ORC SPRING 2019: Project Get Clean

Are you ready to get clean in 2019? I am. Well, I think I am, anyway. I know it’s already 4 months into the year, but it’s never too late to come clean. I have something to tell you. It’s about time you knew what is going on right now. OMG that all sounds so serious!

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, KOHUT?

I have a lot of bathroom projects going on this year but one client that is TOTALLY ready to get triple clean in 2019. Of course, if I had the bathroom that she has, I’d be one of the cleanest people I know. And maybe the pruniest because I would never leave that shower. We did this bathroom a few years ago:

It really came out pretty lovely, and hopefully someday I will take better pictures than my old iPhone5 did here (and the other rooms of this house that I worked on need some good photography as well). After putting on an addition with this bathroom (as part of an entirely new master suite), renovating and reconfiguring some of the old bedrooms and adding a bathroom and laundry area on the second floor, as well as decorating several rooms, the homeowners took a break and just enjoyed their house for awhile. Renovations can suck the life (and the money) out of you.

After taking a break, I think they are ready for me to clean up the rest of the bathrooms that they didn’t get to before. It might also be because I’m leaving this summer so if they wanted to work with me, it’s now or never. Mostly I think it’s just because they really want to finish up their house and be done.

Yes, bathrooms, plural. There’s the old master bathroom that the daughter now uses, and the hall bathroom that the kids used to share that is now just for guests that stay over. And then there’s the powder room that needs a little loving.

NOW IT’S TIME TO GET CLEAN

I guess that since the One Room Challenge Spring 2019 is starting the same week we are starting, I thought it might be fun to roll this all into one big event! Officially the one room I’m choosing to do is the BATHROOM, but just like I can’t follow a recipe exactly, I am tweaking my entry to show you the progress, pitfalls, challenges, and hopefully the successful outcome of ALL THREE BATHROOMS! Because why just do one and keep it simple, right?

WHY AM I DOING THIS?

People keep asking me why I’m going to do the One Room Challenge. I have no idea! Just kidding. If read my last post (HERE), you know that I’ve been so busy with amazing projects and that it’s helping me get through the last bits of my life in NJ. I am so lucky to have clients who really want to work with me and I want to get as much in as I can before I leave for California. I am going to be working on these bathrooms anyway, so why not just use the ORC for accountability, creating a hard deadline to finish, write weekly so you can follow along, and share it with the world? Sounded like a good idea when I signed up.

I mean, people do challenges all the time. Marathons and triathlons, Whole 30 eating challenges, no drinking for a set time, no shopping at the mall. My husband and his sister would do these “run 2 mile a day for 365 days” challenges for God know why. You can find all sorts of challenges to commit to if you want to. So this is going to be one of MY challenges for myself.

There is a prize of sorts. Out of all the guest entries, two Guest Participants will be selected by the editors of Better Homes & Gardens as Featured Designers in the Fall 2019 event. That means product sponsorship, social media coverage and potential features on huge sites. Look at some of the brands that have featured ORC entries:

So, yeah. It can be kind of a big deal.

For more about the One Room Challenge, aka the ORC, click HERE.

THE DOWN AND DIRTY

Remember how my first ORC started? Go see WEEK ONE. The before and after was pretty dramatic, but it was 6 whole weeks between seeing the BEFORE shots and the AFTER shots, which you can see in WEEK SIX.

I know some of you aren’t clicking anything, just skimming and looking at pics, so here is a quick before and after from that.

It goes quickly for me, but for the homeowner it can feel like forever. Once we officially get started, the makeover can’t come quick enough. For the viewers, the before and after is the best part and nobody likes to wait that long to see the finished outcome. BUT HOLD ON! I would do a complete disservice to the design and building industry if I didn’t make sure you all hear me loud and clear:

THIS STUFF NORMALLY TAKES A LONG TIME!!!

TV fools you. The internet fools you. These things (and most of my projects) take way longer than six weeks. For me to be able to pull this off (and there really isn’t a guarantee that I will), it takes some serious planning, as well as begging and cajoling if needed. Things take forever sometimes. For instance, as of right now, another relatively small job was started in November but we are nowhere near completion. Hopefully soon, but the details and the delivery issues can hold things up and add weeks of delays.

As for this project… the contractor is showing up this week, and we are hoping to have this all ready for the big reveal in six freakin’ weeks. This is the real deal. And like last time, it’s really not six weeks, since I have to be done and have time to get a photographer in to shoot it and wait for the images and then write about the reveal. So, this one is probably more like four and a half weeks at most. THAT IS INSANE. But I’m up for the challenge. (PRAYERS ACCEPTED.)

HERE WE GO!

First up, is the guest bathroom. This room has had a little work done, but not really a makeover. I think it was “updated” by the previous owners, maybe in the 80s, and then some minor touch ups when the addition was put on, like a fresh coat of paint and the window was closed up. The framed print fills that spot in this picture.

It’s not a huge bathroom. The lower ceiling in the shower is not helping it feel spacious. The matching soffit on the other side houses some recessed lighting, which doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job lighting up the room.

Nothing crazy here, especially when the curtain is closed. It’s just a tub and it functioned just fine, but that random blue square tile HAS GOT TO GO. As you can see, there’s absolutely no rhyme or reason to this pattern. It was like the tile guy said, “hey buddy, pass me the next tile” and nobody was even looking. Maybe they had some laughs over beers later. Maybe they were actually laughing over beers while installing this. Who knows. Bu-bye.

POWDER ROOM, YOU’RE UP!

Next to come clean is the powder room. There really isn’t anything wrong with this one. The homeowner did refresh this one when they bought the house, but that was a while ago now, and it’s ready for a new look.

The changes will be small, but the effects will be huge. More on that in the upcoming posts.

TEENAGE DRAMA

OK, there’s no real drama here. I just didn’t know what else to start this part with, LOL. Here we have an interesting layout in a long and narrow space.

This bathroom is off the bedroom, which was originally the master suite. Now it’s really just for one person, and even if there are new homeowners someday, two sinks in here doesn’t seem necessary. Since reconfiguring the toilet location just isn’t in the budget, we are going to get creative with what we do have for a budget and make this as fresh and bright as the girl who will be using it. See? No drama. Unless she doesn’t like ANYTHING I pick out, like my own daughters would do to me. So, fingers crossed. Getting a teenager to love your work is a MAJOR victory and I hope that happens here.

AM I CRAZY?

Um, I think that’s already been established. I have a LOT of other projects going on, I’m consulting on several others, and I’m traveling a lot over the next two months. So, yeah.

I am not working miracles here, just giving these bathrooms some new life. I do think that, just like kitchens, a fresh, updated, and clean bathroom does wonders for the people who live there and use the space. It only makes sense that the room you get clean in should be bright and clean to begin with, right? I hope to show you all how you can do something pretty nice while keeping things relatively simple and not spend tons of money. You are more than welcome to spend tons, of course, and I would love to help you do that as well. But with my ORC, since there are three to do here, it’s all about how to bring it all together without breaking the bank.

And with that…

WEEK ONE OF #CKPROJECTGETCLEAN IS IN THE BOOKS!

If you FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM, you can see that I shared some of the demo-day in my stories. Check in there during the week to see what else might happen!

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