I have decided not to write a typical week 5 post. You know and I know how week 5 is going. It’s nuts! There’s too much work and too little week. We are pounding coffee like it’s our job, and it is far too easy to get sucked into the stress of it all. Instead, this is going to be an encouragement post, but don’t worry, there’s an update too.
Andy once said something important that stuck with me. I was doing a death-spiral into Stress Town over something monumentally important to me in that moment but not really significant in the big picture. I was venting and likely wildly gesticulating with my hands. During a very small pause on my part, Andy added politely, “We’re not saving lives here.”
We’re not saving lives here.
Indeed. In that moment, his words helped me put our situation into perspective. I repeat those words to myself often when I am stressing, and it is the perfect mantra for weeks 5 and 6 of the One Room Challengeâ„¢. If the room accoutrements of my dreams don’t arrive on time, no one will die. We might have to closely crop one corner of the room to hide the project we never got around to completing, but no one is flat lining on the operating table. If House Beautiful thinks this library is only House Meh, no one passes into the great beyond. At the end of this challenge, we will have one more room beautifully restored, and that is all we really wanted.
Now, I know why you are here, so let’s get to the update.
The Windows
The windows are coming along. One of the pieces of glass that I had cut did not fit (long story!), and I am having a new pane cut today. With the exception of that piece of glass, the top sashes are ready to re-install.
The Walls
The chalkboard wall prep is almost finished. I am still doing the finish work on one bad corner. Andy and I will start installing the grasscloth wallpaper on Friday. That should be good for a few laughs and a strong flow of cash to the swear jar.
The Floor
If you follow us on Facebook or Instagram, you already know that the floor is done!
At least twice per day I just stand and stare at it. Sometimes I am in the room. Other times, I gaze at it through the leaded glass window like some DIY weirdo.
I cannot wait to put the rug down. It is still the same tightly rolled bundle that I hurled onto the sun porch the day it arrived. Hmm…I probably should have checked to see if it was even the rug I ordered. I will get to that later.
Everything Else
To be honest, the decor is a problem. I am not sure how I am going to pull this off. We have the basics, but it is a constant struggle for me to understand how to make a room looked lived-in and curated at the same time.  I sense that House Beautiful and Country Living do not consider piles of scratch paper and empty snack plates as proper accessories for a magazine-worthy room. Can 55 randomly placed, unsharpened pencils and one dead houseplant pass as eclectic decor? I didn’t think so either.
Just to torture myself, I will post the rest of our to-do list:
- Hang wallpaper
- Restore three lower window sashes
- Paint trim, moulding, and bookshelves
- Make work table
- Caulk pretty much everything
- Reinstall the windows
- Decorate
- Take photos, edit them, and write a blog post
- Reveal!
Honoring our commitments and doing our best will always be our modus operandi at BHH, but in the end, we remember that We’re not saving lives here.Â
If you are doing the One Room Challengeâ„¢ with me and struggling in these last couple of weeks, take a breath. You’ve got this! Your room may not look exactly how you envisioned it during week one, but it’s OK. Just do what you can. I’ll see you here next week, and we can celebrate together.
Please head over to Calling It Home to take a look at all of the One Room Challenge™ rooms from the featured designers and the other guest participants too. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts about this Spring season of the challenge. If there is a specific ORC project that is inspiring you, feel free to post a link in the comments.
Remember, we post real-time updates all week on Instagram. Head on over to stay in the loop between posts.
27 Comments
SH
Sorry to hear that this has become such a struggle, but good to hear that you’ve stepped back and regained your perspective. Whatever the room status on reveal day, know that the library is already beautiful. There is so much progress, plus you have a work plan to finish it. So it will get done. Love the “too much work, too little week.” That’s a crosstitch or poster waiting to happen! Rah!
Stacy
It’s all ok. I knew what I was signing up for when I chose the library as our ORC project. I will never be sorry that we worked on this room. 🙂
Also, I like your cross stitch idea. I bet somebody on Etsy could bust that out.
Chad
I’ve wanted to get my grandmother’s family’s typical blessing cross stitched. Here’s to those who wish us well. All the rest may go to hell. I’d need plenty of flowers and other cutesy things around it.
Stacy
This MUST happen. 🙂 I love it!
Stacy
This saying, stitched on a sampler, always cracks me up. (Warning f-bomb.): Sensitive Language Cross Stitch Sampler
Sarah In Illinois
Oh, now that is awesome Stacy! hahahaha!
Chad
What overwhelmed me the most was having to pick out everything at once. Still weary from deciding where the walls went, how to insulate solid historic masonry walls, and a general plan for picking out what I wanted my bathroom tile to work with, I lost it from the dizzying array of Panasonic exhaust fans, whose names (Whisper Ceiling, Whisper Wall, Whisper Fit, Whisper Green) were not helpful at all.
And the quote I relied on to put it in perspective and put a hard upper limit on how badly I could screw up one of these choices was from George W Bush: “I’m the decider. I decide things.”
Chad
As for letting a place look curated and lived-in at the same time… meh. I’ve seen how magazine photographers rearrange furniture and move stuff out of view to stage things for photos. I’ll never understand why anyone would feel the need to acquire things just to style shelves or something like that to make a room feel “finished” at a certain time.
(That being said, I picked the best things out of my grandmother’s hoard and styled my shelves immediately, and the stuff on them is nice even if they don’t tell any kind of a story about me aside from a family history of not getting rid of anything)
Stacy
I am on board with this 100%.
Chad
I also read that having magazine worthy interiors wasn’t really a thing for everyday people until the Internet set some kind of competitive expectations. Even my parents, who are really house proud and into decorating (at least my mom) had half-broken furniture in their own bedroom until my grandmother downsized and a rather un-stylish basement rec room. (They still have the latter, if you look past all the extraneous stuff down there)
Stacy
Yes! The similar names thing drives me crazy. White paint is the worst. As for the bathroom fan. I think I would be convinced to buy one with “turbo” in the name. Bonus points if it was labeled “fresh air turbo.”
Candice
I work for a major retailer and when someone gets stressed we always say, “We’re not curing cancer here! It’s just gym socks and basketballs.” 🙂
Love the floor!
Stacy
That is great! I love the addition of gym socks and basketballs. 🙂
Audrey
I usually just try for House Normal People Live Here, and hope for the best. 🙂 Keep on working- you’re doing great!
Stacy
Incredibly normal, boring people live here. 🙂 And really, where did we get all of these unsharpened pencils?
Ame Jo Hughes
That’s a good mantra for any DIY project, I think. I might need to write it down. In calligraphy, on parchment. And then frame it and hang it prominently in whatever room I DIY next.
The floor looks amazing, and even the walls are an improvement over the federal pride wallpaper. I’m most excited to see those restored windows, though!
You’re doing such a great job, and such a wonderful service to that grand old house.
Stacy
Thank you, Ame! We both need to give ourselves break sometimes.
Christine
I love the “we’re not saving lives here” mantra. One of my co-workers always says, “Nobody died,” when we’re getting through stressful times. You’ll make it through the week!
Your progress is pretty amazing considering where you started out and how much of this is structural work rather than decorating work. The curated look is hard to achieve without some time to figure a space out, especially with a new backdrop in the room. But, I think whatever you come up with will be great. Your other spaces, like your kitchen and dining room, have all turned out beautiful and functional!
Stacy
Thank you, Christine. I need to keep reminding myself about all of the structural work. After the boys’ rooms, which have been fixed, the library really was in the worst shape of any other room in the house. I think the grammatical structure of that last sentence is all off, but I’m submitting it anyway. Ha!
Sarah
Turn off Pinterest…. ignore 80% of home blogs…. your décor is good enough! Those people who go spend $400 at Home Goods just to fill a room with junk are crazy people. I have to remind myself of this ALL THE TIME. Better to have a slightly empty room to slowly fill with furniture and décor I love then go drop moohlah for made-in-China crap just to take up space.
(Hope this was encouraging… it might have come out the other way. :-/ )
Stacy
I agree 100%, and your comment was encouraging. I am not much of a shopper, and I am even less of a saver/collector. We will see how this scenario plays out. 🙂
mkcubed
You’ve accomplished more in five weeks than I have in a year. Take a few seconds to pat yourself on the back before you pick up another paint brush. You deserve it!
Stacy
Thank you! Pat. pat. pat. (Now, back to painting! 🙂 )
CoCo
I am seriously so proud of you! I’ve been following on your IG stories and every day I think holy moly that girl gets things done like a beast! You get more accomplished in a day than most people do in a week. It’s been stressful like you said (I’m still waiting on scones, art, curtains, thresholds) and every time I feel panicked I go back to the original picture of the room and remember how far we’ve come. It instantly makes me feel better. I can’t wait to see your library next week. I know it’s going to be so fabulous. Hugs, CoCo
Stacy
Oh my gosh, thank you for this. <3 Seriously. I hope everything you ordered arrives right away. You have a beautiful eye for decorating. I just know your project is going to be one of my favorites. Hugs to you too!
Vanessa
Not saving lives indeed. I just bought a little renovation house last week and have given myself two months to get it back on the market but extra if I need it. I am not doing any real rehab myself, I’ll be hiring out all the hard stuff and just cleaning and organizing. Of course the first week my emotions got away from me. I am back on track now, trying to enjoy the process and looking forward to watching it come together. It’s scary fun.
Sarah In Illinois
You are doing so well! Just hang in there. It is going to look great. I can’t wait to see the grasscloth wallpaper!