One Room Challenge Week 4- Things Are Coming Together!

If you are just joining me for Week 4 of the One Room Challenge, here are Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3 to bring you up to speed on my foyer/living room/dining room project! Basic recap: Week 1 I shared my overall vision and plan for the spaces, Week 2 was about our 11 interior doors and what color I was going to paint them, and Week 3 was about some new art and fabrics I had ordered. So, here we are: WEEK 4! Moving right along, ready or NOT! I have to say, I’m very thankful this has turned out to be a good mail week. Things seem to be slowly falling into place, then I keep finding new things to change or add, so it seems my list has expanded a bit.

 Last weekend, I went to the Country Living Fair with my girlfriend, Jill, and found several good things for the project! I had my trusty Ballard Designs tape measure (from Haven Conference a few years ago) that travels everywhere with me, and a list on my phone notes of the dimensions for the items I was looking for. I never shared a checklist, but I have one on my kitchen desk that I keep resorting to in order to keep me focused on the tasks at hand each day. Here’s the original with a few new ones that I may or may not keep adding/changing:

• Order horse art canvas
• Order curtains for living room 
• Have artwork framed
• Paint light switch to match chocolate walls
• Paint upstairs hallway/bedroom door
• Sand antique chairs
• Stain antique chairs
• Recover seats-antique chairs w/ Queens Velvet in Pink Coral
• Order Etsy French Quail pillow
• Style coffee table and dining room table
• Take antique gold frame to glass shop to have mirror added
• Paint bar cabinet in dining room
• Gold gilding to foyer bookcase and bar cabinet in dining room
• Change little black table with lady head bust to a French provincial small table-paint new table?? ( unsure if this will happen)
• QUIT ADDING NEW ITEMS BECAUSE I ONLY HAVE 2 WEEKS LEFT! 

OY! I know y’all know the struggle is real, right? Once you start changing a few things, it seems only natural to change a few more-Or, as I like to call it: The Domino Effect! I know it will feel so good to have everything complete right before the holidays though, so I’m trying to get as much as I can accomplished. Ok, here’s what happened this week!

I have been shopping for an antique gold mirror with a little better scale than the one that hangs over the lady head bust/planter on the little black table. I haven’t found one I loved, so I found an old gold antique frame at the Country Living Fair and took it to a glass shop to have a mirror added to it. I also found another old gold frame and a small deer hide/rug! Remember last week I shared a few Axis deer pillows I liked? This was a better alternative, as I can use it as a rug to layer over another rug or as a throw on a chair,etc.

I bought this pretty quail pillow on Etsy with French script to go in the antique chair I’m adding to the foyer:

I ordered some taupe velvet curtains for the living room from Overstock and wasn’t sure how the quality would be, but they are gorgeous! Lined and heavy and luxurious. I’m very happy with them, and they were half the price of the Ballard Designs version! They’ll look a whole lot better when I steam them, etc for the reveal. 

This is the little black table I’m considering switching out with a French Provincial small end table I have in the basement.

 I have hated this weird greenish paint color on the bar cabinet almost since the day I painted and waxed it 3-4 years ago… (Why did it stay that way so looong?!)

I’m going to paint it the same light gray as the foyer bookcase ( pictured below) and add some gold gilding. That color combination looks really pretty with chocolate brown. 

I used Rub ‘n Buff on the edge of the book cabinet last year when I repainted it, but I want a richer gold; thus gold gilding.

I sanded both antique Duncan Phyfe chairs. I wasn’t expecting the finish to come off that easily! I loved the color before and was going to keep them that aged, chippy look, but the finish was already flaking off, so I did a light sanding and it took most of the finish off! Will have to experiment to get a uniform stain appearance on both without making them too “new” looking. 

And as I was sanding these chairs on this beautiful Fall day in Georgia… with my dog by my side….the UPS Angel appeared! He was carrying a BIG box and I almost flipped when I saw the size! The horse art canvas I ordered was large: 48 x 38, but this box was HUGE. I said a prayer and spent 20 minutes trying to force my way in. That sucker was wrapped extremely well! So, I finally get to the art and it was beautiful, y’all!! MOMENT OF TRUTH: I carried it inside, removed the old canvas ( that’s been there way too long-yikes):

…………………Buh-bye, old art…you’ve served your purpose well!

Hello, you gorgeous new horse!!

I had a moment and I’m not kidding. I started to cry!! I think it was out of relief, but also because it really just is that beautiful and I am so excited. It really is going to make this space what I’ve always wanted it to be and how I wanted it to feel: old, collected, Southern, French Country… just a relaxed, rustic elegant feel. I think it’s not only special because I’m a big animal lover and adore all things traditional Southern/French Country, but also because I just lost a dear Aunt to cancer last month. She and my Uncle in Mississippi taught me everything I know about riding and caring for horses and life on a farm. Maybe subliminally I chose this piece as an homage to her?

Remember those upstairs hall doors? They were on my list last week and, well, they still aren’t painted. Did I mention there are 7 more? And that painting them is extremely boring and tedious? 

It has crossed my mind that this upstairs hall would look so good wallpapered. Remember my tan and white leopard spotted stencil? Sort of missing it. Have y’all checked out Lynn at Nourish and Nestle‘s stenciled wall for the ORC? It is so, so good! It really is tempting me to add one more thing I don’t have time for  do something to this blank wall! 

Well, that’s it for this week! Hope you are checking in with the 20 One Room Challenge, Fall 2016 Bloggers and their projects when you have a few minutes and the One Room Challenge Guest Participants, as well! The final reveals are only 2 weeks away and it’s really fun seeing all the design plans coming along. A big thank you to Linda, at Calling It Home, for hosting this wonderful event for all of us! 

 

xoxo