Hi there! Are you surprised to hear from me? Well you should be, I haven't blogged in months. I've been busy working on a new project - I'm the editor of Wantfolio, a website & app featuring all the best global lifestyle content from blogs & media, it launched at the beginning of the summer and it's been getting all my attention. More on that later though, I promise! I noticed that the last time I blogged was to reveal my bedroom makeover that I did as part of the One Room Challenge last spring, and guess what...that's what has me back on here again - the fall round of the ORC has arrived! In case you haven't heard of it, the One Room Challenge was founded by Linda of Calling It Home - twice a year, Linda rounds up 20 design bloggers to renovate or redecorate a room in six weeks and blog about their progress every Wednesday. On Thursdays, she invites anyone else who wants to participate to join in on the fun, blog about their room makeover progress, and link up their posts on her website to create a supportive community of like-minded people who come together to cheer each other on as we all work to finish a room in our homes.
If you're new here and visiting from Calling It Home, allow me to introduce myself! I'm Lesley and I started this blog in 2010 as a way to document my house-hunting journey; I was buying a house on my own as a single woman so my blog had the playful name House Before Spouse, and there's a tab up at the top of the page that links back to those early posts if you want to read all about my adventures in first-home buying (or just click here). Eventually though, I felt the need to rebrand and expand my blog's content, and chose to self-title a few years ago. I don't post on this blog very often, but when I do I like to write about decor, fashion, food and other lifestyle pursuits.
So let's get to the reason we're here today, yes? I'm turning an under-used room of my house into a guest bedroom! Here are the awful before pictures (I'm so embarrassed to admit that the room looks like this, but at least it will make for really impactful before-and-after pictures, right?):
So obviously the cat litter boxes have to go, as does the Radiant Orchid wall colour! BTW - I chose this colour a year or two before Pantone did!!! And to be honest, I never loved it. I wish I went way darker with a richer purple. Doesn't matter though, I've never used this room, I always joke that the cats have a bigger bathroom than I do. Seriously, even Choupette can't compete with this!! My plan for the room is to turn it into a blue and white, cozy cottage retreat. There's no place I would rather be than at the cottage in the summer, so if I can't spend my winters by the lake in the sunshine, I'm going to bring that vibe to my house in the city. Here are some of the inspiration pics that I've collected, and even though most of them are living rooms I think you'll still get where I want to go with my guest bedroom:
{img src: Sarah Richardson Design}
{img src: Richard Scully}
{img src: House & Home}
{img src: House & Home}
{img src: Farmhouse Touches}
{img src: Liz Marie Blog}
I hope you'll stop by next week to see how much progress I've made. A big THANK YOU goes out to
for founding the One Room Challenge and for making it the successful event that it is today. She is a gem for creating a supportive and encouraging community of design bloggers who motivate each other to get sh*t done around our homes!! ;)
Did you see the projects that the 20 featured designers are working on? I've read them all and can't wait to watch their progress each Wednesday. Link back
to get caught up. And please take some time to visit my blogging comrades-in-decorating by visiting the guest participant link-up
.
See you next week! Until then, you can find me on
,
& Snapchat (@lesley_metcalfe). I'm also creating
on
for all content related to the One Room Challenge!
