One Room Challenge Week 2: Making Progress

It is week 2 of the One Room Challenge (ORC) and I already know it is going to be a wild ride! If you don’t know about the ORC, check out Week 1 where I explain it all, and while you are there you can take a peek at my before pictures! Also be sure to check out all of the incredible design inspiration being shared, where 20 professional interior designers and hundreds of guests (like me!) are participating in this challenge. If you follow me on instagram, you can see all of my home updates in real time, or check out my ‘home’ highlight!

So, now on to the powder bathroom progress. I’m happy to say we officially have wallpaper! I’ve been wanting to try wallpaper for years, I mean YEARS now, but the fear of the installation process and the commitment always held me back. Enter: Mitchell Black peel and stick wallpaper. I partnered with Mitchell Black to try out an amazing bold original design that in my opinion, completely transformed the room. The best part about it is that the wallpaper is so heavy duty, you can stick it over and over again if you mess up, which I did a lot. Tip: watch the installation guide video before you begin, there is a little trick to how to smooth it out while peeling the back – it almost looks like you are doing a ‘wax on wax off’ motion. Once you get the hang of that, the install is actually really easy. One more tip, if you have any holes or dents in your walls from previous lighting or anything else that was removed, take the time to patch it. There are a few tiny areas where I can see the old light fixture screws were in the wall. It probably wont be noticeable to most, but if you are a perfectionist like me, it may haunt you for life.

Moving on! The vanity I chose is brass and the company also sells a marble sink to go with it. You can see it here in my design concept.

To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled with the sink that they sell with the vanity. I wanted it to be a little more luxurious. So, I took a trip to the granite shop, and picked out an absolutely stunning piece of Quartzite slab. It was a remnant which saved the budget a lot. Quartzite is also a lot more durable than marble, and for a main floor bath in a home with kids, I need durable. I asked to make it a 4″ apron front sink, and miter the edges together. I also added a curved shape to the backsplash, to counter the straight lines in the wallpaper.

Installation of the sink was supposed to have happened already, but we had a couple of issues that caused a delay. Most important lesson, and if you get this particular vanity do listen up – be absolutely sure to measure for your vanity after you have installed it. I took my vanity measurements from the website, ordered the sink, and realized after that it was completely off. I had to saw (well actually my dear husband had to saw) several inches off of the brass in order to have the sink flush to the wall. When they came back to install, we still had a small gap between the wall and backsplash that would need to use epoxy to secure. So now our sink install will happen towards the end of the month. You live you learn I guess!

Other than that, I am sourcing a trunk that I will use for supplies like toilet paper and garbage bags. I am also debating on whether I want a small shelving unit where I can add some decorative objects and floral. Since it is a long and narrow space, I think I could add this functional design feature without making it too cramped.

Stay tuned for my weekly updates and be sure to head over the the ORC website to view all of the other entries!

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