday functionality. What we didn’t know then was that our passion and design influence would continue to grow, and we would soon leave our established careers to pursue Clark + Aldine full time. But like they say, when you know, you know! Learn more about us.

This year’s ORC is like no other. We are not only tackling our 1950’s galley kitchen but taking down two walls to create a complete open concept. The overall goal for us is to always create a space that is as functional and purposeful as possible. Knowing how we use our space helped lead us to the overall design, function and purpose for the space. For this project the number one priority is to create a place for everyone to gather, be conversational and enjoy everyday moments together.

Before we get any further in the process let’s make sure you get a full idea of what we are working with.

Before Images

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It’s hard to believe we are about to take down a wall that now divides our kitchen and living room area. The living room we just redid during the Fall 2019 ORC. I think what we dislike the most about this space is the absolute lack of counter space!!! I basically have one 36 inch countertop to work with before I hit the sink and everything is so broken up. The cabinets are falling apart and don’t even let me get started with the tile job. Let me just leave you with its multiple layers of tile on top of each other and I don’t even know how they cut the tile or actually spaced it out when they were installing it! Oh and the lighting…how could I forget how awesome the one light inside the kitchen is.

So now that you can see exactly where we stand today, let’s break down where we want to go and how we plan to make that all come together over the next 7 weeks. Each project we tackle has four phases: Plan, Design, Build Out and Style. You can get a full picture of how we create a kitchen space from Our Kitchen Design Guide.

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Our Space Plan

Space planning a kitchen project is the key to ensuring all the elements work together and actually fit into the space you are trying to design. We’ve fully rendered our kitchen to bring it to life for you. With two small dudes I have dreamed of having a kitchen with an island to cook, create, do homework, socialize and gather together as a family. I desperately wanted to keep a separate space for more intimate gatherings. We worked together to find a way to bring the two spaces together. This is where the upper cabinets came into play to join the kitchen area with the coffee bar/dining room space.

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Our Design

Pinterest is my favorite place to start with any design. It’s the perfect visual search engine. From there I always create a moodboard to bring the project to life. This is my favorite way to see where my design inspiration is going and how I am going to pull all the elements together in real life. Clearly you can see I’ve got a black, white and wood thing going with this design! I really wanted to work in all the texture and layers into this space. The brick and tile are going to help bring this to life while the wallpaper is going to create a major design impact that is unexpected! Lighting is absolutely key in any space and in this space it is going to be a show stopper for sure!

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Build-out

Once all the design is in place we move onto the build-out, demo, construction…basically all the things that take your space from what it was into what it is going to be. Having a fully baked design concept makes the phase run a lot smoother. Because, let’s be honest guys, all construction projects run into problems. And we’re about to open up not one but two original 1950 walls, and you never know just exactly what you are going to find inside these walls until you open them up! Not to mention one of them is load bearing and happens to be the main support holding up the 2nd floor of the house!

Next week we will bring you with us for all the fun through this process. Get ready for all the demo – kids included – but don’t worry they’ve got all the safety gear.

Styling

The last part of any design is the styling. This phase is what makes your space really feel like you! Can’t wait to take you with us on this journey with us!. I always feel like those last details take the longest in making everything really come together. Here’s where I get to layer in all the design elements from rugs, pillows, furniture, art, decor and all the plants…you can never have too many, right?!?

You can follow us along on our journey over on Danielle’s Instagram page. And stay tuned because tomorrow we are dropping a brand new podcast series inside our Stay True Podcast with all kinds of behind the scenes insight and interviews you aren’t going to want to miss. Subscribe today on Apple or Spotify and you’ll get the notification right to your phone!

AND don’t forget to check out all the other rad Featured Designers and their projects happening right now too!

Be sure to check back into the ORC tomorrow with all the amazing Guest Bloggers participating this Spring, it’s the biggest guest participation yet, it’s going to be epic, I just know it! And I have a few awesome friends participating this year and they are absolutely killer at what they do!!!