The One Room Challenge Week 5: Swatch This

This was a BIG week for us in the One Room Challenge Week 5.

Let’s be honest…it was a big week everywhere, as the USA faced the massive nail biter of an election. The good news is–I had a TON of work to keep me busy! This week was all about the paint!

Blue, blue–and More BLUE!

No, I’m not talking about the election…I finally picked a paint color! Painting soothes my nerves, so I forced myself to choose the color, and I started painting on Tuesday to avoid watching the news ALL week long.

We had been living with six color swatches on the wall since week one of the challenge. I realize this picture only shows four…do I have one of all six swatches? Probably. Am I going to go scrolling to find it as I scramble to finish this blog post in time??? No. (Thanks for understanding!)

I had an early favorite, and as the days went on, I worked up the courage to go BOLD and paint the walls blue. From gray to blue. Phew.

It’s really blue. Like…really, really blue. I went with Behr’s Midnight Blue. It’s beautiful. And, I love the contrast up against the brick wall. It looks great with the wooden elements in the space.

Guess who hates it?

Yep. Scott has been making jokes all week about the new “Nautical” theme in our room, including ocean memes and seasick comments. (Eye roll) At one point, I was feeling a bit of painter’s regret. I even coined the phrase “Not-a-cool” to describe this paint decision on my part. But, I decided to forge ahead and decorate the space with what we had on hand, and I’m loving it. 

The Bedding

This is the place we are in the challenge…I’m choosing new bedding soon. But, in an effort to get started on the new look, I ordered these faux leather pillows, and I love the touches of rust.

We’ll get there. The white quilt is too stark for this time of year. Stay tuned–I have my eye on a beautiful set from Hearth & Hand!

Making Over the Fan

In other news, this may be my favorite aspect of this room makeover! The vaulted ceilings make the room seem lofty, so the light fixture has to be large. Hubs absolutely needs a fan to sleep. I looked at replacing it with one of those trending “fandeliers,” but they really are made for smaller spaces.

The next option was to replace the fan with something more up-to-date. What I found, was that every fan I liked was so similar to the one we already had. There was only one difference. They were all black.

So, I relied on my new-found art of spray paint and got to work!

The weather was nice, the wind wasn’t too bad. Time to paint! I covered up all the parts I wanted to protect.

And, what can I say? Necessity is the mother of invention. I may be on to something here!

One thing I love about spray paint is how fast it dries! It makes a DIY project just fly by, especially when you have a ton of details to pay attention to.

The results? Absolutely fabulous! I love the new look. 

For this project, I used Krylon Chalkboard Black spray paint. After it was completely done–and viewed from many angles under different sources of light–I finished with a clear coat. This Krylon clear coat is my favorite.

The Pocket Door Is Done!

One of the main reasons I wanted to participate in this challenge was to finish up details that we’ve been putting off for over seven years. Finishing the doors was a big win–and I love the new look of this pocket door! The matte black hardware finishes it off perfectly!

What’s Ahead?

Glad you asked! We have a major project we’ve kept secret this whole time. Mainly because we screwed it up right from the start–and, we’re still working on it! Tune in this coming week for an episode of Teacher VS Engineer. Riveting stuff.

Take care, friends!