Howdy! I’m here today with another update on our One Room Challenge project. You haven’t heard about how we’re transforming our old guest room into a modern homework/craft room? Well, you can catch up on all week-by-week craziness here:
Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | Week Five | Week Six | Week Seven
What’s this? They added a Week 7? Good catch!
Yes, this has always been a 6-week design challenge. But due to the unprecedented number of natural disasters that occurred in the time leading up to, and during the ORC, the ORC Powers That Be decided to extend the reveal deadline by one week.
While some participants were unhappy about the extension, I was jumping for joy when I heard the news.
I’ve been seriously hustling to stay ahead of the game, so this extension was just what I needed to catch my breath. Unlike the past few weeks, we didn’t tackle a major DIY project this week. But we did continue to make slow and steady progress on a few action items.
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One Room Challenge: What Did We Accomplish in Week 5?
In any room makeover worth it’s salt, there comes that moment where you’re operating in full chaos.
We hit that moment this week, as we turned our attention to the opposite side of the room to begin working on the craft zone.
As you might remember from the design plan details I shared in the Week 2 post, we’re use an IKEA Kallax workstation as the anchor piece for the creative/craft zone.
Assembling IKEA furniture is always an adventure. IKEA assembly instructions rarely include words — just vague illustrations that baffle spacially-challenged people such as myself. So I recruited my spacially-gifted husband to take the lead on furniture assembly.
Just like I’m a huge Elfa system Fan Girl, I’m also a BIG fan of Kallax cube storage systems.
They are perfection when it comes to storing collections of small, but related items like craft supplies. And the assembly process really wasn’t bad at all (says the girl who just had to unpack the boxes and hand over tools as needed).
The difficult part was deciding on the workstation placement AND determining whether I needed both tables that came with the workstation set up (or just one).
Until we nailed down the placement and table quantity issue, we couldn’t attach the tables to the shelving unit. And until you attach the tables, you can’t really put the adjustable legs in their permanent position.
So we had to improvise setting the leg-less table ends on top of random objects, in order to get a sense of how the whole work station would fit in the space.
In the first option, you view the side of the shelving unit as you walk into the room (which I wasn’t loving):
POSITION #1
In the alternative position, you see the shelving unit straight ahead when you walk into the space, which I liked better:
POSITION #2
Position #2 it is!
For now, we decided to attach both tables to maximize the available workspace in this area. If it feels like too much in the future, it’s really easy to remove one of the tables.
The other decision that we nailed down this week was which area rug to purchase (to cover up that massive paint spill that happened during the wall stenciling project).
Although I loved this rug, it was a bit out of my budget. We ended up choosing this contemporary indoor-outdoor beauty that incorporates the room accent colors to perfection and did not break the bank:
(Learn why I LOVE to use indoor-outdoor rugs in my home)
So that’s the scoop on where we currently stand. Stay tuned for another update coming your way next week (followed by the BIG REVEAL the following week — Yikes!)
Modern Homework/Craft Room Progress: Week 5
Here’s this week’s updated progress list:
Sell bedSell light fixtureDonate/Sell CD collectionRemove wallpaperPurchase & install new light fixtureRepair & paint wallsApply wall stencilPurchase homework zone wall shelving & desktopsPurchase and assemble desk chairsDecide on craft storage/table configuration and purchaseInstall wall shelving/desks for homework zoneBuild craft zone furnitureSource area rug- Assemble IKEA storage boxes and drawers
- Build DIY wall-mounted gift wrap storage solution
- Purchase accessories & accessorize (clock, storage containers, etc.)
- Relocate craft items to new space
Want to see more room transformation eye candy? Head to Calling it Home to see all 200+ rooms being made over from floor to ceiling this season by the featured participants and guest participants in this season’s One Room Challenge.
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Andrea says
We have very similar ORC plans. Can’t wait to see yours complete. Love it so far : )
Natalie Gallagher says
Andrea, Just checked out your project as well. That door and that stencil are AMAZING! Good luck as you head down the final stretch!