one room challenge {week 6}

daaaang!  that went by way too fast!

so here i am squeaking something out the final hour....  typical.  is the room done?  no.  is it better than six weeks ago?  yes!  and that to me makes participating in the one room challenge totally worth it!  i'm not one who can look at a room, decorate it all in my head, and then go and purchase everything at once.  i like to do it in layers.  buy something, make sure it works, and go on from there.  so even though the six weeks is up, i'm not stopping!  i've got a list of items to purchase and DIY's to be done!

soooo....  with out further ado, here is my guest room/office space:

off to the left you can see the skirted table my mom and husband helped me with.  and above the table is some shelving we installed last weekend.  the brackets were $5 a pair from ikea that i spray painted an aged brass, and the shelving is pine that i stained.

my solution to all the papers that seemed to clutter our desk was to get myself and jeff each a document box.  i'm the type of person that needs to clear my desk before i can work.  having all the papers tucked away makes me happy.  :)

instead of purchasing new lamps, again, i spray painted some that i already had the same aged brass i used for the ikea brackets.  (i have my eye on a few other items i want to spray paint the same color.  nothing is safe in this house.)  i love the way they turned out.  we also painted the iron bed a gray color.  originally it was ivory and it needed to change since everything else in the room is a pretty bright white.

my shelves definitely need some styling.  after searching around on pinterest and other blogs, i've compiled a list of guest room essentials.  i plan on adding a few of those items to the shelves.

i also want to add some hooks to that back wall.  i saved a few antique wooden hangers of my grandparents i would like to have them hang on that back wall for guests to use.

so, like i said, it's not done, but it is better.  now if i could just get my act together to finish the rest of our house...

you can see my past weeks here:
week 1, week 2, week 3, week 5

and you can see all the other participants here.  thanks linda for hosting!

~becky

one room challenge {week 5}

we are just going to pretend that i didn't skip week 4.

so here we are week 5 of the one room challenge.  you can view all the other participants here and my last one room challenge post here.

so where am i?  well my desk is FINALLY in!  yay!!!  y'all i don' t think i've ever waited/thought about a piece of furniture as much as i've done with this desk.

it's a little deeper than what i would like for the space, but it's size does make for a large work area which is also nice.  and i love that it's not bulky.  

my mom helped me rearrange the room a little and moved the antique wood filing cabinet into the corner of the room most visible when entering.  i really do love this piece and think it was a great idea to put it front and center versus it being hidden behind the door.

the change then puts the skirted table hidden behind the door.  and i'm happy i procrastinated in getting my mom to cut some slits for our wires because now the slits will need to placed on the opposite side.  

so when i left last time i noted that i still need to find a lamp (or two).  my youngest and i made a little shopping trip on sunday but came home sans lamps.  ugh!  we even went to home goods where i almost always find what i'm looking for...  i did not get home goods happy.  ;)

i have one more shopping trip scheduled before the final reveal so i'm keeping my fingers crossed i find something.  if not, i will be shopping my home.

one week to go!  eek!

~ becky

one room challenge {week 3}

hi all!  today i'm going to share one of the DIY we've done so far.  ok, so "we" might be a stretch.  it was mostly done by my husband and mom.  but hey, it was my idea.  that should count for something, right?  no?

so remember in week 1 where i showed the picture of our monster printer that sits in the corner of the room?  i knew i need to somehow hide that bad boy, but i didn't want anything boxy.  you know what i mean?  i needed something "soft" since this room does double as a guest bedroom.  i thought a skirted table, much like the images below, would be perfect.   

source

source

so i asked my very kind husband to help me construct a table to cover the printer and a rollie thing for the printer to sit on so it can slide out easily.  (these are all very technical terms.  take notes.)  it fits in this corner inside of the window trims perfectly.  he even made little cutouts for the cords to plug into the wall.

i then asked my mom to sew a cover for it.  i told her it would need a flap in the front so that the printer could roll out when needed.  we talked about different options and this is what she came up with.

we still need to tweak it some.  (yes, i'm still saying "we."  clearly i'm giving myself way too much credit.)  we (ha!) need to cut a hole or slit or something for the cords on the right to go through.  currently because there is no slit, the cover pulls to the right.  but i still love.  my poor pictures do not do it justice. 

and ignore the cords creeping out.  i should have cleaned up before taking the pics.

and this is how it looks when we roll the printer out.  it works perfectly.  

the fabric is a softened linen that i ordered from here.  i chose dove grey. 

and because we overestimated the amount of fabric needed, my mom was able to sew this pillow cover.  is my mom not the best or what?!? 

oh and that big white blob you see blocking my table skirt picture...  that is the parsons chair i ordered for the desk.  i also had it monogrammed on the back with our last name initial in gray.

 i also got in the terrarium i shared in last weeks vision board.  buttttt....  i might need to read up on how exactly i should plant and take care of the succulents i put inside.  i'm not off to a good start...  and yes, i still have the fancy lifetime table desk.  but hopefully not much longer.

so.  plans for the upcoming week...

~  my desk should be coming in and i. cannot. wait!  i am sure that when we get rid of the lifetime table it is going to make a huge difference!

~ i need to figure out what i'm going to do on my walls.  order more art, pictures, leave it bare, etc.

~ i need to start looking for lamps as well.  i made the comment recently to my husband about how i just love a room with a soft glow from a lamp.  his eyes about rolled out of his head.  but its true!  i love lamps!

check back next week for some progress pictures!

and be sure to check out all of the other room room challenge participants here.

~becky

one room challenge {week 2}

woohoo!  it's week 2 of the one room challenge and i haven't bailed yet!  i'm going to go ahead and call this a success.  ;)

you can check out week 1 here and the rest of the one room challenge participants here.

so this week i am suppose to share what i've accomplished or learned.  what i've learned is my husband's work (and research/studying) requires a lot of paper.  piles and piles of paper.  and books.  lots of books.  we need some storage solutions for that.  (disclosure:  i'm not completely innocent when it comes to cluttering the desk.  ahem, lifetime table.)

that being said, i really don't want a bulky desk in this room due to it being a shared space with a guest bed.  i like the idea of a writing table much like this...

Pottery Barn Printer's Writing Desk (see more Pottery Barn)

i've actually been eyeing this desk for quite some time.  this past december i called the nearest pottery barn store to see if they had it in stock.  they didn't and said it would take about two weeks to get in.  i told the salesperson how i was really hoping i could get it before christmas and she suggested i called the outlets to see if they had it in stock.  the PB outlet store is only about a 1.5 hr drive for us.  i called the outlets and they did!  three actually!  and for 1/2 off with only some minor imperfections.  score!  i asked if they could hold one for me and they couldn't.  this all was happening on like a wednesday and i knew my husband and i wouldn't be able to get there until saturday.  i called friday to see if they still had the desk and they were down to two.  it was still looking good for us.  saturday we left early and arrived shortly after they opened.  i quickly made my way to desks only to find the last printer's writing desk with A HOLD SIGN ON IT!  what?!?  i thought they couldn't hold furniture?!?  (by the way, the desk looked perfect!  i couldn't find the imperfection.)  i questioned the manager and he told me that sometimes in special situations they would hold a piece.  apparently a mom was driving 4 hrs to come pick it up for her daughter who would be receiving it for christmas.  (note to self:  next time lie and say your coming from out of state to pick up said item as a gift for my ailing grandmother.)  the manager assured me that they receive the printer's writing desk often and i should just keep calling back.  like i said, that was december.  it is now april.  i'm on a first name basis with like five of the PB outlet employees.  they know my voice and almost instantly tell me its not in as soon as i say hello.  my husband, who is tired of hearing the weekly saga, has asked me to suck it up and pay full-price several times.  i've held out until this past week and it is finally ordered.

i should mention that i did find a 3x5 brannan braided jute rug at the outlets for $30.  i was pretty pumped about that one.  it goes perfectly on the side of the bed.

so going back to the original topic of what i've accomplished...  these are the elements of the room that i've picked out so far...

1.  parsons slipcovered chair

2.  antique brass wall scones for the head of the bed

3.  rifle paper co. calendar

4.  clare elsaesser art

5.  room essentials document box from target

6.  brannan braided jute rug

7.  terrarium for desk

8.  lamps for desk

9.  printer's writing desk

come back next week when i share a few if the DIY's we've done.

~becky

one room challange {week 1}

i'm venturing out of my comfort zone here...  

i've decided to link up with calling it home's one room challenge!

i've followed this series a few times and love watching how other bloggers transform a space in just six weeks.  i however am cheating a little bit...  i took the "before" pics a few months ago and have already purchased a few items.  don't judge me.  ;)

so the backstory...

in December 2012 we moved into my grandparent’s home that we renovated.  we knew it would be a work in progress and figured all the small details would get done once we moved in.  ha!  2013 turned out to be a crazy year and furnishing our house was the least of our worries.  our home, as well as many other things, got neglected.  getting this house put together is one of my goals for 2014!

our home is old.  real old.  i would love to find time to go through the county records to see if i can figure out exactly how old it is.  time and the help of someone who knows how to maneuver through the records.  i tried once and didn’t get very far in the hour i was there.

the room i am choosing is our office/guest bedroom.  currently this is the catch all room.  when we first moved in, this was the room that we hid all the boxes in until we had time to unpack them.  some items just haven’t found their home yet and are still left in here.  here are all the unflattering before pictures...

i should also mention that prior to moving we sold the majority of our furniture because i knew i wanted a different look for this house.  that’s the reason for the fancy lifetime table desk.  nice.  i know.

i love this room and all its windows.  and when i sit at my computer i really like also being able to look out the front window.  many times my girls will be playing on our front porch while i work. 

my biggest challenge will be to somehow create a usable work space (including a monster printer) all while keeping the space homey enough for a guest to feel comfortable.  

Just for fun, do you want to see a picture of the room prior to our major renovation???

i hope you come back next week for some progress pictures!

~becky