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Guest Room to Nursery :: Week 1

Hey guys! We’re kicking off the six-week fall iteration of the One Room Challenge. I’m jumping on this current one to finally get our guest room transformed into our little man’s nursery, which he’ll be moving into sometime after the new year {or whenever this overprotective momma relents enough to let him that far away from her}.

The One Room Challenge happens twice a year, in October and April. During that time, 20 design bloggers – along with hundreds of guest participants – take six weeks to undertake a transformation on one room in their house. It’s a great way to stay focused and motivated to finish one room, and the actual One Room Challenge is a great place to find ideas, materials, sources, and encouragement. Sound awesome? Of course it does! So over the next six weeks, we will be transforming the second guest room into a room ready for our Baby Bean, one that will serve him well as a baby but he can hopefully grow into, and will grow with him.


If you want to see where we started, check out Week 0 of the challenge here!


We had a lot of things to tick off our list, but as with any room makeover {we’re not really doing a renovation here, since right now there aren’t any plans to repaint walls or rip out walls or carpet or whatnot}, it helps to start with the basics – getting the space prepped. In the case of this room, that meant clearing the room of all the furniture we won’t need for little man. The bed and mattress and a large upright bureau went to our friends who live up the street.

That being done, there was still a lot of stuff left in the room. After overhauling our second floor, we had a lot of junk migrate to other parts of the house. Since I’m being a stickler about what things are allowed back into the renovated spaces and banishing anything that doesn’t have a space, there’s still a lot of stuff living elsewhere. This first week, I spent most of my time either rehoming or donating or tossing anything left in little man’s room.

As you can see, it was kind of a mess!

With all the junk gone, I started setting up what furniture we had for our Baby Bean so that I could get a feel for the space and what else we might need to finish up his room. I began with the beautiful crib my folks bought us {it’s a beautiful solid wood kit that will convert to a toddler bed and eventually a full bed as he grows big enough to use it} and arranging the existing furniture around it so we could see how the space would look.

In the process, I took down the print of Lady Liberty as well. She’s tentatively going over the fireplace in the media room, and she’s a bit severe for a baby’s room. I replaced her with a set of wooden signs we bought from Rusticly Inspired on Etsy. I also hung a beautiful sign my aunt sent us with one of my favorite quotes from Winnie the Pooh.

Here’s how it looks so far!

Here’s the rundown of what we’ve done so far:

  • Moved out bed, mattress, linens, blankets, and vertical dresser
  • Found homes or tossed {most of} the junk accumulated during second floor renovation
  • Assembled and placed crib
  • Purchased and hung some artwork

I can already tell we picked the right room for our little guy. As I was working, he hung out keeping me company in his little bouncer, fascinated beyond belief by the trees and birds outside his window. He gets really excited when he sees the trees outside, and I’m hopeful that means we have a little wild man on our hands, one who craves the out of doors and adventure just like his mama.

Here’s what we still have to do:

  • Purchase glider, chair, or rocking chair
  • Assemble and place the changing table
  • Build bookshelves
  • Purchase hamper
  • Build toy chest
  • Pick and hang other artwork
  • Hang curtain rod and curtains
  • Closet organization solution
  • Name sign
  • Woodland area rug

Anything else you guys can think of that we’re missing or might need for a baby’s room? Let us know, and we’re interested in hearing your ideas for how we can keep improving this room through the One Room Challenge duration!

About the ChefKristin

Career Army officer with a tendency toward workaholism. On the side, self taught cook, carpenter, and gardener, working to build a beautiful life for my family. Trying to tilt my balance in the right direction.

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