This is week one of the One Room Challenge with Better Homes & Gardens and I am pumped. I have been wanting to participate in this challenge for so long but it felt a little daunting and I didn’t think I would have what it takes compared to the beautiful rooms that all the other contestants create. I also was a little apprehensive about sticking to a schedule and a deadline. Juggling work and staying home with two kids is hard so finding time to add DIY in there too is nuts. However, it was a challenge that I wanted to take on and accomplish!
So for my One Room Challenge I am redoing my living room! I couldn’t decide between the living room and our master bedroom but this one won. It is the first room that you see when coming into our house and it has been driving me nuts since I moved in. So 3.5 years later this one is finally getting the attention it needing!
Our living room is small and right off the kitchen & front door. Having two children we have an overwhelming amount of toys that have also taken over our living room. It is our playroom, our dining room, our family space, entertaining space…everything. So my dream for this room is to be functional, have interest, STORAGE, and beauty. I want it to feel inviting and calming.
This is our living room before we moved into our house. My aunt and uncle completely renovated the space opening up the wall from the kitchen and redoing floors, baseboards, paint and fan.
So the before we are working with right now is not terrible but it’s not the full potential I know this room can be. Also, this is the only before picture I have before I started working on it…and this was used for a collaboration so I made it look better than what it actually wan all my junk is actually behind the camera.
The couch takes up too much space-also doesn’t go with the design I would want the room to be and doesn’t offer enough seating to have people over. The entertainment unit is nice but doesn’t offer a good amount of storage. The sides of it on the wall are just dead space. I added the mirrors above the baskets so the babies could look at themselves when they were getting toys (Montessori method- not a design choice)
So this is what I came up with for this my mood board/inspiration for this room.
So the main projects for this room is the diy built-in area. I wanted cabinets all along the bottom to maximize storage and eliminate all the open clutter (all the baby toys lol). The open shelving is for decorations and to add dimension/texture to the room. I will paint the walls white to make it feel open and allow for the other furniture/pieces to add contrast. I also wanna maximize our wall space to allow more seating options. I also plan on building that small side table for in between the chairs.
I also want to add a gallery wall where the photo ledges are. Like this…
So week one I basically just solidified my plans/designs and materials and got to decluttering/painting. Can’t wait to show you my progress next week!! Stick around to see it come together and don’t forget to check out all the other amazing designs all of the other participants have!!
Check out the other designs from the One Room Challenge participants at this link!
