Finally it’s here! It’s Week 6 of the One Room Challenge, which means one thing: it’s reveal time! This room has come a very long way, and we still have one more project to show you. So let’s get to that before we show you all of the befores & afters.

If you missed the room reveal, the plan, and all of the before photos, check out the posts for Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 & Week 4 & Week 5.

The Desk

Before we can reveal the whole space, we have one last DIY to do and that’s the desk. Every tween needs a desk, right? No more so than this year, for sure. Last winter, my son and I went to IKEA on a recon mission to make a budget for his room. He decided on an Alex drawer unit for his desk, but he wasn’t thrilled with the leg or top options. My friend Jenny at RoostFlourishRoam has made 4(!!!) IKEA Alex desks that look amazing. We decided to look at some options and come up with a DIY Alex desk for his space.

For the top, we’re using another Edge Glued Project Panel board just like we did on the Lego Storage Units. We just used the 2’x4′ one off the shelf, no cutting necessary. The custom stain we made for the rest of the wood projects in the space is also used here.

For the leg, I looked around on Amazon & Etsy for a metal leg, but they were way out of my budget. I decided to make a replica of what I wanted by using a 1×3 & painting it with leftover door paint. I added a 1×2 to connect the leg to the Alex for stability.

This desk has worked out perfectly for him! He really loves having a space to do his homework and store all of his supplies. We found the chair at HomeGoods for $60, and the touch lamp is from Target. We had another set of shelf brackets intended to put some up here for books & other collections.

That’s great, but let’s get to the reveal!

The Reveal

The Befores

This space before was a great room for a toddler, but not so much for a big 11 year old. It was definitely time for a change.

The Afters

We had this IKEA shelf under the window, but we moved it to the corner to hold trophies. books and toys in bins.. Two of the old book ledges hold his winning pinewood derby cars.

The pullout couch was in our guest room/office space in our old house. It’s been in the attic since we moved in here, and it’s perfect for this space. He loves to lounge on it and read books & his sisters love to sleep in here for slumber parties with him on the weekends.

He got a couple of Lego sets and an Echo Dot for his birthday, and he loves listening to music and building Legos. He even let me help him build one!

What a transformation!

Here’s some of the decor that we used in this space if you’re interested in shopping with my affiliate links:

The Budget

Originally, we had a $1,000 budget for this space. That wasn’t really calculated, I was just guessing. In reality, it was closer to $2,000. Here’s where we spent the money:

Paint $67
Ceiling Fan & SmartSwitch $120
Dresser/Desk Chair $260
Lego Shelves/Bedside Shelf $193
Lego Storage Units $380
Desk & Shelves $105
Decor $350
Bedding $50
Bulletin Board $130
Minifig Frames $63
Miscellaneous Lowe’s Trips $200

Total: $1,893

That’s more than I wanted to spend, but we got exactly the room we wanted. He’s happy, so I’m happy. He really loves his new space & can’t wait to show all of his friends…whenever he’s able to do that.

Make sure you stop by the One Room Challenge Blog and check out the reveals from all of the other spaces in the challenge. The room transformations are all amazing!

So what do you think? Which is your favorite part?