I am Ilse Benard, fun loving color loving designer in League City. Texas. I am renovating my kitchen after my house got flooded from a burst pipe in February of 2021 during the Big Texas Freeze, aka snowpocalypse, snowmageddon.

WHAT IS THE ONE ROOM CHALLENGE?

The One Room Challenge is a bi-annual event that takes place in the Spring and the Fall. Currently in its 19th season it was started by Linda Weinstein of Calling it Home. The event started because so many designers never have the time to do their own homes. This is event, for me, is totally dedicated to getting my home the way I want it and love it. Well never mind the fact that I would just love to have kitchen to cook in. I love to cook and entertain. I will be ready once my kitchen is finished and my appliances are in.

Thank you Better Homes and Gardens for being the official media sponsor.

There are twenty featured designers participating. You can read about the featured designers and see their progress here. I am a guest participant for this event. This is my third One Room Challenge. You can read about my final reveal for Fall 2020 here or Spring 2020. Read all the blogs for the One Room Challenge here.

I have participated in two other One Room Challenges and you can see the final reveal for Spring 2020 and Fall 2021.

Want to see what happened in my kitchen before this week?

 Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5.

What Happened this week?

Whew, the end is in sight! My tile guy came through and installed the backsplash. Of course I had my usual doubts about my bold choice but geez I LOVE IT! I can honestly say that I had the best skilled team doing the work and it was not an easy job! The tile, called DIVA (yes I know)! from Emser Tile, comes on a sheet with the tile attached to mesh but with a lot of little pieces. Every time they cut a sheet to fit in a space they would have to take it all apart. It was like watching a puzzle being put together.

Elephants, anybody?

Let’s talk about the elephant(s) in the room. Some think that I should have changed all the arched openings to straight openings but I could not remove the arches. I have arched windows and many many arches everywhere. Just looking from the living room you can see 4 arches. There is an arched window over the front door. The dining room has an arched window (and some other stupid arches). In principle I am not against arches. My taste is eclectic and Bohemian Traditional so for me it is not a big deal. So instead of removing the arches I cast a spotlight on the one in the kitchen.

wait wait there’s more!

My beautiful LG appliances were delivered. They are all ThinQ smart appliances and I am so happy! Now if I can only figure out how to control them from the app on my phone! Thank you to LG for making sure everything was ready to go when I was ready! Here’s what I ordered: The LG dual fuel stove. My husband kept on telling me how he hates to cook on gas but then the Texas Freeze happened in February and the only appliance that worked was the gas stove! Nuff said! This stove has everything I want. Special shoutout to K & N Builder supplies who did the installation and did a fabulous job!

My hood is this and I love it’s sleek look and easy operation. I went for the LG Top Control dishwasher with Quadwash and Truesteam. The LG refrigerator is a counter depth and I love it. My previous fridge was a 4 year old piece of garbage by another brand. All the door racks broke, the handle to the freezer broke and the icemaker was a nightmare. Now I have this sleek fridge that is truly fingerprint resistant. My teenager lives in the fridge.

My treat of the decade was the LG WashTower that I ordered. This was the favorite of so many designers who attended the online KBIS event in March. It does not disappoint as it is also a smart appliance. I have redone the floor in my laundry but not the rest of it yet. I need to have a a plug moved and a few other things changed before I can say that it is the way I want it.

Right now the WashTower is in the middle of the wall but I have big plans!!

What’s left?

This was a big week for me in the whole scheme of things. The only thing that I am waiting for now is to get the doors and drawer fronts installed. The doors were being painted off site and hopefully will be ready next week for the final reveal! In the meantime I can’t put the rest of my stuff away. The non-squatter in me claimed some cabinet space already so I could start cooking!

I am working on a roman shade for the window but I am not sure if it will be done in time for the reveal. I also eventually want to add a cushion on the windowsill for a banquette. Not all things can be done right now as this was an unplanned and expensive exercize in what happens when your insurance does not pay much.