Week two of the One Room Challenge was tiring to say the least and it’s not even over yet. Not being over meaning I have still have to put all of the clothes I took out of my closet to paint back in! I say this with a whiny and exasperated tone. I think I’ve lost my patience for sure while being pregnant. I know all my symptoms are temporary, but now I understand when I would hear old movies describe pregnancy as a ‘condition.’ For someone who has fought rounds of sparring with gear on in a ring on a national stage in front of hundreds of people, I feel as if it never happened. My stamina has been benched for the time being. But that was a challenge in another life, now back to the challenge at hand...To remind you, the One Room Challenge is an 8 week event where designers and guest participants make over a room of their choice. I am making over our tiny closet office into a nursery closet for our first child.
*Pictured above are the clothes being transferred back into the closet (if you look closely, you will see Arya lying in the pile with the hat on like Where's Waldo lol)
As my family and friends watch my stories following my journey on Instagram, I keep hearing comments about how much stuff I have and how my OCD must be acting up. They definitely know me so well because both are extremely true. It's hard to let go of things because I think that I hold emotional attachment to inanimate objects. Why? I don’t know, but for arguments sake, I guess I am nostalgic and a bit of a romantic. Things hold memories and at the end of the day, that’s all we have right? As for the OCD, seeing things out of place while prepping for a project kills me the most, I think that’s why I tend to finish so quickly because it’s hard for me to withstand.
I’m so motivated to make progress on our shared nursery closet with Baby Vienna, but since my physical strength is being consumed by her (as it should be I know) it seems like this stage was taking forever. This week was full of organizing, donating, throwing out and lifting. There was not much fun going on during this stage let me tell you. I kept thinking to myself “does this spark joy?” In typical Marie Kondo fashion. I’m sure the girls from the Home Edit would disapprove of my haphazard organization of clothing, (it used to be a good system I promise!) This is the most important stage of transforming a space, making sure what stays is truly needed and what goes, is sent to a deserving place and not just the garbage.
Does anyone else feel like prepping, priming and painting are the worst parts of a project? I do for sure. Painting is therapeutic for me, but the preparation entails a lot of tedious work that frankly is not my favorite. But that’s what makes a difference in it being just a DIY project or looking like a professional upgrade. Since I had frames and hats hanging inside our closet office, I needed to remove all hooks and nails and fill in each hole with spackle. Which I hate to admit, I never let fully dry because I am too eager to begin painting. After my trip to Home Depot for some paint, the priming commenced. I like to use Stix primer. It’s an indoor/outdoor primer that really does stick to anything. When my dad was alive, he would remind me that this was the best primer to use. I’ve always remembered that and I swear by it to this day. But priming is no fun in my book, let me tell you. It’s like seeing life in black and white before technicolor. I hate white walls. I long for depth and textures meanwhile my favorite homes to look at are crisp and white vintage farmhouse homes like Liz Marie and the Cozy White Cottage. Go figure.
After the primer dried, I vacuumed and cleaned the space again before I began to paint. I colormatched “Savannah clay” (047) by Benjamin Moore at Home Depot. It came out a little more peachy than I thought, but I love the boho feel of it. I didn’t want the room to feel so pink, with the floral wallpaper and chair rail molding, I think the color was a perfect earth toned base to add onto. Using my free form brush in hand and my Aurora By Jacqueline hat to cover my head (I had to quickly wash out a ton of primer in my hair earlier…oops) I was off to the races. The freeform brush allows for manipulation of the handle so easily, it does not fatigue your fingers, hand or wrist. Since I was too lazy to tape, I thought this was a perfect way to test their true purpose and let me tell you, for Someone who can’t paint a straight line, I was impressed. I very easily painted the trim with few mishaps on the floor. When you do get paint anywhere on walls or the floor, remember to quickly wipe it with a damp paper towel, it’s your best friend while painting.
After it was done I stood back and felt such accomplishment. Here I was, 4.5 months pregnant, documenting my project for my daughter with her inside of me. I wish I had an actual room for her, but this is just perfect for now. Plus, I’m not sure how my back and feet would feel if this space were any bigger! The one fun thing we did for the Challenge this week was search for her dresser. I was so excited to attend opening day at the Elephant Trunk Flea Market in New Milford CT. I was determined to find the perfect piece. I had been searching for a dresser for her clothes to fit in the closet on Facebook marketplace and next door app with no luck. We started walking around and the first thing I spied were these gorgeous green shutters with a crescent moon cutout. I didn’t think we had a place for them but could not pass them up. Brian was so excited to try and make them into saloon doors for the nursery closet. (We clearly love westerns in this house). He had suggested we take off the closet door anyway in order for our large dresser to fit on the same wall outside the closet for her changing table. After bringing our finds to the car, I spotted a cute school vintage school desk and had to grab it for 20 bucks. A nod to my teaching days for sure.
Then I saw it, A gorgeous mini wardrobe fit for a little girl. It was solid oak with a mirror. Four drawers including a little pull out desk space and a closet side for hanging dresses and clothes. I was in love. It was 95$ and when I asked if the merchant could go down to $80 for my baby’s closet, he said of course. ( I guess it’s a perk of being clearly pregnant now) My plan is to sand it down and bleach it like our bedroom furniture. I think the natural wood and soft curves of the mirror will pair beautifully with the burnt Terracotta color and floral bohemian accents.
I can’t wait to continue this project after a much needed Easter respite with our families, but first I need hang all these hangers back inside the closet and box all my clothes that I laid off to the side that don’t fit in this stage in life. I’m tired just thinking about it as I write this blog. What can I say? I’m a work in progress, just like this room. Thank you for letting me share it with you as always. I appreciate it more than you know. Stay tuned for next week, I’m sure my floral wallpaper will put me in a better mood
xoxo- Jackie