What is the One Room Challenge®?

The One Room Challenge® (ORC) is an eight-week event held twice a year (spring and fall), where participants transform a space and share their progress. It’s not a competition—it’s a supportive community of designers, DIYers, and home enthusiasts celebrating creativity and inspiration. Through the weekly update posts, participants are able to connect with and encourage each other, and spectators and participants alike can find endless inspiration, motivation, and creativity.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

  • Who Can Join? Anyone with a blog, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube account.

  • What Do You Need? A real room or space to transform (virtual designs are not permitted).

  • When Does It Happen? Twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. Registration opens about a month before each ORC event. 

Photo via Studio Plumb

FALL 2026 EVENT INFO:

FALL 2026 SCHEDULE

Weeks 1 & 2 (update page #1) - October 7th to October 20th


Weeks 3 & 4 (update page #2) - October 21st to November 3rd


Weeks 5 & 6 (update page #3) - November 4th to November 17th


Weeks 7 & 8 (update page #4) - November 18th to December 1st

Lately we're feeling inundated by unhappy news and stressed by increasing prices, and you might be too. We're making some changes to how this upcoming season of the ORC works so that everyone can participate without feeling overwhelmed. We want as many of you as possible to be able to join in, whatever your budget or capacity looks like right now.

This season, we're moving from weekly update pages to bi-weekly update pages, meaning a new page will go up every other week and stay open to submissions for two full weeks. You're still more than welcome to share your progress every week (in which case you would add both your week 1 update and your week 2 update to the "Weeks 1 & 2" event page, and so on). But, if you're deep into a DIY project, or if life happens and things come up, there's no need to sweat about putting together an update for the week.

Additionally, we redesigned the update pages to make the process of adding your links easier and make the page more flexible to navigate. More details about this soon--we're very excited to show you.

All project sizes are welcome, and we're leaving registration open all season. If you're struck with inspiration for a mini project but the event is on week 4, you're absolutely welcome to still join. No pressure; you can jump in at any point.

Sponsors generally have been interested in the big, full blown before and after transformations. That isn't something most of us can guarantee right now when prices continue to rise and shipping is so unreliable. Because of that, we're taking a pause from circulating outside brand offers and their requirements.

While prices are so high, we want to spotlight projects that involve upcycling, thrifting, garage sales, estate sales, etc. Let's challenge ourselves to minimize the number of new items we're all using in our projects. Besides, pre-1980s furniture is almost always far higher quality than what's available on the fast furniture market ;).

Before this year is over, let's complete some projects together. We can't wait to see what you create this season!

ORC X APARTMENT THERAPY

The ORC is thrilled to have Apartment Therapy as the event’s official media partner.

Apartment Therapy frequently showcases ORC rooms. They have a dedicated submission form for ORC projects, and their editors use the event to scout for features. You can check out their coverage of ORC projects here, on their One Room Challenge page, as well as on our press page.

Photo via Old Brand New

FAQs

  • Not necessarily! The time frame provides structure and motivation. If you don’t finish by Reveal Week, email us your final update, and we’ll add it for you.

  • Yes, but only before the event starts. Once the challenge begins, your project should remain the same.

  • You can still join in Week 2! The final deadline remains the same.

  • Brands look for projects that align with their needs. Having a large following is not required—great photography, creativity, and engaging content also matter.

  • Check that you’ve added your link to the correct section (blog, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube). Posts in the wrong category or missing required tags/logos may be deleted.

  • No, weekly updates are encouraged but not mandatory. You can skip weeks if needed.

  • Yes! Instagram participants must add a link to oneroomchallenge.com in their story or profile for 48 hours.

Still have questions? Try the FAQ page