If you’re here for the first time, welcome! I’m Jana Bek, a New York and Ann Arbor, Michigan based interior designer with a lifestyle line of home décor, textiles, & lighting. I have a love for bright colors, bold prints, and designing spaces & home décor that help transport you to your dream destination.

I’m so excited to be included in my ninth season of One Room Challenge! I’ve participated both as an invited participant and as a linking guest, and each avenue is an exciting opportunity to get your space looking awesome at top speed - with a wonderful design community supporting you along the way! If your joining-in this season, I wish you all the best in your sprint towards your space’s transformation!

Here’s a look at my favorite past ORC’s

take the tours: Living Room / Kitchen / Guest Room

For this seasons ORC I’m designing our new Brooklyn apartment, we literally moved in our first piece of furniture on Saturday! We cannot get enough of NY and are excited to be back. I started my career here and it feels like I’m returning home!

Between the move and daily onslaught of design inspiration on Instagram, I’m still working through some basic design decisions. I’ve settled on the main furniture and have brought in a few of my favorite things from Michigan. My M.O. is to build off a foundation of beautiful, classic pieces; and start layering on patterns and colors through exciting decor & accents. In this way, as my tastes, moods, and needs change; the space can be easily changed as well.

Our new apartment has a clean, modern look with a terrific view of the Manhattan skyline. What I plan to achieve in this ORC is to include the views as a central component of the space; and incorporate some great techniques that will help transform the nice, but “temporary” look of a rented apartment into the warm and inviting look of a home. It’s a personal challenge of small-space living; and bringing a custom look to a rented space. I am really enjoying finding and implementing the solutions I’ll be sharing and hope others in similar positions will get excited to try them out as well!

Here are the “befores”:

I measure out every anticipated item for the design beforehand. It’s the best way to set yourself up for success. Don’t forget measuring for item heights, layouts for artwork, and rugs.

In terms of inspo, I have most of the classic foundation pieces sorted & ordered (more on those next week) but it’s the artwork and accents that are currently throwing me for a loop. I’ve traditionally leaned towards layered pastels, but lately I haven’t been able to keep my eyes off of saturated jewel tones! And it seems that no matter where I look, from Instagram to my favorite home magazines, they’re jumping off the page.

Above, top to bottom: Midwest Living’s lush tablescapes, Anne Hepfer’s recent house tour in House Beautiful (you’ll want to follow her on Insta, she’s so sweet to boot), & decadent Degournay panels.

While these saturated hues are a bit of new ground for me personally, I’m pushing my creativity and will make it happen. I’ll have to make some major decisions in the coming days and I hope you’ll come back and weigh in on the progress! For my interim planning, check in on Instagram (@janabekdesign) & Pinterest!