The Interior DIYer
#DarkRomanticLuxe

One Room Challenge Spring 2020 – Week Seven!

The deadline is fast approaching as we near the One Room Challenge final week[s]. Next week is Week Eight and while it is the final week, from that date we have 7 days to submit out ORCs. It’s something I’ve agonized over as the weeks have progressed; will I be finished for Week Eight? What steps do I have to skip so I’m finished on time? NBD, I’m just the only person still at the drywall stage!

I know in the grand scheme of things the ORC is not something I should be loosing sleep over. But have you even been sucked into something that completely took over your mind and to people on the outside, you look to be totally over reacting? That’s what I’m feeling right now. I’m so far into this project that I can’t see out of it. Any time I express my anxiety, I feel silly. But at the same time, this is a big project for me! I mean huge. It’s the first renovation I’ve ever taken on and I’ve done 97% of the work by myself [thank you to Robert for helping me drywall the ceiling even when you threw your back out].

This week I finished installing the fiddly bits of drywall and applied and sanded one layer of mud and tape [so far]. Despite how awkward using a mud trowel, I slowly got the hang of it. My feeble wrists and office-zombie-arms however, are not made for such agility atop a step ladder attempting to mud a ceiling. I took my time and last night sanded the whole room – which has been probably the messiest step so far outside of demolishing the room in the second week.

I decided to keep the original chimney piece in the ceiling. You actually won’t see it once I’ve put the shelving units on either side of the window, but it was something quirky I wanted to keep.

I also picked up / received a few very exciting pieces this week! We first collected a fireplace mantel that I’ve had my eye on for weeks. Unfortunately the person I bought it from was probably a conspiracy theorist and a flat-earther as they were super awkward [they actually ran away from us when we arrived to curb-side pick up and spied on us from around the corner of his house].

A far less creepy addition to our front room is these absolutely gorgeous sconces a friend of mine Alicia, who spur-of-the-moment bought these a year ago in a thrift store and the moment she saw them, knew I’d love them [emotions]. Alicia offered to send them to me in time to include in my ORC and they could not be more perfect.

I feel a bit more relaxed and confident in my decision to give myself a few more days for my ORC deadline. I know it’s the right decision [again, for anyone outside of the ORC bubble, this will all seem dramatic] because I’m back to looking forward to work on our front room vs. my recent and constant dose of resentment. I want to have a beautifully finished room. I want to enjoy the process. I know I’ll be upset next Thursday when everyone else is sharing their final rooms, but I’ll just have to deal with that myself.

As usual, you can see all the Week Seven Guest Participants progress here!

Week One – Week Two – Week Three – Week Four – Week Five – Week Six
Week Seven – Week Eight

#DarkRomanticLuxe

Secondhand tufted Victorian-style couch

I feel there’s no point adding text to this blog post because this couch is perfect.

The end.

Not wanting to miss out on an opportunity to preach about sourcing pieces secondhand for my One Room Challenge, I will continue!

I’ve been on the lookout for a statement couch on Kijiji for at least 8 weeks for our front room makeover. I wanted an over-the-top yet comfortable couch. I had a general idea of the perfect shaped couch in mind [as seen in my mock-up shared on Week One, and never did I think I’d actually get the exact shape I wanted!], but while I was looking, I was really flexible; something that’s vital when shopping secondhand. Here are the guidelines for what I was looking for in a couch:

  • Have an unusual shape, yet be comfortable enough to curl up and could read a book on
  • Ideally, be velvet
  • Have an element of drama [see: unusual shape]
  • The colour would ideally be cream / gray / pink or burgundy, but I was also open to possibly painting the couch or reupholstering it in the long run, so I wasn’t too narrowly focused on the colour or pattern
  • Be affordable [some people need their heads checked and a dose of reality. $2,000 for a 40+ year-old couch is not a good deal]
  • The couch actually be available / not be ghosted by the seller

A combination of all of the above makes for a bit of an arduous journey, BUT BE PATIENT. IT WILL PAY OFF IN THE END. Trust me. I’ve been buying secondhand for years now and you have to be patient. That’s why I started looking for a couch well ahead of the ORC beginning. It takes time, sometimes months, but that’s all part of the hunt and makes the final find that much sweeter.

I had this couch saved for a long time but it took me weeks to contact the seller because it was outside of our budget [and I didn’t want to come across as insulting by lowballing the price]. It was advertised at $600 and after a few messages we agreed on $400 for the couch. My budget was $300 [which in fairness, was a number I randomly chose], but this was definitely one of those situations where if I didn’t get this couch, it would haunt me forever, so I was flexible. And I’m so glad I was because LOOK AT MY GORGEOUS NEW VAMPIRIC COUCH.

Check out My Top Tips for Buying Secondhand Items Online blog post, which details the four techniques I use to win at secondhanding. One of these ‘techniques’ got $200 off the final price of our couch [though, it’s not really a technique so much as just being a human person]. Check it out!

Click through to four top tips for sourcing secondhand pieces online! #Secondhand #Thrifted
#DarkRomanticLuxe

One Room Challenge Spring 2020 – Week Two!

My first week in the One Room Challenge has actually gone really well considering all that I’ve uncovered has pointed out more things that need to be fixed [something I was prepared for], but I am still so excited to transform this space.

You can blame my lack of experience, but I’m looking forward to correcting the wrongs that were made over the more recent 50 years to this house’s history and making the front room in our house a real part of our home and somewhere to enjoy. Not somewhere where furniture goes to die.

I first wanted to get our ceiling tiles tested for asbestos as I was conscious that some older ceiling tiles can have it. This was the main deciding factor in moving ahead with our ORC; if the test came back positive and we couldn’t rip out the tiles ourselves, then we wouldn’t be tackling this room until a professional could do it. I called a few places and thanks to speaking with a few knowledgeable people, I found out if you bring a tile sample in yourself [$90] vs. getting a professional to call out to your house and take the sample [$650 – no exaggeration], you can save yourself a boat load of money.

Up the ladder I went, ripped out one tile, delivered it for testing and one week later we go the results we were hoping for! The next day I contacted Bin There Dump That, who so generously offered to partner on our ORC and provided a 20-yard dumpster, I then ordered the dumpster from them and two days later it arrived and I got started on demolishing our front room.

Down came the ceiling tiles followed by the 80’s faux wood paneling [this kind of stuff, not this stuff]. Both were hiding a plethora of sins. The original 100-year-old plaster on the ceiling and the walls were in terrible condition. They may not have been this bad when they were originally covered, but this is the reason they both were both covered. A case of if I can’t see it, it’s not happening series of design choices.

This is where I got nervous. My dilemma was; the original walls and ceilings are in terrible condition. I want to conserve them, but I can’t. Is it okay for me to rip them out, or is that an even bigger crime against historical architecture? I video called Dad DIYer, who confirmed that the best [and really only] way to move forward is to rip everything out. I was prepared for this and wasn’t disheartened by it, I just wanted to make sure I was making the right decision.

As usual, you can see all the Guest Participants progress here! Check back here next week when I introduce our crowbar to our 100-year-old plaster …

Week One – Week Two – Week Three – Week Four – Week Five
Week Six – Week Seven – Week Eight

DISCLOSURE - while this post is not sponsored, I did receive the service of a dumpster rental during my One Room Challenge free of charge from Bin There Dump That in exchange for a blog post. I only work with brands that I like and of course, think you will too. Thank you for supporting the companies that support The Interior DIYer.