Lots of folks are afraid to put a bed in front of a window and I'll admit that I often don't like it. But that's because some beds are just not great in that application. However! I'm here to tell you that the right bed can make furniture in front of a window not just tolerable but really beautiful.
Read MoreAs you probably know, I've been making weekly videos to show updates on each of the weeks of the One Room Challenge, so here's a recap of all of those videos with links to each blog post that has each and every detail included. Check out each of the five below!
Read MoreIT'S DONE!! I've officially completed my THIRD One Room Challenge and what a journey! The ORC has been such a big part of my home and blog - HALF of my house has been transformed through the design challenge. I'm so proud and grateful to participate! I mean, look at this new bedroom I get to sleep in, now!
Read MoreOMG it's week five of the One Room Challenge! The moment we've all been waiting for - the new exterior door was installed, and boy is it a beaut. We also built a deck this week (so I didn't fall to my death out the new door) and painted the room in the prettiest hues.
Read MoreGuess what! I've decided to do a One and a Half Room Challenge with outdoor seating! The new back door will give access to the outdoors, which is such a great way to expand the size of our master. The problem is, our backyard isn't so great.
Read MoreIt's week three of the One Room Challenge! I spent this past weekend on adding a board & batten style wall treatment, so I'm here to give you the DIY tutorial of adding the simple detail to your walls!
Read MoreIt's week two of the One Room Challenge! I didn't start until I wrote last week's announcement blog post so I'm only a week into the challenge. 7 days down, 28 more to go!
If you found me through ORC, welcome! I'm Ashley and for the past three years, I've been restoring a craftsman bungalow in San Diego, CA. Learn a touch more about me here, preview the before-and-after room transformations here, and see my previous ORC rooms here and here.
The first week of ORC is always prep week. It isn't the most glamorous, but there's nothing like emptying a room and putting holes in the wall to feel like you're making progress. I find that this week is much more fun in time lapse and music video (minus any dancing) format, so I give you a video of the week's progress. If you like old-fashioned reading, then scroll down!
P.S. I promise the video is more entertaining than the text. It's less than 4 minutes long, so it's worth the watch.
Ross was out of town, so I emptied the room solo. Whenever I do that, it becomes my workout for the day. It's not a good habit, but I definitely find myself skipping yoga after doing demo, or heavy lifting, or really after doing anything sweaty.
Since we moved out of the master and I'm selling all of the furnishings, I needed a spot to sleep, so I moved into the den next door. The blue velvet couch is a pull-out, so I stacked our mattress on top of the couch mattress and I feel like the Princess and the Pea. If double mattresses weren't luxury enough, the den also has the TV, so I can watch my British crime shows fully reclined. Winning.
After emptying the room, I called in our trusty electrician who previously rewired the entire house to bring us into the 21st century. For this room redo, he moved an outlet to hide behind the nightstand, moved an outlet that would be in the way of the new exterior door, wired for the exterior light, put in a switch for the new light, added a 3-way switch for the overhead flush mount, and wired for the new bedside sconces.
While the electrician was here, I got inspired to do a project that was on my agenda for a long time. There have been three lines of conduit running the length of the back of the house to power clunky floodlights and a single bulb in the garage. I figured I'd leave them until we did more electrical work down the road, but knowing I'd be installing a new sconce right next to the ugly pipes, I decided to pull it all down. Now that it's gone I'm regretting not doing it sooner. It's really the little things that are most satisfying! (also, watching the time-lapse of it coming down is veeeery satisfying)
After putting holes in the walls of the bedroom for new electrical, I needed to close off a really big one - the doorway into the kitchen. If you recall in my week 1 plans, I'm closing off the door from the master bedroom to the kitchen. Removing this passageway is kind of a bummer, but it's the right thing to do for the layout of the bedroom. We'll be able to maximize storage and create a more open space. Don't forget, I'm adding a door with lots of glass to the backyard in a couple of weeks, so soon enough I'll have forgotten about the loss of the kitchen door.
Below are the views sans door from the bedroom and the kitchen, respectively.
I pulled off all of the trim (delicately as to save it for future use) but hired out help to frame and drywall the opening. Getting perfectly smooth walls on a big patch is not the easiest thing to do, so hiring it out to the pros was certainly the right thing for me to do. Once I paint, you won't even know a door was there - unless you read this blog, of course.
That's all I finished between week 1 and 2 so come back next week for more progress! Be sure to follow along on Instagram Stories where I share live updates and ask for your advice when I can't make a decision! This is only the first of my ORC videos, so subscribe to my YouTube channel to support future videos. If you aren't already subscribed to the blog, you can do that here.
If you want a refresher on the plans and the before photos, you can review the week 1 post here.
Check out progress from my fellow featured designers below, and don't miss out on the guest participants!
Apartment 34 | Beginning in the Middle | Coco & Jack | The English Room | The Gold Hive
Gray Malin | Jenna Sue Design | Jojotastic | Kelly Rogers Int. | Linda Holt | Marcus Design
Michelle Gage | Natasha Habermann | The Painted House | Rambling Renovators
Sacramento Street | Shannon Claire | Sketch 42 | Stephanie Kraus | Bisou Style
Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by ORC
Psst! To jump into the future and see how this room turned out, click here!
I'm back for my third round of the One Room Challenge! I considered taking a break from the 6-week design challenge after I painted that mural last time, but I just love putting pressure on myself, so here I am again!
If you found me through ORC, welcome! I'm Ashley and for the past three years, I've been restoring a craftsman bungalow in San Diego, CA. Learn a touch more about me here, preview the before-and-after room transformations here, and see my previous ORC rooms here and here.
We're supposed to keep which room we're working on under wraps, but I accidentally gave out clues when I asked for your input on the layout changes for the back of our house. If you guessed I would do the kitchen, then bless you for thinking I can tackle that in 6 weeks. If you guessed dining room, sorry! If you were hoping for a master ensuite, so was I, believe me! BUT, the master bedroom it is!
The room right now isn't bad! I coated the walls in Behr's Silver City, replaced half of the hardwoods due to termite damage, moved in all of the same furniture we had in our old house, then added a few new things. If you're into the before sources, here they are:
First things first, I'm going to remove the door into the kitchen. While it's convenient to grab a snack before crawling into bed, having the door there prevents us from using the wall for furniture or art. Plus, when we remodel the back of the house later this year, this door is going to be in a different spot, so let's get it outta there now!
While I'm removing a door, I'll be adding one, too. I'm SO excited to have backyard access from the master. Since the bedroom isn't that big, by adding a door, it will open up the room to our (future) outdoor living space. When we remodel the backyard, I imagine a nice sitting area with a fire pit and lots-o-plants.
Also, how great will the view be from the den and the rest of the hallway when there's a view to the outdoors there? Swoon!
When these doors get removed/added, it will change the configuration of the furniture, too. Here's what I have in mind.
Along with the new orientation, the room will get all new bedding, furniture, light fixtures, window treatments, a rug, paint, and art. While I promise I'm not painting another mural, I will still be adding interest to the walls.
I'm a total sucker for board and batten, so that's what the master is getting! While wall treatments are currently trending - shiplap, anyone? - I'm adding a detail that has been in this house for the last 103 years. Tucked behind the room dividers in the living/dining room is some pretty, subtle board & batten that I'll be mimicking. Yay for old-house features and dimensions for inspiring new rooms!
For the room transformation, I'm going for a subtle, moody vibe with neutrals and simple finishes. I'm still sourcing products because I'm plagued with indecision, so keep coming back for more updates! In the meantime, I give you a shoppable mood board.
I can't wait to share more with you as I finalize the finishes and pull the whole look together!
Come back next Wednesday for a progress post. I'm going to start putting holes in the wall this weekend to run new electrical, and I'll probably need your help picking paint, so keep an eye out in Instagram Stories! I'm also going to do videos throughout the process, so subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don't miss out. If you aren't already subscribed to the blog, you can do that here.
Check out progress from my fellow featured designers below, and don't miss out on the guest participants!
Apartment 34 | Beginning in the Middle | Coco & Jack | The English Room | The Gold Hive
Gray Malin | Jenna Sue Design | Jojotastic | Kelly Rogers Int. | Linda Holt | Marcus Design
Michelle Gage | Natasha Habermann | The Painted House | Rambling Renovators
Sacramento Street | Shannon Claire | Sketch 42 | Stephanie Kraus | Bisou Style
Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by ORC
To jump into the future and see how this room turned out, click here!
Hi. It's been a while. I've missed this. I took a longer break than I planned. Life has gotten full. I've been developing film and knitting at soccer practice, attempting to garden with the girls and fussing around with furniture layouts. I’ve also been scheduling summer camps, refilling the watercolors multiple times a day, and trying to keep the toys tidied. Around the house, I’m adding color wherever it fits and making some changes to the overall function and feel.
My friend Martha had a vision for this garage conversion: to turn her unfinished catch-all garage into a beautiful, hard-working space that could function as a living room, media room, playroom, laundry room, home office, and storage zone. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t entirely convinced all of that could fit. But somehow(?!), it absolutely does and it turned out even better than I imagined.
Margot is getting an upgraded room to make space for baby sister in the nursery.
What I’ve been up to - from gardening, to film photography, and the books and shows we’re enjoying. Plus a house tour that requires a closer look, grass seed to always have on hand, cedar shake excitement, historic window screens, and the privilege I’m reminded of daily.
Hammocks, cookbooks, gardening, sewing, and the other things I’ve been up to on my impromptu break, and more.
Where I’ve been, shooting on film, my dream house, retro costume inspiration, energy rebates, a magic cake, textiles I don’t need but want, a lampshade DIY, my best defense against mosquitos, a new podcast, what’s killing home remodelers, best decision-making advice, overheard parenting, Little Women on acid home tour, best marble etch remover, and more.
If you like florals and color, this bathroom is for you. If you don’t, well, maybe scroll through and you’ll be converted? Or not? Either way, here’s the reveal of a bathroom addition that’s finally here - after a whole three years of construction.
Ashley’s restoring her historic home at a snail’s pace in California. She shares home improvement DIYs, tips for sustainable living, and renovation stories - all while aiming to add more color and present real, lived-in, family friendly spaces.
I'm Ashley, a deeply systematic homebody restoring my 1915 Craftsman bungalow in California, slowly and on purpose. I don't make a single decision without first opening 100 tabs. Renovation, DIY, color, and what it actually looks like to live in an old house with two young kids.
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The plants finally filled in, the veggie beds are in the wrong spot, and I've learned that the yard you design and the yard your kids actually use are two very different things.