One Room Challenge Fall 2017 - WK 6

Welcome back for week six of The One Room Challenge™.  To get caught up, you can click through the links below:

WK1 | WK 2 | WK 3 | WK 4 | WK 5 | WK 6 | WK 7

Holy crap.  I’m behind.  How is this even possible?  Even with the extra week.  I am still behind.  I suppose it is because I underestimated the amount of time it would take me to cut fabric. Wait, what?

Well remember that whole ‘I don’t usually measure’ crap from Week 2?  It seems when you are sewing stuff, measurements are kinda, sorta, super important.  Side eye.  So I’ve had a bit of performance anxiety about cutting the fabric for roman shades because I only have so much of it with no room for error.  After exhaustively researching many methods for constructing relaxed romans, my take away is this:  get a damn professional to do it. 

Only, it’s too late for that, so I am pressing on and on and on after calculating more lengths and widths and seams and centers and rings than in my entire HS geometry year.  After much wringing of hands and a million measurements later, I finally cut the first roman today and it took me ALL DAY. The most time-consuming part was getting the dang pattern centered and positioned where I wanted it based on the finished hang length.  And now to match that exactly for the second shade…

At least the lining is cut and sewn for the weight rod pocket for both shades.  After I get the second roman cut tomorrow, I will attach the lining to the face fabric and hand sew the rings for the operating mechanism – which will probably be about as much fun as the time I decided to make a bunch of pom poms by hand.  Not.

After all this labor-intensive fussing, I am going to wear these dang shades around like Scarlet O’ Hara, albeit more Carol Burnett than Vivien Leigh.  When anyone asks I will simply reply: ‘I saw it in the window and I couldn’t resist.’

In other progress news, we hung the Ballard Designs Atoll mirror. Funny aside, when I posted a picture of the mirror last week on my IG, Ballard asked if they could share the photo and I said 'of course' and figured they would share it on one of their IG accounts.

While making a template of the mirror to determine where we needed to drill holes, I got on the website to find out the exact dimensions and saw the picture of the room on Ballard's website - which was totally weird because at first I didn't put two and two together and wondered how in the world they had  a lampshade that looked just like my custom one.  Blonde, much? 

I finally decided on a reading chair.  It arrived over the weekend and is in place but you will have to wait until next week to see it because I forgot to snap a picture of it today.  While I had always envisioned a wing back, the smaller size of the chair I ordered works so much better.  The mister, after reading a few nights worth of bedtime stories in it, has pronounced it to be pretty perfect but that a small footstool or ottoman would be nice.  If you give a mouse a cookie…  

Now that the rug is in place, I am loving it more and more.  The colors are perfect in the room and the pattern will work to mask minor mishaps.  The pattern and color play nicely with the other kids in the sandbox…

Wish us luck in these last few days that everything pulls together without a hitch.  Notice I didn’t mention the desk chair or the closet doors.  Still not going to mention them, except to say I don’t like our chances.  So there’s that.

But I don’t want to end on a Rhett Butler note so go check out the superstar progress of the 20 designers and my fellow linking participants. 

Big shout outs to the hostess with the mostest, Linda and our media partner House Beautiful.  Additionally, we just received word that Home Love Network is partnering to feature one lucky ORC Guest Participant and their room in an upcoming episode! So pretty please with sugar on top come back next week for the big reveal!  At the very least,  I may be parading around in drapery.  So there's that.

One Room Challenge Fall 2017 - WK 3

“I’ve never been a millionaire 

but I just know I’d be darling at it.”

Dorothy Parker

You know what else I’d be just darling at?  Not being smug. How silly of me to brag last week about being ahead of schedule. Well, Reality, that prickly priss, has expertly aimed her fist at my face.  In other words, I woke up today and realized it’s week three of The One Room Challenge™ - the dreaded mid-point where all delusions of special projects and preparedness wither and die.  It’s a lot like having a dream about showing up to school with no clothes on and realizing that you have a chemistry test for which you did not prepare. Please tell me this happens to you too. 

Well, let’s get right to it.  If you are just tuning in, I am participating as a guest participant in the The One Room Challenge™ hosted by Calling It Home and media partner House Beautiful.  If you have missed any of the action you can click on the links below:

WK1 | WK 2 | WK 3 | WK 4 | WK 5 | WK 6

Last week I was confidently channeling Dorothy Draper with all the chutzpah of a newly minted bourgeoise.  This week I’m all razor tongued and sharply sad like Ms. Parker, lamenting whether I can afford  lunch at the Algonquin.  This is due in large part to the realization that my timeline for the ORC is as short as my wallet is deep.  It is that age old conflict of man v. himself, or in my case, Emily v. herself. Or Dorothy v. Dorothy. Wait, what the hell are you even talking about, Emily?

Glad you asked. To put it plainly, my tastes outpace my means in this time frame. Common lamentations. The source of my conflict, while simple to comprehend on the surface,   is not a simple case of wanting luxury for luxury sake. Rather, having grown up among artisans and design-minded people, I have a deep appreciation for craftmanship and bespoke detailing. I admire the subtle, yet genius strokes that immediately convey a sense of place, and a personal way of living.  These things take time and money – both of which are in short supply here.  So the challenge becomes - how to bring those bespoke, designer touches into a tight, budget-driven timeline without risking things veering off into an episode of DIY Gone Wild?

Design should be as simple as an extension of the way one hopes to live. And given enough time, one can generally find solutions.  However, in 6 weeks, you are absolutely forced to make sacrifices – especially if one hasn’t prepared in advance and we all know I don’t prepare - for propriety sake.  As in, ‘I proclaimed I’d finish the damn room and so I will.’

So it's all 'pull up my big girl panties and get on it with it' vibes over here.  I'll get there - I usually do - but not without some bellyaching first.

As a reminder, here is the initial plan:

No paint on the walls as of yet.  The barely there Sherwin Williams  pink in the plan above that I was so sure of which was color-matched to the Rhododendron fabric, has been outvoted in favor of a Farrow and Ball color that is decidedly more pigmented and purple.  The horror – I can’t even.  I have to concede that in situ the pink does not have the depth I’m going after.

The pink ikat fabric I ordered for a custom shade and pillow arrived as black fabric, with a handwritten tag identifying it as ‘pink.’ Seriously?  After scrambling to finally get the actual fabric I ordered, I may not get the custom work back in time for the reveal.

Still trying to source a cozy, affordable reading chair.  I am holding out for a serendipitous high-end consignment find or floor model.  I paid a fortune for my daughter’s modern glider, and while it has held up frame wise, the upholstery is totally wrecked after 9 yrs.  No time for  a custom slipcover.  Sacrifices.  Same goes for a nightstand.  Total crap options out there that are budget-friendly.

In news that resembles something close to hope and progress, I have painted the desk ( and by me, I mean the Dervish with heavy art direction from her father ) sourced at Home Goods for a song.

For the desk chair which I found at a local consignment shop (and purchased for a literal fraction of the new one I sourced online) I purchased the herringbone fabric to reupholster it from the Fabric Shack, my local fabric source for many projects. 

Also working on what I am hoping is a cool Draper-esque overhead light fixture.  Cross your fingers that electrical combustion does not ensue.  Arrived:  headboard, lamp, mirror, rug, accent pillow.

Still up for consideration is the closet storage solution which is coming dangerously close to reaching reno territory as the closet door openings in this ding dong ranchburger are non-standard size which means we have to rip down standard doors or cut into walls…so much for no reno.

Let's revisit the bedroom checklist to check progress:

In my mind, I had accomplished much more but I think that's a function of scrambling around like a chicken.

Left to do - quite a punch list but one that I think is still manageable:

Lots left to do with little time.  Cross all of your digits for me - when the mister starts to sew and upholster things get sporty - as in me hovering over spendy fabric and him telling me to chill the *eff* out.  Yes, he does the sewing - benefits of a custom car hobby.  


I am hoping that rather than lamentations, we have struck on a few creative solutions that will deliver the high-end bespoke Dorothy Draper look that I am after on my Dorothy Parker budget.  I have splurged where I thought it most impactful and found incredible deals that require a bit of elbow grease.   In exchange for willingly helping me through another ORC, the mister has made me swear on all things holy and dear that I will stick to a damn budget.  Ok, fine, fine.  But let's be clear:  I'd still be just darling as a millionaire too.

Looking forward to catching up with you next week as well as checking in on the progress of the 20 featured designers as well as the rest of my fellow guest participants!