Imagine walking into that room in your house that you would be so embarrassed for your friends or family to ever see.
You know….that room that you keep shut when company is over…….That room that is either outdated……has become the “catch all” for everything you don’t know where to put……or is just wasted space in your house.
Aren’t you ready to do something about it??
I thought so.
Now’s your chance!!! It’s time to stop putting it off.
Commit to Upgrade Your Room NOW!
In June I challenged myself and my readers to the 30-Day June Room Challenge by picking a room and transforming it. You won’t believe how we all rocked our rooms (see all the “BEFORE” and “AFTER”s here). We’re keeping this momentum going in August with the 30-Day August Upgrade Challenge! No sign ups after August 8, 2014!
Meet the Sponsors!
Meet the Challengers and Their Rooms!
Serena’s Kids’ Bathroom
Pam’s Laundry Room
Meg’s Bedroom
Jen’s Teacher’s Lounge
Jodi’s Master Bedroom
Carol’s Basement
Alex’s Dining Room
Holly’s Kitchen
Eddie’s Daughter’s Room
Omaira’s Master Bedroom
Mimi’s Playroom
Gwen’s Grandma Room
Jayde’s Craft Room
LaLonnie’s Master Bedroom
Beth’s Laundry / Craft Room
Cindi’s Master Bedroom
Leilani’s Rumpus Room
Elona’s Master Bedroom
Jen’s Master Bedroom
Katia’s Kitchen
Teri’s Master Bathroom
Robin’s Foyer
Cathy’s Basement
Yvonne’s Kitchen
Letty’s Craft / TV / Guest Room
Lynn’s Office
Sandra’s Kitchen
Maria’s Kitchen
Nikki’s Closet
Caitlin’s Bedroom
Eileen’s Living Room
Karen’s Master Bathroom
Connie’s Mudroom
Jeanie’s Powder Room
Rachel’s Laundry Room
Tracy’s Downstairs Kitchen
Mich’s Teen Son’s Room
Joan’s Laundry Room
Tracy’s Office / Guest Bedroom
Erica’s Son’s Bedroom
Nasreen’s Bedroom
Maria’s Mudroom
Sharon’s Kitchen
Serena’s Kids’ Bathroom
This here folks is my kid’s bathroom! It smells like pee all the time (I’ve got 3 little boys and a hubby!). I plan to paint the cabinet, remove the mirror, install new flooring, and–OH YES!!!–replaced that 1970′s toilet!! See my unbelievable video tour of my horrific bathroom!
In the last challenge, I made over my outdated laundry room into the prettiest room in my house. You won’t believe how it looks now!
Pam’s Laundry Room
Pam’s laundry room is visit to everyone because it’s to the left of the entry. They can’t keep the door closed because the cats need to get in to potty :). It’s a long and narrow space and Pam is going to make the best of the space. And let me just tell you–Pam is awesome at room makeovers! She participated in my 30-Day June Room Challenge where she had the most awesome, budget-friendly master bathroom makeover! So I know she will rock this one out!
Meg’s Bedroom
Meg thinks her bedroom is boring. She has an old mismatched bed set and blank, boring walls. In my 30-Day June Challenge, Meg tackled her craft room. And she also participated in my Looking Fly in July $25 Thrifted Outfit Challenge! She totally rocked that outfit!
Jen’s Teacher’s Lounge
This is a makeover near and dear to my heart because this is the teacher’s lounge at my son’s elementary school! There was an email that came across the parent’s listserv asking for volunteers to help make over the teacher’s lounge as a surprise for the teacher’s coming back in August. Well, of course I was going to offer to help! So I was tasked with making over this lovely sofa. Oh……wait until you see its progress!!!
Jodi’s Master Bedroom
Jodi wants a sanctuary for her master bedroom. In my 30-Day June Room challenge, she created a playroom basement for her family.
Carol’s Basement
“Plan is to remove obstacles to having an organized house. With an organized basement storage area, the unorganized stuff from the other areas of the house would have a space to exist — might even find some things to sell on Amazon, and surely will find things to donate which supports the cycle of thrifting.”
Alex’s Dining Room
“We currently don’t use our dining room for anything, we don’t even have a table in there! I want to use the inspiration I got at Haven [Conference] to fill it with DIY projects!” ~Alex
Holly’s Kitchen
Holly’s kitchen is STUNNING… She remodeled it about 12 years ago with tons of storage, but now she has no storage. It’s undergoing a major de-cluttering! In my 30-Day June Room Challenge, she fixed up her master bedroom, and it looked equally gorgeous! She’s got a beautiful house!!
Eddie’s Daughter’s Room
Just recently Eddie and her family moved from a townhouse into this historic home that started being built in the 1700′s! Wow, what a jewel she found! She’s starting with her daughter’s room because she wants to give her a rock solid place to call her own after undergoing a new school, new friends, etc. You can read about her move on her blog, Love Oxido.
Omaira’s Master Bedroom
Omaira has a new baby on the way in September and wants a peaceful, comfortable oasis with the baby and a 5-year-old that likes to sneak in with Mommy and Daddy, as well. In my last challenge, Omaira turned a cable reel into a desk for her her guest bedroom / office! Such a great idea!
Mimi’s Playroom
Mimi is tired of papers piling up in the kitchen. She wants to turn this unused gym into a homework area/ playroom.
Gwen’s Grandma Room
This room was named for the painting of Gwen’s grandmother that was discovered over 20 years ago. It’s been at least 7 years since it was decorated by her daughter. Now it’s time for a new makeover! In my last challenge, Gwen totally transformed her plain laundry room into a warm and cozy place!
Jayde’s Craft Room
This room has become a dumping ground for spare furniture and things around the house. Jayde’s going to turn it into a craft room for herself. Every crafty woman needs that, indeed!
LaLonnie’s Master Bedroom
LaLonnie says that her bedroom should be the most relaxing, romantic, peaceful and cheerful room in her home; that she should love to go in there and it should be her little spot of heaven. But it needs paint (she’s got a two-tone wall throughout the house the bottom has a suede effect). Her hubby is building a massive headboard for her, with a reading nook!
Beth’s Laundry / Craft Room
If a guest wants to go to the bathroom at Beth’s house, they have to walk through this laundry room to get to it. Which means everyone visits this sad, unkept space. Beth wants to get detergent bottles off the floor (maybe mount a shelf above w&d). She wants the wall to be finished painted (it is half done). She wants the cheap PVC shelves to have more pizzazz and wants to continue to organize her craft area.
In my 30-Day June Room Challenge, Beth rocked the challenge when did her front parlor makeover in red, white, and black. It looks amaaaazing!
Cindi’s Bedroom
“My closet is a mess. There are always laundry baskets to dig through taking up space. My husband has two dressers and I have two dressers, an antique dressing table and a bookcase. There’s also a small revolving table by the door that has our telephone, etc. on it.
I want to turn it into a haven where I relax and dream, not a hot mess. August is the month of my husband’s and my birthdays, and 4 days into September is our wedding anniversary. So it would be a real gift.” ~Cindi
Cindi also started working on her craft room makeover in my 30-Day June Room Challenge!
Leilani’s Rumpus Room
Leilani admit that her house scares her a little. It was a foreclosure that she and her husband bought that needed a lot of work. But her Rumpus Room (aka “enclosed porch”) caught fire some time ago and was totally rebuilt. Now it’s time to make that area pretty. You can read more about Leilani’s house on her blog, which is a pretty great read! She also participated in my 30-Day June Room Challenge and made over the cutest girly craft room.
Elona’s Master Bedroom
Jen’s Master Bedroom
Katia’s Kitchen
“I have lived in my home for 7 WHOLE years and have never finished the kitchen. I can’t go ANOTHER month with it looking the way that it does. This challenge is giving what I need to get ‘er done! It’s on like DONKEY KONG now!” ~Katia
Teri’s Master Bathroom
“There is carpet around the bathtub… Why? Who knows! Probably cheaper than fixing what was under it by the old owners. Nervous about finding what’s under there! My plans are to get rid of that carpet, frame up the contractor grade mirror, paint or stain the vanity, paint the room… and who knows just what else.” ~Teri
Cathy’s Basement
“I’d like to make my Challenge Room our basement. It’s a finished basement, but it’s a disaster. We want to make it a television/play room, so that when the baby comes, our toddler son will have a place to play/let loose. It’s also where my husband’s office desk is located. My husband is gone for a weekend in mid-August, so I can use that weekend to put the room together, and surprise him! I’ll spend the next couple of weeks obsessing over/finalizing my plans.” ~Cathy
Yvonne’s Kitchen
“We gutted both out a year ago, and both were incomplete. In the Kitchen, I plan to: finish the kitchen cabinets that the builder never finished, add storage to our apartment kitchen, build a dining bench, finish tiling and grouting.” ~Yvonne
Letty’s Craft / TV/ Guest Room
Letty’s room is painted and the major components are there, but there is no organization.
Lynn’s Office
Lynn plans to scrape the popcorn off of the ceiling, paint over the jade green walls, hang curtains, dye the slipcover on the sleeper sofa, paint the hutch being used for storage as well as the small night table she purchased to use as a printer table, and declutter so she can organize!
Sandra’s Kitchen
In my 30-Day June Room Challenge, Sandra organized her utility room, and she also participated in the Looking Fly in July $25 Thrifted Outfit Challenge! I guess you can say she loves to challenge herself, huh?
Maria’s Kitchen
“For the past six years we (the hubs and I) had been renting our home due to him being in the military, but he is now retired and we moved back to our home. The house is 20 years old and it still has the builder’s grade orange, ugly cabinets and the white tile countertops. For now, I’m only planning on painting the cabinets to give it a “newer” look since we have a really tight budget.” ~Maria
Nikki’s Closet
“This closet is very unorganized and it’s packed to the max. My husband and I decided to just make this my closet and we will purchase the Ikea closet system as his closet. So I’m going to make this a girly space for my things.” ~Nikki
Nikki participated in my 30-Day June Room Challenge and turned her messy guest bedroom into an amazing craft room! Check it out, too!
Caitlin’s Bedroom
“I recently moved to the ‘big’ city and had to downsize to fit my budget. I’ve had a ton of visitors since I moved, the result of which is a living area that looks amazing at the expense of a bedroom packed to the gills with everything that used to be in my craft room. Now that I’m settling into living the city life it’s time to give myself a serene bedroom where I can relax and feel at home.” ~Caitlin
Eileen’s Living Room
“I hate my living room. I want a comfy couch, new blinds and coffee table and maybe so kind of floor covering rug etc.”
Karen’s Master Bathroom
“We originally painted the walls gold yellow and that was it. I no longer love the color, the builder grade carpet, yes carpet in a bathroom is disgusting. The cabinets are worn and need a face lift and I would love to get rid of the Hollywood style bubble lights over my mirrors. Oh yeah, my towel bar fell off completely too. Now we hang our towels over the shower door. Classy.” ~Karen
Connie’s Mudroom
“Although the front entryway IS looking tired, I really wanted to work on my old master. That has been put aside for now because it is in need of a ceiling repair that I need help with. So maybe the next room will be that one. For now my tired entryway and closet it is.” ~Connie
Connie participated in the last 30-Day June Room Challenge. Check out her bedroom makeover from that challenge!
Jeanie’s Powder Room
“Where do I begin?!? Previous owners “renovated” this half bath and did a sloppy job. The sink and toilet both need replaced. The walls need painted. I’d love to replace the pedestal sink with a vanity and also replace or frame the mirror.” ~Jeanie
Rachel’s Laundry Room
“Right now it’s dark and dingy. It has bad lighting with a crappy string pull, tan-ish peeling walls, very ugly linoleum flooring from 1978, very little storage and a nasty old wash basin. It also had a brown collapsible curtain on the doorway, but I already pulled that off in a moment of hatred one night! The only thing that is nice is my machines that are just a few years old. I hate doing laundry in that space and I try to run away as quickly as possible whenever I have to be in there. :)” ~Rachel
Julie’s Garage
I started my garage makeover a year ago. I got as far as refinishing the garage floor, but has to stop due to colder weather and many house issues we were having (mold, bad roof, etc.). This year has been crazy so far, and most of our house issues are resolved. It is time I finally finish the garage makeover that I started a year ago.
I would LOVE to finally be able to find stuff so I can create / complete projects. The garage is a mess. Not nightmare inducing (unless you count the six black widows I found last year by my son’s outside toys), but total frustration that most of the time I can not find what I am looking for.
We use our garage for everything; from parking cars, painting, woodworking, and just plain hanging out in the warmer months. I want the garage to be practical, functional, and a happy and fun place to be. Sure, that may seem odd for a garage, but I (we) do spend a lot of time outside in the summer and having a nice place to complete projects in during the winter months, is going to be grand – unless, it is -22 again outside. LOL. This challenge is the kick in the derriere that I need. :)”
Tracy’s Downstairs Kitchen
“It is just horrible!! I’d like a functioning mini kitchen/dining area.” ~Tracy
Mich’s Teen Son’s Room
“This was great when he was 5 but as he’s now 16 (and refuses to clean it) I think I should update!” ~Mich
Joan’s Laundry Room
Joan’s husband was inspired by my laundry room makeover in the 30-Day June Room Challenge and now they’re doing theirs! Here’s what she and her husband are doing: “knocking out the wall, enlarging the space, building another wall with a pocket door… redoing the floor, the walls, the ceiling, painting, and new lights installed.”
Tracy’s Office / Guest Bedroom
“1. I hate the room! I hate what it has become and I hate having the door closed all the time! 2. I have everything needed to do the room. The Craigslist bedroom set has been sitting in my garage for over 2 years and I even have the bedding and draperies! AND… My sister just moved in and her daughter, who is away at school, needs a room when she comes home on breaks and weekends.”
Erica’s Son’s Room
“Here is my son’s room. It is so embarrassing that it looks like this (and has looked like this for a solid 6-8 months now). He wants a military theme so here we go!” ~Erica
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