ONE ROOM CHALLENGE // WEEK 5

We are just a week away from next Thursday's reveal of the new in-home workspace that I've been designing for the Fall 2015 edition of the One Room Challenge. For today's update, I wanted to focus on some of the resources I've been leaning on throughout the last 5 weeks. I'm a big supporter of both small business go-getters and do-it-yourself warriors and my final design will feature the work and learnings from both. 

The gallery wall is nearly complete (I'm waiting on one more order from overseas - cross your fingers for me!). I have my selections matted, framed and put in place along the ledges Dad helped me hang in that first week. When sourcing artwork for our home, one of the first places I always look is Etsy. Where else can you access talented graphic designers, artists, photographers and vintage works all in one place? The pieces I chose are a composition of vintage and modern photography, sketch-works and hand-drawn graphics, some of which were affordably purchased as downloadable art that I took to my local copy house and printed for mere dollars. I've featured some of my selections and sources above. 

Camera Lucida is an Etsy shop devoted to vintage photography works largely focused on Americana. I chose one by depression era photographer Dorothea Lange and the works she did under the FSA capturing the harsh realities of the depression. I've always loved her work. While the irony in the image is not lost on me (these down on their luck cowboys no doubt are being taunted by the image in the billboard), I like to look at it a little differently and it will be a reminder to me in my work space that the easy road is not always the most suitable for travel. I also came upon the vintage 70's style sketches of artist Susan Brommelsiek in her Etsy shop "When I was 20". Her shop features sketches she did long ago while in art school and is well worth a look - particularly if you're looking to source tasteful nudes and anatomy studies. 

I also completed my first set of lined draperies using my beloved 'Pyne Hollyhock' from Schumacher. I was lucky enough to source the fabric from an overseas distributor as "seconds" quality for half the retail price. There is nothing to indicate anything inferior to the original in the yardage I received so I am still scratching my head at that one. I kicked around different styles - toying with idea of more formal pleating. In the end, I chose to hang them rather simply using clip rings and I'm really happy I went in this direction. I did line them and used inexpensive Ikea draperies (in the end, much cheaper and easier than if I had purchased fabric by the yard). I had never done a lined drape so I leaned on this very easy to follow tutorial put together by House of Hepworths. The tutorial shows you how to line panels using an inexpensive bed sheet. As an alternative, I opted to use Ikea Vivian panels (and flipped them upside down to leverage the 4" bound top which added weight to my panel bottom). 

I also previously shared a peek at the refurbished DIY shandy in Week 3. I had previously hacked a IKEA Maskros fixture following Jenny's lead from Little Green Notebook. It was starting to look worn and tired and quite honestly was too busy for the overall look I wanted in the new space. But I really still liked the footprint in the room and didn't want to toss it. I was lucky to find a more streamlined version by Bethany of Dwellings by Devore that translated into exactly what I was after. I disassembled the old fixture, repainted it and set about flanking it with simple catering cups (rather than the scalloped design I used previously). Like the tutorial, I opted to cut out gold circles and glue them on the inside base of the cup for a more polished look. I dug through my stash of old invitations and as luck would have it, I had some gold invites I was able to repurpose with the use of a 1" punch without any further purchase. 

One of my favorite projects from this round of the ORC is the barrel cane chair I was able to re-upholster in this black and white buffalo check pattern. I inherited the chair from my neighbor's curb and though the upholstery was in good condition, I wanted to update it with something both equal parts classic and modern. I was a little intimidated and again turned to both You Tube and online tutorials for help. One of the references I found particularly helpful was this one by Peacefully Home via Remodelholic. It helped me troubleshoot some of the tougher areas where I was not sure how to go about deconstructing and reassembling. There were certainly steps to take to ensure the chair went back together as it was intended to. It also helped that I took photos at each stage for later reference.

I'm pretty jazzed at this collision of pattern in the corner of my new office. Did you also catch the new look we gave the old aluminum frame with a little oil based black paint? 

I can't wait to show you the finished design next Thursday. Be sure to pop on back for the reveal of the full art gallery wall, closet organization system and a full look at all the details that came together in this space. In the meantime, my blogmates are sharing Week 5 progress over at Calling it Home. The last week is one of the hardest of the challenge and we can all use the support. 

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4