Guest Bedroom Makeover for the One Room Challenge - Week 1
You've read that right. Once again we are jumping into the craziness known as the One Room Challenge (ORC) where we makeover a room in our house in just six weeks. Created by Linda of Calling It Home, there is no home decor event I look more forward to and I'm excited to participate as a Guest Participant. As you can tell by the title, we'll be completing a guest bedroom makeover for this round of the ORC but before I jump into that, let me tell you about this ORC project of ours and how I will take you through it step by step, and share the HOW of decorating (as well as the pretty pictures)!
Past One Room Challenge Before and Afters
There's no denying that the ORC was responsible for giving us the kick in the pants we needed to finish up some pretty large projects in our current and past home. That is my favourite aspect of the ORC: it motivates you and makes you accountable to everyone reading along and following your journey. Even if you don't finish within the six weeks, you're much further ahead than just doing a project on your own time and finishing it 'whenever'.There was our tropical dining room:
The preppy traditional living room:
The calm and serene master bedroom:
And our recent French style bathroom (which we didn't finish in the six week timeline):
I've loved completing each of these projects (okay, maybe the bathroom not so much. That one was HARD). But I've come to realize that I've been doing you, my readers, a bit of a disservice when it comes to talking about the ORC.
Have you noticed that the ORC posts tend to have a bit of a formula? Week 1 you introduce your project. Week 2 you talk about the design. Week 3 is the dirty messy in progress update. Week 4 you discuss some of the challenges you're having. Week 5 you tease some of the decor and finishing touches. And Week 6 you show the final reveal.
Which is all well and good - and we all LOVE the Befores and Afters - but I find myself wanting to share more about the HOW of decorating.
How To Decorate
Have you ever looked at an ORC project and wondered:- Why this room and not others? How did they prioritize where to spend their decorating dollars?
- How did they come up with the design? Where did they save and where did they splurge?
- How did they ensure this design works cohesively with other rooms in the home?
- How did they get buy in from everyone in the household? It might not seem this way, but there is always a "debate period" with every one of our design projects where Sean and I have to work through disagreements!
- And finally, how did they find the time, money, and energy to make it all happen?
It's great to have you tagging along on my six-week ORC, but what I'd love for you to walk away with is an understanding of HOW to approach decorating and renovating and ultimately achieve transformations in your own home.
That seems like an ORC story I haven't yet told. The reality is we do have a formula and process we follow for each of our home renovation and remodel projects but all I've really shared are the pretty pictures along the way.
So that is what I'll be sharing here over the next six weeks. I'll be sharing more insights and tips on my bi-weekly newsletter so if these are the kinds of questions you're struggling with, sign up to get that info straight into your mailbox:
So that is what I'll be sharing here over the next six weeks. I'll be sharing more insights and tips on my bi-weekly newsletter so if these are the kinds of questions you're struggling with, sign up to get that info straight into your mailbox:
Now, onto showing you the room we'll be making over! This might be one of the worst Befores I've ever shown here!
This room is our guest bedroom. It's not a huge room, 10'9" x 10'9", but gets great natural light... not that you could tell because the red paint is sucking all the life out of this room, ha! I was so eager to paint this room two years ago when we moved in, hence the paint swatches on the wall.
But as life moved on, other projects (like the living room and then the craft room) took precedence and this room kept getting moved to the bottom of our priority list. Unimportant and ignored, we did nothing but ensured it performed basic functions:
Of course, the house has fought us in performing even the simplest of tasks:
All those things need to be fixed. Which brings me to a discussion about TIME, MONEY, AND ENERGY.
When it comes to accomplishing most things in life - renovations, family trips, a regular exercise schedule - you're likely trying to find a balance of these three dimensions. The Decorating Dilemma is one you'll face right from the moment you decide to decorate or renovate.
But how can you assess those things? How do you judge a home project on intangible, qualitative things like time, money and energy? I've come up with a tool to help you do just that!
Guest Bedroom Before
This room is our guest bedroom. It's not a huge room, 10'9" x 10'9", but gets great natural light... not that you could tell because the red paint is sucking all the life out of this room, ha! I was so eager to paint this room two years ago when we moved in, hence the paint swatches on the wall.
But as life moved on, other projects (like the living room and then the craft room) took precedence and this room kept getting moved to the bottom of our priority list. Unimportant and ignored, we did nothing but ensured it performed basic functions:
- Provided a bed for occasional guests
- Housed a dresser for Sean's clothes
- Provided storage in the closet for off-season clothing, Sean's shoes, our messy work clothes, and some home decor items
- It also became a dumping ground for various tools, renovation materials (did you spot the paint can?) and junk
Of course, the house has fought us in performing even the simplest of tasks:
- As with ALL of our bifold doors, these ones have fallen off their tracks, the hardware has broken, and they need replacing as well. I swear, we're just subjecting them to normal wear and tear! I don't know why they've all fallen apart at the same time
- Wall patches made by the previous owner have eroded. The previous owner had a bookcase here which we think was bolted to the wall. The patches seem to be made with some sort of rubbery substance, not drywall compound, and have sunken in and the paint has peeled
- We broke the mini blinds that were in the small window
- As in Chloe's room, we've found that the existing closet system doesn't meet our needs
All those things need to be fixed. Which brings me to a discussion about TIME, MONEY, AND ENERGY.
When it comes to accomplishing most things in life - renovations, family trips, a regular exercise schedule - you're likely trying to find a balance of these three dimensions. The Decorating Dilemma is one you'll face right from the moment you decide to decorate or renovate.
- Do you have the money to make improvements and buy the decor?
- Do you have the energy to do the physical work? Are you in the right mindset to make all the decisions and figure out how to make your design vision come to life?
- When are you going to do all this? Is this a weekend project or many months or renovating? How can you fit it in your already busy life?
But how can you assess those things? How do you judge a home project on intangible, qualitative things like time, money and energy? I've come up with a tool to help you do just that!
Comparing and Prioritizing Home Projects
I know how difficult it is to decide what to do next. There's always something to be done around the house - how do you set priorities? How do you compare projects?
Using this Time Money Energy project assessment worksheet, you can make that comparison. Finding it difficult to decide between say your laundry room renovation or refinishing the floors? Run them both through the worksheet and see how they score. Add up the scores and the higher the score, the better and more desirable the project is to undertake.
You're aiming to find the projects that fall in the middle of that circle diagram above, the projects that fall in that sweet spot where Time, Money, and Energy meet.
This guest bedroom makeover finally hit the sweet spot. It can be done quickly, relatively cheaply, and to be honest, this is all we have the energy for right now!
Let me know... have you found this information on assessing and prioritizing projects helpful? Do you struggle with deciding and setting priorities?
Next week, I'll be sharing the next step, Creating a Project Overview and breaking down what needs to be done in the next six weeks.
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