Tag: sponsored

  • Personalized Holiday Gifts, and “Wheel Cars!”

    Personalized Holiday Gifts, and “Wheel Cars!”

    This post is sponsored by Shutterfly.


    A while back, I took a few quick pictures of the kids while we were waiting for a table at a restaurant. They were bored, hungry, and making funny faces to amuse themselves — August and Eleanor on each end, with a resigned Calvin in the middle who was over the whole thing. It totally captured their personalities. And now? Those faces can greet you as you have your morning coffee.

    Personalized Gold Dot Mugs from Shutterfly

    We have plenty of photos of all three of them where they aren’t making faces, but their silly pictures crack me up and I think it’s even funnier that they’re mugging for the camera on a personalized mug. Hello, grandparent gift! I got a matching set from Shutterfly where you can add Ghiradelli to your order; I included assorted squares of chocolate with ours.

    Shutterfly offers non-photo personalized gifts too. I chose a monogrammed pouch for each of the kids in colors I thought they would like. We’re going to fill each one with treats before wrapping them up for Christmas, and then each kid could use them for their little toys and treasures.

    Personalized Monogram Pouches from Shutterfly | Making it Lovely

    I’m wishing I’d picked up a canvas tote for myself! I’m a sucker for embroidered initials.

    Embroidered Initial Canvas Pouches from Shutterfly

    And here’s the one I’m most proud of because I made the pattern myself. “Wheel cars” (as Calvin calls them) on a custom pillow and blanket! They’re going to go in his room, but the lucky kid got an early peek while I was photographing them to share here.

    "Wheel Cars" Personalized Patterned Pillow from Shutterfly | Making it Lovely

    Eleanor and August each got a fleece blanket as one of their Christmas gifts last year from our family. They use them when they’re cold, but also when they’re playing, having pretend picnics, building forts, making superhero capes, and so on. Calvin didn’t get a blanket of his own, so I designed and ordered one for him.

    I looked through our toy cars for the most interesting wheels, and then photographed almost two dozen of them.

    Photos of Toy Car Wheels

    I cut out those wheels in Photoshop, arranged them and created a repeating pattern, then added a background color and played around with the contrast until I liked the end result.

    Wheels
    Wheel Cars Kids' Pattern

    I realized when I was done that it would make a cute matching pillow for the bed, so I ordered one along with a plush fleece blanket. There are pre-designed pillows and blankets too, but Shutterfly made it super easy to personalize everything. I saved my pattern as a jpeg and uploaded it just like I did with the photo of the kids, and I love that we have something for Calvin’s room now with a design I made myself.

    "Wheel Cars" Personalized Patterned Pillow from Shutterfly | Making it Lovely

    It’s a total kid pattern, but it was fun to make. “Wheel cars!” And now I want to make a million more. Photo collage style again, or break out the gouache and paintbrushes?


    This post is sponsored by Shutterfly. Awaken your space with your vision. Shop Shutterfly Home Décor for personalized home accents that are uniquely you.

  • Decorating for Both Christmas and New Year’s Eve

    Decorating for Both Christmas and New Year’s Eve

    This post is sponsored by Lowe’s. While this was a paid opportunity from Lowe’s, all content and opinions expressed here are my own.


    The Christmas to New Year’s transition: it can be done! I cleared the sideboard in our recently finished front entry to create two holiday looks, keeping the same base for both — silvery faux-birch allen + roth candles and white cotton ball ornaments that look like snowballs. Then I made a few easy changes.

    Turning Christmas Decorations into New Year's Eve Decor

    I was eager to decorate the entry since we had just worked on the space, but these looks would work equally well for a fireplace mantel, console table, or even down the center of a dining room table.


    Christmas

    A green wreath and red flowers bring in traditional Christmas color, and the rest of the decorations are in a palette of white, silver, and gold. The neutral base helped ease the transition to the other look.

     
    Small allen + roth gold votive holders are standing in as vases, and I mixed in a few Holiday Living gold plaid ornaments to add more shine. A trio of silver Christmas trees add height, and their texture plays well with the faux-birch candles.

     
    Those candles have such a nice glow. They have a realistic flicker too — my little guy likes to pretend to blow them out and then we have to time the off switch so he thinks he was successful.

     


    New Year’s Eve

    Gone are the flowers and the wreath, along with the Christmas tree trio and the plaid ornaments. The most obvious addition is the backdrop of paper pinwheels.

     
    I used two packs of pinwheels for a more full look. I also added a few more of the snowball ornaments to replace the plaid ones. There are two types in the mix — some made from cotton, and these Holiday Living white ball ornaments. They both look like snow and I like the variance in size and texture.

     
    The simple wreath would have still worked for the New Year’s Eve style too, but allen + roth dots and stripes pinwheels are always so fun to break out for a party. They come with double-sided tape to stick them open, but we know the trick of using a paper clip instead so they’ll be reusable, yes? (If you didn’t, now you do.)

     


    You can grab everything for these Christmas and New Year’s Eve looks from Lowe’s.

     
    The base:

    For Christmas, add:

    For New Year’s Eve, add:


    Christmas Decorating, Simplified

    Bonus look number three!

    I would do something like the above for a party, or if this was a purely decorative spot like the fireplace mantel, but here’s a quick shot of a pared back everyday version. We keep a tray on the sideboard to catch mail (because without it, paper will pile up and accumulate on any other available horizontal surface). The candles are going to be put to use elsewhere, the plaid ornaments will go on the Christmas tree, and the paper pinwheels are going into my party supply drawer.

    This is how the front entry looks for us now, minus the stack of catalogs and other assorted mail that arrives daily. Simplified, but still festive.

  • Planning Our Paint Color Palette with the Simply Yours Tool

    Planning Our Paint Color Palette with the Simply Yours Tool

    This post is sponsored by Dutch Boy Paint.


    We took on several spaces for the latest round of the One Room Challenge. The work spanned all three floors of our Victorian from the front entry, up the stairs, down the second and third floor hallways, and then back down the other set of stairs and out to the back door. Dutch Boy Paint provided all of the paint we needed, and as you might imagine, there was a wee bit of painting involved.

    I wanted each space to have its own identity, but the entries and pass-through areas touch every single room, so there still had to be a sense of continuity and a color palette that would work well throughout the whole house. I knew I wanted black doors and white trim upstairs, so that was an obvious place to start. Here’s a tip — you don’t necessarily want to use the darkest, most true black or the brightest, purest white. The contrast may be too stark and you’ll likely get a better result with a creamier white and a less severe black.

    Brass Sconce, Pink Wallpaper, Black Doors, White Trim | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Here’s how the colors I chose (Authentic Black, 437-7DB, and Brightened Cream, 005W) compare to similar shades.

    Black and White Paint Colors - Dutch Boy

    I played around with the colors using Dutch Boy’s Simply Yours Tool. I started with the most extreme black and white, then brought my choices in and added a creamy white (White Linen, 007W) to be used on the stairway walls.

    Black Doors, White Walls and Trim - Dutch Boy

    Next, I turned my attention to the front entry color, which I knew would be a shade of pink. I was looking for a pink that was strong enough to stand up to our unpainted oak, muted (not too bright or saturated), and on the peachy/coral side or with a beige/brown base. I’ve starred some of my favorites below, and again, I played around with those in the Simply Yours Tool, then picked up some paint chips to help make my final decision.

    Dutch Boy Pink Paint Colors

    There were four strong contenders: Amber Wood (409-4DB), Ole Washboard (409-3DB), Old Oak Trail (409-2DB), and Sandstone Quarry (408-2DB). Each of the four would have looked great with the wood in our front entry, but Sandstone Quarry also worked well with the wallpaper for the second floor hall and the two spaces connect at the top of the stairs.

    Making it Lovely's One Room Challenge Design Details

    There were several surfaces to paint, each with their own specific requirements. Below is a breakdown of the products, finishes, and colors used throughout. You can find Dutch Boy Paint at your local Menards store.

    Walls and Ceilings

    • Dutch Boy Platinum® Paint + Primer (Flat)
    • Brightened Cream, 005W (2nd and 3rd floor ceilings, 3rd floor walls)
      White Linen, 007W (1st floor ceiling, front and back stairway walls)
      Sandstone Quarry, 408-2DB (front entry walls)
    • Most people will choose a flat finish for ceilings, but it’s also my preferred finish for walls. I like a matte look.

    Trim and Baseboards

    Doors

    Stair Treads and Risers

    Dutch Boy Paint Prep

    Karastan Antelope Print Runners, Black and White Stairs | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Once I had made all of my color decisions, I paired them up together with the Simply Yours Tool one last time. I referenced it while creating design boards and choosing fabrics, furnishings, and accessories. The brown (Olde Metal, 414-7DB) is there to represent the stair runner I had chosen, but I do like the idea of it as a wall color. (Brown is back, I’m telling you.)

    My Dutch Boy Color Palette with the Simply Yours Tool | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    If you want to try your hand at creating a color palette, you can do so right here with Dutch Boy’s Simply Yours Tool. Give it a go, and you could win a color consultation or Dutch Boy Paint prize pack (but hurry, the contest ends on 11/24)! You can also like Dutch Boy Paint on Facebook for more inspiration.

  • One Room Challenge: Week 6 (Front and Back Entry, Stairs, and Hallways –  Final Reveal!)

    One Room Challenge: Week 6 (Front and Back Entry, Stairs, and Hallways – Final Reveal!)

    Hey, who needs a distraction right now? Today is reveal day for the Fall 2016 One Room Challenge! Let’s get into it.

    I have been sharing my progress over the past six weeks as I’ve worked on making over our front entry, up the stairs and down the second and third floor hallways, and then down the other stairway and out the back door. There were major setbacks (hello, serious plumbing problems), but we’ve also made huge progress. These spaces touch every other room in our home, and the entire house feels more polished now that they’re (mostly) done.

    Front Entryway

    Front Entry

    Let’s begin with the front entry, which needed the least amount of work. The walls were cream when we moved in and I had painted them a silvery blue a couple of years ago, but I wasn’t completely happy with the color. A fresh coat of pink paint (Dutch Boy Sandstone Quarry, 408-2DB) went a long way here. The color choice was driven by my inspiration, the sandstone of India’s Hawa Mahal in Jaipur.

    Oak-Paneled Victorian Staircase and Front Entry with Curved Window | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    The gaslight-style fixture has been replaced with a modern lantern from Lamps Plus. Brass! Quartz! I’m into it. Then above the door, I replaced the red exit light with a simple white globe. Is it weird to miss the bizarre old EXIT light? We still have it and could swap it back out again. I sort of miss the way it would make our house glow red like a bordello.

    Front Entry Details | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    The old rim lock on the front door had been temperamental for a while, and it finally broke just as I was about to work on the front entry. Nice timing! I had to bore some new holes in both the door and frame for the Nostalgic Warehouse deadbolt, and the new oval door knob is using the existing mortise.

    Our IKEA sideboard continues to work well for us (inside are shoes, hats, gloves, etc.), but the single lamp on top has been replaced by a matching pair by Visual Comfort from ATG. That beautiful faux-shagreen tray normally holds mail as it comes in, but a stack of books is prettier to look at than a stack of mail, eh?

    Front Entry Sideboard | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    We have an antique hall tree on the wall, but it’s useful to have that freestanding coat rack in the opposite corner too. A boot tray hides out beneath the sideboard for wet/muddy/snowy footwear. I want a pretty entry, but it has to function for our family of five.

    Victorian Hall Tree | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Making it Lovely's Front Entry for the One Room Challenge

    The copper chair is by Blu Dot and we’ve had it for a while, I just hadn’t written about it yet. It has a living finish, so the metal will patina over time (and has already started). I would have loved to go with a fabric chair, but this one will stand up to the kids and even improve with their abuse.

    Victorian Wooden Staircase | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    The semi-antique rug has been here for a while too. The basics of this entry were in place and I felt good about most of the choices. Including the space as part of my One Room Challenge was more about tweaking and perfecting than a complete overhaul. I saved that for the other areas that needed more help!

    Victorian Front Screen Door | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Beth from South Loop Loft came over a few nights ago and we played around with some of the styling throughout. She brought an amazing black mirror I’d had my eye on that you’ll see in the second floor hall, and she surprised me with the black candleholder you see poking out from behind the flowers. The perfect masculine counterpoint to the more feminine elements elsewhere.

    Queen Anne Victorian Front Entry | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    I had planned on pairing the ‘Mask’ art by Jennifer Ament on the far wall with a more classical Thomas Gainsborough print, but in the end I replaced it with an abstract painting I bought years ago from Michelle Armas. The Gainsborough was moved to the top of the stairs, and I like the way the folds of the pink linen shade from The Shade Store mimic the folds of the dress in the painting.

    Victorian Oak Paneling Entry and Stairway | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Pink Roman Shade, Original Victorian Wooden Window, Thomas Gainsborough Print | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Ready to see more?

    Victorian Stairway with Oak Wood Paneling | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Oh, there’s more.


    Back Entryway

    The Back Entry

    The textured plaster walls in the back entry and stairway from the basement all the way up to the second floor were dingy and cracked. We hired Signature Look Painting and Decorating to repair, skim coat, and paint them, and it all looked great! Then we had to cut holes in our lovely new smooth walls to investigate a plumbing leak. Not so great.

    Back Stairway, Torn Apart, and a Cracked Plumbing Stack | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Add to that some stairs that were in need of more than a cleaning and a coat of paint after we removed the old carpeting, and the back stairway is just not finished. We have a new plumbing stack, several steps have already been replaced, we’re ripping up and replacing the wood on the landing, and hopefully soon we can move on and get to the fun part. Everything will eventually look like so.

    Karastan Antelope Print Runners, Black and White Stairs | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Our Victorian has front and back stairs and we did finish the front, so you’ll see more of that amazing Karastan antelope print carpeting in a moment.

    The walls are painted in Dutch Boy White Linen (007W), a soft creamy white, and the windows have pink linen roman shades from The Shade Store again. There’s a mirrored sconce from AllModern just above the back door and a tassel sconce by Crystorama on the second landing to match the others in the second floor hallway. I added black chandelier shades to both.

    Sconces with Black Chandelier Shades | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    We’ll hang a black pleated pendant shade from AllModern in the back entry after its repairs are finished.

    Black Pleated Pendant Shade from AllModern | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    I’m excited about getting the pleats I had wanted, but I don’t think it’s going to mix well with sawdust and plaster dust! Better to wait a bit.


    Third Floor Hallway

    Third Floor Hallway

    Take those back stairs all the way up, ignoring the new holes and general awfulness that has happened, and you end up in the third floor hallway. Behold! Many doors, painted black (Dutch Boy Authentic Black, 437-7DB).

    There were 14 doors throughout the second and third floor halls, each taking between 3-5 hours for repairs, prep, priming, and painting. The ones up here are each different, but fresh paint and new brass hardware from Nostalgic Warehouse and House of Antique Hardware unify them.

    Black Painted Doors with Brass Hardware from Nostalgic Warehouse | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    I would like to replace that carpet, but it’s not a priority. The other side of the hall has space for an old IKEA Effektiv bookcase, which is filled with kids’ toys (their playroom is nearby). The architecture isn’t as interesting up here as it is elsewhere in the house, so I went with a simple brass sconce and I tried my hand at a gallery wall outside of the bathroom. The art is a mix of old and new, mostly from South Loop Loft and Artfully Walls.

    Third Floor Hallway | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Hand-Painted Bathroom Floor | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Oh what fun it will be to destroy my hand-painted floork there! Plumbing, you are the worst. Well, maybe electrical issues are the worst? I don’t know. We’ve had both! Quick, let’s look at something pretty. Another faux-shagreen tray, a cute little dog, and Jill Rosenwald’s Versailles coping bowl, customized in pink.

    Faux Shagreen Tray, Ceramic Bowl and Dog Figure | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    All right, down the front stairs to the second floor. That Karastan antelope carpet is something, eh?

    Antelope Print Stair Runner Rug | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    So good. As is the wallpaper you’re about to see.


    Second Floor Hallway

    Second Floor Hallway

    The hallway is not completely finished, but it’s far enough along that you can get a sense of it. Please pardon any dust I didn’t get to before taking photos — it has been a construction zone for weeks.

    Black Doors, Tourbillon Farrow & Ball Wallpaper, Victorian Hallway | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    The radiator is on wood blocks to protect the floor; those will be removed after it has been reconnected. Above is another tassel and rope sconce from Crystorama on Farrow & Ball’s Tourbillon wallpaper in pink.

    Brass Rope and Tassel Crystorama Sconce on Pink Farrow & Ball Wallpaper | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Opposite the radiator are the stairs. They looked like this not too long ago, so I’m feeling pretty chuffed about how they turned out.

    Stairs' Progress | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Brandon ripped out the old carpet and staples, then I cleaned and prepped the stairs before painting them – black treads with white risers. Overall, it wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but it’s so worth it in the end. The other stairway will get there too. Soon.

    Antelope Print Stair Runner Rug | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    Down the other side of the hall, the wallpaper has not all been hung yet. This hall has been through so much in our three years though! A quick refresher…

    Hallway Changes Over Three Years

    So much better now. A new drywall ceiling has been dropped down a few inches below the old plaster one to cover conduit piping from our home’s rewiring, and our brass Schoolhouse Electric fixtures are back up.

    Wallpapered Hallway in Progress | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    I have two runners from Annie Selke’s Dash & Albert, but the other is still in its packaging since we haven’t finished working up here. That white dresser from Joss & Main replaces the built-in storage that used to divide the hall. Above is the mirror I mentioned earlier from South Loop Loft, along with a miniature portrait from Chairish, a brass bug, a vintage blue and white jar with a plant, and a wee brass lamp from Bellacor.

    Vintage Mirror from South Loop Loft, Arteriors Brass Grasshopper, Chairish Vintage Portrait, Bellacor Visual Comfort Tiny Terri Brass Lamp, Joss & Main Dresser | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    White Dresser from Joss & Main, Black Octagonal Mirror from South Loop Loft, Runner Rug from Dash & Albert, Tourbillon Wallpaper by Farrow & Ball | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge

    There’s more to be done, but I’m pretty happy.

    Looking Toward the Bedroom from the Wallpapered Hall | Making it Lovely, One Room Challenge


    Thank you to Linda at Calling it Home for organizing this event and inviting me to participate again, and thank you to House Beautiful for your partnership and coverage. I’m also grateful for the support of my One Room Challenge sponsors, and for the opportunity to work alongside the other participants, each of whom are listed below.

    And thank you for following along! It has been a hectic six weeks. I have so much more to go into about the behind-the-scenes madness and the back stairway is still a mess, but I’m thrilled with where we ended up. The house is closer than ever to my vision for it, and that feels amazing.


    Follow along with the One Room Challenge participants!

    One Room Challenge• Jana Bek • Chris Loves Julia • Shannon Claire • Coco.Kelley • The Curated House • Driven by Décor • The English Room • From the Right Bank • Sherry Hart • Hi Sugarplum • House of Jade • Hunted Interior • The Makerista • Making it Lovely • Marcus Design • Pencil & Paper Co. • Megan Pflug • Place of My Taste • Suburban B’s • Waiting on Martha • Media Partner House Beautiful • TM by CIH

    My One Room Challenge Sponsors

    Thank you to the following sponsors for generously providing product.
    • AllModern • ATG • Bellacor • Chairish • Crystorama • Dash & Albert • Dutch Boy • Farrow & Ball • Jill Rosenweld • Joss & Main • Karastan • Lamps Plus • Nostalgic Warehouse and House of Antique Hardware • Schoolhouse Electric • South Loop Loft • The Shade Store

    My One Room Challenge Posts

    Follow along from the beginning!
    • Week 1: The Before Shots • Week 2: The Design Plan • Week 3: Work Very Much in Progress • Week 4: Those Stairs, That Hall • Week 5: When it Rains, it Pours • Weed 6: Final Reveal!

  • One Room Challenge: Week 5 (When it Rains, it Pours)

    One Room Challenge: Week 5 (When it Rains, it Pours)

    I had planned to finish — completely finish — two flights of stairs over the weekend. The old paint beneath the carpet we ripped up had passed their lead check test, so I did some light sanding on Friday and started cleaning the next morning. I washed the first three steps with Dirtex, then went to empty and refill my bucket. I poured the dirty water down the tub instead of using the sink and before I could get back to cleaning, I heard my daughter Eleanor downstairs.

    “Mom!? The bathroom is flooding!”

    My first thought was that one of the kids had stopped up the sink to play and left the faucet on, but nope. Water was raining down from the ceiling. The good news is that we use the third floor bathroom more like a powder room and we won’t have any more rain in the house as long as we don’t use that tub. The bad news is that we may have to rip everything apart eventually when we are ready to find and fix the leak. Good thing I lovingly hand-painted that floor, huh? I had to switch to cleaning up the mess in the bathroom instead of cleaning the stairs, but the house is fine and we were lucky that Eleanor had noticed the leak right away. I would have kept going!

    Anyways, that was our Saturday. Sunday, the fire department came to our door and blocked off our street. Lights! Sirens! Action! One of our smoke detectors started going off (false alarm) and as I was talking to a representative from our security system, it went off again before I could give them my password for a dispatch cancellation. I felt awful for wasting the firefighters’ time and apologized profusely.

    So our weekend was fun. How was yours?

    Painting the Stairs

    That’s as far as I had gotten on the stairs by Monday morning. As of today, they are painted and ready for the antelope runner to be installed. Hooray! That’s happening on Friday, but the other stairs won’t be done in time for the big reveal next week. Since installation had to be pushed back, we could only keep our appointment for one day this week and the rest will be done later in the month. I’m bummed, but at least I’ll have one set of stairs to show.

    I suppose it’s nice to not have to rush on the others? Silver lining! Because we got all the rest of the carpeting pulled up and surprise! Everything is awful.

    Stairs After Skim Coating Walls and Pulling Up Carpeting

    I mean, I can appreciate the red painted runner. Someone put some effort into that! But what’s not good is the condition of the floor at the top landing. Gap city. And the bottom is vinyl, but I’m thinking I could use a deglosser on it and paint like the rest. Or just go wall to wall in the landing? Both landings? Should I rip out the bad wood planks and replace them? Oh, can of worms. It’s been a little while since I opened you — how have you been?

    Flooring Gaps

    Let’s talk paint! Dutch Boy is one of my sponsors for the One Room Challenge, and their Sandstone Quarry (408-2DB) is the color I’ll be using in the front entryway. It’s a pink with a lot of muddy beige/brown to it, but I need that brown base to play off of the unpainted oak. On the walls, the paint will read as a lovely pink and it’s also a good match for the background in the wallpaper I’ll be using upstairs. That pink is sort of the star, and I built a color palette around it with Dutch Boy Paint’s Simply Yours Tool.

    Dutch Boy Simply Yours Color Palette

    The tool allowed me to create a custom sharable color palette so I could visualize how my colors will complement each other. In addition to the pink I chose, there are two whites. The trim on the second and third floors and the stair risers will be Brightened Cream (005W) — a nice, warm white that isn’t too stark, nor too yellow. The other, White Linen (007W), will be used in the back entry and the third floor hallway. It’s still nice and light with the same warmth that Brightened Cream has, but with just enough of a difference to be noticeable. The brown in my palette (Olde Metal, 414-7DB) is just there to represent the colors of the carpet runner and woodwork, and Authentic Black (437-7DB) is for the stair treads and all of the second and third floor doors.

    The front entry and third floor is done. Wait, that deserves more exclamation points. It’s done!!!

    Getting Ready to Paint — Dutch Boy 'Sandstone Quarry'

    Painting in Progress - Dutch Boy 'Sandstone Quarry'

    I went with Dutch Boy Platinum® Paint + Primer for the walls, which made surface prep easy. Then for the stairs, we used Dutch Boy’s Porch & Floor Paint + Primer. It’s an interior and exterior paint that holds up in high traffic areas.

    The walls have been skim coated and primed from the back entry up to the second floor. The trim and doors on the second floor have also been primed. Wallpaper has not yet gone up and I didn’t hire it out because I thought I could get started by now. Whoops! It’s here though, and it will look amazing once it’s up.

    Next week is the big reveal! If you need me, I’ll just be over here cleaning/sanding/caulking/prepping/painting/wallpapering.


    Follow along with the One Room Challenge participants!

    One Room Challenge• Jana Bek • Chris Loves Julia • Shannon Claire • Coco.Kelley • The Curated House • Driven by Décor • The English Room • From the Right Bank • Sherry Hart • Hi Sugarplum • House of Jade • Hunted Interior • The Makerista • Making it Lovely • Marcus Design • Pencil & Paper Co. • Megan Pflug • Place of My Taste • Suburban B’s • Waiting on Martha • Media Partner House Beautiful • TM by CIH

    My One Room Challenge Posts

    Follow along from the beginning!
    • Week 1: The Before Shots • Week 2: The Design Plan • Week 3: Work Very Much in Progress • Week 4: Those Stairs, That Hall • Week 5: When it Rains, it Pours • Weed 6: Final Reveal!

  • One Room Challenge: Week 4 (Those Stairs, That Hall)

    One Room Challenge: Week 4 (Those Stairs, That Hall)

    Some things look better (the ceiling and the third floor doors), most things look worse (everything else).

    Stairs and Floor After Pulling Up Carpet

    It’s gotta get worse before it gets better! It will all come together in these last two weeks. I’m so grateful to my sponsors (denoted with asterisks) for providing many of the physical goods needed for this makeover. That has allowed us to allocate our budget toward labor and hire out some of the other jobs that were either over our heads (framing and hanging the drywall that is literally over our heads) or too time-intensive to finish by the One Room Challenge deadline (skim coating the back entry and stairway, and custom binding and installing stair runners). Knowing that those jobs are being taken care of, I dedicated myself last week to repairs and properly prepping surfaces before painting, and Brandon removed a bunch of the stairs’ old carpeting.

    We’re working on the front and back entryways, four flights of stairs, and two hallways, but I think the biggest impact for us will be in the second floor hall. We are remodeling this home slowly as we’re able to devote time and money to doing it properly, and the hall is probably the most visible record of that work.

    Hallway Changes Over Three Years

    The house has been through many changes in its 125 years. The front half of the house was separated from the back when we moved in, and you had to walk through the former kitchen on the second floor to get to the back bedroom. We removed a built-in that was probably added in the 30s (which was a little sad), taking the hall back to its original layout and gaining daylight from a window that was blocked off in the process. A doorway was moved, the walls were fixed, and the former kitchen turned into a nursery. We also ripped up the damaged old flooring and replaced it with new hardwood. The hall was painted, and all was well for about two years. Then we rewired the second and third floors, and we lived with conduit pipes and plenty of holes for the past year. Now we have a ceiling again! The holes have been patched! And in the next couple of weeks? All of that wood trim is going white, the doors are getting painted black, the temporary lights will be replaced, wallpaper will be hung, the window will get a roman shade, and sconces will be installed where there were never sconces before. It’s all pretty exciting.

    There isn’t much else that needs to happen in the hall as far as decorating goes. I like gallery walls in other people’s homes, but I want to let the wallpaper stand on its own here. There is a spot tucked away next to the bump-out for the chimney that will get a new dresser* for extra bathroom storage (it’s just across the hall and down a few feet). That little brass lamp* will stay with the dresser, and maybe the tray* too if I don’t use it elsewhere. Then something will go above, either art or a mirror, but I haven’t decided what yet.

    Tall White Dresser

    Here’s how some of the other details look together!

    Making it Lovely's One Room Challenge Design Details

    I’m so eager to get those sconces* installed. The tassels relate to the tassel sconces on the first floor, and the rope detail relates to the new hardware* on the third. The trim needs to be painted first and then the walls papered, and all of that’s waiting on the other work that’s underway.

    The new stair runners are waiting on that work, too. We’re going to have them bound on-site and installed by a pro because there are a lot of twists and turns over the course of four very old flights of stairs. That carpet is on sale right now for National Karastan Month, FYI, in case you’re looking to do the same. Karastan is holding a big sweepstakes for an area rug and $1000 off, and there’s also up to a $1000 cash back coupon as part of the sale.

    I have a lot of stair prep ahead of me before our installation happens! Black treads, white risers, and you know… not gross.

    Stairs Under Old Carpeting

    Gross Old Stairs

    It looks so bad right now. But we’re getting closer!


    Follow along with the One Room Challenge participants!

    One Room Challenge• Jana Bek • Chris Loves Julia • Shannon Claire • Coco.Kelley • The Curated House • Driven by Décor • The English Room • From the Right Bank • Sherry Hart • Hi Sugarplum • House of Jade • Hunted Interior • The Makerista • Making it Lovely • Marcus Design • Pencil & Paper Co. • Megan Pflug • Place of My Taste • Suburban B’s • Waiting on Martha • Media Partner House Beautiful • TM by CIH

    My One Room Challenge Posts

    Follow along from the beginning!
    • Week 1: The Before Shots • Week 2: The Design Plan • Week 3: Work Very Much in Progress • Week 4: Those Stairs, That Hall • Week 5: When it Rains, it Pours • Weed 6: Final Reveal!

    * Asterisks indicate that an item was provided by a sponsor.