One Room Challenge – Week TWO!

We are in the thick of it, guys. Like, we destroyed the laundry room this week and are slowly (ever so slowly) building it back up. We dreamed, we YouTubed, we built, we read blogs, we YouTubed some more, and did projects that we never knew we could do. I even added a little tile this week. All by myself. ❤

This week, and the entire process of the One Room Challenge, has taken me so far out of my comfort zone and I am in amazement of what I’m capable of doing if I just put my mind to it.

As many know, I’m a stay-at-home-mom of three littles ones: 5, 3, and 1. I am honored and beyond thankful that I can stay home to raise my babies and be with them as they hit milestones and become individuals with good hearts and a kind soul. But sometimes I see myself getting lost in the daily grind of motherhood, of being the “house director,” and the day after day routine of workout leggings and smeared makeup. I knew I had a need to do something for me. I needed a challenge for myself. One Room Challenge has already come through in a massive way. I’m doing things I always let someone else do for me as I stood back and watched. But now, I’m doing it. I’m building, I’m using power tools, and I’m creating this space myself. Thank you, One Room Challenge for bringing me this opportunity. It’s already been life-changing.

Oh my goodness, Rachel. Enough chatting, right? Let’s get to the progress!

Our first goal was solely to clear out the space. Take everything out of the room and start to find it’s new home (or at least another temporary spot until it could be brought back in later). If you remember from Week One, this laundry room became a major dumping ground for so many holiday decorations and grown-out baby clothes. If I’m not going to touch it for at least 6 months, it needed to go to the attic above our garage. See ya!

With space to move, it was time to frame out the ceiling and walls. From our pictures, you can see how many water lines, drainage pipes, and electrical run around this space. Having the HVAC system right off creates this sort of mess to work around. Where we initially wanted to run a wall to separate the laundry from the new HVAC room was drastically restricted from the pipe running along the ceiling. When the wall was actually up…it just took away so. much. room!

With a little convincing and a whole lot of pep talk, I convinced my husband to move the wall back an additional 9″ and slant the ceiling to avoid the pipe. Truly, the best decision we could have made! That 9″ is golden!

We framed out the doorway for the entrance to the HVAC unit and began the installation of the louvre door. We went with this type of door to allow the most ventilation for our furnace. An HVAC room or closet should be a minimum of 50 cubic feet, which I know we hit, but I want to give it all it can to run properly. The slats in the door allow for air to circulate through the laundry room as well as through the new HVAC closet we created.

To be able to finish the drywall, we needed to add in drainage and water lines to our soon-to-be utility sink.

I wish I could give even the slightest understanding of how that all went down…but I’ve got nothing. Kudos to my husband because he rocked this part of the project! 🙌

So the framing is up, the sink is plumbed, the drywall is started…and now the fun stuff really begins!

Mama bought herself a brand new Kobalt Wet Tile Saw for Mother’s Day (or at least we’ll pretend that was my gift!) and went to work tiling the floor in this space. Wow did that ever feel good!

And I did it. I tiled, I grouted, I rocked this floor! The first pretty install in this very bare space. Daltile’s Matte Octagon Dot tiles with a pretty ‘Frost’ grout. I loved every minute of this project and it’s already brightened this dull space up immensely!

Week Three Goals:

• Complete ceiling and wall drywall
• Tape and mud seams
• Paint ceiling and walls
• Paint cabinets and drawers
• Install cabinets

Can you imagine this space with paint and cabinets in just one week? Me either. But here’s to a week of working hard, sleeping less, and doing it all with a smile because you love it.

If you want to see more progress pictures, videos, and a little more behind the scenes of this project, follow along on my Instagram. I’d love to see you there! And don’t forget to follow along with all the participants of One Room Challenge. They’re doing amazing things and the creativity and inspiration is palpable. What a fabulous group this year!

Happy Week Two, everyone!

xx Rachel

3