One Room Challenge Week Five - Picking Artwork and Finalizing Furniture

Happy November everyone!  Did you survive Halloween?  I know I've got a secret stash of candy waiting for me tomorrow to enjoy while I read about the progress of my fellow One Room Challenge Participants - hopefully they had a bit more productive week 5 than I did.  Between getting re-organized after vaca, prepping everyone for Trick or Treating, and just generally feeling a little run down (I'm still in denial that I'm probably getting sick) I didn't get as much done as I was hoping, but here goes......

This weekend was incredibly rainy so I decided to tackle the curtains first.  I spent a long time looking for the perfect fabric and was debating going with something ready-made until I found this beautiful linen-blend from Online Fabric Store.  It has a very subtle gray/gold pattern and a wonderful weight that makes these look a lot more expensive then they are.  If you're interested in a more detailed explanation of how I DIYed the curtains, the rods, and the trim you can check out this monster of a post on my morning room windows - but in short I use white Ikea panels as a really affordable curatin liner and black 1/2 inch plumbing pipes as my curtain rods (if you're looking for a non DIY version check out this similar style from Target).

Next up, the second nightstand.  I'm happy to say that it's built....just not so happy to say that I still need to do the finishing work and staining - cross your fingers I feel better tomorrow morning and can check that off the list!  But even in it's current state I think it looks pretty darn cute.  I based the design on these plans from The House of Wood and was able to use mostly scraps from my workshop mixed with some beautiful poplar 2x2s.  I wanted something a bit more polished than my usual pieces, hence the turned legs and added trim.  Buying something pre-made seriously crossed my mind a few times, but the options I found basically looked almost identical to what I would have made myself so to me it was a no-brainer to roll up my sleeves and just build it custom.

The other building project I was able to tackle (and finish!) was the shelf I installed above the bed.  I have had these plans from Shanty 2 Chic saved for a long time and knew this was the perfect room for them - and bonus, I was able to build it entirely from scraps in my workshop (minus some crown trim and a simple wood scrollwork piece from Lowes).

Which brings me to one of the biggest challenges I've had with this room - picking out the artwork.  For those that don't know, I have always had an immense passion for art and was actually an Art History major in college, so for me the artwork that finishes a room is just as important as the furniture or paint color --- and by important I don't mean expensive or fussy, I just mean that I want to make sure that I have some kind of connection to each piece in my house, even if it is just aesthetically.

For this space, I started with my large map (which you can see in a below pick by the door), and then to pick up the bronze accents I started to look for Sepia colored photos, which led me to my two big animal portraits - why a pig and an owl you might ask?  Simple - the Owl because it symbolizes wisdom, and the Pig because he just makes me smile ; )  From there, it got a bit trickier to determine how much more artwork I should/could put in the room.  I thought once I brought in the curtains and this taller lamp to the far corner of the room it would feel complete....but it just isn't the case.  So I'm going to try creating something on that blank canvas you see on the wall and hope that it does the trick.

 

And of course, I faced the same issue on the other side of the room, but now I needed to add some dimension and some diversity to my collection.  My absolute dream would be to hang two of these Hand Thrown Bells from MQuan studio, but the price is quite a bit out of my range currently, so I'm adding them to the XMas/Birthday list and instead use these two metal scoops I found at Michaels, which I think are pretty good placeholders for now especially since they were 80% off!

Now back to the bed, I had a much more muted plan for the art on the shelf, but quickly realized that I really needed to add some color and shape to that wall.  I keep a Pinterest board of online Artwork that I love so I was able to quickly pick out one of my favorite landscapes from Minted, as well as a beautiful carved frame from Michaels.  But then what to do for a larger piece - I knew it would be hard to find and get another piece I really loved in time, so I took a gamble and dug through my old drawing pads to see if I could find something....finally settling on one of my charcoal figure sketches.  To be honest, I probably haven't looked at those sketches in at least ten years, but while I was flipping through the pages I kept thinking about how much my oldest son loves to draw right now and how special it is to see that passion passed down to him. 

So what's left in this room you might ask?  Well, if you're paying close attention you might have noticed that I have avoided showing the opposite side of the room...well that's because it's really really empty.  Next week that will hopefully change.  I'll finally figure out how to hang my animal friends, and maybe figure out what to add to that verrrrryyyy bare corner.

Additionally, I need to finish off the "entrance" to the room.  I want to add this shelf from our old entryway, and my plan is to turn this shell from an old clock into a mirror to hang above it...so tune in next week to see if that actually works, or if I will frantically also be trying to find a mirror at the last minute!

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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.

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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!

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