One Room Challenge Spring 2024 - Week 1

Hello, internet peeps and real life friends!

After taking an, oh, six year hiatus from blogging, I’ve decided to start up again with a big incentive - the spring One Room Challenge!

Have you ever heard of the One Room Challenge? I am not sure where I first came across it. Instagram, probably. But for those who don’t know, the ORC is an online event started by Linda Weinstein in 2011 to transform one room in 8 weeks. It has grown to involve featured designers and product sponsors and all kinds of volunteer participants, like me!

I have wanted to participate for quite some time. It never really seemed like a good time, but is there ever really? Haha. I finally took the leap and registered, knowing I needed a little accountability.

Then I had to decide which room to do. I live in a one-bedroom condo, so not a ton of options there. But I zeroed in on either the bedroom or the bathroom. I’ve been wanting a bedroom makeover. It’s been in astate of limbo since March 2020 when I redid my closet and floor.

But in the end, the bathroom won out. This was partly due to timing. With only one bathroom, I knew at some point the shower wouldn’t be usable for at least a couple days. I planned to use Frank’s (my boyfriend’s) whenever mine was not usable. However, we’ve decided to also renovate his condo shortly after/during my project. Because why not? Lolz... (Actually, we are renovating to sell it, so soon we won’t even have a backup bathroom option.)

The other reason I settled on the bathroom was functionality concerns. While I never loved the style, it worked fine. But in the past year, I’ve noticed an increase in cracking grout and chipping and staining in the tub, among other things. I decided it was time. Time to give the bathroom a MUCH needed facelift!

So, here she is in all of her mint green, real life glory:

Oof. I know some people love this retro tile. But I don’t. I tried for six and a half years, so I’ve come to terms with the fact that I just don’t like it. And that’s ok for me to want something else. It’s gotten to the point that I’ve started resenting it. You know when you hate something so much you don’t want to take care of it anymore? Yeah. That’s me. I’m tired of mentally cataloguing everything that is wrong or that I hate every day as I brush my teeth, wash my face, and stand in the shower.

So, let’s get into what the actual problems are, aside from color. With my design process, I first identify the problem(s) that need(s) fixing. In this case, the problems led me to some of the solutions I’ll be implementing.

First up, chipping grout and tile:

Yes, it is entirely possible to remove the grout and repair it. But bottom line is - I hate the color of the grout. If I went through with repairing it, I would also want to change the color. Plus, as you can see from some of these pictures, someone already overgrouted the tiles. This is most of what is actively chipping now, and all that would need repaired too. So adding together the chipping grout/overgrout and the ugly color, it just doesn’t make sense to repair. At the least, I was looking at possibly reglazing everything. Hold that thought for later.

Next up - bubbling, peeling paint:

Ok, so those pictures just show the peeling paint. But there is bubbling paint on the ceiling that I don’t have a picture of. Both problems can occur for a few reasons. But I suspect most of the problem is using the wrong finish (flat, which also shows dripping marks from humidity of a boiling hot shower) and the walls not being clean during the last coat of paint (sloppy painting by the flipper who turned over my condo).

Circling back to tile for my next gripe - these built-in items:

These were so popular. Vom. I despise them. There are more above the sink and in the shower. As you can see from the above picture, one side of a towel rack that we never used anyhow crumbled to bits about a year ago. Whatever solution I land on will need to encompass getting rid of these things.

The next category can best be described as general jankiness (TM):

Chipping tub (I’m going to guess it’s been reglazed twice already), caulk in terrible condition, and parts separating from the wall and dusty grime. Ick. Definitely time for this to fix this.

And finally, the aesthetic choices made by the flipper. I would say this mainly encompasses the floor, vanity, and medicine cabinet. The vanity, surprisingly, has a good amount of storage for how small it is. I just don’t like the look of it.

The floor… is just so white and has large grout lines that are so hard to keep clean. You can see the remnants of a lockdown boredom project, where I stenciled the floor. I used only what I had on hand because that was still the time of not being able to get your hands on hardly anything from Home Depot. It was the wrong color + wrong product, and it lasted for maybe a month before I had to scrape off the peeling disaster. I guess I never got around to the border? Oops.

And the medicine cabinet. It was so awkwardly placed, especially as a short person. The wide angle I took this picture with makes it seem like you can see more. But basically, I can only see my head in it. I was convinced that it was put there just to cover something up, and I’m curious if that notion is correct. How high the cabinet is and how it juts out from the wall also blocks a lot of the light coming from the ugly fixture. It would be nice to replace that.

Ok, I think that just about covers it! Next week, I’ll walk you through my inspiration for the new look and the design board before we jump into the fun of demo and see some actual progress in Week 3!! Can’t wait! I hope you care to follow along too :)

Just a reminder that you can follow along with other designers and participants on the ORC blog HERE! There are a ton of talented people out there, so you should check them out.

PS. These posts will typically come out on Wednesday of each week. I’m a little late to the party this week because #COVID. Womp womp.