Boy’s Bedroom – Update

I owe everyone an update on the unofficial One Room Challenge (The original deadline of 11/30 was extended to 12/15). I mentioned in the last post that we have had some complications regarding this challenge. Every project has complications, and this is a lesson that is best learned early. Otherwise, DIY is entirely too frustrating. Let me be clear that we are not frustrated by this project. We are still just moving along the best we can and as fast as we are able.

To serve as a reminder, here is the original to-do list for the room:

1. Repair Plaster Cracks –Done
2. Encapsulate the lead paint –Done
3. Paint the walls, window, closet and trim –In Progress
4. Thoroughly clean the room –Done
5. Repair the two electrical outlets
6. Create a storage system in this very small room.

The biggest issue with the room is heating. The furnace for the house seems to pump cool air into the room instead of warm. The room stays around 40 degrees which is far too cold. My guess is that, due to its size, this house would be best served with two furnace units. In general, we stay nice and toasty in the rest of BHH, but the wing where our ORC bedroom and the teen’s room are located stays cold. The teen actually never moved into his beautiful room because of this problem. We will be using space heaters for warmth, and the plan is that the boys will move in at the same time.

Currently, we have one space heater. It takes an hour to warm up the room to an adequate painting temperature. Then, we leave it on so the paint will dry properly. We are careful to unplug the unit and never leave the house before checking to make sure that the space heater is off.

Andy and I have concerns about the electrical in both of those bedrooms and the ability for the current outlets to support space heaters safely. Here’s why. First, we discovered that even though the outlets were changed to three-prong outlets at some point, there is no ground wire, so they are not true three-prong outlets. Next, both of the outlets in our ORC room are loose or even hanging from the wall with no way to secure them tighter to the plaster. Lastly, we do not think it should take our excellent space heater an entire hour to heat one small 9X10 room. Therefore, we believe the unit may not be able to draw sufficient power from the current outlets.

I have made two calls to the electrician who did our breaker box, and I have not received a call back. That is disappointing. We were very happy with their previous work and communication. Andy and I are committed financially to having the electrical work done. Obviously, this work will change our original budget significantly, but that is how it goes sometimes. We will not put the boys in their rooms until the electrical is repaired.

The other reasons the project is not complete are a lot less important.

I have a great storage idea, but I need to buy a router to make it happen, and I just have not done that. Lame reason, right? Tool decisions seem to paralyze me. We could use three major tools right now, a router, a finish nail gun, and a miter saw. For some reason, I cannot figure out which we need more, and therefore, I have not bought any of them. I am typically a pretty quick decision maker, but not when it comes to buying power tools.

S. also had a hard time choosing a paint color. Benjamin Moore was nice enough to send an entire box of paint chips for us to browse. However, an entire box of paint chips is exactly what it sounds like. It is about 10 pounds of swatches, and S. was completely overwhelmed trying to make a choice. I finally removed all of the color choices except one sample fandex, and he was able to choose Scandinavian Blue, which is essentially cobalt blue.

We used Benjamin Moore paint in the Teen’s room, and we were very pleased. Both boys chose very bold colors, and both colors have covered perfectly without a dark primer underneath. S. is so excited about his choice. I have a few surprises in store for him in his new room, and they will be a surprise for all of you too.

Wish me luck on getting a call back from the Electrician, and for those celebrating like we are, Happy Hanukkah.