Week 3 was a debacle: One Room Challenge Fall ’17

Interiors

Internet, This is swiftly becoming the One House Challenge.

I’m not even kidding. If the One Week Challenge is all about showing the ups and downs of a room makeover, then this week does not disappoint over here. The moral of the story is that even when you plan everything out to the nth degree, it can and will go awry. But before we get to that, here’s a few updates.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

First of all, the photo above is my pin board where I’ve kept all my fabrics, trims, and inspirations right at hand to keep me on point. As much as I love Pinterest, there’s something about having the tactile pieces to play with. And OMG that striated velvet from CR Laine? It’s going to be GORGEOUS. Fingers crossed. I pulled lots of shots from Mark Sikes’ Coastal Living show house. So many gorgeous blues, and I love the way he mix-and-matches patterns. It’s bold, always, but so chic.

In other good news, Jude’s hang-out space is looking AMAZING. I cannot get over what a difference the paint has made. I shot these photos with zero light other than what came through the window. It is so crazy bright in there in the morning, even with that teeny tiny window and it’s transformed what used to be a cave into something really wonderful.  Dad’s vintage velvet sofa is the perfect size and scale, and now the fun can begin (aka, accessories).

WHAT’S IN LIMBO

Meanwhile, there’s not much progress to report on in the upstairs living room. It’s all kind of in a waiting mode as we try to figure out if we’re going to do the wood floors in here or not (waiting on pricing from the floor store) as well as figuring out what rug to do in that instance, and when the furniture will arrive.

The yellow chairs won’t stay in here (but don’t even ask me right now what I’m going to do with them – I can’t even) but I moved my old Jonathan Adler for JCPenney (RIP, amazing affordable collab) buffet in here to hold the TV. Where those yellow chairs are currently sitting is where the banquette and table will go when it arrives. CAN ????????NOT????????WAIT????????.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Internet, my first plan went like this: I found this ahhhhmahhhhhhzing Lee Industries sofa on Craigslist for – wait for it – $450. YES! What a bargain!

The cushion, as you can see, was dyed lavender inadvertently and I thought huh, this might be an interesting piece for the One Room Challenge to put in the upstairs living room.  Stroheim makes the most gorgeous collection of Dana Gibson fabrics that are also Crypton fabrics. Meaning they are totally stain repellant, just like my white sectional, and kid/pet/life proof. I’ve had a sample of this fabric for months now, just waiting for the right project and I had a gut feeling that this. was. it.  Simon was not 100% convinced, but I was like, look – it’s going upstairs, I’m not asking for you to live with it in the living room every day. #foreshadowing

So I chatted with the lovely folks at Stroheim (based in Tulsa, just a couple hours up the road from us) and they were thrilled to partner up for it. We got the sofa to the upholsterer (it was a total debacle of a delivery –  #foreshadowing) and after a few weeks and $900 in labor, it was finally ready.  (Side note: getting something reupholstered is never ever cheap.)

The day arrived, and the furniture movers showed up with the newly minted sofa. I was literally clapping my hands in glee as they brought it out of the truck. YES YES YES it was just as fabulous as I anticipated!

And then! After 45 minutes of angst and cursing and much huffing and puffing, THEY COULD NOT GET IT UP THE STAIRS. Like literally, no way, no how.  In fact, at one point one of the movers looked over her shoulder and said “You know, this sofa would look AMAZING in your turquoise living room.”

I wanted to curl up and sob right there. I really thought Simon was going to divorce me. Heck, I wanted to divorce me. I felt like such a boob – I mean, I’d measured it for the space, all right. But it never occurred to me once that it wouldn’t fit up the stairs.  STUPID STUPID STUPID.

And so, the beautiful custom sofa has landed in the formal living room, where it looks like it’s always belonged. And Simon couldn’t be happier (I’m shocked!) because it’s actually tall enough to support his 6’4″ frame. It’s stunning – the fabric is gorgeous, kidproof, and super soft – it’s maybe the nicest piece we’ve ever owned. And since we had the movers there, we had them take our cream leather sofa that was in here upstairs (you’ll see it in that shot above) and it fits just fine. In fact, it’s probably better overall than what I had been planning. ????????‍♀️

BUT. The plot thickens, you guys. Because, you see, the larger conundrum was this: we’d already ordered furniture for the aqua living room from Huntington House, weeks ago. A set of 4 chairs and a daybed for the window. I mean, what the heck am I going to do with ALL. THIS. FURNITURE. All I can say is that it’s a good thing that (1) I have a very understanding husband and (2) I happen to love decorating our whole house in the same color scheme.

TO BE CONTINUED

So that’s what this week entailed. It was high, it was low, it was everywhere in between. There are lots of gorgeous things happening, but oh man. It is a mess in here right now. Stay tuned. I’ll just be sitting in one of our chairs sobbing into my coffee.

SPONSORED BY

The One Room Challenge comes together very quickly, but it wouldn’t be possible without some major help from these fantastic sponsors. Thanks for supporting these brands that I love!

Universal Furniture // Stroheim  // Serena & Lily // ME Home Collection // Highland Hardware // Grace Allen Design // Minted

And thanks to Linda at Calling It Home for hosting and for House Beautiful as media sponsor.

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with love,
Rachel

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