One of the most hotly-anticipated events in the DIY and home decor blogosphere is the One Room Challenge, hosted by Calling it Home. The challenge invites bloggers to make over a room in just six weeks, chronicling their progress through weekly posts. I participated in the ORC in the fall, when we made over our master bathroom, and I am thrilled to be tackling our nursery for the spring edition!

ORC Guest Blue

I’ll be honest: up until about ten days ago, I wasn’t going to participate. Besides being six months pregnant (no big deal), I’m headed into a busy time of year at school, and I really felt like there was no way the nursery would come together in six weeks.

Well, thanks to the encouragement of some of my blogging friends, and after an exhausting but productive trip to Ikea, I feel like I have enough to be going on with. I’m sure we’ll be adding to and tweaking the nursery right up until the moment that our baby girl arrives in July, but we’ve already made enough progress that I feel we’ll have the majority done during the weeks of the challenge.

So, without further ado… And with great glee and nerdy excitement… I give you our nursery makeover plans!

Our Harry Potter-inspired nursery plans for the #OneRoomChallenge | flourishandknot.com

From top left to right: Ikea | Chapters | Urban OutfittersVintage Fresh Shop (sold out) | Ikea | Zone Maison (sold out) | UncommonGoodsIkea | La Fuente Imports | InkistPrints | Ikea | MMPaper Co.

Oh yes. We are going there. I finally get to channel my obsession with love of Harry Potter into a room’s decor. HP was such a formative part of my childhood, so I’m really looking forward to sharing my love for the story with our little girl. (As an aside, I am still rather miffed that my Hogwarts letter is SO delayed. I blame the owl department of Canada Post.)

This is the room as it was about three weeks ago:

Our nursery before the big One Room Challenge transformation | flourishandknot.com

This was just after we cleared out the guest room furniture before Erick and my dad refinished the main-story floors. You can see the absolutely *delightful* black stains from where the previous owner’s dog did its business on the rug… Truly charming.

After a week of sanding and re-staining, the stain is a lot lighter, but short of completely replacing our flooring (and who has the $$ for that?), there’s not much else we can do.

Our nursery before the big One Room Challenge transformation | flourishandknot.com

We will be putting down an area rug anyway, so that stained area will be hidden.

That back wall will be our focal wall, and the crib will stand against it. I cannot wait to share our full plans for that wall with you! It is going to be so gorgeous.

Our nursery before the big One Room Challenge transformation | flourishandknot.com

Three of the walls are getting painted Snowfall White by Benjamin Moore, including this one. Our dresser/changing surface will be placed against this wall, along with some fabulous art.

One of the great things about this room is that it gets plenty of light. Our street is nice and quiet, too, so baby shouldn’t be disturbed by the sounds from the street.

The closet is going to be en exercise in careful organization. It is teeny-tiny!

Our nursery before the big One Room Challenge transformation | flourishandknot.com

That pic was taken just after refinishing the floors, so we had removed the shelves to have space to maneuver the sander. I’m not entirely sure what to do about storage. I may end up hanging dresses and finer pieces of clothing in here, and putting simple things like onesies and leggings in the dresser. I’ve got my eye on some lovely blue storage boxes from Ikea for out-of-season clothing or accessories, as well as blankets or toys.

I’m also really looking forward to accessorizing this space. I have partnerships with both UncommonGoods (who you’ll remember from my science-inspired nursery post) and I Love Print in the works, and I cannot wait to show you what they are contributing to the space!

Our nursery before the big One Room Challenge transformation | flourishandknot.com

I’m pleased to say that we’ve already made great progress in the room. This pic was taken after the first coat of primer, but we’ve actually already crossed a few items off our to-do list:

Nursery To-Do List

  • Prep the room (including filling holes and an old cable outlet)
  • Prime the room
  • Paint three walls “Snowfall White” 
  • Paint the focal wall (half done!)
  • Decorate the focal wall
  • Paint the ceiling?
  • Paint the closet
  • Paint the trim and doors
  • Shop for a crib and mattress
  • Shop for an area rug
  • Buy or make curtains (bought them)
  • Prep and sand the dresser
  • Paint the dresser
  • Hardware for the dresser?
  • Repaint the rocking chair
  • Throws and pillows for the rocking chair (started!)
  • Artwork (started!)
  • Side table?
  • Bookcase?
  • Accessories (started!)
  • Organize the closet
  • And about a million things I have forgotten due to baby brain

Yikes, that list is long! Better stop blogging and start decorating. In the meantime, you can always stop by my Pinterest page and check out more of my HP nursery inspiration.

Would you ever consider basing a room’s decor on a book? I’d love to hear your comments or suggestions for our makeover!

See you back here next week, same time, same place. Have a magical week!

Our #HarryPotter nursery for the #OneRoomChallenge - Week 1's progress | flourishandknot.com

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Spring 2016 One Room Challenge | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6

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Fall 2015 One Room Challenge | Reveal