One Room Challenge Update Week 6

My One Room Challenge update can be summed up in one word: Progress. Progress on a bunch of different elements. Here’s the challenge: We just moved in. The entryway is setting the tone for the entire first floor and landing. I thought this would be the perfect way to solidify the style. Turns out, it’s just super stressful. It’s affecting every element of the first floor, from foundational paint colors, to window treatment hardware. Yikes.

Progress on everything means nothing is finished, which is sometimes the hardest part of a whole room makeover. The truth is…I haven’t really updated much about anything else. I’ve been so consumed by the staircase–for obvious reasons. But, I definitely have worked on a few other elements. So it’s time for a round-up.

The Doors

The interior doors in this house are flat panel doors, and they’re hollow. Because they’re hollow, they have holes in them. Hollow doors are often outfitted with these *special* door stops on the hinges. What’s horrible is the fact that when pressure is applied–like by children who simply push the door open too hard–the stopper goes right through the door. I plan on upgrading the look of the flat panel–while also covering the holes. They also need to be painted, and I’ve been going back and forth with colors. I love the idea of dark doors, but I’m taking the design of the house into new range of colors. So, while black interior doors always look amazing, I’ve got different ideas for this one.

The Door Casings

Speaking of a whole new look, the trim around the doors–the door casing–needs a change. We inherited this home with a number of trim pieces missing, so we would have to replace sections anyway. It’s a very traditional two inch trim look, and I want something wider, with a contemporary vibe. I spent at least two afternoons at Menards putting together a whole new look, and I think it’s going to be so good. Let’s just remove these puppies and see what’s possible…shall we?

Paint Colors

I’ve painted…a lot.

Then, I received the wallpaper. Let’s be very clear…I LOVE the wallpaper. I just didn’t like the original wall color I had chosen. (Why do I do this to myself???) It was time to regroup. I took a sample of the wallpaper to the store, and I poured over colors. I bought 2 samples. One ended up being too dark. The other ended up being too light. Yikes. I hung the paint swatch “color family” on the wall, and I just kept walking by it, staring at it in all different types of light. I ended up deciding on a medium shade from that same color family card. And, with the confidence of a naive idiot, I went to the store and bought a gallon.

*Crosses fingers*

The Wallpaper

The wallpaper from Tempaper is absolutely gorgeous! It’s this mezmerising “french gray” with texture that you can’t help but run your hand over. As soon as it arrived, I had to immediately put up two sheets of it. It’s a subtle statement with a sophisticated air.

The Board & Batten

Just like the door casings, I spent time in the hardware store, staring at trim, mouldings and wood. I laid pieces out on the floor, I compared, I switched elements around. Phew. It was a lot of brainstorming and testing out what would go together. I’ve decided on a 4.25″ baseboard, with a matching top board. One wall will need to be covered with quarter inch plywood. (Let’s just get right to it!)

The Lights

I have spent countless hours…How hard should this be? So much scrolling, in an attempt to choose the right look for both the upstairs and downstairs. Flush mount or semi-flush mount? Matte black or aged brass? Glass or diffused? After three lights have arrived and been returned, we finally installed one I really liked, only to realize that we do need diffused. I have a couple more lights on order…that’s another situation for crossed fingers.

The Stairs

Nope…still not done. I’ve been so consumed by this project that I haven’t spent nearly enough time posting about it–or anything else, for that matter. I did two other posts about it for One Room Challenge Update blog posts, so I’m hoping to only do one more. In that final post, I’ll be talking about how bleaching the wood worked, but there was still a little tinge of red from the red oak. Using a diluted paint mixture, I whitewashed them, and they looked great.

Meanwhile, my pallet of iron balusters and box newels arrived. I have a couple issues to troubleshoot, and we should be good to go!

One Room Challenge Update: Is there really only 2 Weeks Left?

It’s hard to believe how close we are to being done…and also so far away. It gives me a sense of calm and panic all at the same time.