It’s Week 3 of the One Room Challenge and we’re now at the halfway mark on our cottage bunkie. As I sit back sourcing vintage and antique pieces to decorate the inside of the bunkie from my laptop, my brother and contractor Paul from Brancon has been doing all of the heavy lifting - literally.

It’s Week 2 of the Better Homes and Gardens One Room Challenge and I’m sharing the design direction for our Cottage Bunkie - both inside and out! Since our main cottage and bunkie sit right beside the Green River, I thought it only fitting to decorate the bunkie with shades of green.

In most families, the eldest child (like me) normally gets first pick of the kids bedrooms. Not in our family. My parents, brother and sister all conveniently got their own rooms in the main cottage but for some reason my children and I were left out … how rude!

This is where the idea of a bunkie was born - a space for the kids and I to hang out, have as much fun and make as much noise as we want to and have the coolest sleeping quarters!

Matthew and Lily’s play kitchen in our family room continues to be the toy of choice for children who visit our home. Each time my best friend Sandra’s daughter Hannah comes over she asks “Can I go downstairs to play with the kitchen?” no more than five minutes after coming inside. Sandra and I knew that a kitchen for Hannah was a must-have for an upcoming birthday or Christmas or even Easter so we made it happen.

After 5 weeks of working late into the night when the munchkins were sleeping I’m happy to say that Matthew’s room is finished! He asked for “green” and he got it - just not in the way he thought with painting the walls green.