One lesson I learned when I did the hall bathroom makeover is that I’m best under a deadline - which is the same in my professional life as well. I can definitely be one to be distracted by shiny objects, or procrastinate, but when I have a deadline, I can get laser focused and accomplish a ton. So, I thought a great way for me to tackle my next room makeover would be as part of the One Room Challenge, created and hosted by Calling It Home. It’s going to be tight, as I have some vacation planned in April, and this involves a lot more projects than the hall bathroom did. But, even if I don’t 100% finish by the deadline on May 12, I figure I’ll have enough progress to make it almost complete.
The room for the Spring 2016 One Room Challenge? One of our guest bedrooms, which also serves as a makeshift home office on days I work from home; or, as I like to call it, the place where leftover candles come to die. Right now, the room is a hodgepodge of sorts - nothing really matches, and there is no cohesive feel to the room. It’s very random with bits and pieces leftover from various rooms in my condo. My overall idea for the room is to achieve two purposes 1) a home office/craft space for myself and 2) a nice guest room when we have friends and family stay over.
Inspiration:
Below is my initial inspiration board. I suspect it may evolve a little bit, but I’m going for a softer feel with blues, grays and greens - almost a coastal vibe, with some French country tossed in.
To-do List:
There’s quite a lot to do in this room, which is a little overwhelming right now. I’m using a lot of the existing furniture pieces, just in different ways, but the key will be accessories and getting each area (the office area & the guest area) to feel cohesive. My initial plans include:
- Paint the room: The room got a quick coat of paint after we moved in, but I wasn’t in love with the color. It’s Swiss Coffee by Behr right now, and I plan on painting it Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams.
- Replace the Blinds/Add a curtain: One of our dogs has a thing for blinds, and he made is (teeth) mark on the current ones so I’ll replace those and add a curtain. We get a lot of afternoon sun in this room, even though there’s only one window, so not sure if I’ll do a Roman shade or maybe a blackout curtain, but definitely something!
- New Bedding: The duvet cover is a few years old - I think I’ll keep it, but add a lighter weight quilt. I love a ticker stripe, but am looking for something in a neutral palate. I’ll keep the cornflower blue throw pillows, and I recently bought new sheets for this room that have a lot of soft greens and blues.
- Paint Shelf & Desk: I’ll give a new coat of paint to a plain black shelf that serves as a bedside table. I also found a great deal on a desk for $35 that needs a coat of paint. The new desk will replace the antique desk I currently have - I’ll still keep the antique, just move it to a different part of the room, which leads me to …
- Rearrange furniture/remove furniture: I plan on removing the dresser from the room; it’s pretty beat up and there’s nothing in there that can’t be store elsewhere. Instead, along that wall, I plan to use an old TV stand as bench, so guests have a place to put luggage. The bedside table will also be removed and repurposed elsewhere in the house and the antique desk will go here instead.
- Rug: I have a rug that I think will work in here and will switch it out with the current rug. While in an ideal world, I get a bigger area rug, for now, I think I’ll use the 5×8 rug that I have and later one buy something bigger.
- Wall art & Shelving: I’ll add some more art to above the bed; and I’d love a big clock or mirror to go above the bench . My plan is also to add some open shelving above the desk for additional storage.
- Lamps/Accessories: I’m planning to try and work with a lot of what I have, but I do need to make a decision on if I plan to buy new lamps and if not, spray paint the old ones and get new lamp shades. I’ll probably need some desk accessories, baskets, etc. too.
When I write it like this, it doesn’t sound as bad, but it’s enough to keep me busy! This week, my initial goals are to get the room painted, possibly the desk & bookshelf, order bedding, and remove the dresser/move the antique desk.
Be sure to visit this week’s Linkup at Calling It Home to see all the great makeovers planned!
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