One Room Challenge Week Four.....or how to cram 1 week of work into 3 days!

Welcome back folks!  So full disclosure right off the bat - I took a short break from the ORC for a much needed vacation with my husband to Las Vegas.  We ate delicious food, we basked in the sun at a wonderful pool, and we enjoyed 4 nights of blissful sleep.......the only downside, it meant that I had to cram any week 4 progress into 3 days - GULP.......

When we got back I had one day left off from work so I immediately started to build the last big item on my list - the bed.  Now some people would say that it's crazy to build a bed in a day and to those people I would say ------ yeah you're totally right, but it's the One Room Challenge and time's a ticking!

I had been holding onto my old metal headboard, which was originally an antiqued silver, and wanted to build out a bedframe for it instead of buying a whole new bed.  I spray painted the headboard black and I used these farmhouse bed plans from Shanty 2 Chic and modified them to be a bit shorter to fit the space.  This stain is Varathane's Briarsmoke and it is one of my favorites - a perfect blend of gray and brown.

The rug is a beautiful Ivory Wool rug from World Market and it is so soft I am seriously debating getting the larger size for my master bedroom.

So weird confession - but I find putting together "bedscapes" much more challenging then they should be, and since they require a decent amount of money I end up spending a lot of time looking for inspiration.  For this room I was lucky enough to find the perfect inspiration for the comfortable/relaxed vibe I was going for from Chris Loves Julia's guest room bed (PS - totally take a minute to check this couple out if you haven't already!)  For my spin on their design these are the linens I ended up going with:

Gray Chambray Sheets  |  Waffle Weave Blanket  |  Blue Striped Duvet Cover  |  Green Velvet Pilllow Cover  |  the Metallic Laurel Leaves Pillow was from West Elm but is no longer available

Once the bed was in place I could finally start pulling the room together - which led to a few changes and a much better idea of what I still have left to do, buy, and build.

The biggest change was that I decided to move the smaller antique chair to the other corner and bring in this larger leather chair from our master bedroom to fill the space better - and bonus I actually really wanted a more feminine chair for that room so perfect swap!  I have this lamp from Target coming shortly to replace this black one and contrast the dark chair (which we actually bought almost ten years ago when I worked at Bloomingdales for our first house).

I have a very strange adversity to things matching too much, so I plan to do two different nightstands - on the one side I found this really cute black table at Target, which still needs so serious accessorizing.

The other side I am going to build something custom with a drawer and I'm thinking it will be in the same stain as the bed.

Can we just talk about these scones for a minute?  They are from the Dapper collection Young House Love designed for Shades of Light and I cannot tell you enough how beautiful they are in person!!  The aged brass accents are so special and the combo with the black bring another modern touch that this room really needs.

Besides the end table, my next "To Do" is to get the curtains made and hung.  I searched for a long time but I finally found the perfect fabric from Online Fabric Store.  After what feels like endless sawdust so far I'm looking forward to a few hours in front of my sewing machine this week.

Wow - for only 3 days of work I sure had a lot to say huh?  Honestly though, most of what I was able to bring in this week I had been hoarding for months and just couldn't wait any longer to start unpacking.

Before I wrap it up I have to share one more piece of news - our lovely host Linda from Calling it Home has decided to extend the One Room Challenge by one week, so we will have a total of 7 weeks to finish not six!  The reason for this is really heart-warming - with the mind-blowing amount of natural disasters reeking havock the last few months many of the participants have been having problems ranging from supplies not arriving on time to un-imaginable flooding.

Be sure to check out the One Room Challenge Blog to read all about it - I can't wait to see everyone else's reactions to this change of events.

Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by ORC

One Week Challenge Week 3 - Halfway there!

3 weeks down - 3 to go!  I am so happy to report that the "bones" of the room are finally complete (apart from some final punch-list items) so now I can spend the second half of this project filling in the space and hopefully give my sore muscles some rest.

The wall trim ended up taking 4 coats (!!) of paint but is now shiny and bright and the perfect compliment to the bright green paint.  The last bit of trim I finished up this week was the crown molding, or my take on crown molding.

As I've been finishing rooms in my house I've been adding ceiling trim and after a few spaces I've finally nailed down my installation method.  To keep in line with the straight trim that we have in the baseboards, window, and door casings we have kept the crown very simple.  I use two pieces of pre-primed MDF boards (for the upstairs rooms I use 2" pieces since the ceilings are a foot shorter) and I pre-paint everything before installation.  Then I attach one horizontal piece directly to the ceiling, and another piece vertically underneath it.  This gives me much better control at dealing with any imperfections in the ceiling and I end up with a clean, simple but finished look.

Another small addition to this room are these new super chic outlets from the LeGrande Adorne collection.  I just installed them in my latest kitchen refresh, and what I realized is that you do not need to use outlet extender boxes with them when you are installing over trim!  If you're not familiar with electrical work I recommend getting someone involved who is because not every outlet or light-switch is a simple "black wire/white wire" situation.  The one that is suppose to be connected to the light-switch is not working currently (whoops) but for now that will go on the "not needed for a pretty picture" to-do list.

Onto the main event - THIS FIREPLACE!  I cannot believe how beautiful this turned out.  It's exactly how I pictured it in my mind and I honestly cannot stop starring at it!  I originally wanted the have the whole thing white, but changed my mind and stained the top ledge in Dark Walnut and it was 100% the right choice.  I also had originally settled on a much simpler facade trim, but at the very last minute I stupidly wisely changed courses and added a more complicated treatment - again...100% the right (if a somewhat stressful) choice.

To build the frame I used these plans from Ana White and then adjusted the height and width.  As I mentioned earlier, I had originally wanted to find an antique mantel, but decided to build this one for the hidden storage compartments.  The sides help hide the cords for the TV (eventually I may add some small shelves as well) and the top is holding my tools right now but will have room to store any additional TV equipment we may add on.  **Side note, we do not have cable access in this room, but we purchased this LG smart TV which allows us to access our streaming apps directly on the TV by connecting to our LAN line, which we ran right under the baseboards**

I wanted to make this feature really special as it will be the main focus of the room - so I chose to add a brick backsplach to the faux firebox.  After a long search, I settled on the Colonial Collection Castle Gate Thin Brick from Old Mill Brick which had just the touch of red and the rustic quality I really wanted.  Now if you've read my blog before you know the one DIY task that I absolutely hate is grouting - but don't worry...I found something much worse - pointing brick!  It combines everything I hate about grouting with everything I hate about using a pastry bag!

Ok, I'm being super dramatic, but I will say that this is not something I would recommend to a first time tiler (or someone who has no patience for mess).  The brick actually went out very easy, but the grouting took me a while to get the hang of.  I had studied this tutorial from Shanty 2 Chic many times so I had a general idea of what I needed - a grout bag and a brick jointer.  Since this was such a small space I decided just to use sanded grout in a tannish color that I already had.  To apply, you basically have to pipe the grout into the open spaces and then spread with the jointer - I think most of my problem with the process was that I was worried about running out of grout so I didn't use enough at first and ended up having to try to spread with my finger.  Once I was confident I had enough I started to put it on thicker and the process became A LOT easier.  Eventually I plan on adding this brick to two large walls in my house so I'm really glad I did this trial run on a much more manageable space.

I ended up taking a little pit-stop at Homegoods yesterday and found this awesome black fire pail, a cowhide pillow which is something I've always secretly pinned over, and a plaid throw - although I may return the throw because it matches a little too much??

So as good as this side of the room is looking, I've deliberately been avoiding showing the opposite side of the room and the giant elephant that I keep moving around the space to work - the mattress!  So up next is to build the bed frame - which I'm going to try to get done in 3 days...EEK.  I feel like I'm right on track with where I wanted to be, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting a little nervous about the upcoming deadline and the items still left on my to do list.  If I can get the bed at least built by the time I check in next week I'll feel a lot better...wish me luck!

And as always be sure to visit the http://www.callingithome.com/blog/2017/10/fall-2017-one-room-challenge-guest-participants-week-3One Room Challenge Blog at Calling it Home to follow everyone else's progress!

Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by ORC

One Room Challenge Week Two: Trim, Trim, and more Trim!

Welcome to the ORC week 2 - is everyone else as exhausted as me???  I knew this was going to be the most labor intensive part of the whole process requiring a few late nights, but I was able to push through and just about reach my goal for this week. **I apologize in advance for the dark pictures...it's been pretty dreary around here today**

Last week I was able to build the frame of my faux-fireplace so I could install my board and batten to match the height of the mantel.  I like to go higher than standard chair-rail height with my trim to add impact and interest.  Everything has been caulked, primed, and has gotten two coats of Sherwin Williams Pro-Classic in Extra White.  I need one more coat and to do some touch ups but I'm 85% there - except if you consider I still need to add the crown molding...yay more caulking : |

In addition to the board and batten, I also replaced the door trim and added window trim in the same simple craftsman style as the rest of the house.  If you're interested in my "How To" check out this post - I say it every time but if you are looking to add personality to your house consider adding trim to your windows if they are bare...it makes an AMAZING difference!

Along with the trim, I've also been on a mission replace all of the old door hardware.  I first tried spray painting all of the original nickel door knobs black, but it didn't hold up as well as I was hoping, plus I wasn't that big of a fan of the carriage style ones that came with the house.  So I switched and started buying these very simple knobs in Bronze and then giving them a coat of black paint - so if they start to wear it's barely noticeable.

In more exciting news - we also got the new ceiling fan installed giving this room some desperately needed light!  I know - you either love them or you hate them, and we love ourselves a ceiling fan in this house as it lets us keep the AC off and the windows open more.  And honestly how gorgeous is this Leoni ceiling fan from Hunter!  The brass art-deco hardware gives the room a perfect modern touch.  If you're building new I HIGHLY recommend getting a light fixture rough-in in every bedroom - we didn't and this is the second room we had to install one from scratch...not impossible but something I would change in retrospect.

And because I couldn't help myself, I also hung some artwork (I got this map from a friend's garage sale and it actually was my jumping off point for this room!) and I picked up this adorable little dressing chair at the antique store (for $15!!!!)  I also couldn't help propping up my Animal Portraits before taking the pics of this room - more on those later but the plan is to use them to hide the TV.

So what's in store for week 3?  I plan to keep working on the "bones" of the room by finishing the fireplace - which includes adding the front panels/doors and also the brick backsplash - finish the trim touch-ups, change out the electrical outlets, and hopefully get the crown up!  I want to wrap up all of the potentially messy work before I build the bed and layout the new rug.  It's gonna be another hard week but the room is coming together exactly as I had it in my mind which is always good motivation!

If you have some time make sure to check out all of the other awesome One Room Challenge guest participants and featured designers!! You'll be sure to come away feeling incredibly inspired......

 

 Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by ORC

One Room Challenge Week One - Guest Bedroom Inspiration and First Steps

To quote my girl Liz Lemon ---- "It's all Happening!!!"

This fall is a big move forward for me and Hilltown House as I've decided to branch out by joining an amazing group of fellow bloggers and becoming a Guest Participant in the One Room Challenge hosted by Linda at Calling it Home and in partnership with House Beautiful.  In the next 6 weeks a group of over 200 guest and 20 featured bloggers will take the challenge to transform one room in their homes and share their progress - and I'm so excited to join them this time around!  At the end of the Spring Challenge I spent a good amount of time going through every final reveal and it was incredibly inspiring - so much that I immediately began making plans to join them in the fall.

Even though this is my first time participating in the One Room Challenge, I've already finished many rooms in my house so feel free to check out my Home Tour page if you'd like to get a sense of my style.

The one room that has been severely neglected is our Guest Bedroom - besides replacing the carpet with laminate when we re-did all of the floors, this room is still basically an empty box that my husband sleeps in when he has to leave early for work (or when the dog is snoring too loud).  Besides that, this room doesn't get used very often, but instead of seeing that as a reason to ignore it I see it as a reason to have some fun and take some chances - which takes me to my design plan:

My first iteration of this room was much closer to that of my powder room, and for a long time I was really attached to using the same Bee Stencil for the upper portion of the walls, but it all started to look too serious.  Instead, I am going to take a big departure from the rest of the house and use a bold color on the walls (Sherwin Williams Halcyon Green) and then balance it with a lot of neutrals.  As usual, I plan on building a lot of elements, mixing in a lot that I already have, and finishing with some quirky art and some amenities tailored just for guests.

I really didn't mean for my Before Pic to be so bad but this is the only one I could find from about a month after we moved in - poor little neglected room!

Right now this room is pretty much just storage for all my One Week Challenge goodies and some random husband stuff.  It's not the largest room, and you can see it has a little "entryway" on one side that you can see from the loft so space planning is going to be really important.

I started painting so I could start on one of the projects I'm most excited about - the faux fireplace!

At first I wanted to try to find an antique mantel to hang, but since we wanted to install a TV above it building one that can accommodate some hidden compartments to hide all of the cords and gadgets made the most sense.  This is the part of the room I'm honestly most worried about executing so getting it out of the way Week One will be amazing.  So far we mounted our new TV and hid the cords in the wall (YoungHouseLove has a wonderful tutorial with links to all the products you could need - it's not the easiest task, especially if your wall has insulation, but it's worth the extra effort). BONUS - it's turned into a great place to store all my tools!

Other than the fireplace, my goal is to get all of the trim installed, caulked, and painted by this time next week.  We replaced the carpet with laminate about 2 years ago (we used Pergo wide plank laminate in Riverbend Oak), and I was motivated enough to put up the door trim, but never got around to getting the floor baseboard back on - whoops.

I decided to use a board and batten style trim on the bottom 2/3ds of the wall to tie this room into some of the other spaces in the house.  To make it work I am using a combination of 1/4" MDF board and pre-primed MDF boards (which is what I've used for all of my house trim).  So far so good, but I'm trying not to think of  the crazy amount of work still needed to check this item off the list.

Somewhere in this whole thing I need to also schedule time to check out everyone else's project because isn't that the best part!....you can play along at home too by catching up each Thursday on the Calling it Home One Week Challenge Blog where all of the guest and featured participants will be sharing their progress.

In my mind 6 weeks is enough time to finish everything - but ask me come week 5 if I still feel the same way LOL.  After a month of staring at a laptop for 12 - 16 hours a day I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to spending time in my workshop and getting my hands dirty.  I hope the husband doesn't mind getting displaced for a few weeks ; )

For more progress pics and Insta-story nonsense be sure to follow me on Instagram

 

 Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by ORC

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A personal note -

In the wake of the recent tragedies across the United States from Las Vegas, to Houston, to Puerto Rico (let alone across the world!) please know that the frivolity of running a home design blog is not lost on me.  I think I'm as guilty as the next person for wanting to distract myself and while I spend a good part of my day vacillating between tears, anger, and a sense of empowerment, I use my projects and this space as a way to re-focus my energy into something positive (as trivial as it may seem) for both myself and my family.  

If I had one ask of everyone out there - it's to make a commitment to be kinder to each other....from the person sleeping next to you each night to the the person that cuts in front of you in line at the grocery store.  The world needs more positivity and that's something everyone can take part in!