One Room Challenge Linking Event - Week 3 - in which the heroine calls upon Mame Dennis

Patrick Dennis:  Is the English lady sick, Auntie Mame?

Mame:  She’s not English, darling…she’s from Pittsburgh.

Patrick Dennis:  She sounded English.

Mame:  Well, when you’re from Pittsburgh, you have to do something.

And when it's week 3 of the One Room Challenge™ linking event, you have to do something too.  Welcome back and thank you to Linda for hosting this shindig and to you folks for tuning in and speaking up.  You can binge read weeks 1 & 2 by clicking the links below, if you are just tuning in to the action.

WEEK 1:  Plan + Space - a moody bathroom refresh

WEEK 2:  Process - where indecision reigns supreme

WEEK 3:  Progress + Setbacks - in which the heroine calls upon Mame Dennis

WEEK 4:  Lighting + Paint

WEEK 5:  Plan Revisions

WEEK 6:  Reveal

Last week I was sort of a mess of indecision and my focus got derailed for various reasons unrelated to the ORC. But thankfully I’ve got you folks to carry my baggage.  Because, sheesh, boy did y’all come to the rescue.  Seriously, thank you from the bottom of my procrastinatin’ heart for the suggestions and such.  This room is getting back on track with a quickness.  Honestly, I really just needed to stew in my own juices for a minute before following through with my original instinct, plus a few tweaks. Most of you will be happy to know that the vintage Chinoiserie fabric is back in play in a major way. This fabric was the hands down favorite with my IG (@chezviviv) tribe.

I switched gears on the paint.  The BM 2109-40 Smoked Oyster was too fleshy and reading a little purplish.  The BM 2152-70 Mayonnaise was too, well, mayonnaisey. That's what I get for selecting colors from memory.  I visited my other favorite paint folks at Sherwin Williams and bothered them for an afternoon with my search for the right dark brown.  I assure you Mame Dennis would rather go 2 days without bathtub gin than have a booger presley color on her walls.  I dragged my fabric in with me this time and it was much easier to narrow the brown options down to two. I will tell you next week how I landed on my final choice because there is a practical lesson to be learned.  You can see the wall color and trim color a bit in the background below...along with some pretty fantastic passementerie that I intend to use to take my bespoke shower curtain to a whole other crazy glam next level shizznizzy.

So Week 3.  What did I promise?  Progress.  What’s that?  Setbacks.  No shortage of those.  While physical progress may be on the lean side, mental progress has been made in spades. As indicated, I’ve committed to a direction.   In the interest of time, I had to compromise on a few dream scenarios which included many pretties like Andrea’s too-die-for wallpaper and textile designs.  Note to self, next project plan ahead so that goodness becomes reality.  But I think the end result will be equally smashing and channel the fabulously flamboyant glam vibe for which I am known.  Now, if I was advising someone else, I would make the case for the long game dream scenario.  Be patient about long lead times, invest in the good stuff, let the room evolve, yada yada yada… 

But this is the ORC folks and you have ordered up some dramatical cliff-hanging turn arounds and I aim to please.  So rather than do the prudent thing, I am going full boogie in the direction of my Auntie Mame dreams with confidence that I can still pull this off in 3 weeks.  Because let’s face it, if left to my own devices, the room, even in it’s dream state, would never get finished.  A deadline is a necessary bedfellow in the home of two incurable procrastinators.  Know thyself, as another smart participant advised!

Where were we?  Ah, setbacks.  My indecision has caused me no end of headaches but I think we’ve pretty well covered that.  Suffice it to say, I am forced to reinvent the wheel because now, having finally committed, the things I want have lead times that extend well past reveal day.  See above.  The exhaust fan/light combo continues to be a thorn.  I may or may not have a trim issue.  We have yet to tackle the electricity but I can pretty much predict the usual pyrotechnic chicanery that this money pit tees up every time we visit it’s under belly.  I am sure I will be dog cussing an ill-placed wall stud.  Stay tuned for that one.

To be determined/done:  overhead light, shower curtain rod, mirror (the one I purchased may be too wide), sink faucet, framing, wall patching, electricity, painting, and sewing.

On the upside, here is what I have nailed down:  vanity lighting, towel bar, vintage brass hardware, towels, fabric and trim, wall color, trim color, artwork, and a lion’s head brass cache pot, because in the parlance of Mame Dennis, whether you are from Pittsburgh or as in my case, from Cincinnati dealing with a tiny space and budget, ‘…you have to do something’…something that is ridiculously incongruent and fabulous, that is.

If this thing shapes up like I envision, I will be taking all my social calls in the loo.  Along with a stiff Sidecar delivered on a tray by my house mister.

That's it for me for week 3.  This next week is shaping up to be a busy one.  Be sure to check in over at Calling It Home to find the other 90+ linking participants.

All designs, layouts, and photos by Emily Vanderputten

kisses,  mrs. V