One Room Challenge Spring 2018: Week 3

Welcome back to this week’s One Room Challenge update. I actually have some progress to report on this week 3 of the challenge.

Let’s start with the good stuff. This is where we ended up at the end of the day on Wednesday.

The library wall is structurally complete and painted, even thought the doors on the cabinets still need to be attached.

If all goes as planned, I hope the entire wall and fireplace surround will be framed in beautiful finish moulding from Metrie. Even as great as this looks, I know from past experience what an impact interior finishes can have on a space. Check out our master bathroom ORC from Fall of 2016 for the ultimate in finishing details. Click here.

In case you missed the first two weeks, you can go check them out here. Week 1 The Inspiration and Overview ||  Week 2 The Design and Special Details 

Now let’s go back in time….

In addition to completing the build of the bookcase wall, we began building the base of the faux fireplace for a more realistic set back.

This antique arch purchased from Southern Accents & Architectural Antiques needed only a good sanding before painting.

And then a coat of rust blocking primer.

After receiving a coat of black paint, it is sitting in front of the primed built out area that will be tiled and embellished with moulding.

I have ordered the tile for the threshold and expect it to arrive this coming week.

In keeping with the history of the iron fireplace I chose the black hex marble. It is dreamy, right?

Besides the potentially late arrival of moulding, I had one more little disappointment.

The chandelier I ordered was not quite right.

Clearly, I failed to space plan. The fixture is a good bit too large for the scale of the room. Thankfully this is an easy fix.  Yes, it will cost me $16 to return it but that is better than a fixture that swallows the room.

For future reference here is a handy formula for determining the proper scale of a light fixture or chandelier.

Find the length and width of the room in feet.  Add the dimensions together and then swap out feet for inches.  That is the size of your fixture.

For example, the library office is basically 12 feet by 12 feet. Add those together to get a sum of 24.  The corresponding light fixture should be around 24″ in diameter.

In this case, the 32 inch light fixture is a more than just a little oversized! I had hope to find one of similar style in a smaller size but had no luck. Everything else in this design was too rustic or too chunky.

To remedy this situation I updated my design board with two options.

Black or Gold?  I’m likely leaning toward the black but the hit of elegance of the gold might be good too? Let me know what you think.

Many of you commented on the chair I included.  I’ll add the sources here for all of the products shown, but I should clarify that the chair in the design board is actually just a stand in for a chair we already own.  It’s a little worn and needs some repair, but I am hoping it is going compliment the room even better than this gorgeous chair! More on that to come. 

The last little update I have is about the antique doors that will be at the entrance of the library.

We tested the Peel Away product on two small sections and it looks like the numerous layers of paint will come off easily.

I squealed when I saw the wood grain underneath!!

Here is the plan for this coming week:

• Continue work on the doors and get them refinished on what will be the inside of the library and painted on the side facing the foyer.
• If the tile comes in on Monday and I hope to install and grout before the next update.
• The sconces will also be installed.  My husband finished all of the electrical on Wednesday and they arrived then too.  That will be an easy item to check off of the list.

Please be sure to check in with the Featured Participants here and the other Guest Participants here.  Everyone is deep in makeover mode and it is always thrilling to see the ups and downs of these makeovers.

Thanks, as always, goes to Linda our host, House Beautiful and the Home Love Network for their support!