Hi and welcome to my [almost] finished space! Today I have the Office + Guestroom Refresh Reveal Part 1 and will be sharing a Part 2 once all of my products arrive. Due to several shipping delays, several main components of the room aren’t quite ready, but I couldn’t let a week go by without showing you where we’re at so far!
Consider this a New Year New Room Refresh Challenge Week 6 update with the Reveal on the way!
If you’re stopping by from our NYNR host, Casa Watkins Living, or any of the other wonderful participants’ then welcome! I’m so glad you’re here! And if you are new to This is our Bliss, then hello! My name is Rachael and I’m the girl behind the lifestyle site where I share all things life, style, and home. My goal is to help you dress, decorate and entertain for every occasion with affordable stylish finds.
My husband, 3 boys and I moved from Illinois to Arizona in 2021 and have loved slowly working on making our new house feel like home.
I love taking on this challenge each January to start the year off with a bang and get our laundry list of house projects off to an early start. In 2022, I finished our Dining Room in this house and last year, I worked on sprucing up the Stairwell.
Now read on to see what I’ve been up to so far this January.
Office + Guestroom Refresh Reveal Part 1
This is my 8th NYNR Refresh Challenge and this year, I kicked off 2024 by tackling the shared Office + Guestroom Space. The room serves two functions, but due to a small room and a Queen-sized bed taking up the majority of the floor space, I decided it was time to reclaim more of the room to better function as a workspace for myself.
Rewind a couple of months ago when my Grandpa decided he wanted to remove the Murphy Bed in the guestroom of his new house to create an office for himself. After asking the family if anyone wanted it, my wheels started spinning about the possibility of using a Murphy Bed in our Guestroom to free up more space when we don’t have visitors.
And here we are! The timing was perfect for the challenge, so this was the jumping point for me to get started!
Let’s take a quick look back at the Before Photos and design board to appreciate the After photos that much more 😉
OFFICE + GUESTROOM: THE BEFORE
This is how the room looked shortly after moving in, but in order to prep for guests and get my desk area up and running, we had the room painted [SW Gossamer Veil] and set the space up.
Now come and see the recent photos I took of the space!
OFFICE + GUESTROOM: THE AFTER
OFFICE + GUESTROOM REVEAL: THE FLOORING
Since we knew the Murphy Bed was going to be installed by bolting it to the wall, we decided to rip out the carpet and have new flooring laid before the bed went in. We chose a waterproof laminate wood plank from the Home Decorator’s Collection at Home Depot in King’s Cottage Oak.
You can read more about the flooring install here.
It’s beautiful in person and I plan to add a soft plush rug down in the center of the room to soften up the space. Especially for when our guests step out of bed in the morning. The rug won’t be as large as the one that was in place before because I don’t want to cover up the new floor, but rather show it off!
OFFICE + GUESTROOM REVEAL: THE MURPHY BED
Here is what the bed looks like when its not in use.
It comes down with ease and goes back into place just as nicely. Its sturdy and actually very comfortable! The boys have already given it a test spin 😉
He’s just the best and I’m very lucky he’s so able and willing to help me out!
We taped off the window and then used leftover SW Tricorn Black to give it a fresh look. I love black accents so much! You can see the window progress here.
OFFICE + GUESTROOM REVEAL: THE DESK AREA
I kept the same desk & relocated the large wall art from above the old bed to its new home right above. and wow, how nice it feels to have a nice, clean workspace. Fresh flowers don’t hurt either!
I still need to figure out the file cabinet / printer situation but will get to that soon. For now, I’m enjoying the empty space around my desk!
I didn’t make my way to the closet, but I honestly feel that will be its own month-long challenge in itself. I want to completely refigure the design & layout to improve functionality so we may end up with some DIY projects like we’ve done in the past (see our his & hers closets here as well as our DIY nursery closet here and here).
A new ceiling fan, corner chair, rug, and a few other accessories are still on the way, so stay tuned for Part 2 of the Office + Guestroom Reveal. And here is how we are looking with our punch list. Let’s see what’s left for next week!
OFFICE + GUESTROOM PROJECT TO-DO LIST:
swap out ceiling fan – ordered, waiting on delivery, back-ordered
remove bed & install Murphy Bed
create a feature wall behind desk area? wallpaper?
add wall art
replace rug – shipping delay
add a chair – shipping delay
make up bed & add a small side table
reconfigure closet set-up – in progress
MISCELLANEOUS DIY PROJECTS:
__tear out carpet & install new flooring__
__add trim molding to Murphy Bed edges__
__paint windows black _________
TO SHOP THE SOURCES IN OUR OFFICE + GUESTROOM, YOU CAN CLICK THE SHOPPABLE IMAGES BELOW:
Now go check out the rest of the amazing challenge room reveals below! There are so many talented participants who pulled off incredible transformations this year!! A huge thanks to Stephanie of Casa Watkins Living for hosting another amazing challenge!
Tiffany
January 30, 2024 at 9:16 AMIt’s already so beautiful! I can’t wait to see it all finished 😍