Better Home Challenge: Week One

Could it be that we're only one week into 2012? I've been going great guns on my January Better Home project all week, and having a blast with it! I thought it might be a good time to post a recap of what I've accomplished so far.

I started off just dealing with the piles of odds and ends. Fortunately, there wasn't much clutter in this room, so that was a pretty easy task. One of the first items on my list was to designate the closet space in this room for one specific use. Everything that was in there belonged somewhere else. It was such a waste of storage space! Here's the closet, before:

Now it's been designated the "Christmas closet," for storage of Christmas decorations, wrapping paper, all those gift boxes that were piled on the bed... The timing on this was perfect. I spent a couple of hours one day packing up Christmas things and it was so nice to have a specific place to store it all! There will probably be a couple more bins yet, but I don't think I'll have any problem fitting it all in. Here's the closet, after:

Once all the clutter was cleared, I knew I wanted to paint, but was clueless as to the color. What I needed was fabric inspiration! A stash-dive produced this piece of Jinny Beyer "Monticello," just the right size to make a curtain for the room -- and it worked with the pink carpet, too. After that, the wall color was a no-brainer (Wellington Khaki from Walmart).

The painting was done in one (very) late night. (I have a really hard time stopping, once I'm on a roll.) Before:

And after:

One more "perfect timing" incident has me convinced that this project was truly "meant to be." I had written on my list, "If money were no object: buy double bed." The twin bed was better than nothing, but really limited use as a guest room. A queen-size would be too large for the space. Well, the very next day my daughter mentioned that she had a double bed in her basement that she didn't have a use for... no way. I'll take it! LoL

Here's the headboard and footboard, slightly banged up laminate, definitely dated and, well, kind of ugly.

I love paint! (Krylon Gloss Latex in Almond)

With the addition of a bigger bed, I got to daydreaming and window shopping for bedding. Found lots of things I like, and definitely zeroed in on a "look" (again, if money were no object).

But since money is an object, and since I am a quilter who has been blessed with a lot of gifted stash, it would make a lot more sense to make my own. I've already come up with a few ideas... we shall see.

Last night I finished up and hung the Monticello curtain. Here's the (blah) before:

And after. You can't see it in the close up shot, but that simple curtain just softened the look of the whole room. What a difference fabric makes!

So my first week has been a productive one, but there's still plenty to do before I can call this room "finished." I just hope this wave of motivation will last. At first, I was a bit disappointed that the "spare room in the basement" was my first project for the year. It was probably the area of my home that least needed my attention. And yet, it's turned out to be such a fun challenge so far, and a huge motivational boost. It may have been the best possible place to start after all. ;o)