One Room Challenge - Week Five and Still Alive!

Five weeks in and I am happily humming along in this Fall's BHG One Room Challenge (follow THIS LINK to see everyone's progress!!). I literally wake every day feeling excited and ready to head into the space and knock out more items on our to do list...and I am even more jazzed to bring my girl upstairs after she gets off the bus to show her what I got accomplished while she was out plowing her own way through third grade.

DIY Wooden Headboard

Supplies We Used:

~ 29 six foot Unfinished Pine 1 x 4 boards (we measured floor to ceiling and we knew we were doing a queen, so we gave ourselves 66 inches of width to accommodate for bedding). We calculated for 3.75 inches per board, as that is closer to accurate.

~ 120 grit sandpaper

~ 180 grit sandpaper

~ Miter saw

~ Trim for the sides

~ Stud finder

~ Nail gun & nails

What We Did:

1. We sanded the front of each 1 x 4 & the trim with 120 grit sandpaper (we sanded by hand to avoid damaging the unfinished pine and to get a free arm muscle workout:)

2. Wipe the boards down with a clean rag and then sand one more time with 120 grit sandpaper.

3. Wipe the boards again, this time with a clean, wet rag and then sand one more time using 150-180 grit sandpaper then wipe with a clean rag one final time.

4. Cut the boards to create the pattern you would like along the wall, using two rows of nails, your nail gun, and the stud finder to work your way up the wall and attach the boards until you reach the ceiling.

This week, we plan on adding a Queen metal bed frame to the front and two metal brackets at the base of the headboard to secure the bed to the wall. We already have the sheets, comforter, and most of the pillows for the front and we can't wait to cozy up on the finished product!!

And even though this majestic, barn inspired head board pretty much took center stage this week, that doesn't mean we have set about ignoring the smaller details this time. I was able to give this awesome Mid Century shelving unit (one of three in these upstairs bedrooms that came with the house and I am SO glad they did. We are actually planning to add two more to our son's room to give all of his antique vehicles and planes and lego sets a place to land). I pulled everything off, coated the brackets in gold spray paint and then scuff sanded the wood shelves and painted them with Sherwin Williams Alabaster in Satin.

And on to the cabinets....

I also repeated the same steps for the shelves on the existing cabinet doors and replaced the hardware with some knobs I found on clearance at my local craft store (you know I love a good mix of wood and painted white - SO tempted to go that route in the kitchen when we get to that renovation!).

Finally, we added a square of chalkboard on the wall, framed it with wooden trim (to be stained with the same process as the bed headboard), built a desk into the far right dormer , and then let our girls get to work decorating with their chalk markers and stencils. Their faces lit up when I mentioned them decorating it for all of the holidays and I can't wait to see what all of their beautiful artwork,

We were meant to mount the TV to front of the chalkboard and leave the space around it to add holiday decor & designs with chalk, but the girls loved coloring on it so much that we might readjust and get a different mount to hang it on the A-frame over the chalkboard instead.

Next week we will also be filling in the nail holders and staining this desk, as well as finding the perfect counter-height desk chair.

The major things on the agenda for next week?

~ Build a window seat to fit in the middle dormer

~ Hang the wallpaper

~ Start the board & batten for the wallpaper accent wall

~ Stain all the wood elements of the room

I am really pushing to finish a week before the deadline this time, as I would love to have the chance to take some rough shots and really study them to see what I am missing. Truthfully, when I look back at previous ORC reveal day photos (and man, I feel like we have come a LONG way since the first one) I always spot a few things I would add if given the chance, but I end up coming in close to the deadline that there just isn't feasible time to make any changes. But this challenge, oh this challenge, I am going to put in the extra time to make sure I get all of the details right! Thanks for stopping by and we will see you next week!