The One Room Challenge has been around since way back when I was first blogging (it started in 2011)! Before everyone even really knew what a blog was, and long before the term 'influencer' was coined. I've always wanted to participate. I love the concept of community coming together to celebrate each other and cheer one another on during a project. It reminds me of two challenges I participated in back in my early blogging days, Blog Everyday In May and the Pinterest Challenge. In the old days of blogging, these types of challenges were pretty common, and the blogging world in general was more about building community and friendship than anything else. Lately, I have sensed a shift back towards that mentality and I am here for it!
While I've always wanted to participate in the challenge, I generally make excuses like; I am too busy, I don't have time, the project is too expensive, etc. But, I'm done with excuses and would rather lean into the fear and put myself out there anyway. So here we are!
I'm excited to officially be a part of the Spring '24 One Room Challenge "ORC." I've decided to tackle my office space. It's a small and manageable space to overhaul in 8 weeks, and I think it will have the greatest impact. I spend the majority of my time in this room, and it's generally a complete disaster and catch all/drop space. This disorganized mess makes me feel overwhelmed and unproductive, not ideal for the room I spend the majority of my time. Not to mention it's attached to our primary bedroom so that sense of disorder and chaos spills over into that room. You may remember, I had planned to join the Fall '23 challenge, but the timing with my Motherhood Retreat and busy fall season, life got in the way. And as I learned in my 'Doing Things I've Been Avoiding' series on Instagram last week, there is no time like the present to tackle these projects, a little bit at a time adds up. I'm excited for what we'll accomplish over the next 8 weeks!
My office space was actually a really big selling point to this house. Since Andrew and I both work from home, we needed a dedicated place for us both to work. My office is a loft space above the entryway that you access from our primary bedroom. It has a window overlooking the front of the house, and has a really nice built in desk and shelving. It's just enough space for an office and because of the window and loft space, it's bright and airy. Because Andrew has so many meetings and needs a quiet space to focus, he uses the extra bedroom. I don't spend too much of my day on the phone or WebEx video calls, so the loft works well for me.
While the bones of my office area great, it is definitely uninspiring and boring. I need to add a little character and warmth to make it someplace I want to spend my time and inspires me to be productive. Plus, if it's beautiful it will motivate me to keep it clean and organized! Right?
So without further ado, here are the before photos of my office! The only changes we made to the space since purchasing the home was painting the interior Benjamin Moore White Dove and replacing the carpet as well. The countertops, although not what I would choose, are a nice Corian material. The dark green is definitely a statement and will be tricky to work with, but it's so nice to have this quality built in work space!
I have so many ideas for this space and I think within these 8 weeks, we can make a big impact! I'm excited to take you along for the transformation! I hope you come back next week for the inspiration photos and mood board I created so you can visualize the direction I hope to take this cute little space. Here is a list of some of the items I hope to tackle with this project!
- Clean out office cabinets and organize
- Hang new shelf
- Vision board
- Wallpaper
- Valence
- Gallery wall with motherhood photos
- New light fixture
- Paint cabinets and add hardware
- Hardwire internet
- Style desk top
- Vintage pine or oak cabinet for storage
- New office chair
I've missed that building community/friendship feeling from blogging -- glad that you've felt a shift in it and hoping that's here to stay! Looking forward to seeing what you'll be doing with this space -- I'm trying to redo my home office too! :]
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