ONE ROOM CHALLENGE, WEEK 4: MINOR CHANGE OF THE WHOLE PLAN

Week 1 // Week 2 // Week 3

If you’re new here, my husband and I purchased our first home (a generic, 1960’s bi-level) two years ago in Northern NJ. Little by little, I’m adding personality and style to our builder-grade home and for this Fall’s One Room Challenge™, I’m tackling my office and have a goal to furnish most of the room with Facebook Marketplace finds (see previous One Room Challenge reveals here and here).

I encourage you to sit back and follow along with a glass of vino while I dedicate nearly 98% of my free time to making over this space. The other 2% of my free time? That’s for showering and the occasional snack. Check back each week until the final reveal on November 7th!

Yes, the title of this week’s post is an oxymoron. 

I’m not sure what happened yesterday. I mean I do, but I’m not sure why it happened now, with just about a week left until I plan to photograph the room.

Here’s how it went down…

As I was finishing installing the wallpaper, I felt myself suppressing a few thoughts I was having about the room being a bit too….vanilla. 

Literally, because the walls and wallpaper are white, and metaphorically, because it felt…boring. 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful. But it just doesn’t reflect who I am. When I finally succumbed to my thoughts and  admitted out loud that I didn’t like the white, it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. 

I had dark olive green on my mind since week one, but wasn’t sure if it would work as a paint color. But now that’s what my heart is set on. 

I swear if someone told me a few weeks ago that I would change my mind on the paint color with like, seven days left, I’d have told them they had a few screws loose. But now I’m realizing that it is in fact I who has a few screws loose.

The positive spin on this decision is that all of the items I’ve sourced from FB MP are neutral, which means everything will be still pair wonderfully and also contrast with the green walls.

It may seem stressful and exhausting on the outside looking in, but this is what I thrive on. This is how I create my best work.

The process – the ebb and flow of making decisions, changing my mind, and coming full circle until the final reveal is the roller coaster ride that I genuinely enjoy (and coincidentally also brings a bit of nausea and a headache, but nothing I can’t handle). The end result is always worth it.

I anticipate a few late nights coming up. But I am here for it.

Right now I’m allowing myself four greens to sample and the only one I know for certain that I’ll be testing is Benjamin Moore Dark Olive:

I plan to choose the other three samples by Thursday, start testing them on poster boards, and then choose THE color by Saturday. All while I prep for a “mini-shoot” of the existing white walls. But you can count on finding me with a paint roller in hand early on Sunday morning to cover up those white walls. 

I’m still missing a few items from FB MP, but I can manage  to get some good photos this weekend with what I have. Here’s my Facebook Marketplace checklist (already found items that are bolded):

1. Desk 
2. Mirror 
3. Marble top chest 
4. Storage/dresser (for closet)
5. Set of identical lamps
6. Single lamp
7. Cowhide rug 
8. Desk chair
9. Corner chair 
10. Curtains
11. Curtain rods 
12. Ottoman 
13. Console table 
14. Side table (I actually purchased this on MP earlier this year and decided it would look perfect in my office)!
15. Bench 

To-do list updates:

• Choose the perfect paint/wallpaper combo – taking a step backward on this one HA!
• Cut, install and caulk Metrie molding (the usual – crown, base, wall) – done!
• Prep and paint the desk – done!
• Paint the ceiling, walls and trim – in progress 
• Install wallpaper in molding boxes – done!
• Install window treatments (shades discounted from Select Blinds) – received them this week and will be installing by this weekend! they are stunning!
• Install ceiling medallion (sponsored by Architectual Depot) and light (discounted from Capitol Lighting) – done!
• Hit refresh on FB MP every 11 minutes – yep, still  refreshing every 11 minutes. Only have a few more items to pick up!!
• Drive all over NJ/NY/CT/PA to pick up items from strangers houses (this will need to happen at least 15 times based on how many items I am trying to source from MP). – So far, sourced 10 items out of the 15. Angelo is planning to pick up 1 or 2 for me this week so I can concentrate on the new paint color (lol) and I am eternally grateful. 
• Setup and photograph the room – planning on photographing the room with white walls AND then with the green walls. Although I’m not going to go crazy with photographing the white walls since that won’t be the final result. 
• /fin 

That’s it for this week!

If you’re on Instagram, follow me @aglassofbovino to watch my progress in my “ORC Office” Instagram story highlights! I’ll be sharing a lot more there.

Thank you SO much to Linda from Calling it Home, for creating and organizing the One Room Challenge!

Also a huge thank you generous brands I’ve partnered with who provided discounted/sponsored items for this makeover:

• Metrie –  molding (sponsored)
• Loloi – area rug (sponsored)
• Capitol Lighting – ceiling light  (discounted)
• Emtek – desk pulls (sponsored)
• Ekena Millwork – ceiling medallion (sponsored)
• Select Blinds – shades (discounted)

Don’t forget to check out the featured designers and guest designers to support them and see the awesome things they are doing in their rooms too!