So not only are we done with Week 4, but by the time you are reading this update, we are half way through with week five (eek!). I may have gotten a skosh behind this week, and so am getting this update in down to the wire. But in all honestly, I think that it is quite fitting and probably high time you guys knew my true personality…I am almost always late, it is kind of my thing. When I was just out of college, my best friends knew me so well that they would tell me to meet them for dinner 15 minutes (ok, sometimes 30 minutes, ack!) earlier than it was actually scheduled, because they knew then I would end up showing up at the right time. So my blog readers, the charade is over, you now know I am perpetually late, and a pretty darn good procrastinator too. But honestly, I think that is why the One Room Challenge is perfect for me — it gives me the deadline I desperately need in order to prioritize and get things done. So here we are half way to week five, and late or not, I am actually feeling pretty good about where we stand.
For those that don’t know, I am also a little bit behind in giving a proper introduction to this amazing challenge. The One Room Challenge (otherwise known as the ORC), is a six week challenge where 20 featured interior design bloggers and hundreds of participating guest bloggers, completely make over one room in a six week timeline. They give weekly updates along the way, and cheer each other on as the weeks progress. This is my first time participating, but I have loved following along in the past seasons, because the transformations that these rooms undergo is truly miraculous, especially given the relatively short time frame. If you would like to go back and look at our laundry room progress for the first half of the ORC, here are the previous weeks:
So the big progress we made this week was deciding not to stain the countertops and just sealing them instead. We tried about half a dozen different stain colors and none of them looked as pretty as the natural look of the walnut butcher block that we had at the start. So while we knew that the process of sealing them would darken/richen the wood color at least a little bit, we really didn’t want to take away the tones that were in the natural state. So here is a before and after of the virgin, unsealed wood (countertop on the lower, left) and how it looks after two coats of poly (countertop on the upper, right). It is not a huge difference, and while it did definitely get darker it is still more of the look we were going for than what we were achieving with any of the stains we tried. Oh, and for reference, we used the water-based “wipe-on” poly by Minwax.
The other really fun thing we did this week was find an antique door to use for the entrance of the laundry room. We were having a really hard time finding anything cheaper than the $400 range and there are some other places we already splurged in this room, so the door (which is a pocket door and will almost always be open, so not seen very often) seemed like an easy place to save. Plus, with all of the “new” going into the room, it also seems like a good way to bring some older character into the space.
So we’ll still need to sand the paint off and either re-paint or stain it. But luckily, from the countertop experiment, we’ve got plenty of stains on hand and ready to go, haha!
The last items we completed this week was painting the folding nook a pink to match the wallpaper. We wanted the duct work in this corner to be painted a dark, matte color so that it would recede as much as possible, so went with this beautiful Behr Paint color called Pressed Blossoms. We are still going to put up a hanging rod from the ceiling, with coat hangers, which will be where we put clothes to hang dry, and I’m hoping that will conceal it even further. But for now, it is a laundry room, which is essentially a utilitarian space, so the duct work doesn’t bother me that much, especially since it’s pink!
So here is we are stand, at week 4.5;), and even though we didn’t get that much crossed off the list, we have a plan set for when we are going to do the trim in the room, and that is going to really take care of a big chunk of what is left here:
Install tile and groutBuild and hang cabinetsAdd doors and drawer frontsHang light fixture- Add trim pieces, and paint them to match the Ikea Bodbyn color
Install hardwareBuild/trim/paint a plywood frame to go around the washer and dryerCut the butcher block countertops to size, and make an opening for the sinkStain and seal countertops- Install the sink and facuet
Hang wallpaper- Select backsplash tile
- Tile a backsplash above the sink countertop
- Hang planters from the ceiling above the sink countertop
- frame out the windows?
- Install hanging bar for clothes to dry on
Paint duct work to match wall colorPurchase a stool or chair for the “work” area- Hang pocket door and install door jamb/trim
- Install baseboards
- Roll out the rug and admire the finished space;)
So check back in just a few days for a Week 5 update, and don’t forget to look back at the other guest participant’s Week 4 progress on the One Room Challenge blog, and of course the amazing things happening with all of the featured designers below.
At Home With Ashley | Casey Keasler | Dorsey Designs | The Farmhouse Project | Home Made by Carmona | House of Funk | House of Jade Interiors | House Seven Design | House That Lars Built | Inspired by Charm | Jana Bek | Jessica Brigham | Kelly Golightly | Murphy Deesign | The Pink Pagoda | Sarah Gunn | Sherry Hart Designs | Sugar & Cloth | Veronica Solomon | Vintage Revivals | Media BH&G | TM by ORC
