built in trundle bed

ORC Week 4: The Cottage Guest Shed Flooring, Live Edge Bar, Roof, and the Beginnings of Built-Ins

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Four weeks down and two to go! We’re in the fourth week of the One Room Challenge hosted by Calling It Home and it’s really beginning to feel like crunch time. If it’s your first time here, click here to see week one, week two, and week three of the cottage guest shed transformation.

One Room Challenge

We have an unwritten rule around here that I can’t start decorating till the construction part is done. I hate rules. I’m getting impatient and I want to throw a fit like a toddler right about now. I’ve got everything piled in boxes on our living room floor waiting for that moment when I can start decorating. Just breath and count to 10.

On a good note, we got a pretty good bit accomplished. Jason surprised me when I got home from work last Wednesday with the floor being installed. We had 2 options with the floor…either do a wood-look porcelain plank tile or a wood-look vinyl plank. We chose the vinyl plank for a couple reasons. When you factor in the cost of tile, cement board, mortar, and grout the vinyl plank came in a lot cheaper. We also wanted something that went down quickly.

Thursday evening (after we both worked 12-hour shifts), we spent another 3 hours working on the live edge bar. This is the 2nd week in a row we’ve missed our weekly Thursday night sushi night, but it’s been worth it. We’ll be celebrating in just a couple more Thursdays from now when it’s all done.

DIY Live Edge Bar

Friday night, we installed the industrial steel pipe bar brackets. At our age, this is the closest we get to the bar on a weekend.

How to make an industrial bar bracket

We also squeezed in time to make a piece of art out of pallet wood. It’s not quite done but it’ll serve a special purpose when we have it hung. We’ll leave that as a surprise for later!

The weekend was spent taking care of the most labor-intensive projects of the week, the exterior improvements on the cottage guest shed. Saturday, Jason replaced the roof and the next day we built shutters and flower boxes. The outside of the cottage turned out to be adorable! I wish I could show you all the photos today, but they’ll have to wait till next week since it’s a sponsored post. I know, bummer. I promise you’ll love seeing the changes we made, so be sure to come back on Wednesday. We even threw in a time-lapse video for kicks. Update: Click here to see what we did to the outside of the cottage shed.

Earlier this week, Jason got started on the built-in trundle bed. It’ll be flanked by built-in cabinets.

D. Lawless Hardware was kind enough to provide the beautiful knobs and cup pulls for the built-ins. I love the subtle copper highlights against the oil rubbed bronze. 

The last thing we got accomplished this week was sanding and putting polyurethane on the wood slice that will become the coffee table. I’m still waiting on the hairpin legs to come in.

Here’s where we’ve been so far and what we still have to do…

Week One:

Design plans for the garden shed that will be transformed into a bedroom / guest cottage
Before pictures and digital after pictures

Week Two:

Remove siding and old windows
Fix prior construction issue by pushing walls out 1-1/2″ to prevent intrusion of water
Install new windows
Paint door
Install new keypad lock
Place new OSB on exterior walls
Install new windows
Paint dresser
Reconfigure wiring
Install insulation

Week Three:

Finish wiring for sockets, switches, and lighting
Finish insulation on the ceiling
Apply shiplap to walls and ceiling
Install ceiling lights
Make curtains
Paint shiplap

Week 4:

Ardex the subfloor to level it
Vinyl wood-look plank the floors
Replace roof
Build the bar that goes below the large window
Paint barstools (I had to buy taller ones instead)
Hang curtains
Build shutters and window boxes (a spontaneous project that got thrown on the list)

Remaining to-do list for the next 14 days:

Make the pallet wood art (almost done)
Frost the windows on the door with 3M film
Plumbing for the sink in the kitchenette cabinet
Beef up the beam and add some architectural interest
Build/weld the metal and wood shelf to go above the coffee station
Build the cabinets and trundle bed
Baseboard and shoe molding
Paint the cabinets and trundle bed
Make the coffee table (just waiting on the legs)
Install cabinet shelves and sink
Install sconces that go above bed
If time, build new steps or small porch

Catch up on all the Modern Farmhouse Cottage Guest Shed Projects here:

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16 Comments

  1. Thanks so much for the information, Tricia! We also won’t have the studio climate controlled full time (only when we’re in there will I be running the AC unit – which is a MUST in Houston), so good to know that it’s holding up OK for you all. Again, thanks for the insight and for posting such great content about your projects. Love following your site!

  2. Hello. This space is such a lovely! We are currently in the process of converting our shed (10’x16′) into a pottery studio and I can’t wait. Electrical is going in later this week. Currently, I’m looking at various flooring options and we have also decided to with vinyl plank flooring as well and wondered (1) which flooring you installed and if you like it now that it’s been in for a few months, and (2) if you put anything down under the plank (such as a water barrier) or just laid it directly on the shed subfloor? Any insight you could provide would be helpful! Thanks!

    1. Thank you, Kathryn! I know you’re excited to have your pottery studio almost finished. We still love our flooring in the cottage. It is luxury vinyl plank flooring by Stainmaster from Lowes. Here’s the link:Washed oak dove luxury vinyl plank flooring We knew before purchasing it that the manufacturer did not recommend it being used in a room that wasn’t climate controlled 24/7 but we haven’t had problems with gaps between the planks. (The room has heating and air but it’s not used every day.) The flooring doesn’t require an underlayment but we did have to level the subfloor with Ardex beforehand. We also let the flooring acclimate to the room for 48 hours and left a 5/16″ expansion gap from the wall. It’s been easy to keep clean and I love the matte finish. It’s held up to my stepdaughter and her friends hanging out in there. Good luck with your project!

  3. Hi,

    My husband and I are redoing our house. We are thinking about putting in wood vinyl that looks similar to what you installed. Would you mind sharing the name and brand of yours? It’s beautiful!

  4. You guys are so ambitious. After a 12 hour shift I would be crawling in bed for netflix and some tea. I love how the handles and the piping on your bar go together; complimenting not matching.

  5. Tricia, this is absolutely beautiful! You already have me swooning over the ceiling and the floor! I wish my husband was handy like Jason and wanted to participate in all the ORC/DIY craziness. This is going to be absolutely beautiful! Can’t wait for the big reveal! Let’s do this! Sarah

    1. Thank you, Sofia! I definitely couldn’t do all this without him. And I made sure I asked him several times before we started, “Are you 100% absolutely positively SURE you want to do this in 6 weeks?”. I can’t wait to see how your bathrooms turn out. We’re both so close to the finish line!

  6. WOW! Is all I can say Tricia, what amazing projects and space…I can’t wait to see the finished room!

    1. This is the first time we’ve attempted the One Room Challenge so we had no idea how intense it would be, but we’ll keep on trucking. I’m getting anxious about seeing the finished room too! Thanks for stopping by!

    1. Thank you, Lizzie! I got the coffee table legs in yesterday so I get to put it together this morning. Yay!

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