Welcome to Crazy Town! Today marks the start of the One Room Challenge, and I’m so glad that you stopped by to see me on this journey! If you’re new to the One Room Challenge, it is an event put on by Linda at Calling It Home where 20 design bloggers are featured each Wednesday and numerous other bloggers link up on Thursday to fill you in on a room makeover that they are going to complete in just 6 weeks. There may be some drama along the way as we struggle to get an entire room completed for the big reveal in week 6, but hopefully, you’ll find lots of great inspiration.
If you’re new to A Home to Grow Old In, here’s the short story. Last year, my family moved into our dream home in New England after living in Bangkok for the last few years. We bought a 90-year-old Tudor style home on almost an acre of land. There’s a brook running through our backyard with a cute little covered bridge crossing over it and lots of room for the kids to run around. It’s amazing, and we are so excited to make it our own! This is my forever home, the home that I want to grow old in, and I love that I have a place to share it with you!
Originally when I was trying to decide if I would participate in the One Room Challenge, I was having a difficult time trying to figure out what room I would make over. I had already started making over many of the rooms. Then, nature struck. In February, we had two -12 degrees F nights in a row, with days that stayed well below freezing. A couple of days later, when my kids were on a week long school break and my husband was out of town for work, things started to thaw. And, as they did, water started gushing into our basement guest bedroom from a pipe that burst. I’m really not sure how long it was going on, but luckily, we have a walk-out basement (we’re on a sloped lot, and only part of our basement is underground), so as we were leaving to do some fun activity for the kids’ break we noticed water starting to come into the hallway to the garage. I immediately called my husband who walked me through turning off the water, but it didn’t work! I tried calling neighbors, but because of the school break, everyone I tried was out of town. My husband was able to get someone from his office to come over, but by the time they got here and turned it off, a lot of time had passed. The carpet was completely soaked, and the bottoms of the walls were wet. It was a pipe to the radiator that burst, so the room had turned into a sauna because of the hot water, and water was running down all the walls from the steam. The room was a mess!
Unfortunately, we were not the only ones in the area having problems with pipes bursting, and getting a plumber and a carpet guy out was not easy! We finally got someone to fix the leak and the carpet, and that is where we left everything. The baseboards are still off, the wall hasn’t been closed up from the pipe, all the furniture is still out of the room, and everything is off the walls. It’s going to be a pretty big makeover, and I’m so excited! I’m a little worried about getting everything done because we are doing it all ourselves, but without this deadline we would probably let this drag on forever, and we have family coming to visit this summer. We need our guest bedroom!
Here it is, shortly after the water leak:
[clickToTweet tweet=”Check out the ‘before’ photos and inspiration pics on this guest bedroom makeover!” quote=”Today marks the start of the One Room Challenge, and I’m so glad that you stopped by to see me on this journey!”]
As you can see, we have a lot to work on, but basically it’s a clean slate. I can go in almost any decorating direction I want. Here are some of the inspiration photos I’ve put together…
One of the color trends I really love right now is black and white with pops of bright color. Our basement bedroom is small with low ceilings, and only has one small window that doesn’t get a lot of light. I think it will really brighten up this small, dark room.
What do you think? If you’d like to follow along with this crazy ride, you can sign up to receive my emails (I’ll even send you my really cool recipe binder printable), and you’ll receive each week’s update. I am also pinning all my inspiration and ideas on Pinterest, and I’d love for you to follow me there, too! I’m looking forward to sharing my design plans for the room next week! I hope you’ll be back to join me!
Check out the other weeks in the challenge:
Wow, Robin, you have taken on a big project. I have so enjoyed reading your blog and catching up with your family. Good luck!
Thanks, Fran! I’m a little nervous about getting this one done! It’s definitely a lot to take on, but we need the push to get it finished. I’m so glad to hear your enjoying the blog!
love the little pop of pink at the end of the bed in your inspiration! good luck with the updates!
Thanks, Lianna!
I usually need something to kick me into gear- this should do it for you! It’s going to look amazing. I love your inspiration photos. Will pink be your pop of color, or do you have something else in mind? Or do I have to wait to see? π
Sheila, you’re cracking me up! I’m so glad to hear you like it. Next week I’m going to give specific details on the colors, so I hope you’ll be back!
Oh my gosh. What an awful experience! I am so sorry to read that all that happened. But those inspiration pics are gorgeous! The space is going to be so chic in the end.
The silver lining is that now I get to makeover a room that I probably would have put off for quite some time. I’m really excited to see how it turns out! Thanks so much for checking it out, Corinna!
Wow, Robs! Thats a lot of chaos with the pipe bursting. Glad you got that part under control. I’m sure the makeover will be awesome when you’re done! I’m looking forward to watching it all come together. π Miss you all!
Hi there! I so hope we never have to deal with another frozen pipe! The carpet guys said we were lucky because most of the other calls they had gotten were much worse. Thanks for checking out the makeover over! We miss you all, too!