The Big Reveal of our Yoga, Meditation, and Exercise Room – Final Week of the One Room Challenge

Welcome to the final week of the One Room Challenge– the big reveal of our yoga, meditation, and exercise room! I am so happy with the finished space and with the fact that the renovation is done! This week, I painted and attached the baseboard trim and shoe moulding, IKEA-hacked a storage unit, hung artwork and mirrors, installed a ballet barre, and added the final decorating touches. If you missed any of my previous week’s posts, you can click on the links below.

*This post contains affiliate links. Also, the wallpaper and wall art were gifted to me for this project.

I need to thank a few people who were invaluable in completing this project. My husband was an integral part of this project, doing most of the framing, drywall mudding and sanding, and electrical work. We had a great time together working on this project. Secondly, I need to thank my friend and neighbour Shillee, who is a talented DIYer and finished her basement in a fraction of the time it took us! Shillee provided inspiration, advice, tools, and a couple of tours of her basement in progress- thank you! Finally, thank you to my awesome brother and sister-in-law who gave me a gift card for my birthday, allowing me to purchase a meditation bench.

Check out the progress to date:

Before Photo

This is how the space began. It was an unfinished basement with everything needing to be done. We had started the early stages of framing a decade ago before life got in the way. The One Room Challenge inspired me to finish this space in a set amount of time. There were definitely challenges along the way, but the outcome is truly special to me because it means I finally have a space to exercise at home. This space will benefit all members of our family, who sometimes find excuses not to exercise. No excuses now!

Inspiration Photo

I wanted an open, bright, and uncluttered space in neutral tones with a pop of lavender. On my wish list were luxury vinyl plank floors, creamy white walls, a wallpaper mural, ballet barre and mirror, storage for exercise equipment and pretty decor accents.

The Big Reveal of our Yoga, Meditation, and Exercise Room

I am so excited to share this space with you all! This was a challenging project for us as we’ve never finished a large unfinished space before. Make sure to check out all my previous posts to see how we did everything. The yoga, meditation, and exercise room is open to our new family media room, which is nearly finished. Here is the view from the family room into the yoga room.

And a few more wider views of the space, before I discuss the different areas and intended uses of the space.

Storage Area

Every space needs storage and I wanted to allocate a small part of this room to storage. This unit won’t be used for fitness equipment, rather it will be used for items we might need in our family room, such as pillows and blankets. I found these lovely storage units at Amazon and pushed two together to create a larger unit. The beautiful artwork is from Desenio. The lavender canvas in the middle is part of their new line of framed canvas prints. The other pieces are framed prints in their beautiful oak frames. My goal was to create a little gallery that is soothing, restful and evocative of beautiful places.

If you’re wondering about the sconce lighting, they are the Francis Shaded Sconces (in brass) from Pottery Barn. Our Luxury Vinyl Plank flooring used throughout the space is white oak LVP by Provenza Flooring. The colour is Finally Mine, which has a natural and rustic look.

Yoga and Meditation Area

Adjacent to the storage area is the yoga and meditation area. I chose a beautiful wallpaper mural from Photowall, an online company specializing in wall murals and wallpapers. I decided on the pattern Up and Away in greige. From there, I chose the creamy white paint for the walls, Benjamin Moore Cloud White.

Of course, I added my favourite yoga and meditation accessories from b, half-moon including the yoga mat and meditation cushions. The plum-coloured cushions tie into my original colour scheme and give the space a pretty pop of colour.

The meditation bench was a very last-minute find after weeks of searching local shops, thrift stores, and antique markets. I was so relieved to spot it at Homesense in their bath department. It will be the focal point for my mediation exercises. I discovered meditation during the pandemic and it helped me to get over some anxiety and helped to calm my mind. I found this gorgeous real orchid the same day at Loblaws in their floral department. And the meditation bowl was an Amazon find. On the bottom shelf is a sweater I knit. I always like to keep a sweater or blanket handy for yoga cooldown.

Ballet Area

This little area is a dream come true for the former ballerina in me and it almost didn’t happen in time. I ordered it last minute as I wasn’t sure if it would fit into the space. Hence, it arrived just hours ago. I installed it right away and took a few more photos to add to this post. I’m really impressed with the quality and the hardware and instructions which have made for a very sturdy ballet barre. I ordered the 5-foot barre from The Beam Store. I had this mirror that wasn’t being used and it’s the perfect touch for a ballet corner.

Note that there are a couple of places where I only placed the baseboard trim and wasn’t able to install it as the trim edges a doorway this is not yet installed (since the room on the other side of the wall is not yet completed). In case you were wondering what’s going on with the trim behind the mirror and one other spot.

These exact ballet shoes can be purchased here.

Fitness Equipment Area

I had an old IKEA Kallax storage unit that I upgraded by building a wood top and attaching it. I simply used a 1 by 6 by 8 clear pine board and cut it into three equal lengths. Then I glued and clamped them together, sanded the finished board, and attached it to the Kallax unit with No More Nails. It’s the perfect spot for my weights and fitness equipment. The dumbbells are from Chapters Indigo and the artwork is from Desenio.

We will be purchasing an exercise bike soon and we will place it beside the storage cabinets on the opposite side of the room. The yoga and meditation area will shift over slightly. When I’m not using my yoga mat I plan to roll it up for storage. I actually purchased some cute wall hooks for our yoga mats, but sadly they didn’t arrive in time.

Accomplishments for the Final Week

• Installed and painted the baseboard trim and shoe moulding
• Installed the ballet barre and hung the mirror
• Upcycled an IKEA unit for exercise equipment storage
• Picked up a few decorative items and set them up
• Set up the exercise equipment and storage solutions

Summary

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post, The Big Reveal of our Yoga, Meditation, and Exercise Room. This was a very rewarding challenge and I know our family is going to benefit from the results. What do you think? Please check out the posts by the other participants here as I know they’ve worked just as hard to complete their projects. Here is the link to week 2 of the challenge.