Guest Room to Nursery :: Week 4

Here we are at Week Four of the One Room Challenge, where we’ve been transforming our guest room into a new nursery/bedroom for baby Marcus. And I’m happy to say that even though I didn’t get any of the DIY projects done – still no name sign, no drapes, no toy storage, and no shelves – the room is cleaned, organized, and just needs those projects to be done!

You can see what we’ve done so far at Week Zero, Week One, Week Two, and Week Three respectively!

I finished assembling and installing the closet organizer in Marcus’s closet. I still want to pick up a couple of bins or baskets for the upper shelves, but so far, it’s been great for separating out and inventorying the clothes little man has been gifted. Although some of his clothes won’t be staying in there for too long! He just this week got too tall for most of his 3-6 month clothes and needs all the 6 month outfits along the bottom right rod. Yes, he’s 3 months old and in 6 month clothes. My kid is a beast. #proudmomma

Here’s what the closet area looked like before…

And now here’s our little man’s finished closet!

I still have some things to do in there. Like I said, I’d like to pick up a basket or two for organization. I’d also like to put some hardware on the drawer to make it a little easier to pull out.

We actually borrowed his changing table for his play area adjacent to the media room, and it might eventually move down to the first floor. Instead, we’re setting up his dresser with a pad and pad covers so that, if needed, he can be changed there. We stored diapers, diaper cream, cleaning wipes, extra cloths, and a whole bunch of other stuff we needed in the top drawer of the dresser. I just put the pad up there this morning, so I don’t have a picture of it yet.

On the subject of cleaning and organizing, that’s the majority of what I’ve done to the room this week. I finally, finally, got almost all the extra junk out of the room and hall. It either got placed back where it was supposed to be, stored properly, or sorted into the pile of things we’re having picked up this weekend – along with two large coffee tables and a massive shelving unit I have been wanting to get rid of forever. Gotta love 1-800-Got-Junk! Take it away!!

The only remaining things are those three bins, which actually contain some of Scott’s favorite toys from when he was a kid that his folks saved for him, like the vintage truck I put on display. I’m having him sort out which of those he’d like to keep and display somewhere {we’re old enough that our childhood toys are “vintage” enough to be great shelf decor}, which he’d like to hand down to Marcus, and which we need to give away.

The room is looking pretty good, but it still needs some personal touches. I want to get the toys he’s been handed down organized, so some will go into the closet and others will go in whatever organization bin seems to fit the bill best when I go to IKEA this weekend. I want to get the dowel and corbels for his drapes stained and poly’ed and mounted. I still need to pick out materials for his book and toy shelves. And we decided to forego an extra rug in this room for now.

And I’d really, dearly love to finish his name sign this weekend. I just need to stain the letters, paint the backing, and make the frame and mount it. It’s a one day project. But it’s difficult to set aside a whole day for a project anymore! We have so much going on!

Okay, so let’s recap. Here’s 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
• Purchased and partly assembled closet organizer {Wayfair}
• Purchased rocking chair {Pottery Barn similar, purchased on clearance}
• Placed the rocking chair and added pillows and blanket
• Purchased hamper {Amazon similar, bought smaller one no longer available}
• Assembled changing area and materials
• Installed closet organizer, patched closet, hung clothes

And here’s what’s still on the list:

• Build bookshelves/toy shelves
• Build toy chest or toy organizer
• Hang curtain rod and curtains
• Make and hang name sign
• Baskets or bins for closet organizer as needed

We’re down to the final two weeks of the One Room Challenge! I didn’t think the room would be this close to complete. I also didn’t realize how much the project would evolve from its early inception to how it turned out. While I’m glad I planned it out in the beginning, I’m also glad I took my time getting it done over these four weeks so that I could take unnecessary items off the list. If I had bought a whole bunch of things in the beginning, I would have been either taking things back or lamenting spent money. Instead, it’s been a nice gradual process.

Are you guys following along with the One Room Challenge invited participants and guest participants? What’s your favorite project so far?