One Room Challenge Week 2 | The Scary Bathroom

It’s week two, and I am already cutting my losses. I’m either getting smarter, or I am advancing through the stages of One Room Challenge panic at a faster rate than usual. Either way, six hours and only one surface into skim coating the bathroom walls, I had the following thought, I need to pay someone faster to do this job. So, I called a few people to come over to give me an estimate. Hopefully, I can take that task off my plate and use my time more wisely instead. Cross your fingers.

Week two can be a bit dissatisfying for readers because there is nothing pretty to look at yet. The state of affairs is generally far worse and uglier than it was during week one.

Exhibit A:

However, week two tends to be one of my favorite weeks of the challenge. This is when I barrel in and stomp all over the sand castle (AKA demo!). Week two is when I plan and daydream. It’s the magical time between being excited about starting a project and wanting to quit.

Week Two Accomplishments

Despite abandoning the skim coating portion of this project, we did do some work on the upper walls. Andy finished the scraping, and I used my favorite Zinsser Guardz to seal the surface.

We have removed wallpaper many times, but we have never had this much glue residue left over. It is a new problem for us. We tried several types of scrapers, more steam, and various cleaners. Nothing worked effectively.  Zinsser Guardz is the perfect product for this problem.

First I rolled it on with a foam roller:

Then, I smoothed out the bumps with a foam brush:

Now, we have a clean slate for the skim coater that I desperately want to hire.

Since this project is called The Scary Bathroom, I feel I must provide at least one haunting or downright creepy picture per week. Here is the image I chose for week two:

If you are interested in how I got that previously stuck window unstuck, I documented the process in my highlights on Instagram. I also talked about old windows and preservation in the latest episode of the podcast.

Projects in the Queue

• Wainscoting – I’ll be restoring the wainscoting for the rest of the week.
• Clawfoot Tub – I plan to start prepping the exterior for a fresh coat of paint.
• Restore the Marble Sink – If I finish this project over the weekend, I will be thrilled, and I want a gold star and a bunch of head pats, please.
• Electrical – We aren’t messing around for this challenge. We are learning a new skill, and I will share it with you when we succeed. If we fail, let’s never speak of this again.

The projects are well underway for the featured designers and the other guest participants. If you have not taken a look yet, please do. There is so much inspiration in every square of the ORC link-up. Many thanks to our host, Linda and the media partners, Home Love Network and Better Homes and Gardens.

If you are participating in the One Room Challenge, how is your project going? Any week two surprises? Since you are following along here, what do you think about The Scary Bathroom so far? Can you visualize how it will look at the end, or is it just too much of a disaster right now?

The Scary Bathroom: Week 1

PS: If you are interested in our past ORC projects, here are the links:

Kitchen Pantry | Street Side Front Porch | Library | Breakfast Nook (featured in This Old House magazine! | Dining Room