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One Room Challenge: Week 1

Well, the secret is finally out…I’m playing along as a guest participant in this season’s One Room Challenge™ hosted by Linda, of Calling It Home. While I’ve always enjoyed this digital design event from afar, this will be my first time actually participating, and I can already tell that it’s going to be a ton of fun. Also a ton of pressure, but I love working on a deadline, so I’m not too overwhelmed (yet).

If you’ve never heard of the One Room Challenge, it’s a web-wide event where 20 featured designers document the progress of a room makeover on their websites throughout the course of six weeks. Each Wednesday, the designers post updates about their design plans and progress, and week six is set aside for the final big reveal.

Thursdays, though, are set aside for guest participants (i.e. moi) who follow the same 6-week schedule, just a day later. Anyone with a blog can join as a guest participant, with the incentive that two guests will be chosen to be part of the coveted “Featured Designers” in the next ORC event. There are two—one in the spring, and one in the fall.

One Room Challenge: Week 1

The big motivating factor for me, personally? Just having the excuse to finally tackle a room makeover that I’ve been dreaming about for years: our master bedroom! No, we’re not knocking down walls or adding any architectural details. Instead, it’s all about maximizing the space we already have, and putting our money toward budget-friendly accents that can give this room a much-needed facelift.

I think this direction could be helpful to those of you who are in similar situations—you can’t quite afford a full renovation, but want to transform a space with nothing but paint, a few new decorative details, and a whole lot of creative experimentation. That’s exactly what I’m putting to work in our own makeover, anyway, so I hope the concept perks up your curiosity. It’s all about to unfold over the course of the next six weeks, starting today with a whole bunch of embarrassing “Before” photos.

One Room Challenge: Week 1

In case you’re hopping over from the One Room Challenge™ linkup and have no idea who we are, my name is Carrie, and I live in Virginia in a mid-century brick A-frame ranch with my husband, John, and our four pets. We moved to town on a complete whim back in October of 2015, and have been working hard to renovate our retro home a little bit at a time as budget allows. You can see what the house looked like when we moved in here, and catch up on all the things we’ve done since then in our fully updated home tour here.

Essentially, our master bedroom hasn’t changed since we moved in. If you were to take out all of the new furniture, art, and décor that we’ve added since 2015, it would look exactly like you see it in these before pictures—aside from the fan, which we did replace. We actually love the original sage green walls, but, unfortunately, the previous owners didn’t leave any leftover paint or color information behind, so there’s no way to patch and repaint the dozens of holes I’ve put in the walls for art, and the state of the existing paint is pretty faded and dingy in person anyway.

We’ve managed to make it work for a while as we focus on other renovations in our home (here’s looking at you, hall bathroom), but now is the perfect time to give this room some much-needed love. I’ll be back next week to share our plans for the space, but let’s just say that paint is going to be the star. In the end, this room will sport four different shades of paint, and I can’t wait to show you how it’s all going to unfold.

Until then, here are the top two inspiration images that are driving the direction of our master bedroom makeover. We’ll be mixing the layered neutrals of the image above (via Amber Interior Design) with the rich, warm tones of the retro-leaning space you see below (via Midcentury Home). Can you picture it? Check back here next Thursday for the full reveal of our design direction and plans, and don’t forget to pop over to the One Room Challenge™ website for the full list of featured designers and guest participants.

*Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by ORC | Inspiration image credits: Image 1, Image 2

You know that scene in You’ve Got Mail when Meg Ryan’s character eats her breakfast sitting on the floor in a random corner of her home? She just sort of looks around and seems content to ponder her apartment (and life) quietly by herself? Well, I find that scene so endearing because I love to do that, too!

It may seem silly, but one of my favorite things to do is take a seat somewhere in our house that I don’t normally go just so I can get a fresh perspective on the space. Sometimes, I’ll sit cross-legged on the floor in our living room or dining room or even at the top of the stairs, my back propped up against the door jamb. I’ll often spot a tiny detail about our retro home that I never saw before, and this quiet time has been known to inspire more than one or two spontaneous ideas. Read on for a roundup of the three corners I love most in our home, and what I especially love about each one.

The Bed In Our Guest Room

I know a lot of people who never go into their guest rooms, but I’m not one of those people. I treat our third bedroom as a comfy little oasis that I get to borrow from our visitors from time to time. The bed in there is smaller than ours, so it doesn’t feel quite so commanding. Because of this, I love to lounge across the small full bed as though it were a daybed or even a couch. I read books there, watch chick flicks on my laptop, and I even take 20 minutes out of my work day just to sit on the bed with my eyes closed whenever I need a mental break. This quiet, secluded corner in our home is an extra special one to me.

The Chair In Our Living Room

Nine times out of ten, though, you’ll find me in our living room on the small side chair right by the windows up front. This room gets tons of natural light because of the floor-to-ceiling windows across nearly the entire space, so it’s just a really happy place to be. It’s our pets’ favorite corner of the house, too, because it’s absolutely ideal for sunbathing. Even on cloudy days, it looks bright. My favorite thing to do in this happy little corner of our home is listen to music on the record player, or I’ll ask Alexa to shuffle songs by a singer or band I love.

In The Family Room

Oh, the family room…Is there a corner I don’t love in this cozy lower level space? Probably not, but one of my go-to’s lately has been the nook in our big sectional where the chaise lounge meets the sofa. I love to nestle up there with a big blanket and a book, or even my laptop to type up things like today’s post.

Because this room is technically a finished basement, a good portion of it is underground so it’s almost too quiet to put into words. I think it’s because the earth behind the walls sort of cushions all the sound. Thankfully it’s a walkout, so there are still tons of windows and a big slider door that lets in natural light. Even still, it’s darker than our upstairs living room, so it’s a great place to escape to when I’m feeling the need for moody quiet time.

So, tell me about a favorite corner or two in your own home! Is there a particular room that you love the décor of, so much so that you don’t mind lounging there just to take it all in? Where do you love to plop yourself down when you want to get away from it all? In the meantime, if you need me, I’ll be making the rounds between our guest, living, and family rooms—book (or glass of wine!) in hand.

*I earn a small percentage from purchases made by the affiliate links above. Affiliate links are not sponsored. You can rest assured that I would NEVER recommend a product that we don’t use and love ourselves!

One Room Challenge: Week 1

*Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by ORC | Inspiration image credits: Image 1, Image 2

My 3 Favorite Corners In Our Home

The Bed In Our Guest Room

The Chair In Our Living Room

In The Family Room

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