The One Room Challenge: Week One

For years, I’ve been following the One Room Challenge with admiration and finally, have decided to join the challenge. Twice a year, interior designers and bloggers come together to makeover a room over the course of six weeks (you can learn more here). Since we just moved into our first house in Connecticut, I had my pick of rooms for this challenge, and naturally gravitated towards the one room we have zero furniture for, because you know, why make it easy…

For the challenge, I’m tackling our guest bedroom, which is completely barren currently. We have never had the luxury of a second bedroom (not that it stopped us from hosting lots of guests over the years), so we’re eager to create a retreat that lures our friends from the city to visit us this winter and allows a comfortable space for family.

We’re starting from scratch with furniture, which is slightly terrifying but also completely exciting. Now, let me introduce you to the room:

The room is sizable, but is at present feeling very closed in with the built in bookshelves. I’m normally a huge fan of built-ins, but these are super basic and make the room feel much smaller than it is. One other challenge is that there isn’t a single overhead light in this room (we discovered that you learn a lot about the house you just purchased your first night). I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll be able to run electrical through the attic for a light fixture, otherwise lamps will very much be necessary.

And now for some inspiration photos. I have been dreaming about having a dark and cozy bedroom in here, but I’m slightly concerned about how this room will carry dark walls, given the single set of windows. I’m going to try out some samples on the walls, but am also preparing for a contingency plan in case we need to keep the walls white.

The primary inspiration is Christine Dovey‘s gorgeous, luxe One Room Challenge master bedroom from 2014. Every since I spotted this room, I’ve been head over heels in love with the clever mix of black, white and texture.

Next up is Michelle Adams’s Ann Arbor guest bedroom featured in House Beautiful. The eclectic mix of styles, eras and textures is so sophisticated. I’m also loving the base of black and white, with color layered in to add dimension.

I’m currently sourcing the perfect deep grey paint, attempting to source vintage furniture we can upcycle (hello lacquer and reupholstery), and blocking off time to dismantle the built-in bookshelves. Stay tuned!

You can follow the rest of the participants of the challenge over here.