ORC - Week 7 - The Closet

This week I’ve probably gotten the most done even though I may have the least to show for it!  I’ve been working on our closet- the inside of the closet was never really part of the plan for ORC, but let’s just say a leak made it necessary!

This week I tackled the closet- including the inside and the doors, the latter which was planned!

To accomplish this weathered slated wood door look, I began searching Pinterest for inspiration! I new I wanted to utilize a 1/4” plywood “slat” over the existing doors, but what I didn’t know is I would find the perfect inspiration photo, complete with the perfect DIY handles!! Source: Grace Oaks Designs

I started by cutting my 1/4” plywood down into 4 sections. Each of these I then stacked together to cut into 3.75” strips. From there, I sanded them, wiped them down, and then attached to the existing door with wood glue and a few finishing nails. I then painted the visible wood sections of the doors black, so make the small gaps appear cohesive and then moved on to painting each of the slats white… which I would probably suggest doing first to anyone recreating this process, as the white covered the black I had previously painted. Fortunately it’s not super visible, but something I would have just tweaked.

For the handles I used 2- 1” dowels cut to 16” each and 4 split ring hangers found in the plumbing department (intended for pipe). I spray painted the rings black, after a failed attempt at using my brass ager on copper. I stained the dowels with special walnut after conditioning. To attach the handles I predrilled holes into the dowels (since the 1” dowel is slightly smaller than the 1” ring hangers and drilled a screw through the dowel, though the back of the ring hanger, and into the door. I then attached the fronts of the ring hangers and voila, the perfect handles**

** Full disclosure, I later went back and looked at my inspiration and wished I had made the handles both longer and attached slightly lower. I honestly have another 1” dowel around here somewhere that I plan on using to create 24” handles.

As for the inside, I dry walled the damages pieces, mused/ sanded- that whole process, painted everything white, build a shoe/accessory/ whatever tower for the center to divide my husband’s side and mine, but also create a bit of extra storage. I still need to get the closet rods added, more shelves cut/ put in, but I’m so excited to just have our closet back and not have stuff everywhere (this is the part that hasn’t part of the plan Haha! Our clothes were never planning to leave the closet for more than a day for me to rip carpet up.)

What do I have left??

Well, a lot, but to not put too much pressure of myself- I’m going to prioritize my DIY shades for my wall sconces and styling the room. If there is randomly extra time- I’d love to deconstruct a chair or update our little stool side tables, but I can always work on those after the ORC is over. I’m overall just very happy to have a lighter, more warm and beautiful bedroom. 

A special thanks to the One Room Challenge for hosting this challenge and all of the guest participant encouragers I’ve met along the way! I can’t wait to show y’all the final results!

ORC - Week 6 - Upholstered Headboard

Nov 4 Written By Alexis Moore

I’m so excited to share that we have a bedroom again!!!

Yall! Its been a long 6 weeks! From the excitement of the initial challenge, to the delays with the leak I discovered, we are finally moving right along and now have a bed back in our bedroom!!!

This week I upholstered our existing Ikea Hemnes Headboard for about $35. I really did not love our bed. I love the under the bed storage and that I bought this bed off of Facebook for only $100 last year, but I wanted something lighter. After looking at lots of inspiration online, I decided that I really liked an upholstered headboard and particularly one I saw with French seams. I also did not want to invest in another bed right now (even though ours is far too large for the space we have), so I did some brainstorming and decided to try making my own. My idea was to make a slip cover for our headboard. One that could be removed to wash and one that did not damage my existing bed (incase I ever get tired of it??). Here are some very rough instructions:

Materials: Drop Cloth, Twin Mattress Topper, Low Loft Batting, Heat & Bond, Needle & Thread, Paperclips

I utilized drop cloth for this project because I wanted a neutral fabric and well, drop cloth is super inexpensive!! I found the one linked above at Harbor Freight on sale for $12 for a 9 x 12ft. I started out by removing the top slat on the top of the headboard (just unscrewed it) and tucked it under the bed for safe keeping. From there I folded the twin mattress topper over the headboard lengthwise- it almost made it to the ends, but was just shy. I tied the mattress to the rails on the headboard using thread and wrapped the whole thing with a half of the batting. Then the fun part. I cut the drop cloth roughly to size (width of bed) +6-8 inches or so. Below is a little sketch to give you a better idea of what a French seam is (to better understand what I did.

My sewing machine was honestly giving me issues (if anyone who knows things about sewing machines/ setting tensions- help a girl out and comment or better yet reach out on Insta). Since I was under time constraints- I opted to utilize heat and bond for the initial seam and then hand stitch the second. I honestly think it was the best solution anyway because my edges are nice and crisp. Although after tearing the drop cloth canvas- I do sort of like that raw edge look also.

So I sewed up the top and right side- slid it over the headboard and was able to create a mark for where my last seam (on the left hand side of the bed) needed to be. From there I repeated the heat and bond seam tape followed by hand stitching the second seam and it slid right on like a glove. I do intend to do this to my footboard as well- utilizing mainly left over material from the headboard, but with a new twin mattress topper.

What else did I do this week?

• Hung curtain rod

• Hung and hemmed curtains to just kiss the floor (using @Frills_and_Drills method)

• Got furniture back into the room

• Upholstered the headboard

• Tried out some bedding (still looking at Euro Sham options- send me your favs!!)

• Swapped out hardware on the dresser

What I still have planned:

• DIY lamp shades

• Hang sconces

• Closet makeover

• DIY Closet Doors

• Hang pictures

• DIY Mirror (if time)

• DIY Chair (if time)

• DIY roman shades (if time)

As always, check out the One Room Challenge Blog for more projects and my Instagram for more details on this weeks update.

If you’ve made it this far- thank you thank you thank you for supporting my little journey.

ORC Week 5 - Progress

I titled this week Progress because I finally feel like I have made some.

Finding a leak, needing our house to dry out, and then waiting was not exactly how I planned to spend the first 3 weeks of the ORC. I’m super happy with where I got last weekend, but there is still lots to do!

First things first- here is a list of the things I accomplished this past week!

• Caulked new trim & recaulked the old

• Measured, cut, & installed picture rail moulding

• Painted picture rail & top portion of the room

• Lay LVP flooring

• Painted baseboards

• Measured, cut, & installed quarter round

I’ll go over the big things more in depth- those are the picture rail/quarter round and LVP flooring. Both are pretty straight forward.

To be honest- last year when we installed quarter round in our house I struggled with figuring out how to make cuts- or I would make a line and then I would make them- bring it in the house and the angle would be the wrong direction. Maths?! Haha! What I realized this year is the angle may have been right and I just had the trim flip around. I don’t know what it was, but I got half the quarter round installed in 30 minutes this year. For both the picture rail and quarter round- I used a miter saw, a tape measure, and a pencil. I won’t bore you with the process because I’m not even sure if I could explain it well enough, but if you’re tackling a project like this- I implore you to check out Youtube (where I learn half the things I haven’t done before).

The LVP flooring is also pretty straight forward. First, LVP stands for Luxury Vinyl Plank - its made from layers of compressed vinyl (or so the internet says) and hence its durability and the click/ lock installation makes it waterproof. That being said- I did put down underlayment (essentially a thin layer of foam) before laying the LVP. I did this to have a more forgiving/ smoother surface- our house is 90+ years old and nothing seems to be level. LVP is actually a pretty simple DIY (not easy work, but the process is simple). I used a little floor laying kit from Harbor Freight & a rubber mallet from there too. The flooring really does just click/ lock into place on the long side and then locks on the short end with help from the mallet. Again, there are plenty of Youtube tutorials, so I will spare you, but happy to answer any questions you have.

That brings me to now!! Here is what I have left to accomplish:

• DIY “Upholstered” Bed

• Change hardware on dresser

• Hang curtains

• DIY lamp shades

• Install Sconce lighting

• DIY Closet Doors

• DIY Chair project (if time permits)

• DIY Mirror (if time permits)

• Decorate!!!

As you can see - I have ALOT to do. I’m confident though. 1 project at a time!! :)

As always, head on over to the ORC blog to see more from other guest participants!!

One Room Challenge - Week 4 - My Favorite Paint Ever

You may have already caught my post on Instagram, but after much delay with the leak in our house, it is dry and I was finally able to begin work on our bedroom!!! Hooray!!! We also desperately want the rest of our house back to normal- since our bedroom furniture has taken up home elsewhere since week 1!?

This week I decided to tackle painting our room!!

I shared more on my paint selection last week, but after looking as lots of options, I decided to go with Color Atelier mainly due to the ease of ordering. I did some research on some of the more common brands and after seeing that I had to call to place orders elsewhere, I was afraid that things may take too long. I ended up finding Color Atelier on Amazon, but ultimately ordered through their website.

Initially I ordered 2 paint samples and a half a dozen sample cards. I was debating between Vendome Beige & Chevre. After painting with each of the samples and consulting the hubs (my husband)- I decided on Chevre. I was really not wanting the room to feel too dark and yet, I wanted a good bit of Mottling (the movement on the walls). After debating between mixing the 2, Color Atelier commented on my IG post and suggested layering the 2 paints. Vendome Beige under the Chevre. I’m so very thankful I went this route because after 1 layer of Vendome Beige- I LOVED it!!!! That being said, I now have a full unopened gallon of Chevre that is past the return date *sigh*

So, a little more on the process, starting with ordering!

Aside from samples, I initially ordered 1 gallon of Matte Primer & 1 gallon of Chevre (based on the square footage and thinking I’d apply 2 coats)- later followed by 1 quart of Vendome Beige (since it was going underneath). I actually only used less than 1/2 the gallon of Primer & just over 1/2 of the quart of Vendome Beige!! The lime paint goes much further than typical paint because its sort of watery. For the brush- I ordered this 6” block brush on Amazon- which worked perfectly!!

On to the exciting part!! Painting!

I started with Priming the walls using a standard roller and ended up only going with 1 coat. I’ll update y’all later on how this holds up. The main thing I noticed was this paint did not like to stick to my roller and easily splashed/sprayed off the roller as I was rolling. It wasn’t a huge deal to me, but I’m wondering if there are maybe rollers more geared to arcylic paints (since mine specified latex and oil)- if you’re more educated on this- I’d love to hear from you in the comments!!

I will say, priming is one of the most important steps with this process. From what I’ve read, Lime paint is more of a lime powder mixed with water- so it needs something to absorb into. The accompanying primers are Acrylic and pourous- unlike traditional paint, which is more of a sealant. If you think about it Lime Paints were historically used more on masonry- which is pourous. After painting all of the walls, I later noticed the lime paint in the bowl i was using was flaky. I’d imagine this would be the case if applied on normal latex paint- which would not be good.

Then the best part!! Lime Washing!! I used the 6” block brush for the entire process. I ran it along corners and edges and made strokes every which way. I’ve seen people apply this using x’s and some creating “clouds” they join together… I honestly applied it very random and haphazardly, just ensuring lots of strokes in lots of different directions (think toddler coloring sort of randomness). I was sure to color all the white background and to move relatively quickly, as it does create a bit of a different look if an edge is allowed to dry and then painted over again to blend, if that makes sense. This happened behind our bedroom door- where I first “tested” the paint. I’m not mad at how it looks though either, so to each their own.

That’s it!!! I’m so so in love with the texture and movement and color… pretty much everything about how this turned out. I can’t wait to share more on my plans for the rest of these walls & room as a whole in the coming weeks. Be sure to head on over to the One Room Challenge Blog to see updates from other makers!! Despite my own challenges with the leak, this has been such a fun project so far and I honestly love seeing everyone’s updates each week.

One Room Challenge- Week 2 Two Room Containment

Wow, so umm where do I start?? Heh.

We will start with the good!!

Thanks to having some extra time to wait, I made a few more decisions about the room this week. The first most important was to layer my paint!! Initially I just planned to go with Chèvre by Color Atelier, but I did have some concerns that the paint would be too light to see the mottling, so I have decided to first paint Cavalier and then do a layer of Chevre overtop! I am hoping it turns out as I’m envisioning!

Some other things I accomplished this week was sourcing- if you know me, you know I love a good thrift find. I scoured the internet, Mercari, and Facebook Marketplace to find: pillow shams, a chair, rattan, drop cloth, and some sconces. I am excited to share more in the coming weeks on the DIYs I have planned with these.

So, now the bad?! If you want to call it that? In a way it was so good- as we are super fortunate to have found the issue so soon…. but over the weekend we started emptying the room of all of our things and I noticed a spot on the carpet in our closet. It was black and wet. *cringe* I pulled up the carpet and quickly realized that our shower fixture, installed in December 2020 by a professional plumber was leaking. The floor boards beneath the carpet were wet and inside the wall was wet. We’re well on our way to remediation now, but lets just say I’m a bit behind and our house now looks like a disaster area. Ha! All I can do is laugh at this point.

For now, I will leave you with my design plans. Here are my sketches I drew up last month. I can’t wait to see it all come to life! You may be able to tell here- but lots will be similar. Mainly room layout. The room is tight, so we don’t have a lot of options, but I’m hoping to make the most of it! :)

As always, head on over to the One Room Challenge Blog to see more Featured & Guest Room Designs!! This is such a fun event and I love the comradery in the community already!!

One Room Challenge - Week 1 The Primary Bedroom

Hey there!! Welcome to my first ever blog post. I’m Alexis!

My goal for this blog and my home, is to cultivate a space where people feel welcome and I’m able to exercise/ share the creative gifting God has blessed me with. If you know me- you already know I love design, I have a strong preference for neutrals, and I like using my own two hands to transform spaces.

To provide some background for this challenge, my husband and I downsized from a new construction home into an 1150 sqft cottage built in the 1930s in the midst of a global pandemic. Oh and was it a fixer upper!! More on that later. I have chosen to tackle our primary bedroom for the One Room Challenge this fall because it is the one room that we have absolutely not touched. When we bought our house, it was the only room that had drywall- so it’s where most of our furniture was stored until we got the remainder of the house drywalled, popcorn ceiling scrapped, floor laid, and evvvverything painted.

Here is the before, when we closed on our house in 2020 and the current sad state today.

My goal for our primary bedroom is to use a lot of what is existing- mainly the bed and the dresser. Yes, I knooooow a King bed is too tight for this room, but we have a toddler who likes to climb in and then take over our bed… so that is staying. The bedding and my Moroccan tassel blanket is also staying. Ha!

At this point you are probably like okay… soooo how is this going to be a transformation?? I feel you.

Don’t worry- there is a lot changing!! We fully intended since moving in to pull up this carpet- so that’s a for sure. Also similar and yet very different paint on the walls, window treatments, lighting, etc. I also have about 5 or 6 DIYs I’ve dreamed up for this space, but you know I can’t give too much away in week 1!

For now, I will leave you with my inspiration pictures…

And my real life mood board… which I truly hope doesn’t give too much away.

Stay tuned for more updates and be sure to check out the One Room Challenge Blog, this season’s Featured Designers, and of course Guest Participants like me! As always, special thanks to the One Room Challenge media Sponsor, Better Homes and Garden and to Linda owner and creator of the One Room Challenge.