It’s week three of the One Room Challenge! This was my first week where things got down and dirty, and some things went smoothly, while others… not so much. It’s all easily fixable though so in the grand scheme, nothing was too earth shattering. Before we dive in, if you want a refresher of the past few weeks, they are here and here. Also, make sure to visit Calling it Home to see the updates from the featured designers and the 200+ guest bloggers! There is a ton of great inspiration and I’ve loved following the rooms along so far.
I’m really hoping this is the part where things get worse before they get better! Fair warning that these are not the most beautiful photos, but just keeping it real.
The Good
New bedding & paint
We have paint! The walls are now Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams. I love this color – it’s very soft and doesn’t seem to have too much of a blue undertone, which is always a concern for me with grays. I will say that it took us 3 coats to get it non-splotchy; and I didn’t use the cheap stuff either. I’m guessing it was user error on our part, but I was not expecting the room to use that much paint. Either way, it’s done and looks great.
Antiqued desk – pardon the lighting as this is a west facing room
I also finished up painting, waxing & antiquing the desk. I spray painted the hardware matte black and can’t wait to start using it. An old boring black bookcase got another few coats of chalk paint – Paris Grey on the outside and a mix of Greek Blue & Paris Grey on the insde. However, the inside didn’t look as nice as the outside (more on that in a minute).
A few coats of Paris Grey, and a mix on the inside
The Bad
One goal for last week was to get the old dresser out of the room until the donation pick-up could come on the 30th, at least so I could get furniture in place and start getting a sense for how the final room will look. Well, we didn’t really think this through and my husband and I got to re-create a classic scene from Friends as we were trying to get the dresser out of the room and through our narrow hallway. But it did allow me the opportunity to use the below GIF, so I guess it’s a win?
In other errors, I hugely miscalculated the size lampshades I needed for the existing lamps and they are WAY too large. But I like the fabric, so just need to return these and get the smaller size. This is why I like the mix and match lamps at Target – medium base to medium shade. Anything else is way too complicated for me!
A little too big, but I like the idea!
Unfortunately, I also had to put the window seat on hold. We don’t own the tools to build our own (and it’s not really worth buying them right now) and it was more expensive than I thought it would be. For now, the chest will live under the window and I’ll put some pillows on it to make it feel window-seat like. At least the dog will be happy to have something to rest on and watch the neighborhood go by 🙂
The Ugly
Remember that old black shelf that I painted and the outside looked great? Well, the inside was a different story. For whatever reason, the paint would not stick to the inside. I have no idea what happened – I’ve painted quite a few different surfaces with chalk paint and have never seen this before. I mixed Paris Grey & Greek Blue, but both were the same brand so that shouldn’t have made a difference. Either way, after 3 coats, I was able to get the inside looking decent, but the back panel is still a mess. My plan is to buy some fabric to cover the back. In the end, this was a $20 shelf from Wal-Mart and I’ve had it for 10 years so it’s not a huge deal, but definitely is adding another step to my process.
Had some paint issues on the bookcase
I’m headed out of town this weekend, so won’t get much of a chance to work on things, but have some time off early next week. Hope to make a Hobby Lobby run for some wall decor & fabric, finish up painting the shelves/frames, and hang blinds & window treatments. Marking my calendar for April 30 to get that dresser out so I can finally get furniture in place. Then, I think it will really all start to come together!
A quick rundown of my to-do list:
Paint the room- Replace the Blinds/Add a curtain: in progress
New Bedding- Paint bookcase, shelves &
Desk: Almost! - Rearrange furniture/remove furniture: April 30 …
Rug(using one I have)- Wall art: in progress
- Lamps/Accessories:get new shades (whoops), start looking at pillows, Hobby Lobby run!
Also shared on Thoughts on Home Thursday Link-up!
You are doing a great job and I love how you infuse humor, talent , energy and creativity into this great project.
Enjoying your journey.
Thanks so much for sharing this with us at TOHOT!
Jemma
Jemma, thank you for your sweet comments! All the feedback is keeping me motivated!
HAHA! Ross. Love the antiqued desk. What an absolute delight this post is!!! Thank you so very much for joining the gathering at Thoughts of Home on Thursday.
Thank you! And appreciate you hosting the Thoughts of Home on Thursday Linkup!
That may be my favorite Friends scene of all time. Haha!
Ugh, painting. It was worth your time though because it looks great! You’re doing a good job getting things crossed off your to-do list; I feel like mine keeps getting longer! 😉
Mine too! Oh my gosh – I can’t wait to be done with painting. I’ll need a break for awhile after this one and I know you will too!
This is so much fun to follow your progress! You are well on your way and everything is lovely.
I hope you will share this today at Thoughts of Home on Thursday.
Just stop by my blog to join in.
Enjoyed visiting,
Laura
White Spray Paint
Thanks Laura! And thank you for hosting the weekly link-up!
It always gets ugly before it gets prettier. Doesn’t it? That’s how it goes at my house!
Love that you remembered a little Friends fun for this post. 🙂
I’m with you on those mix and match lamps. They are magical. They have them at Lowe’s too of all places.
Thanks so much for joining us today for Thoughts of Home.
Thanks, Stacey! Great suggestion on Lowes – I always forget that places like that have home decor and it’s not just for spray paint and flowers!
Wow! You are really making progress. The desk looks great. I really like that antique look. I like the lamps. I’m having trouble deciding on lamps for my guest room. Maybe medium size would work. I’ll have to experiment with what I have to decide on size, but I’ll need to buy something I’m sure. This wouldn’t be any fun if we didn’t buy anything, would it?!! I really like all your accessories we saw in your last post. Your grandma’s china is beautiful.
Thank you! I used Valspar dark wax – it’s really easy to work with and has a LOT of room for error.
We used Repose Gray in our ORC Nursery! I absolutely love the color! I had mine mixed in the Sherwin Williams paint at Lowes and it only took one coat. I think it all depends on what you are painting over!
Loving how your nursery is looking! The gray is such a versatile color – I think it might be my new favorite!
This is the first time I have visited your journey, I am so excited about the trip. 🙂 Many thanks for sharing with us! Have a good days.