One Room Challenge: Week Four DIY'ing

Seems like it was only yesterday that I posted about Week 3....

Week Four was definitely productive, which is a good thing, considering there are only 2 more weeks to finish this little bedroom! Have you been following along with the One Room Challenge? Hosted by Linda of Calling it Home, she has challenged 20 Featured Designers along with 200+ Guest Participants to completely revamp a room in their home (or in some cases, a client's home). The hitch? We've only got six short and sweet weeks to finish the project.

If you'd like to catch up on the progress of my bedroom you can do so here:

Week One: The Mood Board 
Week Two: Don't ask....
Week Three: Accessories 

This week is all about the DIYs. First up is a project that is pretty near and dear to my heart. If you follow me on Instagram, you will have already gotten a glimpse of these beautiful night stands. They had belonged to my Bubi, who passed away just after Christmas. Her apartment was always packed with beautiful pieces of furniture, dishware, accessories, clothes, etc. And I always loved going through her cupboards and admiring her things. She was a storyteller and loved to give me the history of everything she had and now, more than ever, I am thankful she did.

She had always had these night stands in her bedroom, and I assumed that they were always yellow. However, after going through old family pics I had spotted them in a shot from the late 80's and realized they were originally cream, but had yellowed with age (and likely a glaze of nicotine).

Initially I wasn't sure where I wanted to keep these night stands, but now that I will be moving into a much smaller bedroom, these are the perfect size for my ORC room.

This past semester our class was introduced to local designer, Cathy Plum-Kleiser and her line of Peony and Plum Dust Paint. Similar to chalk paint, Cathy's line of furniture paint requires virtually no prep work. YEAH, that's right. No sanding or priming! Just a quick wash with TSP, let your piece dry, and then you're off! Once you've applied your first coat, you can apply a second coat in the same colour or a contrasting colour(s). I am painting my room in Benjamin Moore's colour of the year, Simply White, so I wanted to keep the tables in a similar shade. Cathy recommended going a shade darker then Simply White and colour matched a jar of paint in Benjamin Moore's Moonlight White for me. I applied two coats of the same colour, and sanded some of the edges so the original paint could be seen, then did a little extra sanding on some edges that went right to the wood.

When I first started painting I got a little worried that I was changing the tables and taking away some of their charm. It wasn't until I started roughing them up with the sandpaper that they began to have a little more character, and looked more like those beaten-up night stands I was used to. 

I even had a little "moment" after pulling out one of the drawers and finding a half-eaten roll of Mentos mints, something my Bubi always had in her purse. My mom and I took it as a sign that she was okay with what I had done to her beloved tables :)  

And voila! A little preview of what's to come. Will be finishing them both with beeswax, and using their original hardware. 

For more Peony & Plum inspiration, check out their collection of furniture at Castle & Park's online shop. 

one room challenge: week 3 accessories

YIKES. Week 3 already??

If you've been following along on my six week adventure to redecorate my new bedroom, you may have noticed that I haven't done much! My excuse: Finishing up the last week of my Interior Decorating diploma at Georgian College. I also had the opportunity to volunteer at Georgian's first-ever Research, Innovation and Scholarship Day, where our program took home a well-deserved prize for "Most Creative". Here we are manning the booth and showing off the DIY lamps we had created for our lighting class. Pretty creative, right?

This week I am also preparing for Georgian College's School of Design and Visual Arts Scholarship Show, where the top students from each department display their favourite projects from the past year for prospective students to view. There is also a judging component to the show, where over $30,000 will be awarded to students from the Art and Design Fundamentals, Fine Arts, Jewellery and Metals, Digital Photography and Imaging, Interior Design, Interior Decorating and Web Animation and Design programs. I participated in the show last year as well, and this year's board will likely look pretty similar to what I had shown:

As wonderful as it feels to be done, it is also a little daunting to now be focusing all of my attention to the One Room Challenge, as there is SO much to do. This week I managed to spend a small fortune at one of my favourite stores: Homesense. And of course I strayed a little from my original plan...but after a little space planning, I decided to nix this gorgeous rug I had initially had my eye on, in favour of some drapes that will be a much softer addition (and a little kinder to my budget). There's a beautiful sage-green that runs throughout the pattern and I plan to play it up with the bedding accent pillows. As disappointing as it is to let go of the rug, I was fearful that such a strong colour on the floor will make the already small space feel even smaller. I may regret this decision, but for now I'm loving the drapes and very excited to see them in the space! The pic below was taken at night with my phone, so it really doesn't do the fabric justice. But you'll get the gist of where I'm going with this :)

I also picked up a few little cheapies at my guilty pleasure, WalMart: Furniture paint from Peony & Plum in Warm Black as well as a pot of white, custom matched to Benjamin Moore's Moonlight White (more on this next week) and my dad and I are prepping for the trim work this afternoon (better late then never, right?). No doubt the last few weeks will be a whirlwind, but luckily I work best under a little extra pressure!

If you're new to the blog, you may be wondering what the heck I'm talking about....well, a few weeks ago I signed up for the One Room Challenge, a blogging event hosted by the lovely Linda of Calling It Home. She's challenged 20 featured designers and a over 200 Guest Participants to link up and share the adventures (and misadventures) of decorating a room in six (very short) weeks.

one room challenge: week 1 mood board

I've been standing on the sidelines of the One Room Challenge for many many rounds, however, this year I'm joining in on the fun as a Guest Participant! If you aren't already familiar, the ORC is a blogging event hosted by Linda of Calling It Home. She brings together 20 Designers (an impressive list of bloggers I am in awe of) as well as a linkup opportunity for other bloggers to participate, share progress and cheer on one another. Everyone has six weeks to hustle and transform their space.

For this challenge, I will be making over my new bedroom (pictured above) into a cozy little cottage-farmhouse-inspired getaway. When I made the decision to return to school and move back home with my parents I knew I'd enjoy a few perks, like the home cooked meals (my mom is an outrageously good cook), reliable snow removal (thanks dad!), and free room and board. I definitely wasn't expecting them to purchase a lakefront home...needless to say, we're all excited and I may never move out :)  It also felt like the perfect opportunity to jump into the ORC.

The new house is pretty close to perfection, it had recently been renovated and staged to sell, however the two upstairs bedrooms have awkward sloped ceilings that likely prevented the previous owners from installing doors. With this in mind, I am expecting to get creative with the closet and bedroom door, with hopes of incorporating a pair of sliding barn-style doors (anyone have any tips for installing these?).

The gambrel roof makes the ceiling feel a bit lower then it actually is, so the plan is to incorporate some trim to help give the room the illusion of having some height. I was in awe of the millwork in Vanessa Francis' ORC bedroom makeover from last season, and also found an inspiration image that shows the millwork going right up onto the ceiling—definitely on my list of 'Things to Consider'.

As you can see by my mood board the goal is definitely cottage-farmhouse-chic. Planning to refinish some older pieces I already own, as well as perhaps adding a few modern touches with new lamps, bedding and accessories.

You can meet my fellow Guest Participants here as well as the incredibly talented Featured Designers here.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone has up their sleeves for this round of decorating madness!

Inspiration via Wit and Delight

 Inspiration via Thoughts from Alice 

Inspiration via Keltainen Talo Rannalla

Inspiration via Vanessa Francis

inspiration: stylish updates for your spring mantel

This week on Mode I'm sharing 8 gorgeous ways to create a show-stopping spring mantel (just like this little beauty, found in a Newport Beach cottage). 

Find the full list here