Because It's Awesome: new home

One Room Challenge // Week 3

October 15, 2014

Hello and welcome back to the One Room Challenge! It's week 3, which means we are HALFWAY THROUGH. Bananas. Also, holycrapistillhavealotofdecisionstomake.

To recap in case you're just now joining us: In week 1, we took a look at the starting point for my master bedroom and established a loose plan. You can see that here.

I hate planning ahead. I'm terrible at it.
So when this Sarreid chest showed up in my garage while I was out of town

my plan immediately changed. Because, if you don't already know this about me, I looooooove me some brass in a people-worry-about-me kind of way.

In week 2, we took a look at the rug I chose for the space, narrowed wall color choices to 8 shades of gray, discussed Ikea dresser hack inspiration, and decided on the mismatched bedside tables.

Which brings us to week 3. I could say that I'm very impressionable (and I am), but I was quite literally willing you guys to agree that the room couldn't do without the Sarreid/Saarinen combo. So thank you. I ordered the sexy Astrid Marble White Side Table from ORC sponsor Lamps Plus (thank you, Lamps Plus!!!) and it arrived yesterday. I don't have everything in place, so I can't say for sure that it's the perfect combo....but it is. We all know it is.

Here's the evolution of the room thus far:

I went with Modern Gray on the walls. It's a soothing, barely there gray and I'm really happy with it. Grays are haaaaaaaaaaaard. Finding the right shade takes a great deal of patience and $8358476849 in samples. Here's a peek at the transformation:

Never was able to snap an after photo with good light, but trust that it's purty.

As you can see above, I've opted to skip the painted Ikea hack because I just don't have the strength. (And by "I don't have the strength," I mean my husband doesn't have the time.) But he did have time to decipher Ikea's instructions, so he got to work constructing the Malm 6-drawer dresser and it's looking good!

God bless husbands. Especially mine.

We'll give the dresser a little je ne sais quoi with stylish brass pulls. I'm still collecting options, so let's break that down next week, m'kay?

Since the bedside tables are different sizes and heights, I'm leaning towards sconces instead of lamps. I love the idea of matte black because it's sexy as hell and adds a masculine touch to the space. Something like zees:

Christine Dovey

Because yes, Christine, YES.

David Ross

Elizabeth Cooper as seen in Lonny Magazine

Of course, with a minimal budget, this may mean finding the right shape and spray painting them myself. A girl's gotta eat, you know.

Also, I was able to snag a set of gorgeous chairs over the weekend. I'm thinking one may make it into the bedroom because DANG. My daughter, Ava, even approves :)

I'm finally honing in on art and fabric selections, which I'll be discussing in more detail soon. Is that all over the place enough for you today?? Whew!

Time to check on my fellow participants.

Trademarked by Calling it Home

One Room Challenge // Week One

October 1, 2014

Hellooooooo. Welcome! I am so very very excited -- and only a little bit scared -- to be participating in the One Room Challenge for the second time around. (You can see my first go at it here.) I long debated whether to start over on our dining room or finally take a stab at our master bedroom....With a tot just over a year old and finally sleeping consistently in her own bed (knock on wood), I'm thinking there's more value in transforming our bedroom into a sanctuary. Outside of a new king bed, this room has not been touched since we moved in almost three years ago.

I think it's time.

Here's where we begin. And I would be remiss if I did not say that I am HUGELY embarrassed by these befores after three years here. Hugely.

That bed just looks so sad and lonely, doesn't it? Cute kitty though.

Books, mags and cords are my nemesis.

The shoe cabinet came from my grandpa's office. Needs sprucing. Bench will get a long awaited makeover.

Flashlight and toilet paper? So prepared for emergencies!

Why even make the bed?

I mean, sort of wondering what I was thinking when I brought this home....

BTW, there's my dirty laundry.

Two armoires?? Yes. Because my husband is attached to the last piece of furniture he can say he picked out himself (before I came along, of course).

Why is the breakfast tray up there you ask? We're not sure either.

Not because we use it for breakfast in bed, I can tell you that.

Truthfully, I don't hate the wall color. I just think the room could use some brightening up.

The moulding and trim are stellar at least.

And here's the rough plan:

I say rough because I am not really one to follow a plan. But for the sake of establishing a general direction, action items are below:

- bring in rug for a pop of color

- paint the room (most likely a warm, light grey)

- remove armoires (One of which is left over from the previous One Room Challenge! We never got it downstairs and out of the house. Oopsies.)

- solve for dresser

- new bedside lamps (gourd or round to counteract all of the boxy elements)

- explore new bedside tables? paint existing?

- account for additional beside storage needs if applicable

- art

- dress up shoe cabinet (wallpaper? paint?)

- reupholster bench - thinking animal print

- create reading nook

- solve for full length mirror with armoires out

- of course, display plenty of brassy vintage accents! #brassforeva

I'm hoping to achieve something that feels warm, bright and airy with color pops, comfortable and, ultimately, very livable. What you see in six weeks will not be staged for photos. It will reflect how we actually intend to use this space...which means I'm solving for the piles of magazines, the kleenex box, laundry basket, etc. Here's hoping I can make it beautiful! Thanks for following along.

Now for my favorite part -- let's go see what the other players are starting with!

Trademarked by Calling it Home

One Room Challenge // Final Reveal

May 7, 2014

well, the day is finally here, my friends. it's time to feast your eyes upon all of the loveliness that is the one room challenge final reveal. i don't know about you, but i am VERY excited to see how all of these extremely talented peeps finished their spaces. thank you mucho for following along and encouraging us along the way! it made it all the more worthwhile.

i'm really happy with how my room turned out. because this space is only temporarily an office (assuming we're blessed with another bambino one day), my goal was to keep spending to a minimum by repurposing what we already had, doing away with what needed to go and -- most importantly -- getting out from under the mountains of clutter and miscellaneous paperwork.

mission (mostly) accomplished. to recap, here's where we started:

major neglect. with a fresh coat of paint, more efficient storage options and a few splashy details, i was able to seriously turn this space around. i'm finally inspired to work in here!

i'm so thrilled with the crisp white walls and the vintage credenza. i can photograph inventory right here (instead of watching it take over my whole house) and store unsightly office goods away in drawers. plus, there's a surface for pretty. all offices need some pretty.

loooooove the 40" x 30" photo i found at minted in this space! it's so zen and absolutely perfect.

i replaced the parsons chair with this little rattan number for its smaller footprint. it's not a large room and the desk takes up quite a bit of real estate, so this fit the bill. the side table is perfect for now, but as it's inventory, i expect it and many other items in this room to come and go. which is half of the fun, right?

of course, succulents. how perfect are these little brass swan planters??

i'm not traditionally much of a fern girl, but i love the texture it adds to the room. found this little plant stand at a hole in the wall antique mall and couldn't pass it up!

my desk is FINALLY dressed up with bits that have been sitting in folders for far too long. soooo happy to have this mix of inspiration and personal items all up in my face!

textured flowers are everything. ranunculus and dahlias are by far my favorite fleurs.

brass bathtub for my business cards? don't mind if i do. jennifer from the pink pagoda has the most amaaaazing blue and white ceramic collection. love this little vase for my writing utensils, but also can't wait to get some bright pink peonies in it when ours start to bloom. imagine.

* swoon *

the printer stand is also inventory. i will be sad to see her go, but such is the business.

the gumball machine got a fabulous makeover. i. am. obsessed. i remember my dad always having peanut m&ms at his office when i was a kid, so i think i associate them with offices. clearly a dangerous decision to have this right next to my desk...

loaded the west elm shelving unit with inventory and my ridiculous mag collection.

sooo many pretties. if you see something you like that isn't in the shop yet, it should be soon! or inquire at tobe@becauseitsawesomeblog.com if you want dibs on something.

and then there's the closet.

my original intention was to use the gorgeous marbled paper for drawer liners, but i just couldn't do it. had i known i would have been using it for the closet, i may have chosen a different color way, but this paper is insanely beautiful so i'm still happy. i was surprised how easy this project was. (i'm not much of a DIYer.) find the paper here.

sadly, it probably won't stay this empty for long.