ONE ROOM CHALLENGE ™, Fall 2019, Week 5: ‘Hell Week’

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Hello my loves!!! Week 5 of the One Room Challenge™, otherwise known as ‘Hell Week,’ is finally coming to an end! Whew! If this is your first time here, WELCOME! I usually don’t swear in the first paragraph. Let me catch you up on the One Room Challenge ™ weekly progress: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 |Week 4 |

This week has been a doozy y’all and I’m getting the sense from my #TeamORC homies that I’m not the only one in the midst of chaos. ORC ™ is starting to read like series of short stories and we’ve all hit our ‘Core Conflict’ over the last several days. For this girl, it’s a bunch of ‘hurry up and wait’ and tedious little plot twists like our new sheet of plywood cuts not fitting in with the already laid flooring despite the fact that they are the EXACT same size (it’s a real head scratcher). I’ll spare you the nitty gritty details of all the things that have gone awry this week because I’m pretty sure I’ve already surpassed the socially acceptable number of rants in my Instagram stories.

Suffice to say that week 5 feels more like week 345 and I’m ready for the ‘resolution’ part of the story. You know, where everything comes full circle and all the protagonists finally get their happily ever after. Can I get an “AMEN?”

STAINING & TREATING THE FLOORS

I’ve had a million questions about how we plan to treat and protect these plywood floors and I’ve gotta be honest. I am totally shooting from the hip. My goal was to keep these floors as close to the natural wood tone as possible but also make them hardy enough to withstand life in a houseful of hoodlums. So bathing them in  Miniwax Polycrylic Matte Water-based Polyurethane has been my plan from the get go. I did some test runs on scrap pieces but as expected, the poly almost immediately pulled yellow tones from the wood. So I scoured my local hardware stores for a can of Miniwax Pickling Oak Stain (thanks Ace Hardware for being a bro) and applied a couple of coats to the scrap piece. Honestly, it was barely noticeable even after two coats, but it made an enormous difference on the outcome after the poly application. Pickling Oak stained totally helped to maintain the light, neutral coloring I was hoping for.

So wait, does this mean our floors are fully installed? Um, no. Ugh! In fact, we JUST finished the tiny cuts against 2 of the 4 walls late last night and we haven’t even touched the closet yet because nothing is lining up properly. But the show must go on ya feel?

So I spent two days on my hands and knees applying two coats of pickling stain, followed by three coats of Miniwax Polycrylic Matte Water-based Polyurethane (so far), taking care to sand the ENITRE floor between each coat by hand. It is exactly as tedious and boring and back breaking as it sounds, and as much as I adore these floors I am so over them right now. I can’t wait until they’re 100% done so we can be friends again.

IKEA RAST DRESSER HACK

I mentioned last week that we got our IKEA Rast dresser delivered and I finally had a chance to see it in person. I polled my Instagram Audience to determine which of the following three options I should attempt to ‘hack’ and the cane dresser from Urban Outfitters won out by a long shot.

Unfortunately, once the dresser arrived I realized that the the construction would not allow for me to cut out the bulk of the drawer face (as seen above) because the shelf bottom was sitting too high up the face of the drawer. It would have only allowed for a tiny opening to be made for the caning to peek through and that totally changes the whole look of the piece.

Back to the drawing board. I knew I wanted to keep with the cane look since I’d already ordered the material so it was simply a matter of finding a new design that could work within the confines of the dresser’s construction. This Pottery Barn piece became my new source of inspiration; Cute, modern, swoon worthy. The new plan is to adhere the caning to the drawer fronts (if it every arrives) and trim them out with a thin piece of lattice.

I started that project a couple of days ago and I think its going to turn out alright! I’m not a huge fan of the Rast’s super contrasting wood grain so I painted the exterior of the piece with Sherwin Williams Jasper Green, the same dark moody color of the ceiling, similar image below. I love the configuration of these metal legs but ya girl is fresh outta cash.

My handsome hubby and I scoured our collection of odds and ends and found some vintage casters that we recently pulled out of an old ironing cabinet.

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We had just turned said ironing cabinet into a bathroom vanity and decided a sink on wheels wasn’t necessary. So glad we kept these oldies but goodies because I think they’re going to be adorbs (and free) on this little cabinet. I definitely still have my heart set on a pair of metal legs and have sourced them here, but that’ll be an easy update down the road.

I also found a handful of Anthropologie Serina Hammered knobs in Antique Brass tucked away in a drawer. I purchased them on major clearance ($4.95 + 40% off) a few years ago knowing they’d come in handy someday. They are the perfect size and I feel confident that the rustic hammered look will marry the vintage vibe of the casters and the modern vibe of the caning just perfectly.

CURTAIN DRAMA

I didn’t put too much thought into what curtains I’d use in this room because, quite frankly, up until now I’ve had bigger fish to fry. I selected a bright, crisp, simple fabric design,Nate Berkus’ Cole Stripe Paramount in Ebony, which, as it turns out, it is literally sold out all across the country. Plot twist number two. I lamented on Instagram about my misfortune and figured my curtain dreams were dashed. But y’all, the village stepped up! So many of my instabuddies hit the streets and started making calls to their own local Joann’s. So many struck out! But it only takes one loves. And my girl Muriel tracked them down in Belair, MD with the help of a Joann’s employee! They should be on a plane, soaring above the fly over states as I type this and as soon as it arrives I can get started on these curtain panels. I have my heart set on a pinch pleat but time is of the essence! If I’ve gotta fold my top hem and just clip them in place, so be it.

PAINT, PAINT AND MORE PAINT

I decided on a whim to paint all the closet and bedroom doors and trim to match the rest of the board and batten and I’m so glad I did! They were looking dirty and dingy before and the it’s given my builder grade doors a custom looking facelift.

I also spray painted that bubblegum pink bed frame back to black and it’s ready to go into the room. Next up is some touch up paint and a window sash and I think I may be officially done painting things in this room. Hallelujah!!

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Without a doubt the highlight of the week was announcing my collaboration with Studio Amy Lynn on a custom art piece for the feature wall of this guest room and getting a peek at her initial sketches! Aside from being one of the sweetest people on the Gram, Amy Lynn is an incredibly talented artist across many differing artistic mediums. So many of our friends voted for their favorite piece on Instagram and the ‘Standing Heron’ (far right image) won by a landslide. She began to work on the Stippled piece this week and I am over the moon about hanging this beauty in my ORC ™ Guest Room!

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But that’s not even the best part! Amy Lynn is making a print for my room and has decided to auction the original off to one lucky follower as part of a fundraiser! More details to come, but make sure you’re following @studioamylynn on Instagram so you don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to own an Amy Lynn original designed especially for the Roost & Ramble One Room Challenge ™!

7 DAYS AND COUNTING AND ONLY 7 MILLION PIDDLY TASKS LEFT TO DO!

• Clear out room
• Patch drywall holes
• Remove baseboards
• Remove Carpet and pad
• Pull all carpet tacks and staples
• Color match fabric with paint
• Repaint ceiling
• Paint walls
• Paint closet SKIP FOR NOW
• Paint Window Trim
• Install bamboo shades (?)
• Paint closet door and room door
• Spray Paint Bed
• Install fabric wall treatment
• Finish Crown Molding Installation
• Install new light fixture
• Purchase lumber
• Finish Board and Batten Installation
• Determine Plywood floor pattern
• Cut all flooring
• Sand all flooring
• Lay all flooring
• Stain flooring
• Poly flooring
• Finish baseboard installation
• Hang curtain rod
• Sew curtains
• Resinstall sconce
• Finish DIY Ikea Rast Hack
• Accessorize

XOXO,

Visit each week of the One Room Challenge™ Here: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6