I’m really excited to be a Guest Participant again in the One Room Challenge! This is a great way to get inspiration and motivation for your home. This spring, I re-decorated our boys’ bathroom. For this fall’s challenge, I’m transforming our teen’s … Continue reading
I’m really excited to be a Guest Participant again in the One Room Challenge! This is a great way to get inspiration and motivation for your home. This spring, I re-decorated our boys’ bathroom. For this fall’s challenge, I’m transforming our teen’s bedroom. His new space is inspired by an industrial loft, with an exposed brick wall and other great features! Thanks for following along!
Kai is a quiet kid who doesn’t share much or ask for much. When the boys wanted their own rooms last fall, he ended up in my former craft room, and I made very few changes when I moved him in, other than adding a bed. Although he does not ask for much, he does show his appreciation, and I was excited to do something special for him, before he goes off to college in a few more years – sniff, wah!
I know how fast they grow, so I wanted an adult space, where we could add a few personal touches. I also imagine that some day, I’ll gain this room back as a craft studio, so I kept all that in mind in choosing a simple loft-inspired design scheme. There are vintage, industrial, and hand-made touches that will allow this space to endure and adapt to our family in the years to come.
Image sources:
Are you as excited as I am?!
I created my design plan the way I usually do, looking for inspiration spaces and then identifying the elements and themes that I want to incorporate into our home. The Design Cookbook has more details on how you can use this approach to create spaces you love!
Here are two of my inspiration spaces for this project. I could not find an original source for the first picture, so please let me know if you find it, so I can give credit!
This second room was featured on the Street Easy blog.
The features I loved in both of these spaces – and that I knew I wanted to recreate – are:
I’ve done a little bit of sourcing and preparation already, but there is a lot of work left to do in the next five weeks! I can’t wait to share all the projects and see the final space!
A huge thank you to Linda for creating the One Room Challenge community, and high fives to all my fellow bloggers whose hard work and creativity were great inspirations! Be sure to go back to the One Room Challenge blog and check out all the other projects!
Julie aka “Jewels”
I’ve mentioned before that we use our formal dining room for most of our meals. This was a tradition my mother started when my sister and I lived at home, and I enjoy continuing it with our family.
I’ve posted about durable tablecloths and table runners to give your dining room a more formal look while still holding up to the kids. Recently, I have been debating about adding a dining room rug. I never even entertained (ha) this idea until the last few months, now that the kids are older and (a little) less messy. I really wanted the finished look of a rug, but I need to keep things practical as well.
I’m going to share my inspiration rooms, our current space, and the rugs I’m considering. There are literally thousands of options out there, and I’ve narrowed them down to my favorites.
First, here’s how our dining room looks now, without the rug.
So, you know I have a design crush on Amber Interiors. These are a couple of my favorite dining rooms designed by Amber Lewis and her team.
The vintage rugs in these rooms feel accessible, because the complex patterns will hide small stains. This set me on a hunt for a vintage-style Persian rug for our dining space. While part of me would love to find a gorgeous high-quality wool rug, I am just too chicken – or too smart? – to put a few thousand dollars under my table for my kids to drop food on and my dog to lick… so, at least for now, I decided to look for an inexpensive synthetic rug that won’t make me cry every time something falls on it.
Here is my short list of rugs. My color scheme is greys and blues, and I was looking for something that had pattern but was still muted enough to feel neutral.
1 Unique Loom Rockwell Berkshire Area Rug
2 Safavieh Evoke Vintage Oriental Silver/ Ivory Distressed Rug
3 Freetown Distressed Vintage Inspired Gray/Ivory Rug
4 Willoby Vintage Oriental Charcoal Area Rug
And I have more rug ideas and inspiration rooms on my Pinterest board.
So, what do you think? Here’s another picture of the room currently. Our mantel is pretty busy, so I don’t want to add more busy-ness to the room, but I think it would really define the space and also show off the base of the table, which is a lovely Craftsman design.
I haven’t made a final decision yet, and I like all these rugs so much, that I might by more than one and put it in the living room or upstairs hallway…
So, whadya think?
“Jewels”
I’m really excited to be a Guest Participant in my first One Room Challenge! This is a great way to get inspiration and motivation for your home. For this challenge, I’ve decided to re-do our kids’ bath. It started out with a cute beach theme that seemed perfect when the boys were little, but now I am ready for it to grow up with them. Our new look features neutral colors, natural touches, and enough personality to stand up to three boys! Thanks for following along!
Recap:
Have you noticed that I’ve only been taking pictures of this bathroom from one side? Yes, it’s a small room, but I’m not too proud to stand in the bathtub or behind the toilet to get a good picture, like when I redecorated our master bath or our powder room! The reason I’ve been taking pictures from just one side is that one of the pendant lights over the vanity was broken, and both of them were originally hung too high. Finally, almost seven years after we renovated this bath, I’m finally really happy with the pendant lights.
As you know, I’m not afraid to use power tools, like when I made the DIY shelves for this project or built these plant stands. But, I am a little afraid of electricity. Steve helped me out and hung the new lights from West Elm. They look great with these LED Edison-style bulbs!
Speaking of that, let’s talk about light bulbs! I wanted the vintage Edison-style light bulbs, but there was a bit of trial and error to get the right ones. These were the third set I ordered… I’m used to looking at the wattage, which tells you how bright the light will be, but I forgot to look at the Kelvin, which tells you how “warm” or “cold” the light will be. I started out with 5000K, which was a very bright white that didn’t feel quite natural in the space. I then (accidentally) bought 2200K bulbs, which are very warm amber-colored. I finally found these bulbs in 3000K, and the light is just right (I am feeling a bit like Goldilocks, here!).
This chart from the LED Exchange is helpful for understanding Kelvin:
Links to the products and DIY projects I used in this room are at the bottom of the post.
And without further ado, here are some more pictures of our finished space!
A huge thank you to Linda for creating the One Room Challenge community, and high fives to all my fellow bloggers whose hard work and creativity were great inspirations! Be sure to go back to the One Room Challenge page to check out all the other projects!
I’m already thinking about the fall challenge and wondering what room I will redecorate!
“Jewels”
I’m really excited to be a Guest Participant in my first One Room Challenge! This is a great way to get inspiration and motivation for your home. For this challenge, I’ve decided to re-do our kids’ bath. It started out with a cute beach theme that seemed perfect when the boys were little, but now I am ready for it to grow up with them. Our new look features neutral colors, natural touches, and enough personality to stand up to three boys! Thanks for following along!
Recap:
For week five, I am personalizing towels for the boys. I wanted the look of matching towels, but I still wanted to be able to tell their towels apart, because there are some things that even the closest family doesn’t want to share…
Fortunately, I remembered how I had added trim to our master bath towels, so I adapted that project for the boys. I started with solid grey towels and white grosgrain ribbon in 1.5 inch and 5/8 inch widths. I sewed on one stripe for our oldest, two for our middle boy, and three for our youngest.
I’m showing the towels folded nicely, but I actually have robe hooks for the boys to make it easier for them to hang up their towels.
Time to head back to the One Room Challenge link-up page to check out the progress on all the other exciting projects!
Final stretch this week! Hint: I am enlisting Steve to do play with electricity!
“Jewels”
I’m really excited to be a Guest Participant in my first One Room Challenge! This is a great way to get inspiration and motivation for your home. For this challenge, I’ve decided to re-do our kids’ bath. It started out with a cute beach theme that seemed perfect when the boys were little, but now I am ready for it to grow up with them. Our new look features neutral colors, natural touches, and enough personality to stand up to three boys! Thanks for following along!
Recap:
Now that we are over the hump and into week four, it seemed like a great time to add some art. I though about creating something myself. And then I remembered I can’t draw… Etsy to the rescue! I bought downloadable files and printed and framed them for our space.
It’s amazing how art makes a room! These pieces add so much character and polish to our bathroom. Since this room has a neutral design, I like how these whimsical signs make it feel like it is still a kids’ bathroom.
Here are links (some affiliate links) for our new accessories:
There’s tons more inspiration back at the One Room Challenge link-up page. Go check it out!
“Jewels”
I’m really excited to be a Guest Participant in my first One Room Challenge! This is a great way to get inspiration and motivation for your home. For this challenge, I’ve decided to re-do our kids’ bath. It started out with a cute beach theme that seemed perfect when the boys were little, but now I am ready for it to grow up with them. Our new look features neutral colors, natural touches, and enough personality to stand up to three boys! Thanks for following along!
Recap:
For week three, I created wall shelves using Ikea Ekby Valter wall brackets and some wood that I had left over from another project. I cut the wood to 7.5″ x 16.5″ and finished it with clear polyurethane.
If you’re looking for ready-made shelves, here is an option with a similar look..
I mentioned how I really wanted to bring natural wood into this space, and these shelves help tie things together with the bamboo bathmat and seagrass basket.
I have used these wall brackets before to hang macrame planters, and I was excited to find them in this black finish, which coordinates with our existing vanity.
Here are links (some affiliate links) for our new accessories:
Head over to the One Room Challenge link-up page to see more inspiring ideas!
“Jewels”
I’m really excited to be a Guest Participant in my first One Room Challenge! This is a great way to get inspiration and motivation for your home. For this challenge, I’ve decided to re-do our kids’ bath. It started out with a cute beach theme that seemed perfect when the boys were little, but now I am ready for it to grow up with them. Our new look features neutral colors, natural touches, and enough personality to stand up to three boys! Thanks for following along!
Recap:
In week two, I got to have some fun decorating! I’m starting off by bringing in the practical things we need to make the room functional. I put the source list at the bottom of this post. The decorative accessories will come later, but I can already see our new look emerge.
This shower curtain is similar to the feather pattern from Serena and Lily, but they don’t sell the shower curtain anymore, so I was really happy to discover a look-alike product.
I knew I wanted to bring some natural wood into this room. While I loved the spa-like look of slatted teak mats, I was afraid that the kids would stub their toes in the middle of the night, because our bath mat sits right in front of the toilet. I settled for this low profile flexible bamboo mat, and I’m happy with the results!
Another bathroom essential is a wastebasket. Because this is a small room, ours has to sit in full view, and I wanted to find something more attractive than your average trash can. I was so excited when I figured out I could disguise our wastebasket by hiding it in this decorative basket! I reused a plastic nursery pot that fits neatly inside.
The kids’ toiletries used to be (kind of) corralled in a plastic bin on the vanity, and I wanted to find something that looked more sophisticated. At the same time, I saw how that plastic bin got encrusted with toothpaste and hair gel, so I did some searching to find this cute crocheted basket that is machine washable – yes!
Here are links (some are affiliate links) for our new accessories:
Now, I can get the boys out of my bathroom and back in their own! Hooray!
So far, my One Room Challenge experience has been so encouraging. What a great community! Please go check out week two of all the amazing makeovers!
“Jewels”
I’m really excited to be a Guest Participant in my first One Room Challenge! This is a great way to get inspiration and motivation for your home. For this challenge, I’ve decided to re-do our kids’ bath. It started out with a cute beach theme that seemed perfect when the boys were little, but now I am ready for it to grow up with them. Our new look features neutral colors, natural touches, and enough personality to stand up to three boys! Thanks for following along!
Fortunately, we renovated this bath when we moved into our house a few years ago, and all the “bones” are still good. Without doing a major renovation, I have a feeling I can still completely change our look! I’ve been so inspired by the clean palette of today’s most popular design styles – whether it’s “Scandinavian-inspired,” “California Casual,” or “Modern Farmhouse,” everyone – myself included – is loving white walls and lots of natural materials.
For week one, my task was make this room a blank slate! I took down all the decorations, touched up the existing vanity, sealed the marble, and got some help painting the walls from our friend Joe.
The new wall color is “Feather Down” from Benjamin Moore. I’ve used it in our master bath as well, and I love the warm neutral feel.
Here are a few “before” (or “old after”) and “after” (or “new before”) pictures. I am so excited to get to work rebuilding this space!
Go check out all the other exciting guest great projects over at the Spring 2018 One Room Challenge!
I hope you come back to see the rest of this room’s transformation!
“Jewels”
Our powder room is really tiny. And it was really plain when we moved in to our house a few years ago. I spruced up the space a few years ago, and I’ve been pretty happy with it, but the one last part that I still kind of hated was the pink floor tile. Now, I can finally say I love every part of this room!
The secret ingredient for this mini-makeover is vinyl tile decals! They come in many patterns and sizes, and most of the vendors will even help you with custom sizes, which is what I ordered. I chose this Moroccan-inspired pattern that is so popular right now. It’s very similar to the tile I used for my DIY tile table runner.
I painted my grout first, to cover the pink, and the decals are very easy to apply – they are repositionable and a nice weight and quality. I was afraid vinyl would be too cheap-y, but it turns out that they add function as well as form, because the floor is not as cold underfoot. I’m sure they won’t last forever, but I feel like this little change will really help hold us over until a real renovation some day.
Finn came to hang out with me and check out the new smells… I mean floor.
Also, I am so in love with my new blue Rothy’s shoes. If you want to check out a pair, here’s a $20 discount code!
Where will you try a tile makeover?
“Jewels”
Jewels at Home 