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 Challenge™. 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:

1. Hang wallpaper
2. Restore three lower window sashes
3. Paint trim, moulding, and bookshelves
4. Make work table
5. Caulk pretty much everything
6. Reinstall the windows
7. Decorate
8. Take photos, edit them, and write a blog post
9. 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. 

 

If you are doing the One Room Challenge™ 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.