One Room Challenge Week 4 - The Hall of Mirrors

I hung another mirror.

(still reflecting a messy work zone!)

 I finished painting everything white (except the doors- more on that below!) I feel like I need applause! It doesn't seem like that much to paint but, whew!, it took a while to do it all, top to bottom!

I wanted to change thing up a little when it came to my light fixtures. (The builder "boob" lights were still up there. I know.) I decided I wanted to go a little modern, bold, punchy and not expensive at all. This is an upstairs hallway. I want it to look nice but I was not willing to spend a lot for lighting. Then, I decided on black to make a statement in the sea of white. 

I searched Amazon, Lowe's and HD for affordable options. I ordered one style from Amazon and it had to go back. A poster child example of "you get what you pay for!"  But I hung in there and ordered another one that popped up when I started searching again. I had some space restrictions on size because of where the second light was located in relation to the drop down attic door.

This is the one I decided on and it looks good in the space. It is not the most quality light out there but it works for my vision and what I wanted to spend. And I'm definitely glad I went with a black fixture. It has some oomph in that all white space.

There isn't any natural light in the hallway so all of my pictures will be lights on. Sorry :(

I also ordered a Loloi Rug to place at the top of the stairs to hopefully catch some of the dirt and dust tracked upstairs to the white floors. I like Loloi because they are affiliated with GoodWeave and are socially responsible in their company policies. I may find I need to go with a runner down the hall later on but for now I'm going with this. I like the muted colorway with my curtain fabric.

(It was on sale for about $30! Great price for size and their quality)

Next up is deciding on curtain rods and mounting hardware. I have some rings, a couple of rod choices  and some assorted wall mounts that I purchased for pennies at a REstore a few years ago. It was a box full of designer window treatment paraphernalia and I have used it in multiple ORC's by now! I'm going to see if I can pull together what I need from what I have on hand! Then I will sew my curtain for the laundry "closet" opening. 

What's left to do:

1. Finish painting. Replace switch plate covers, etc. Any touch ups. 

2. Doors- I painted all of the upstairs doors black several years ago and now they are going back to white. This  is the story of my life: I tend to go from one extreme to the next when painting. Black to white and back to black. Then white again. It's never covering one soft color with another!! I should learn. Also, it doesn't help matters that there are 6 doors in this hallway!! OY!

3. Purchase correct light bulbs. One bulb in the box of 8 blew immediately. I bought a 2 bulb replacement pack and ended up with a "bluer" bulb. Rats.

4. Decide on curtain rod combo and hang. 

5. Sew curtain for laundry "closet" opening. 

6. Hang remaining mirrors.

7. Cut carpet at door openings and install carpet strips (until additional rooms are floored.)

8. Here's the biggie - figure out how to photograph an awkwardly shaped space that is full of mirrors.

Be sure to check out everyone else's progress here.

I have some "favorites" I'm following and I'm excited to see the updates each week.  What about you? Are you doing the ORC or just cheering everyone else on this round?? This is ORC #11 for me so I may just be cheering from the sidelines next time. I guess you can tell by the fact this is ORC 11 for me that I find Linda's challenge to be agreat motivator!

One Room Challenge Week 3 - The Hall of Mirrors

Put a Pagoda On It or #putapagodaonit

Do you remember a few years back when the whole "put a bird on it" thing was an ongoing joke in the home decor/DIY/Pinterest world thanks to Portlandia?

Well, I think my underlying ORC theme might just be "Put a Pagoda On It" :)

Case in point:

The pillows on my vintage wicker couch from the Fall 2020 ORC -

#putapagodaonit

The pillows from my Spring 2017 Guest Bedroom ORC - 

The desire to #putapagodaonit was so strong that 

when I couldn't find pink pagoda fabric I painted my own!

And the pillows from the Spring 2016 ORC (our Library) - 

              The entryway has had a few changes since it was an ORC  but still...  #putapagodaonit

Anyway, last week I shared that I found the fabric for the curtain that hides our laundry area. I could definitely refresh that area and make it better looking but the bottom line is that I'm never going to want it open to the hall. I want to be able to hide it from sight - even when it's just us. 

Plus I love the addition of the softness of a textile in this space. There is a lot of white, which I love, but it's still "hard" in appearance and the mirrors, which I love for the light they will bring to a windowless space, are "hard" as well.

This hallway is going to be very neutral so some texture is necessary. 

Anyway, I love this fabric and since my textile mantra seems to be "put a Pagoda on it" this one fits the bill.

It looks much darker in these pictures but it's actually a very soft greige - it isn't beige and it isn't gray. The background is off-white instead of bright white so that will be a warm note against the bright white walls.

#putapagodaonit

I still have to make curtain rod and curtain hardware decisions but that's for another day. Finding the fabric was the fun and exciting part.

Be sure to check out the progress on all the other ORC projects here.

One Room Challenge Week 2 - The Hall of Mirrors

 As with most of my previous ORC's this one involves a base of white paint. 

Before anything else can happen the entire space needed a coat of white paint - ceiling, walls, trim, floors. Everything gets white paint. It has been dingy  for so long I just wanted the space to be bright and white. The hallway doesn't have any natural light and it is also the connector space to 4 bedrooms, a bathroom and the laundry closet. All of this white makes it a very neutral territory. 

So this week I started painting all the things white.

(Still have to change out this riser board and fix this gap.)

And also because I have zero chill when I start a project I went ahead and hung this huge gold bamboo mirror that weighs a ton!

I've been dying for the first mirror to go up!

All it has to reflect is a messy work zone but it looks fabulous and I'm excited to have the first mirror up in the "Hall of Mirrors"!!

And in true thrift style fashion it wasn't always this gorgeous gold! 

It was a dark reddish tone and the finished was scratched. No worries. I knew my favorite gold spray paint would work its magic.

It was a quick an easy fix despite the fact that Cooper thinks all dropcloths are put down for his enjoyment!

I'm spending this week finishing painting walls and floors so the fun parts can begin.

And I found the fabric for the laundry area curtain!  

Stay tuned.

Be sure to check out what everyone else is working on this week. There are literally hundreds of amazing projects happening!

One Room Challenge Week 1- The Hall of Mirrors

 I think of Versailles every time I think about my upstairs hallway which is the location of my latest One Room Challenge, which is my 11th time to participate!

 Versailles is very grand and one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. My upstairs hallway is none of those things :) But I am going to use a collection of mirrors that I have on hand in this hallway and that is where the comparison starts... and ends - Versailles has a very beautiful, famous Hall of Mirrors. My hallway will be much less opulent!

So this is about as much of a before shot as I have. The hallway was dreary and dated with very old, poor quality beige carpet. I had done a few superficial face lifts over the years but nothing all that great, honestly. You can see the dingy carpet above left. We are ripping it up and replacing it with the DIY plywood flooring hack that has been around forever. The hallway is our first space to get new flooring upstairs. I just want glossy white painted floors so this was the most reasonably priced way to go. (FYI during this process - in less than a week- this type of plywood went up almost $20.00 a sheet!)

Oh boy. This is quite the uninspiring space to share on social media!

You can see the handrail (and dirty handprints) in the picture below. We come up the stairs from the lower level there and to the right is the laundry closet (more on that later.) To the left is a small landing area and doorways to two bedrooms. The doorway across from the top of the stairs leads into the hall bathroom. The black door at the end of the hall is a linen closet. At one point many years ago this space was faux painted and the attic trap door was painted to look like a skylight. Everything is getting a coat of glossy white paint.

In the picture below you are looking back toward the landing at the top of the stairs. The laundry closet is to the left. It is handy to have it upstairs but because the hallway is narrow it had to have bifold doors. They were the jankiest things in the world. I pulled them out and quickly hung a curtain in the opening moments before company arrived (obviously that was a few years ago!) Not great but anything was better than those bifold doors.

As long as I live here those janky bifold doors will be stored in a dark corner of the basement. I plan to hang another curtain treatment at the opening. I'm going to go higher and wider than the opening and it will camouflage the opening and the mechanics of the opening much better. It will also add a textural and warm touch to the bright white space and the "hardness" of the flooring and mirrors.

As for the mirrors I have a stack of thrifted bamboo and faux bamboo mirrors of all shapes and sizes. I'm going to use them in natural bamboo, gold tone and painted finishes. This hallway is dotted with annoying things like thermostats, switches for fans and lights and more. Hanging anything in a symmetrical or balanced way would be impossible so the mirrors will be a great solution. I love mirrors - I hung all 4 walls of the first bathroom I ever decorated on my own with a collection of thrifted mirrors. That was almost 40 years ago. Here I am doing the same thing again.

I literally have no idea how I will photograph this space with all those mirrors. It may look more like the mirror room at the circus funhouse than Versailles. We'll see!

I thank Linda for all of the motivation to improve our spaces each challenge.

You can check out my previous One Room Challenge posts here:

Fall 2020 - My Family Room Fluff which was a very simple, budget-friendly, shop the house "fluff" of this space.

Spring 2020- My 9th-ish ORC and Wash Your Hands!

Fall 2019 - I attempted to complete my kitchen. I had started it in the Spring 2019 ORC but life had other plans than a kitchen ORC!

Fall 2018 - I worked on our Screened In Porch.

 

Fall 2017 - Come On In! The Entryway

Spring 2017 - Our Guest Bedroom.

 This was the second time I ORC'd this space. It was my first ORC I ever attempted and I never felt like I had really pulled it off so I just gave it another go!

Fall 2016 - Yes, There is a China Cabinet in our Bathroom!

Spring 2016 - Black is Back Library! 

The title is in reference to a lot of design hype at the time that 'black was back'

 but it never left at my house!

Fall 2015 - #motherdaughterorc

Mollie was transitioning home post-grad and beginning a new job in the area. Her bathroom needed an update so we took it on together. 

Spring 2015 - My first ORC and the first attempt at the Guest room. Looking back over 10 ORC's is amazing. It's a great opportunity to refresh, re-design, etc. any space in your home. It can be a gut job or a very budget minded project. I encourage everyone to give it a whirl. I have learned so much since this first, very basic attempt!

Be sure to follow along with all of the other ORC'ers here.

And be sure to check out my Instagram account for updates in between the weekly posts!

Also, the rest of my ORC posts will be shorter than this! Promise!!