Well, y'all, I'm back in the saddle. As of today, I am joining in again as a guest participant in Calling it Home's One Room Challenge! If you didn't follow along the last time when I finished Mini Mister's bedroom, then let me introduce you to the concept.
Linda, our gracious hostess, puts on a six-week challenge twice a year as a way to get bloggers inspired to finish off a space that they have planned to work on, are working on, or WERE working on but haven't yet finished. There are 20 featured bloggers that she chooses, and each Wednesday they update us all on the status of their projects. Then, anyone else with a blog is welcome to link in as a guest, with those posts popping up on Thursdays. So, I'm joining in the fun as a guest, and will be tackling my dining room... Aaaaand my screen porch. #tworoomchallenge I'll be posting periodic snippets in between posts over on Instagram, so for poo-poos and giggles feel free to follow me there...
The thing is, the dining room "needs" to be finished because it's one of the first rooms you see when you walk into the house, and when we bought the place, it looked like this (Listing photo alert!!!! THESE ARE NOT MY PHOTOS/FURNISHINGS - I mean, just for the record..)
Sorry. It turns out screenshotted images from realtor.com aren't actually of high quality. Who knew? It's ok if it's blurry. Not much about it screams "please study the details!"
They took that chandy with them, which was fine by me. It was a bit colonial for my tastes, which have been leaning toward all things Italian and Chinoiserie, with a dash of straight-up French. I feel like this is finally my "grown-up home," so with this space I'm going for classy, comfortable, and as timeless as possible without being stale. The bones are good; the moldings are a good start, but we need more robust baseboards and the color is not my gig at all...
The other space I'm excited to finish is our screened-in porch. In Texas we had an uncovered patio that was canopied by live oaks. I had done a little upholstery project on a set of #thriftytreasure patio furniture that I scored on Craigslist. Sadly, when piles of green oak pollen encrust your cushions, mold sets in and that little job was ruined in it's first outdoor season. So, I plan to properly address that set, and am hoping that the rest of the space reveals its purpose to me in time for us to enjoy lovely springtime/summertime meals on the porch. In my fantasies I'm also looking forward to spending my mornings out there with a steaming coffee and my morning devotions, but this assumes that my kids don't need 8,000 things during that 15 minute time-span, which casts a large shadow of doubt on the chances of that quiet time actually happening. In any case, this space is getting attention, too... (Again, with the listing photo alert...)
It's a big space with multiple layout options, and I have yet to solidify one in my head. I've thought about making a corner for the kids and their pursuits... A small table and an art easel might make the cut... In another scenario, a loungy corner sounds nice, so I'm on the hunt for some outdoor sofa/chair action as I hit up my thrift jaunts and my estate sales (which, since moving to KS, have been AMAZING. More on that sometime in a separate "Shopping with Stephanie" post.) Anyway, I've not seen anything so far, but i'm crossing my fingers that I find something great before the reveal...
Well, there you have it! My daily dose of "what is she THINKING!?" I'm sure superhubs will be really excited that I signed myself us up for two spaces. It's so very typically me to overestimate my energy and underestimate my time commitment. Add to that that we have a mysterious leaking situation happening under the shower in our master bath. I may switch gears if we find out that we have to tear into the master bathroom while trying to do this stuff. As of right now, it is just an inconvenience; now I have to repaint the dining room ceiling, something had previously NOT been on my (long) to-do list.
Inspiration??? Don't mind if I do:
The greenhouse of the RIDICULOUSLY TALENTED Carolyn Roehm:
Well, that seems rather hodge-podgy, does it not? You'll have to check back next week to see how it all starts making sense. Until then, be sure to follow the 20 selected bloggers as they transform their spaces, and check in with the other guest participants as they join in on the fun!!!
Cheers!
Yay! I know it's killer on the participants, but I love watching the ORC transformations! That screen porch is a jewel- I can see that becoming one of the most-used rooms in the house, weather & pollen permitting. Good luck!
Posted by: SShaw | 04/06/2017 at 10:04 AM