WK5 ORC Updates

WK5 of the ORC link up is here and I am going to keep this one short because I am not even close to finishing Project Chinoisy Safari Chic aka my master bedroom.  Crikey.  While everyone else is busy styling, accessorizing, and putting the finishing zhush on their spaces, I am busy re-enacting an episode of Hoarders.  Can’t bring one thing into this bedroom until paint is completed.  We are priming and priming and priming those super smooth walls.  The dark, glossy walls of my dreams are now my daily nightmare.  Seriously.  I would have put paint up in WK1 and called it good but this is where we were...

Sand City, sweetheart

the mr. acting as braun

And here I am on Monday officially OVER it.  This is the part where I am cleaning the sanded walls.  I won't bore you with details but it involved many wipe downs, both dry and damp and dry again, many, many times to get rid of the dust on the surface.  F* these walls is the long and short of what I was thinking at this point.

Finally, some form of paint is going up on the walls!  Praise be to wine.  The mr. got the first coat of primer up last night.  Progress is progress, no matter how small.

By the way, if you have no idea what I am talking about then you need to catch up:  WK1, WK2, WK3, WK4.  The pros continue to make this ORC thing look easy, but this is what I have learned.  Doing a space in 6 wks on a tight budget is HARD.  My already healthy wine regimen is quickly becoming triathlon worthy and is helping me to power through or at least cope with the massive pile of stuff building up on and around my kitchen table.  So yes, back to Hoarders.

Keeping it real real over here

Not being able to bring things into the room, because of paintmaggedon, has led to a pile up of furniture and accessories everywhere.  And even for a naturally predisposed hoarder such as myself, this chaos is seriously cramping my style.  But enough with the sob story already.  I am seeing this thing through - so aside from basically living at Lowe’s and Home Depot, I have been finalizing art and getting my DIY swerve on while I wait for paint to dry.  Literally.  I am also well aware of the fact that I have yet to show any real progress shots of the room.  As I said folks, it will be a hair pulling, down to the wire right kinda show.  These snippets will have to suffice as evidence that I am, in fact, doing shit.  I also encourage you to follow me on Instagram for up to the minute reality tv.

this right here is EVERYTHING

etchings for the headboard wall

love the detail in each one - a total of 4 are going up - they will flank the round sunburst mirror over the headboard

gold frames to pop against the dark walls

the mr. went to hang the chandy last night and we realized we didn't have a cap
off I rushed to Lowes but no brass options - so I got a white one and zapped it

I added a little chinoiserie flair to the shams late last night

Let’s take a look at what has been accomplished since last week:

Now I am off for a family jaunt this wknd, leaving the mr. behind with a rather long Honey Do list and then he is leaving me high and dry on Monday going into reveal week.  This is significant for many reasons, the primary one being that I will see the actual paint color for the first time on the walls when I get back on Sunday.  There is a chance that I may totally hate it.  Then what?!  Then there is the issue of moving everything back into the room on my own.  So basically, those super smooth walls that we have busted our asses on for 5 wks will be promptly destroyed by this crazed lady moving heavy furniture and wielding a hammer and drill frantically trying to hang pictures, hardware, mirrors, and baseboards.  Crikey is right!

As always, do not forget to check in with my fellow participants!

kisses,  mrs. V

One Room Challenge - WK 4 Updates

Holy schnickes, Batman.  WK4 of the One Room Challenge link up is here and I have zoomed WAY past panic town and landed squarely in whacko jacko territory.  For serious, I am pleading temporary insanity as an excuse for agreeing to do this on a deadline, under a tight (read non-existent) budget with only myself and the mr. for labor.  Only a nutso would foolishly agree to such chicanery.  I mean, I might even have gone backwards this week.  But more on that in a minute.

Meanwhile in Pleasantville, the pros continue to knock it out over the white picket fences.  Check their WK4 progress here.  Awesome stuff happening.

As for me, WK1 is here, WK2 is here, and WK3 is here.  And for those of you just tuning in to Chez V, I dubbed this master bedroom makeover Project Chinoisy Safari Chic because I am going for a cocooning European colonial vibe with a heavy dose of chinoiserie because, much like bacon and animal prints, every thing is better with chinoiserie.  Not to mention chinoiserie accents are timeless and fit in with nearly every décor style.  But I digress.

If you recall from last week, I was not entirely satisfied with my block printed and hand-painted dragon fabric.  I just didn’t like the weight of the fabric and I couldn’t even buy the damn down inserts from my local place to turn the fabric into pillows.  Grrrr.  I was all ready to order some inserts from Lewis & Sheron and make do until I came across the Ektorp lumbar pillows at IKEA.  Right size, right fabric weight, right price.  Upside, down inserts are included and I wouldn’t have to sew pillow covers.  I have a hate hate relationship with my sewing machine.  Downside, re-printing and painting the dragon fabric.  And I am still cha cha-ing backward…

So I spent the weekend re-printing.  Fabric is a more appropriate upholstery weight but a little more textured so the print is not as clean but I am ok with that.  Last night, I scrambled to hand paint the gold detailing after my little went to sleep.  I got all the way to the last few dragons and succeeded in spilling gold paint on the printed fabric.  Triple feckety feck.  I am not doing it over a 3rd time.  I am rolling with the punches and hoping that my accent pillow will cover the little oops.  All in all, I am loving how these pillows are turning out.  I am referring to them as my ghetto version of the gorgeous Dana Gibson pillows that I wanted so badly for the space but for which I did not have the budget.

oops

And in true freak a khan fashion, where procrastination reigns supreme in the face of a looming deadline, I decided to make tassels for the pillows.  After a trial run, I decided I could swing it but it is reminding me a lot of that time I made a ginormous pom pom pillow for my daughter’s nursery and swore to never do that sillyness again.  Except that I am, with even smaller thread.  What’s wrong with me?

For all of you who cheered along on my search for the world’s perfect solution to my sconce problem – the Ranarp - well, I have an update on the search which involves a lot of who’s on first, don’t we know anyone on second, and random acts of kindness from friends of friends, in laws once removed, and social media connections, all of which may or may not end in victory due to some last minute intel gleaned from another interested party.  But you will have to tune in on Monday for that detailed account which involves a two part story from myself and Elizabeth over at Little Black Door.

As for the neverending paint story, still unfinished.  The mr. is out of town this week.  Rude. But he did bust his ass on Sunday and we are one wall away from slapping some paint on the walls. With the mr. gone, a 5 yr old in tow and a 4 day school week, that means this bizzo ain’t getting shizzo done this week.  Clearly it’s time for wine.

shit is just piling up and I have resorted to using Hello Kitty as labor - help!

Now let’s go check out those other busy bloggers and see what real progress looks like b/c sadly there isn't much here!

kisses,  mrs. V