Transition to Guest Room/Workspace: Phase 1

We haven't really gone public with this bit of info...so here's the big announcement.  Justin has let his rental go and he officially moved in as of September 1st.  Since we are combining two houses into one, we spent some time minimizing all of our things.  Justin went through his belongings, I went through mine, and we decided what would be "ours" and what would be donated/sold. 

Fortunately, for all parties involved, Justin lived with two roommates who owned most of the items of the household. So he was mostly moving his bedroom and some items from their man cave in the basement. At one point, Justin owned a pool table and a futon. I feel somewhat guilty for being as happy as I am about this...but neither of those two items made the transfer. Woohoo! The pool table had been pretty beaten up and he didn't want to move it. The futon was up for discussion - but we didn't have the space for it. So it didn't make the cut. Thankmyluckystars.

We really only had to make space for one item - and that was his full-sized bed. We have several family members and friends who live out of town and visit quite often, so we decided that keeping the bed would be a great idea.

This house has two bedrooms. And the second bedroom was being used as an office. Which I do need since I am always working at home - but I don't need an entire room dedicated to this kind of space. Especially since I've picked up a bad habit of working from my dining room.

So that's the story of how this...

Turned into this.  An hour later. 

 

Let me remind everyone that a remodel gets worse before it gets better.  This is only phase 1 of the transition.  All we've done so far is sell the office furniture, remove decor from the walls, patch the holes and move in the bed.

 

I'm excited to have a new project!  It helps me forget all those other projects I've been pushing back.

 

The only items I've purchased specifically for this room is the quilt and sheets - everything else was just grabbed from around the house. We needed sheets.  Justin was using sheets fitted for a queen bed (and this is a full-sized bed) so my first priority was to get the correct size of sheets. Men...Don't ever let them do the shopping. Turns out that finding full sized sheets are harder than I thought. Homegoods had 1 single set of full sheets. It must've been my lucky day because they were white. My favorite color.

 

I found that cabinet at a garage sale earlier this summer.  For $40.  It's my new favorite piece of furniture.  I didn't have a place for it, but I couldn't pass it up!  Best. purchase. ever.  It's perfect for this itty bitty room.

One purchase that I would like to make for this room is a headboard (a footboard might make the room too cramped).  So something like this, or this is what I'm thinking.  Otherwise, I might just DIY something.

The lamp is from Target - I got it on clearance late last year for only $9.98.  I painted it this silver (it was originally a dark yellow), but I still don't like the color.  In the end, it will work out great for this room - after it's painted once more.  Or twice.  I can get a little crazy with the spray paint. 

The nightstand was given to me by a friend.  When I had the garage sale, I allowed her to walk through and grab what she wanted.  So in return, I snagged this nightstand from her.  I plan on painting it and swapping out the hardware. 

And that mirror.  Oh that mirror.  I love it.  It's one of those items that I bought a while back (from HomeGoods), but never found the perfect place for it.  This room will be the perfect fit for it.    

The wicker chair was a gift from a friend.  And it's perfect for that little corner.

So, I lost an office, but gained a really great guest bedroom.  Or maybe a nap room.

Let's get back to the office space.  I actually do need a space to store my work stuff (it's in the closet for now).  And my ultimate plan is to turn that closet into a workspace.  I'm dreaming of something like this.  But maybe a bit more built-in, like this.  Who knows when I'll find the time for this (every weekend through November is booked), but in the long haul, that's the plan. 

I'll be painting the bedroom something less cream-y.  But still very neutral.  I'm playing around with a few different paints, but I'm a sucker for white cottage bedrooms.  I'm going to mull this over for a bit longer.  But, if you want to know where I'm at....I do like this mix of colors.

(source)

I've got a few different ideas - including doing something cool to the ceiling. 

We'll see how the next few months go.  We've kickstarted our house-search once again and expanded our area hoping to get more options.  (Which also helped my argument in keeping the room very neutral - we would list the house the second we find something and a neutral room will appeal to more buyers).

If we don't find something soon, I'm going to have to remodel this house again!

I'll post updates and ideas as we progress.  And life living with a boy?  Not much has changed, except that the finished basement has now been decorated with sport memorabilia.  And I don't really mind. 

Mary