Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5
Welcome to the week 6 review of my four room One Room Challenge adventure in decorating our primary suite, which is FINALLY shifting from the sourcing and procurement phase into installation and implementation. I have links up below the header if you’re new here and want to catch up!
This has become somewhat of a whole house challenge, as boxes have taken over our dining room and garage. But week 6 was mostly about committing to final paint selections, ordering supplies, researching how to wallpaper and repair peeling drywall behind our vanity sinks.
OH and a roman shade conversion for my favorite bamboo roll-ups is in progress, I’ll have to share a tutorial when I have nailed down whether to line it and finish the edges.
Some new arrivals this week have helped the vision come to life and boosted my confidence a bit that this will get pulled off, but painting and wallpapering is going to be the main bottleneck in the final stretch and it’s a lot to do, every surface is going to be touched.
I’m in the calm of the storm before everything starts getting primed, painted, puttied and pinstalled (?? I couldn’t let the alliteration go) so I’m actually starting this blog post on Thursday instead of bringing up the rear. We’ll see when it actually gets posted. (update: it’s Saturday. Still not done. But I did figure out some textile and TP holder options instead of finishing the post. I’m calling it a personal win.)
Light and Texture
Like I mentioned in Week 4, things have taken a very neoclassical turn with a definitely glamorous vibe, especially in the bathroom vanity room with beveled mirrors with brushed gold beading and frames. For inspiration, I’ve been referring back to the first interiors book in my growing collection, which I got the first Christmas after we moved in. In Poetry of Place by Bobby McAlpine, his longtime interior design partner Susan Ferrier’s own home is featured, and her mastery of texture and sheen have really been in my mind up to this point in the decorating process.
Please do yourself a favor and visit McAlpine’s website portfolio sometime (stunningly designed in its own right).
And in revisiting the book I rediscovered this dining area Susan designed in a McAlpine project in Martin, Alabama (I had to take a picture of the spread to share the picture – I hope that’s okay Bobby!!! Can I talk to you like I know you?) The mirrors with a chalky off white wall, French gray curtains and pop of green on the ceiling (haven’t ruled that out!) really echo my vision for our vanity area.
Wins, New Purchases & Decisions
Things ordered this week include a vintage inspired train rack shelf for pool towels, a full-length mirror, basic painting and wallpapering supplies, primers, and actual paints.
Vanity mirrors are here, most of the paint is here, test sconce shades, and as discussed in my super scientific mockups last week, our Gustavian ring pulls for the bathroom drawers. Look at these beauties! I just love how they set off those plastic childproofing straps.
Spray paint and Rub n Buff are here in boxes somewhere, and I have to decide whether to risk ruining my builder grade sconces to go brass. With sample shades and our new mirrors on hand, I was able to finally get a sense of what the proportions look like with flipping the fixture to be an uplight vs new shades but keeping the light pointing down.
The ambience of the uplighting with linen clip-ons (never you mind the crooked shades) was an undeniable improvement. The added height of the sconces and their hanging location relative to the window? Not so much. I was torn because the lighting with the linen shades really adds a beautiful touch, and I found myself thinking, “is this looking grand, or does this sconce now look comically aloof?” This is a Cape Cod, not a palace, people. It’s a balance I’m currently straddling, and the decision to keep the sconces turned down feels like one in the right direction.
I feel like in pictures it’s not bothering me as much. But in person, that sconce is definitely comically aloof.
On the right here you can see what we started with: oval mirrors and alabaster shades.
Losses & Setbacks
Welp, the high of ordering our train rack shelf ended swiftly. It’s far too big for the water closet. And a busted up cabinet for our dehumidifier arrived, and it’s now out of stock at Wal-Mart and $100 more everywhere else, so I can’t order a new one. Since we’re planning on knocking the shelf out to fit our dehumidifier anyway and risking damaging it and the Summer humidity is already settling in, I don’t want to buy a new one. So we’ll see what becomes of it. I once had notions of painting everything but the cane insets à la Kathy Kuo:
I was hoping that once I got in the closet it wouldn’t be a MUST do with everything else we have going on, but now considering the damage, I might have to go ahead with that plan.
What’s Next
Ummm diagnosing and repairing peeling drywall behind our sinks (you can sort of see it in the left corner behind my sink on the left, but those shots are dark, I know). Then all the priming and painting and hanging wallpaper. I have yet to finalize my decision on whether to paint all the doors and windows. I need to bring in some textiles. And order basics like a TP holder, likely some towel rings, some hooks for the closet, a towel stand….and figure out what artwork is going up in the bathroom and above the bed. Then there’s roman shades I’m DIY-ing, pillows I’m probably sewing, and that darn cabinet.
LIKE I SAID. There’s a lot left to do and I’m a little nervous about it.
I’ll try to post some peeks on instagram. I hope the sneak peekiness of it all isn’t annoying. It’s not an intentional ploy to build anticipation – it’s genuinely that nothing has really been done yet. ::insert nervous laughter here:: It’s all been leading up to the final install. I plan to show some more snippets on instagram, artsy closeups of pieces together for more an idea of where things are headed.
C’est tout for now. Off I go…
Maura
McAlpine/Ferrier is a pretty high bar to set! Several years ago I had the good fortune of doing the interior design for clients who hired McAlpine as architect on their home here in Oregon, and to say that I was feeling humbled is an understatement. It looks like you’re up for the task!
What a privilege – I’d love to see a McAlpine home at some point, let alone be involved in the project! It’s certainly a very high bar, and 100% percent aspirational. We’ll see what I can glean from the masters, thank you for your vote of confidence!