Meet The Finalists of the eBay Dream Room Contest
by Zigmund
eBay Staff Member

In the spring of 2003, eBay organized the eBay Showhouse, a project designed to portray the breadth and variety of home furnishing items available on eBay. Using only items purchased on eBay, six design professionals completely furnished a New York City apartment and let members of the press and the fashion world come in and critique their creation. Inspired by the success and popularity of the eBay Showhouse, in early September 2004 we unveiled the eBay Dream Room contest to give members a chance to create a showhouse of their own – in their own homes.

As part of this contest, members were invited to submit an essay of 250 words or fewer describing how they would use items purchased on eBay, on a budget of $2500 eBay Anything Points, to express their individual sense of style in a particular room in their home. Five essay finalists were selected to use that money to turn their decorating dreams into a reality. The finalists were required to submit before-and-after photographs of the rooms in early November. The eBay Community was invited to vote for the grand prize winner, who will receive a trip to the 2005 eBay Showhouse. Almost 22,000 members of the eBay Community voted to choose the Grand Prize winner!

Here are some insights into how our finalists were inspired to create their dream rooms and how they rose to the challenge of doing so using only items purchased on eBay:

When theartfullife, a mother of two from Weddington, NC, entered the Dream Room contest, she wasn't thinking of herself. She wanted her two young daughters, Kayla and Kenzie, to have a bedroom befitting princesses. Inspired by author Jane Ray's story The Twelve Dancing Princesses, she set to work creating a room that was “bright, whimsical and elegant, not to mention full of secrets and surprises.”

As part of the transformation, the room's previously plain white walls were faux-finished in rose and salmon, accented with swirls of gold. The ceiling fan was replaced with a vintage chandelier with petal-covered shades. Colorful, hand-appointed bedding, creative bedpost coronets, fanciful sun and moon wall masks, and flower-shaped shelving further added to the room's fairytale appeal. She even added a gowned princess mannequin whose train is slightly suspended, revealing a secret play area.

It's the ability to find bargains like these that makes eBay one of theartfullife's favorite decorating destinations. “You can find wonderful, unique, one-of-a-kind items without ever leaving your home,” she says.

Finalist babyb4you had a slightly different idea for her daughter. She simply wanted to give her a room of her own. For too long her youngest had to share sleeping space with her parents or two brothers (at times she even ended up sleeping on the living room sofa). babyb4you submitted a design proposal which would transform her drab office/storage room into a magical (yet practical) third bedroom. “The room had to be childishly perfect, yet allow for my daughter to grow up in it as well. One day, after she grows up, she'll take some of the furniture with her so that she always has a part of home, and her childhood, with her.”

She used her $2500 budget to completely redo the room, from the flooring to the window treatments. A lot of soft colors and fabrics later, with healthy doses of pink and other feminine touches thrown in, her daughter had her own room.

When it comes to decorating in general, babyb4you knows she need go no further than eBay: "eBay is comparable to or better than any online retail shopping sites for decorating. What makes eBay even better, though, is how it's more of a 'one-stop' shop – you can find things from many other stores, both new and used, and get better deals most of the time."

When maerian learned she was a finalist in the Dream Room contest, she used her budget to create a truly unique living room that reflects her passion for 16th through 19th century history, including fencing and period sailing. maerian explains that “It's the perfect spot for eccentric historians who fence and who love to recreate Renaissance and Victorian historical events!”

Her new Dream Room features warm leather chairs and solid-oak Mission-style furniture, amber and stained-glass Tiffany lamps, nautical knick-knacks such as a pair of vintage pirate-ship wall plaques, a brass sextant, and an exotic Persian rug. “It's cozy, warm and comfortable,” she explains. “I've already thrown my first party in it!” But maerian was no stranger to eBay before entering the Dream Room contest. She explains how eBay helps her fulfill her passion for the customs of a bygone era: “I'm about to teach fencing in the annual Dickens Faire in San Francisco. I've decked myself out in a new historically accurate Victorian costume – some of it vintage – all of which was purchased on eBay.”

maerian is delighted with her new space and thankful eBay gave her the opportunity to create it. Best of all, she now has the right ambience to summon like-minded cohorts with a well-placed “Ahoy there!”

meera715 opens a recent delivery

As an avid decorating enthusiast, meera715 had always turned to eBay for her home-decorating needs because it satisfied her desire for unique items at great prices. When she stumbled on the Dream Room contest by accident, she was overjoyed with the opportunity of creating a living room that reflects her interest in Asian design and her Indian heritage.

Her room is accented with elements from India, China, Korea, and Japan – all purchased, of course, within her budget. After setting the stage with a new beige sofa, armchair and dark leather ottoman coffee table, meera715 went to work on the rest of the room. Added were bamboo window treatments, framed Japanese calligraphy representing the seasons, soft tea lights and stands, silver-plated wall candle sconces, and even a contemporary glass bowl filled with polished stones.

meera715 points out some advantages that eBay has over other home furnishing destinations. “All of the major home furnishing stores have just one theme you have to work with. On eBay the range is just enormous – you can find anything and everything.”

As finalist assertc was planning out her bedroom, she wanted to include pieces from places she's visited around the world. With her $2500 in eBay Anything Points she was able to transform her bedroom into an exotic yet serene retreat, reminiscent of the hotel rooms she had stayed in while traveling on business in Europe, India, and China. “It's tranquil, elegant and a little off-beat,” assertc says of the room. “I would call it contemporary ethnic.”

Her once barren master bedroom now features international touches at every turn, from a Tibetan elm cabinet and antique Chinese table and drawer to an iron Moroccan chandelier and a pair of Persian rugs. Chinese and Thai wood panels accent the walls, and even the plates on the room's light switches are adorned with scrolls from Bali.

The timing of the contest couldn't have been better for assertc. She had just purchased a home, and had been busy remodeling. “The contest gave me the opportunity to really upgrade some items. There are some beautiful rugs, for example, that I was able to purchase, which I probably wouldn't have spent the money on.”

After all the redecorating was done and the eBay Anything Points were spent, someone had to be crowned as the Grand Prize winner. While all five finalists did a great job with their rooms, in the end the eBay Community chose theartfullife's room that was fit for a pair of princesses as the contest winner. theartfullife's talent for decorating a room without leaving her home earned her a well-deserved five-day, four-night trip for two to see the 2005 eBay Showhouse in person. And more kudos to her for achieving this with almost $300 worth of her budget of $2500 eBay Anything Points to spare!

To view additional photographs of the finalists' rooms and hear more of their stories, visit www.ebay.com/dreamroomcontest. Creating your Dream Room on eBay is easy. Check out our finalists purchases for ideas. You'll find a list of every item the finalists purchased on eBay, along with its price. You can bid on items just like those to create your very own Dream Rooms!