I’m back with my design for the Amazon House Laundry Room. The concept came together quickly and easily. As a reminder, this is a fictional room that I’m designing using only materials that can be purchased from Amazon. The features of the room (size, window/door placement, etc.) are based on an existing house.

The layout was straightforward, as it was dictated by the location of the washer and dryer hook ups. In the room, I added two cabinets above the appliances and some open shelving above the utility sink. Across from the appliances, I placed a wood peg rack that can hold necessary cleaning supplies.

I used this beautiful green wallpaper as the jumping off point for the design. The paper has illustrations of flowering trees with fruit and birds. It feels really traditional and classic. I decided to use black cabinets with natural wood pulls to make the space feel more modern.. The cabinets correspond well with the black utility sink (I love a durable, plastic utility sink in the laundry room). The flooring is a classic black and white marble basketweave tile. The Electrolux washer and dryer are a charcoal gray color that fit well with the other dark elements of the room. I would use a natural wood butcher block for a counter top and shelves. A white and natural woven rug will correspond well to the laundry basket and wood drying rack. Lastly, a fun minty green canister set will bring in some color.

I’m only going to show the elevation of wall 3 since you can see almost all of the design elements here. I would use the butcher block to create a counter over the appliances, which will gives a nice place to fold and hold laundry temporarily. The shelves above the utility sink would be cut from the butcher block to fill the space between the cabinets and the wall. I placed some gray baskets on two of the shelves. One could be used for lost socks or other trinkets found in clothes or cleaning supplies. The light fixture has natural wood beads and black metal components, so it feels like a natural fit for this room. This ceiling fixture had a weird “tail” that hangs down from the light. I would recommend removing that as I did in the photo shopped image below.

I would add framed floral images that tie in with the wall paper, a cute little wastebasket under the utility sink to collect lint and classic cleaning accessories to complete the room. I really love the adorable round, wood broom and dustpan set. It feels unique and modern but still fits into the space.

I was surprised when I calculated the total cost of the room – over $4,000! To be fair, this includes the washer and dryer set which I estimated to cost almost $2,000 for the pair. The butcher block wasn’t exactly cheap ($370), especially considering that I “used” it for the shelving above the utility sink. I could have definitely purchased cheaper wood from the local hardware store and save probably $300! The tile was also pretty expensive for this small room ($582). I know that you could have found a similar tile at a big box store for a lot less, so that could be another cost saving option. Overall, I love this room.

Item	Cost	Notes
Light	103
Cabinets (x2)	400
Cabinet Pulls (x4)	23.16
Shelves	370
Baskets (x3)	45
Canisters	55.97
Utility Sink	219.99
Trashcan	35.2
Countertop	370
Tile (x 11)	582
Wallpaper	199.5	Estimated 5 Roles
Rug	23.99
Floral Images	18.99
Washer/Dryer	1899	Out of Stock (Price is a guess)
Laundry Basket	30.58
Broom	39.95
Handheld broom	40	Out of Stock (Price is a guess)
Wood Peg	12.88
Duster	13.49
Mop	23.99
Total	$4506.69

I’m not sure what’s up next…maybe the living room?

I am back with the kid’s bathroom and,man, I really struggled with this one. Of course, the problems were my own doing as you’ll see below. As a reminder, this is a fictional room that I’m designing using only materials that can be purchased from Amazon. The features of the room (size, window/door placement, etc.) are based on an existing house. This house has two bathrooms and this is the main one for guests and kids. It is located on the second floor, has no windows and is relatively small (7.3 ft x 6.3 ft).

The jumping off point for the bathroom design was a dark, modern, nature-inspired wall paper (see mood board). I next found a navy vanity with brass accessories. The vanity and wallpaper seemed to go well together, so I just completed the look by finding modern brass/gold towel bars, toilet paper holder, mirror and accessories. While I love the look of art above a toilet, the reality (at least for me!) is a room like this needs to function really well and needs storage for the kids’ stuff. For that reason, I put a hanging cabinet above the toilet. To customize the cabinet, I would recommend painting it Indian Sunset (by Behr Paint- not available on Amazon). I would replace the pulls with gold T-bars. Add a woven trash can and seagrass box to create warmth and texture to the room. I tend to hide extra toilet paper in a box set on the toilet (it’s hidden but easily accessible).

Since there were already so many colorful moments and patterns in the bathroom, I chose a simple white penny tile for the bathroom floor and a classic white subway tile with light gray grout for the bathtub/shower surround. At this point, I felt really great about the design. It felt cohesive and the elements seemed to work together well.

When I actually modeled it though, I immediately knew there was a problem. The floor-to-ceiling wallpaper was too much. Instead of the other elements complimenting the wallpaper, the room felt drowned out by it. I started trying out new things — a white vanity and a white cabinet. It felt better but it didn’t have the look I was going for. I decided to add wainscoting to the walls. It felt a little better but I still stared at the screen thinking I needed to scrap the whole mood board and start over. Then I just walked away from the computer and didn’t look at the design for a couple of weeks.

After some time, I knew I had to go back and finish it. I dreaded it and spent a lot of time procrastinating by fiddling around with other things. Surprisingly, when I came back, with time and space between me and the design, I had a much better idea on how to resolve the issues. The wainscoting worked in the room but needed a thick molding on top. I returned to the navy vanity and pink-ish wall cabinet. I slowly added in the accessories and actually started to like how the room was coming together. Below is the finished product.

Since the room is so small, I’m only sharing the view from one wall (although you basically can see all of wall 2 and 3 too). All the action is really happening on this wall anyway. The door is on wall 4 (which is removed from the design, so you can see into the room). On Wall 1, you have the 30-inch vanity with the toilet next to it. The toilet paper holder would be mounted on the side of the vanity. I couldn’t easily model it, so you’ll just have to imagine it. The seagrass basket sits on the toilet to hold toilet paper and will correspond well to the trashcan next to the toilet. Above the toilet, is the pink bathroom cabinet. There’s a towel bar built into the bottom of the cabinet, so a hand towel can be added her for function. The mirror is square with rounded corners and the three-light vanity lighting corresponds well to the brass throughout the room. On wall 3, I have two modern hooks to hold towels. On wall 4 (not shown), there will be a towel bar.

I did a quick calculation of the budget for the room and it came in around $2800.00. Not bad but it also doesn’t include some necessary supplies to put in the tile (grout, mortar, spacers, time, etc). I could imagine that another $500 could easily be spent on other needed materials (including shower/tub hardware).

Item	Cost	Notes
Wallpaper	194.75	Estimated 5 Rolls
Gold Mirror	199.99
Vanity & Top	586.18
Vanity Light	109.01
Towel Hooks	$15.00
Toilet Paper Holder	12.99
Towel Bar	17.95
Soap Dispenser	17.99
Penny Tile	649	Estimated 10 boxes
Subway Tile	390	Estimated 13 boxes
Faucet	49
T-Bars	43.97	25 Pack (ouch!)
Cabinet	72.99
Trash Can	34.5
Shower Curtain	22.99
Seagrass Box	18.95
Toilet	334.33
Total	2769.59

The Amazon laundry room is next.

The next room I tackled for the “Amazon Challenge” was the boy’s room. I imagined an 8 or 9 year old boy who still has some toys, loves to read, draw/paint and build things with Lego. He’s really into architecture and buildings (those are his preferred Lego sets). His bedroom will need to serve as his play area, a study/work area, a place to store clothes and, of course, to sleep. The boy didn’t give much in the way of style suggestions other than he loves red and blue. His parents, like with the girls room, wants his space to grow with him.

The room is smaller and has a closet that protrudes into the space, so this room is not a perfect square. It has a single window on the wall across from the entry door. I tried several different floor plans but none felt right immediately. Ultimately, I decided on the floor plan below, but by utilizing the same furniture, this room can be moved around in a few other configurations without a problem. This layout utilizes two main walls (wall 2 and 3) for furniture and decor. The other two walls are left blank which felt important since this room is so small. I didn’t want to fill it so full that it felt uncomfortable or cramped.

The jumping off point for this room was the toile wallpaper that displays different structures and buildings from Florence, Italy. The entire room will be wallpapered, so the room will have a nice navy blue and white base. The furniture are various wood tones but all of them feel a little raw with the exception of the bed. Although blue and white are the predominate colors in the room (the wall paper, rug etc), I brought in red which gives the room interest and made it feel more balanced.

I modeled the room and included the two main wall elevations (wall 2 and 3). I’ve kept the proportions of the furniture correct but the art work was altered to look appropriate for the space.

On wall 2 I have the bed, night stand and desk. Hanging above the desk are two cork boards, so that the little boy could pin up his latest artwork. The bendy lamp shaped like a person adds whimsy and would be something fun for the boy to fidget with. Hanging above his bed is a Lego poster. His nightstand was kept minimal with just a simple, small lamp. The main ceiling light in this room is a standard drum light with an oil rubbed bronze finish. It feel masculine but still simple.

Wall three has the closet that protrudes into the room. As most little boys don’t have a ton of clothes, I proposed that we use a simple cube storage system to store toys and books. This wall also holds his long dresser. Above the dresser are two bridge prints (both larger than what is linked above). The dresser has a London Architecture Lego set and a fun book ends that is suppose to be Hogwarts from Harry Potter. I also put the hamper close to the dresser. It looks like it’s in the middle of the room, but as a mother of a son, I have found it is best to keep the laundry basket as close to the dresser as possible. An alternative location could be the closet.

Again, I kept the accessories from Amazon. I am especially in love with the Harry Potter book ends. I love that it’s a quiet nod to the story and doesn’t have branding all over it. Lastly, I tallied up the total cost of the room. I spent nearly as much as I did in the Girl’s room— around $3200. There were definitely a couple of splurges in this room–including the dresser and wallpaper. The dresser is currently out of stock but the chest of drawers for the same collection cost near $900, so I estimated that much for the dresser.

Item	Cost	Notes
Full Bed	322.98
Quilt Set	58.48
Sheet Set	39.99
Wall Paper (15 Rolls)	525
Night Stand	188.39	Out of Stock
Lamp	25.99
Night Stand Pulls	26.95	10 Pack
Rug	156.8
Hamper	20.99	Out of Stock
Light	217.38
Cork Board	24.99
Cork Board	24.99
Bamboo Shade	35.99
Desk	177.99
Bendy Lamp	52.9
Desk Chair	93
Bridge Prints	15.99	4 Pack
Dresser	900	Out of Stock*Estimated Price
Check Throw Pillow Covers	9	2 Pack
Throw Pillow Inserts	40	4 Inserts
Blue Throw Pillow Cover	10.49
Beige Throw Pillow Cover	9.29
Long Throw Pillow Insert	10
Cube Storage	44.88	9-Cube
Cube Baskets	29.6	4 Pack
Hogwarts BookEnds	24.99
Lego Set	72	Out of Stock
Lego Print	20
Total	3179.05

The kid’s bathroom is up next. I’ve really been struggling with some of my choices. Let’s see how it ends up.

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I wanted to challenge myself to design an entire house using only things from Amazon (read more about the challenge here). So, today I am starting with the girl’s room. I imagined her to be a preteen who loves books, make up, clothes and hanging out with her friends. She is a self proclaimed girly girl who likes pinks, pastels and flowers. She needs a desk for homework and make up, storage for her electronics, books and clothes. Her parents want her room to grow with her into her teen/early adult years.

The bedroom I designated for her was rather large at 15 ft x 11 ft. It has two windows and a small walk in closet. I noodled around with the floor plan and came up with what you see below. The bed was placed between the two windows and it’s flanked by night stands. On the wall to the right of the bed, has her dresser, hamper and mirror (hung above the dresser). The left wall contains her vanity/desk and the door to her walk in closet. The wall across from the bed contains the entry door from the hallway and several hooks to allow her to hang clothes, purses, hats and all kinds of things on.

The aesthetics of this room is definitely girly with a floral wall paper that covers all 4 walls and a pink velvet bed. However, I think it will be nicely balanced with natural elements in the room including bamboo blinds, sea grass basket and a wood toned vanity/desk that brings warmth and texture. White, pink and blue are the main colors, but the added pop of yellow/gold makes it feel more alive.

I tried my best to model this room in Homestyler, so I could get a feel for how the different elements would work together. You’ll notice that the room has a mixture of things from the mood board and sometimes similar looking items (the dresser, night stand, hamper). I love doing this because it really helps me visualize how the different elements work together.

I created elevations for the other three walls and usually added more accessories and tried my best to replicate the furniture in the mood board (that’s available at Amazon). When I couldn’t use the exact item I found items that looked similar and I modified their dimensions to reflect the true size of the items. I did my best to keep sizes accurate.

Wall 2 was kept relatively simple with only a very large mirror hung above the white dresser. The hamper is placed in the corner closest to the window. There is room on the other side of the dresser for a small chair, if desired. I felt this room needed some breathing space, so I left it empty. I could not find a picture of the dresser straight on, so I did my best to adjust the dresser to give that appearance (although it does look a little wonky). I, however, really wanted to include it in the design, so I could get a feel for the color and shape with the other elements.

Wall three is to the left of the bed (wall 1). This is where the vanity/desk will live. This desk is not the Amazon vanity but It has the same qualities (size, wood tone) and I’m using it as a place holder (I really need to learn 3D design). Anyway, I paired it with the vanity chair and tried to utilize the space above it to maximize usage. The two shelves are mounted around 20-22 inches above the top of the desk and the magnetic board is placed vertically next to the shelves. Since part of the vanity’s top lifts up to reveal a mirror/make up, it was essential to keep the desktop clear. For this reason, I recommend using two pencil cups that mount to the wall. For the elevation, I used black cups they could easily be seen but I would prefer to use white or even a colorful pencil cup (perhaps gold or pink). There is space under the shelves for wall-hung calendar and this one was too good of a match to not include. I also included an adorable pinkish blue tooth speaker on the shelf. I don’t know about you, but when I was preteen and high schooler I listened to music non-stop.

I imagine that this young lady will use this area a lot for getting ready in the morning (make up/hair stuff) but also homework. The two drawers and open center part of the vanity will allow for good enough storage, but I would recommend a small rolling cart be added to the space. It could be placed right next to the desk. I found this one on Amazon and thought it would work well in this space. The cart could easily be rolled into the closet to eliminate visual clutter when not in use.

The wall across from the windows/bed (wall 4) was designed for hanging storage/visual interest. It has 6 wood knob-like pegs on the wall, so the young lady can hang her accessories, clothes or jackets on. Above the pegs is a floating shelf. This is the only thing in the whole design not from Amazon. This is a relatively long shelf and can be DIYed using plans found on the internet. Alternatively, you could purchase a shelf from a hardware store and mount with brackets. I imagined this shelf to be narrow and used mostly for decorative items like pictures. Next to the shelves and pegs, in the corner closest to wall 2, are two blue abstract prints. They fill that space and make it feel more balanced.

True to the challenge, I kept all the accessories from Amazon, too. I calculated the total cost of this room for everything minus a mattress, bed pillows, small accessories not related to design (hat, purse) and the large shelf that wasn’t on amazon. The cost came out to just over $3,200.

Item	Cost	Notes
Bamboo Shade	56
Bamboo Shade	56
Bed	485	Out of Stock
Sheets	18
Quilt	44
Blue Decor Pillow Covers (2pk)	14
18 x 18 Pillows (4 pillows)	40
Pink Decor Pillow Covers	13
Yello Decor Pillow Cover	14
12 x 20 Pillow	10
Night Stand	142
Night Stand	142
Lamp	145
Lamp	145
Basket	10
Hamper	30
Mirror	377.59
Dresser	190
Vanity	229
Vanity Chair	68
Magnetic Board	38
Pencil Cup Holder	9
Pencil Cup Holder	9
Shelves	55
Book Ends	12
Calendar	7
Flower Prints	16
Dum Light	75
Abstract Prints	13
Pegs	45
Wall Paper (16 Rolls)	536
Rug	233	Out of Stock
Total	3276.59

This first room was a ton of fun to design– next week I’ll share the little boy’s room.

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Have you ever heard that constraints can make you more creative? This idea has been bouncing around for some time, so long in fact I cannot remember when I first heard it– maybe college? It’s intriguing and felt counter intuitive at first but the older I’ve got the more I’ve embraced this idea. (If you’re interested in this topic, check out this article).

Along those lines, I’ve decided to challenge myself to design each room in a (fictional) house using only items from Amazon. Amazon is a huge market place but it’s not necessarily known for it’s home goods or furniture, like Wayfair. In addition, Amazon doesn’t give many sorting options, so it can take longer to find exactly what you’re looking for and in many cases I had to “compromise” certain design elements and replace it with something that Amazon stocked. Quick spoiler – in reality, it wasn’t very much of a compromise and I found that since I had to choose something different, I combined new things in different ways (usually patterns that I wouldn’t necessarily pick if given all the options on the internet) and ended up liking the outcome.

To make this challenge as realistic as possible, I found a house on Realtor.com that is currently for sale and used the room dimensions and features (door, window placement etc.) to dictate the design of each room. The house is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath two-story century home. The house is 1,252 square feet without an attached garage. My imaginary clients are a 4-person family. There is the husband and wife plus their two kids, a boy and a girl. Since the house is modest, it’s important that storage and function are kept in mind when designing every room. Most rooms will need to be flexible as they will serve many functions. They have no existing furniture and the structure of the house will generally remain the same.

The house is located in a residential area of a small city surrounded by houses of similar age and style. The neighborhood is mature and walk-able. The family wants the house to feel updated but not too contemporary. They like a transitional style with textures, patterns and colors. Both parents work and they have school-age children engaged in several activities. They want the house to be relatively easy to care for and maintain. Although they love the look of white upholstery furniture, they would like to avoid it due to the upkeep.