Updated One Room Challenge Reveal

Over the Christmas break I managed to snag a few more pics of my updated One Room Challenge. November is a pretty dark month, and that made it tricky to get some bright pics. Plus I had some spare time to hang pictures and do a little more tweaking to the styling.

Click here for all of the before pics and my original final reveal post. 

Merry Christmas and happy New Year! 
Ashley

Week 6 / 7 - One Room Challenge - Reveal!

{{ catch up on past weeks }}

WEEK 1  //  WEEK 2  //  WEEK 3  //  WEEK 4 //  WEEK 5

past one room challenge reveals

SPRING 2016  //  FALL 2016

Seven weeks have come and gone, marking the very end of the Fall 2017 One Room Challenge! I'm not going to lie, I was concerned that my dad and I weren't going to finish on time, but this past weekend we finished all of our Dapp'ing (I think we counted 6 tubes) and painting and FINALLY got a chance to decorate! 

As always, a huge thank you goes out to Linda from Calling it Home. She's the mastermind behind the One Room Challenge, a massive blogging event that brings together almost 300 designers and bloggers. Twice a year she challenges everyone to redecorate a room in six short weeks, and share their progress/pain points in weekly posts. You can check out the featured designers' final spaces here and my fellow 200-and-something guest participants here.

This year my dad and I transformed a guest room into a second media/TV room. And with the help of Metrie, we were able to incorporate some beautiful mouldings into our space. Last year we had created a board and batten look in my bedroom, and the goal for this season's ORC space was to carry the theme of a cozy, modern-cottage into the new space. This time, we created a slightly more elaborate board and batten design, using Metrie's 6" MDF Stile Rail, and on either side of the 6" rail we placed Metrie's True Craft 1 5/8" Fingerjoint Poplar Applied Moulding. We spaced each rail 8" apart, and it created a really beautifully layered space with tons of dimension. 

On the ceilings we added Metrie's 11 1/2" MDF Shiplap, I chose shiplap in lieu of a tongue and groove paneling simply because the shiplap offered a wider panel and we really wanted something that was as minimal as possible. The shiplap was heavy to hang, and needed some serious drilling, but the results were worth it. 

To make the space feel as large as possible we painted the ceiling, walls and casings all in one colour, Benjamin Moore's Simply White in a flat finish. This was the same colour as my previous ORC room, and helped to tie the two spaces together.   

Okay, time for some pictures! But first, another goal I had set for myself was to shop my own stuff and use what I had. I stuck to that for the most part, aside from the buffet-turned-tv stand that I picked up at my local Habitat for Humanity ReStore and refinished with some chalk paint I purchased at Michael's. On Tuesday night I also managed to score a very last-minute side table off of Kijiji for $20, and it fits that little nook next to the sofa perfectly. 

Okay, now it's actually time for some Before and After pictures :) 

(Congrats to everyone for finishing their spaces!)

Week 5 - One Room Challenge - Shiplap Ceiling

{{ catch up on past weeks }}

WEEK 1  //  WEEK 2  //  WEEK 3  //  WEEK 4

past one room challenge reveals

SPRING 2016  //  FALL 2016

As it turns out, that phrase Beauty is pain also applies to home renovations. My learning from week 5: Shiplap is no joke. Clearly this is how Joanna Gaines stays in shape, because after 8 straight hours of holding 7-foot-something pieces over my head (yeah, you read that right) on Sunday, I had some sore pipes and a knot in my neck on Monday...

My mid-Sunday afternoon thought was that we should give up and move on to making up a Plan B. Because, shiplap was probably best saved for just walls and should not be placed on ceilings. It was much heavier than I had expected, and required some serious screws to hold. BUT, now that it is done and we've dapped those nails and rested those muscles, shiplap definitely needs to be on more ceilings. I love the wider panels (11 1/2" MDF primed boards from Metrie), it's clean and crisp and adds tons of character to an otherwise bland and often over-looked spot. 

To get this lovely shiplap onto the ceilings, we drew a leveled line on the angled wall where we wanted to start our 'ceiling'

We then drew pencil lines across the ceiling where our beams/studs were running. We needed to nail our shiplap planks horizontally onto the studs so they would all hold. The first few planks that went up the angled wall were by far the most difficult, and we had a few challenges to overcome--like our wonky, not-at-all-straight walls. We were constantly checking the level to make sure we were keeping a straight line, and now that we're done, the shiplap actually did a great job at hiding the imperfections and creating a straight slope. I regret not taking a picture of how 'off' our ceiling was, but at the time I was too nervous it was all going to be a giant disaster.

Once the ceiling was finished we sanded and Dapp'd over the sunken screw nails, and I had waaaaay too much fun on Instagram stories playing around with filters and doodling on pics. I was off Instagram for a while, but am back to being obsessed.

What else happened this week? 

Well, I picked a paint colour and prepped my new TV stand (which was a dining room buffet in a former life). I had had some good success painting furniture in my Spring 2016 ORC room, when I refinished my Bubi's nightstands. At the time, I was worried I would be ruining them, but I am SO happy with how they've held up this past year. I think the trick was giving them a heavy wash with TSP  and water (check carton for exact measurements). I let them dry for 24 hours, and then washed once more. Once dry you'll see that the texture and colour of your furniture is a little dulled and matte. I haven't needed to sand any of the pieces I have painted, but you can if you feel you need to. 

This year I picked up a furniture paint from Michaels. It is their Americana Decor Chalky Finish in Primitive. I haven't used this before, but loved the colour, and think it will bring out some of the pretty details in my new TV stand. Once the second coat dries I will be buffing it with bee's wax. 

The plan for week 6? 

- paint TV stand

- prime walls

- hang the rest of our trim

- paint walls and ceiling 

- clean cabinet hardware 

The plan for week 7? 

- clean

- move in furniture and accessories 

- DECORATE :) 

- photograph 

That finish line is almost in sight! As always, a massive 'thank you' goes out to Linda of Calling it Home and her amazing creation that is The One Room Challenge. Twice a year, Linda brings together bloggers, decorators, designers, and enthusiasts and challenges us to redecorate a room in six short and sweet weeks (this year we have an extra week due to the number of natural disasters or fellow ORC pals in the States are having to deal with). 

I also am forever grateful to Metrie for sponsoring my room for this challenge. Their products can truly transform a space the way no other accessory can. You can click here to find a Metrie dealer in your area.  

Week 4 - One Room Challenge - Metrie Pick Up!

(need to play catch-up?)
WEEK 1 // WEEK 2 // WEEK 3

past one room challenge reveals

SPRING 2016 // FALL 2016

Welcome to week 4 of the One Room Challenge! A biannual blogging event hosted by the lovely Linda of Calling it Home. She has challenged 20 designers and 200+ guest participants (bloggers, designers, design-lovers, etc) to redecorate one room (or more if they're feeling ambitious) in six short and sweet weeks. AND it has been announced that the deadline has been extended by one week due to the outrageous number of natural disasters our pals in the States have had to endure.

Week 4 was a big week for us. The wonderful people at Metrie are huge supporters of bloggers and the One Room Challenge, and they have partnered with me (and my dad!) on this challenge. We took a little trek down to their office / warehouse in Milton, Ontario to pick up a few key pieces for our project (also snagged that pretty little buffet I posted about last week!)  

I'm not exactly sure when or how I first learned about Metrie, from a kid my mom and dad were always huge DIY-ers and constantly fixing up our 'builder-grade' homes, and transforming them into spaces that felt custom and very personalized. My dad completely changed our housing standards when he started tinkering with wainscoting and learned how to cut a miter joint. Three houses later, and a whooole lot of sawdust, we've all become a bit obsessed with how we can use zush a space up with a little bit of trim. Here's our last house, where my dad worked some magic (you can also see our Billy Bookcases that we turned into built-ins)

Three years ago, when I returned to school for Interior Decorating at Georgian College, Metrie was part of our school's Decorating and Design Expo, with probably the biggest booth at the expo and a series of presentations. Throughout my three years at Georgian, Metrie representatives had visited our classroom with presentations and tons of product knowledge, assisting with project-based questions and recommendations.

Beginning in 1926 as a small family-owned business, Metrie has grown to become the largest supplier and manufacturer of solid wood and composite mouldings in North America (to be honest, I don't even know any other moulding brands...). And you would not believe the amount of product we saw in their Milton warehouse on Monday. It was PACKED. 

In week two I shared a little picture that outlined where I was planning to put my moulding, and now that we have officially started to hang the product, I feel comfortable sharing our plan, since I don't think it will change too much:

The room has an angled ceiling, which makes it look smaller than it actually is. The plan is to cover the ceiling and those awkward angles in 11-1/2" MDF Shiplap. I think this will help to make the ceiling feel taller, because we will be differentiating it from the walls. Does that make sense? Hope so. 

The walls will have 6" MDF Stile/Rails spaced evenly around the room (we're aiming for 6"), and then the True Craft 1 5/8" Fingerjoint Poplar Applied Mouldings will be placed on either side of the rails. The Rails and Applied Mouldings can be found on Metrie's website, under Wainscot Mouldings. I wanted to create a look that complimented my bedroom from last year's challenge since they are fairly close to each other, but I didn't want to make it a carbon copy. The wider panels and applied mouldings will hopefully give it an slightly more unique board and batten look.

We've started laying out the placement of the panels and it is looking better than I had imagined. I'm happy I went with the very linear pieces, as it will keep the space feeling more casual and slightly rustic, which lends nicely to the modern-farmhouse feel I had aimed for last season. 

SO excited for this weekend to hit, and for this room to take shape!

PS. Ditched that DIY light sconce idea, since it was looking like trash. Instead I made an impulse purchase at homedepot.ca on two of these little babies. Much better... 

And while we're on the topic of makeovers, this little lady came home unrecognizable :)
There's something about this new hair that makes her look 10 years older....