One Room Challenge Week 2: The mood board and floor plan

Last week I introduced you to the One Room Challenge, hosted twice a year by Linda of Calling it Home. Over the space of four weeks, I’ll be sharing with you one entire room transformation. The room I picked is my in-progress baby boy nursery (yep, still in progress even though he’s now six months old…! #fail)

In my last post I shared the two mood board options I was debating between. Well, today I can reveal that I chose…. this one!

Wallpaper

Which is lucky really, because that is overwhelmingly the mood board most people voted for. (Phew!)

I loved both options, and in fact I will admit that the cloud wallpaper had my heart from the get-go, mostly because I adored the pared-back colour palette of grey, black and green. So dramatic, so lovely, and I really am a sucker for that gorgeous vivid green. I also wondered if the pine tree option might look too busy.

On the other hand… if I wasn’t thinking about rooms or mood boards at all… I actually prefer the pine tree pattern, in and of itself. It’s such a modern, current design, the colours are delightful for a little boy, and I felt it would grow with him really well. The clouds are much more “baby” in feel – perfect for a nursery, but maybe less ideal as he grows.

I almost can’t believe how long I wavered back and forth between the two options. I was so torn. In the end the price was the clincher – when I actually calculated the total cost of each, I almost had a heart attack at the price of the clouds wallpaper. Good grief! Pine trees it was.

And not a moment too soon – by the time the wallpaper was printed and shipped, I was about ready to pop.

Folks, I installed this wallpaper whilst balanced precariously on a ladder at 39 weeks pregnant – the DAY BEFORE I was booked in for my scheduled Caesarean.

Nothing like leaving something to the last minute, right?!

Yes, that’s me taking a selfie in the partly-done room the night before giving birth. You can see a little sneak peek of where I got to with the nursery before baby arrived:

• Wallpaper hung
• Baby furniture moved in
• Rugs and cushion (throw pillow) added to the mix

In short, it was liveable, but very much incomplete. In fact, the other side of the room to this day still contains a desk, computer, speakers and remnant music gear. It’s like a mutant half nursery, half music-studio.

I’m ready to get this room DONE. It’s high time, my friends. I mean, just look how enormous that chubby little baby is now!! #TimeBeStill

Since Charlie was born, I’ve hung curtains (well actually, my Dad did – thanks Dad!)

Still on the to-do list are these items:

• Hang felt animal heads above the cot (crib)
• Hang artwork above the change table
• Move out the desk, computer and remaining music gear
• Move in a dresser (I am seriously running out of storage space in the robe)
• DIY some artwork and hang a gallery wall above the dresser
• Style the top of the dresser… a plant? Bookends? Cute toys?
• Install book ledges and a wall lamp in the corner near the armchair
• Add a toy basket

Here’s a to-scale floor plan so you can get the gist of how it all fits in together. It’s a small room (3.6m x 3m), so our layout options are limited.

And here’s a bird’s eye view of the 3D rendering. The furniture items aren’t 100% accurate, but it gives you the idea:

In the weeks to come, I’m looking forward to sharing how those final details come together! I have some products ordered and some cute DIY ideas to try out. It will be nice to finally have a finished nursery for our baby boy.

P.S. BOOK UPDATE…..

 

After seriously busting my gut to get my book all wrapped up so I can release it to you, I’ve come to the tough decision that I’ll need to delay the release until early next year. It’s SO close to being done, but it’s all taken so much longer than expected.

I have no family support nearby (my parents live at the other end of the country), but my friends have been amazing at stepping in to help out with the kids so I can snatch a day here and there to work. But there’s always more that needs doing than there are available hours to do it all.

Meanwhile my 2017 Dreams by Design planner is coming out VERY soon (early November!) and it just doesn’t seem practical to release two products right on top of each other.

Here’s the honest truth: I struggle with placing very high expectations on myself in this season of my life with small kids and zero actual work hours. There’s so much I WANT to do with the blog, but the time constraints are very real. Short of giving up sleep altogether, I don’t have much wiggle room left. And of course it’s always when you’re at your busiest that things start going wrong, isn’t it? I’ve had sick kids, a teething baby, and some major technical meltdowns with blog stuff behind the scenes.

I’ve just about given myself an ulcer this past month with the pressure I’ve been putting on myself to finish this project. It’s been stressful! But, I’ve realised in the end that really, pushing back a deadline is not the end of the world. And most of all, I want to do this project justice and finish it well.

So I’m taking a step back, taking a few deep breaths and regrouping.

Forgive me? 🙂

I can say this much: the book is looking amazing so far. For one thing, I have HEAPS of beautiful photographs of homes to share with you from many, many talented decorators. I believe people learn best by seeing real-life examples of concepts, so that’s been my big goal with this book: to heavily illustrate every last thing. It’s made for a LOT more work, but I know all of that effort is going to pay off in the long run when you get to see it for yourself!

Thanks again for all of your support, my sweet readers – it truly means the world to me!

xo

Karen