This post is sponsored by Delta® Faucet.

In early May, Delta® invited us and a handful of bloggers to share in a Day of Inspired Design. The best part? It took place in our hometown of Chicago, making it possible for Scott to join in on the fun, too! You might remember seeing the day through our Instagram Stories, or maybe you saw us (nervously!) sharing the event on Facebook Live? The day was jam packed with stops around the city – in a trolley, no less! – and filled with talks from Delta, John and Sherry from Young House Love, and Jenny and Kate from She She, a duo that creates the most beautiful, whimsical hand painted wallpaper. At the end of the day, we all created mood boards using patterns from She She and images taken throughout the day that would inspire our own kitchen or bathroom makeover (more on that in a minute)!

We stayed at the LondonHouse Hotel downtown, and we kicked off the adventure on the rooftop. By far, our favorite part of the day was being able to see our city through the eyes of others; it’s always our pleasure to be with anyone who may be new to Chicago! We were guided by a docent from the Chicago Architecture Foundation, and he pointed out the iconic landmarks that surrounded us, including the pretty river that runs through it all, the perfect complement to a day of water inspired design.

Afterwards, we fueled up on coffee and breakfast at the brand new Delta showroom in the Merchandise Mart. Our hosts for the day, Delta, Young House Love, and She She (below) shared what inspires them, including all that goes into the making of a faucet and how water is used to spark creativity in faucet, home and art design, respectively. Jenny and Kate’s infectious and upbeat personalities shine through in their wallpaper and art installations (this one is stunning!), and watching them share their story was so uplifting!

We had time to peruse the Delta showroom after the presentations, and while we were there, we took a closer look at Cassidy™, the faucet we’ll be using in our garden apartment bathroom renovation! Let’s be honest, we were all like kids in a candy store, playing with the faucet handles and oohing and aahing over every finish. While the warm brass is always a favorite, you can probably guess that we’ll be using a shiny Chrome for our bathroom. For us, chrome is one of those classic finishes that never goes out of style; like a pair of blue jeans, Scott always says.

From the Delta Showroom, we all boarded back onto the trolley and headed to the Chicago Cultural Center. I’m ashamed to admit that we had yet to step foot in there, and it was definitely the highlight of our day! The Cultural Center was once the public library, and it houses the largest Tiffany stained-glass dome ceiling in the world. Every last detail is exquisite and surprising at the same time; with each turn of a corner, you could hear our entire group draw in a collective breath. The marble staircases, hand cut mosaics on every last surface and the quirky artwork had all of us snapping away.

Next up, we drove our trolley around the Museum Campus, one of our personal favorite destinations to take friends and family! We like to make the drive to the Campus just for long walks along the seawall (up for debate: better than a long walk on the beach – ha!), and we will never, ever tire of our city view from here:

Our last stop of the day was at Centennial Fountain, and we arrived just as the water arc spouted into the Chicago River (although, of course I didn’t have my camera ready in time!). The fountain was built in 1989 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, best known for reversing the flow of the river, for which we are all eternally grateful (and much healthier!).

Next to the fountain is this sign, which had us all wondering – what’s in the capsule?! Game Boys? Milli Vanilli albums? Taylor Swift’s birth certificate?

Finally (and after the yummiest lunch at Ema), we headed back to LondonHouse to make our mood boards! Using photos throughout the day and custom patterns created by She She, we were challenged to design boards that would showcase inspiration from the day that we could incorporate into our kitchen and bathroom designs. In our case, we were keeping our garden apartment bathroom and the Cassidy faucet in mind, and we focused on the materials and palettes we noticed throughout the day – chrome, aged brass and matte black accents.

The winner of the challenge would receive a custom print from She She, which immediately made me nervous (and in turn, made Scott chuckle). I can’t remember the last time I whipped up a collage – a real, live collage! – that wasn’t just images on my computer screen. We printed photos from our phones that we had taken only hours before, and we used this time to try and hone in on how we wanted our garden bathroom to feel. Classic, clean, and neutral with a punch of black or oil-rubbed bronze. Who’s surprised?

Over dinner that evening, we learned that there were two winners of the mood board challenge: Dabito of Old Brand New and… us! I promise you, my mouth dropped, and I nearly dropped my drink when we found out. It’s going to be so fun incorporating one of She She’s designs into our final bathroom reveal, which as you know, we have already been hard at work on!

We had the most amazing time with Delta, and in our hometown, no less. The team behind Delta was friendly, accommodating, and they effortlessly proved that it’s a brand we can get behind. The biggest of thank yous and hugs to Delta, Young House Love and She She for inviting us to take part! Pssst… The entire day was documented from start to finish through video, want to see?

Stay tuned for more of our bathroom progress and the final reveal, and in the meantime, be sure to check out the rest of the crew that’s working on their own Delta refresh!

Grandbaby Cakes | Making Home Base | Simply Grove | Bless’er House | The Ugly Duckling House | Driven by Décor | Julie Blanner | Copy Cat Chic | Old Brand New

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Delta Brand. The opinions and text are all mine.