One Room Challenge Week 4: Craft Room/Office Updates

UPDATE: You can see the FINAL REVEAL here!

My goodness, I feel like it was just yesterday that I shared an update on the One Room Challenge and yet here we are already in Week 4! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting slightly anxious at this point. If you're new here you can catch up on all of the ORC details and room progress here, here, and here. In summary, I'm transforming an extra bedroom into a home office and craft space.

So the past week consisted mostly of me still decrapifying and organizing all of my craft supplies. The good news is I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel in regards to the clutter, the bad news is I feel like I added about twenty more tasks to my to-do lists this week.  

Today I thought it would be great to share a brief summary of the major things I'll be working on over the course of the next week or two.

                     

Remember the farmhouse-like table/desk I used in my inspiration board for this room? Fortunately, I had almost the exact same table sitting in our basement collecting dust. The tabletop has seen better days though, so it needs to be stripped, sanded, and refinished. The legs could use a fresh coat of paint as well.

This is what the hutch (pictured above) looks like in the inside right now. I need a space to store both my printer and Silhouette machine, so we need to build and add an extra shelf. We also need to drill some holes through the back of the hutch to stream the printer and Silhouette wires through to the outlet behind it.

It's no secret that the large blank wall that houses our router has been a pain in my arse. The good news is the hubby took a look at it and we can relocate the router outlet closer to the center of the wall. That way any furniture I use to disguise it won't have to be oddly placed right by the room's door. Speaking of furniture, after tirelessly looking for a small side table to place next to the five drawer dresser (to store the router on) I decided we should just take the DIY route and build one. Yep, I like to make things more difficult apparently!

So aside from organizing all of my craft supplies I want to really "beautify" the craft closet. I haven't really decided on how I'm going to do that yet. I considered wallpapering it with some pretty removable paper but I think I may try to find a less expensive way to dress it up. Paint it? Add a colorful pegboard? More shelving?

So that's a brief rundown on some of the bigger projects I have left to do, not to mention accessorizing. I plan on using a lot of items I have on hand but I really need to make some final decisions on a few new decor pieces ASAP. Most of them are online and I'm getting pressed for time when it comes to shipping! Boy, do I need to get my bootie moving this upcoming week.
Wish me luck!

Don't forget to swing by the Calling it Home Blog to check in on the rest of the participants.

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Easy Spring Decorating Idea: Tiered Tray Decor

 When it comes to freshening up my decor and welcoming in a new season around my home, you want to know what my recently discovered secret ingredient is? Trays. Yes, I'm referring to that container-like thing that most people think of in terms of serving drinks and food on. Psssh... serving trays aren't just for tea and crumpets, people. A matter of fact, they've become rather popular among the home decor world lately. They're perfect for organizing trinkets, showing off collections, and using to create stylish vignettes. Today I wanted to share with you my house special "Spring on a Tray".

I don't like to splurge on a lot of new decor every time the weather changes (mommy needs to save money for her wine stash) and I certainly don't want to spend hours redecorating our whole home to reflect the change in seasons every few months (actually it's more like every few days for those of us who live in the Midwest). I have found that rotating my display of odds and ends on my tiered tray is the least inexpensive and timely way to change up my decor as the year evolves.

My tiered tray was a lucky clearance find at Hobby Lobby back in the Fall and so far I've decorated it for Autumn, winter, and now spring. It's HUMONGOUS. Like almost as tall as me (which doesn't say much considering I'm only 5"2). Anytime I go to give it makeover I always like to shop my home first. Reusing items I already have is how I keep my seasonal decorating habits budget friendly. 

The blue Mason jars are my favorite. I recently acquired these from my MIL's basement. Can you believe she hid these from me for 12 years?! The "Home Sweet Home" sign was an item I had on hand and it fit perfectly within the tray's compartments.

The blue succulent pots and birdhouses were my only new purchases for the spring tray.
I found them all at Michaels (purchased with a coupon, of course!). The birdhouses were only a $1.00 each and I thought they were so cute and whimsical. Nothing screams "spring" more than  birds, right? The houses were nekked wood, so I dressed them up by painting their little roofs blue. I love how they turned! Little B also loved them and they now have turned into "toys". That pretty much sums up what happens to all my new decor these days. Robin's eggs for Easter turn into dinosaur eggs, pillows turn into forts, and so on and so on. Sigh.

Later after I snapped a few pics of my spring tray, I came across some purple faux flowers while decrapifying my craft room and added them to the tray display. I've really started to dig the color purple lately. Gasp! Could I possibly be recovering from AQUAholism? Only time will tell, friends!

Can't get enough of me? Who blames ya! Come hang out with me over on Instagram
There's lots of DIY, decor, inspiration and insanity!

Sharing with friends here: Homework | Ginger Snap Crafts | Aka Designs

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One Room Challenge | Week 3 "Reflection"

UPDATE: You can see the FINAL REVEAL here!

So rumor has it, in six short weeks I'm transforming a spare bedroom into an office/craft room. I shared the "before" pics and the inspiration for this room in the first week, and then last week I shared a few updates with specific focus on this ginormous-wall-shelf-headboard-thingamajig that I found at a thrift store. 

Which brings me to week three, the week of  "Reflection". In other words, this past week was a lazy dazy one when it comes progress, however, the plans for this room did consume about 98% of  my thoughts this week. That counts for something, right? The other good news is that the ginormous-wall-shelf-thingamajig has been hung on the wall and I'm happy to report 72 hours later it's still there. Here's a picture to prove it.

I did also find time to paint another piece of furniture for this room. It's a small five drawer dresser that I found a few a months ago at an antique shop and it reminded me of these DIY drawers Liz Marie shared on her blog awhile back.

I still need to add the new cabinet pulls on it but I'm looking forward to finishing it and filling it with all kinds of crafty supplies and other odds and ends.

In terms of organization, things have been moving at the pace of a snail. More like a drunk snail. My "decrapifying" methods have been slow and sloppy and I have this problem with wanting to figure out all of the "pretty" things first before actually doing the work in cleaning up this space! Decorating is F-U-N but purging and organizing? Blah! I despise it.

That was it. That's all I have physically managed to do with this room in the past week. Like I said it was deemed the week of "reflection". I blame the long blank wall/router dilemma (which I mentioned last week) and my inability to really nail down my accent colors in this room. I'm still indecisive about a lot of things and if there's one thing that really puts a damper on my motivation, it is indecisiveness! I did make out a list of to-do's and I'm hoping to really kick things up a notch in the next week. Wish me luck!

Perhaps, the other One Room Challenge participants were better go-getters this week in than myself? You can find out yourself by checking out all of their progress here.

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One Room Challenge | Week 2 | The Thingamajig

UPDATE: You can see the FINAL REVEAL here!

Welcome to week 2 of the One Room Challenge. Despite sharing an inspiration board of ideas last week, my brain was all over the place when it came to nailing down details for the craft room/office makeover. The good news is as the week progressed, the direction in which I want to take this room became more and more clear. Like 75% clear. Hey, progress is progress, right?!

Before I jump into my room updates, if you're new here, thanks for swinging by! Last week I introduced my craft room/office (aka the island of misfit items) that  I'll be working on for the next 4 weeks and shared a visual board of the look I'm aiming for. You can catch up on the "before" pics and details here. In summary, I want to add some farmhouse style to this rather underwhelming space and raise it from hoarder status to organizational heaven.

As, I mentioned last week, this room actually received a new coat of paint back in January. The hutch that will store my printer and Silhouette machine also got a makeover too. I admit it was a relief to have these two tasks done before the ORC started, one less thing to worry about. That's not to say that I haven't been a painting machine for the past week though! 

I stumbled across this fantastically huge wall-shelf-headboard-thingamajig at a thrift store last weekend. Despite the fact that it looked like it walked out of the late-80's (hello, orange oak!), I saw it's potential. I honestly don't know what it is, but it was large and in charge and I knew it would be the perfect solution for filling one of the big, blank walls in this room. I spent the last few days giving it a white, chippy, distressed makeover and ohemgee, I'm really EXCITED about this piece! Here's a sneak peek. Mmmmm...blue mason jars and chippy white wood; a pair made in heaven.

Now we just have to figure out how to hang this big boy on the wall. You know what else I need to figure out? Which one of you is planning on coming over to help me clean out and organize all of this junk?! 

I had to fire my first assistant. He was too judgmental. "Mommy, you made a mess in here!"  

Plus, his solution to cleaning the room was to jam everything into one single drawer. Sigh, it's so hard to find good help these days.

I really debated on sharing a photo of the mess but a) that's the ugly reality of room transformations and remodels and b) this is a far cry from what it looked like months ago! I need a visual reminder of how far I've come to keep me motivated and from hitting the bottle late at night 

( just kidding....or am I?)

Let's move onto the biggest thorn in my side, another large, blank wall to figure out. This wall will be opposite the wall-shelf-headboard-thingamajig, so I don't want to overwhelm this wall and make the whole room look crowded. On top of it, our ethernet jack and router is housed on this wall and I need to come up with a way to store and hide it.  I swear this side of the room will be the bane of existence for the next 4 weeks!

So there's a brief overview of where things stand in week 2 of this challenge. Even though this space isn't going to require nearly as much labor as the playroom we did last year, I still have a mile long lists of tasks to get to. More pieces to paint, more boxes to empty, more supplies to organize, and more wine to drink. I hope you'll stop by next week to make sure I'm still alive!

Psssst....don't forget to stop by the Calling it Home blog to see what the rest of the participants have been up to in the last week.

Also, I'll be sharing extra sneak peeks and progress over on Instagram through out the challenge. Hope to see you there!

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One Room Challenge Kick-Off: Where's My Wine?

Update: You can see the FINAL REVEAL here!


 Can I ask a favor of you guys? In six weeks, when I go off the deep end and have to be admitted to the psych ward, can you promise to let the doctors know I'd really like to be in charge of the unit's arts and craft activities? I think that's where I would shine the most.

You see, I've committed to something. No, not to life on the run, something far more challenging. Let's face it, I'm a mother, life on the run doesn't sound half bad. It actually sounds quiet.....and alone and....oh, sorry, my mind started to trail there. The point I'm getting at is that I'm participating in another One Room Challenge and this week is the kick-off to six weeks of insanity! Yay, for insanity!

Some of you may recall I participated in my first ORC last spring when we completed our office turned camp-themed playroom and this time I have plans to complete our bedroom turned office. I know, it sounds like a game of musical rooms, right?!  As a quick reminder, the One Room Challenge is hosted by Linda, of the Calling It Home blog. Twice a year she challenges twenty designers and guest participants to transform a room in six weeks. Gulp.

Let me introduce you to the space I'll be making over this go-around; my craft room/office.
To say I'm anxious about this room transformation would be an understatement. For you newbies, we moved into this home almost two years ago and I'm slowly adding our personalities to each room.  Before I bore you with the before pics, here's a visual of the design direction I'm aiming for.....I think.

Sources: Aqua Metal Hairpin Clock | Garden Twine and Scissors |My Happy Place Sign |Lidded Ball Mason Jars | Klimpen Drawer Unit| Wire Basket| Mint Green Storage Cabinet| Whitewashed Lamp|Flower Arrangement| Metal Flip Calendar | Buffalo Check Pillow |Spindle Chair| Table| Storage Basket

That's the tough thing about this particular room transformation, I'm indecisive and all over the place about the details. I know I want this space to have a farmhouse touch with lots of whites and hints of country mint green, aquas, and blues but that's all I know. The good thing is this room is pretty much a blank slate, just waiting for me to save it!

If you're a regular around here, you may recall at the start of the new year I had great intentions to work on this room and shared some information about it here and here. Back at the end of January, I made some progress on this space by giving both the walls and the hutch seen in the pictures below a fresh coat of paint. I was on a roll and then my motivation took a major nose dive off a cliff and I haven't done a single thing to the room (aside from cluttering it back up with random things) since the beginning of February!

Here are a few before shots I took of the room before I painted.

Pretty underwhelming, right?
While we're at it, let's take a itsy, bitsy peek at the status of the room back in February after I painted the walls and the hutch.

Heading in the right direction but still a far ways to go!

I'm usually not good with making decisions but I'm hoping this challenge will be just the kick in the pants that I need. I may go bonkers doing it, but at least in the end I'll have an inspiring and organized craft room to lock myself in.

I'll be sharing weekly progress reports with you all every Thursday, so make sure to stop by often....to make sure I'm still alive. I'll also be sharing progress over on Instagram, so make sure to come hang out with me there too! Let the fun begin....sort of.

Psst...don't forget to swing by the Calling It Home blog here to
 check out the rest of the participant's spaces!

You can also check out the room we made over last year here
Geez, that was a labor of love, for sure!

**This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you decide to make a purchase through my link, I will receive a small commission for it.This doesn’t cost you anything additional. This in no way affects my opinion on these products.

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