Welcome to my One Room Challenge - challenge being the operative word! To get caught up on what this is all about and where we started check out Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | and Week 4 . The One Room Challenge is a biannual event that is the brainchild of Linda Weinstein and is in its 10th season. This is only my second time participating. I brilliantly picked a pandemic year to jump into this challenge….might as well add a little more chaos to life, why not, right? This fall the ORC is in partnership with High Point Market and media sponsor Better Homes and Gardens.
Better Homes and Gardens is the Official Media Sponsor of the One Room Challenge
Follow #oneroomchallenge, #bhgorc, and @betterhomesandgardens on social media to see the latest from all the participants!
We are approaching the end of this 6 week challenge and I STILL can’t get a workman to my house. They are all up to their eyeballs busy and “not taking on any new projects right now”. I just want the gaping holes in the ceiling patched, some sconces installed, and maybe some working outlets in a convenient location - is that too much to ask? Apparently YES. I am the last in a very long line of pandemic homeowners trying to get stuff done!
Still waiting for replies for plan B, C and D workmen…OY, I’ve been flatly refused by one and put off by another who confessed today they weren’t actually going to get to me. I’m starting to get a complex! I’ve got work to do. I do not have the time to learn the intricacies of sheetrock or the temerity to mess with electricity.
BUT the fact remains, I DO have a reclaimed, spider-free (at least for the moment) office now and it is SO NICE to have an organized space to work in!
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This week, aside from frustrating phone calls to unavailable workmen, I’ve moved the furniture around and into place including the monstrously heavy bookcases (I really should have recruited my in-house labor force for that…there may not be enough Ibuprofen on the planet…), and my desk - which now faces the doors to the outside. I’m thinking I might need to add a birdfeeder to the little patio outside these doors! I just read my friend Sheri’s post and learned about the Pomodoro Technique for time management and I need something to do during my 5 minute breaks…birdfeeder watching might be just the thing!
The current view from my desk - the snow has melted, thank goodness! TOO early for that nonsense!
I’ve gotten the cords under control with the miracle of cord management clips and some quality time lying on my back under my desk installing them with a phone flashlight in one hand. I discovered some errant spider webs under there that I dealt with too. Also note, I did not follow the “operating instruction” exactly for these cord clips (which came in this cute little case) and they still worked perfectly and are holding just fine. Such a simple and inexpensive thing, but it makes a huge difference to have the cords all hidden and not dangling all over the place!
I also got the grasscloth wallpaper for the back of the bookshelves and it could not be more perfect! I heart grasscloth anyway - but this one is SO perfect - the colors are neutral and just the right neutrals to go with every other selection. I totally lucked out since I ordered this online without a sample (please don’t think I advocate this method of roulette decorating!) I did learn that I do NOT EVER want to attempt to install grasscloth wallpaper on actual walls! That stuff is a bear to cut with a knife. It was plenty sharp as witnessed by some bloodletting and emergency bandaids, and still my first piece was pretty ragged. After that I got smart and just measured the space and marked the pieces to size with a T square (I knew that would come in handy again someday LOL) and a straightedge, and then cut them with scissors, which worked much better. And I’m “installing” the strips with tape rather than paste so I can change them easily if I want to, and I don’t muck up the wood on the back of the bookcases.
Bookshelves with wallpapered backs York Wallpaper | Storage Basket
I also moved in the console table that will be on the presentation/inspiration/work-in-progress wall. Here is a peek - and yes, those are the still not installed black and brass sconces under it… The dents in the carpet are from the monster bookcases that used to be on this wall?!
I’m nowhere near done with all I wanted to accomplish, but I’m using the room again and it feels glorious to be back in a dedicated work space after a year of #WFH nomad life! I’m officially not Out of Office anymore - YAY!
Check out what the other ORC guest designers and participants are doing this week HERE!
Next week is the big reveal…we’ve been given a bit of extra time (final posts can be added any time between the 12th and the 29th) and I’m planning to take full advantage of it, so the final post may be at the 11th hour deadline! In the meantime subscribe to the NestFeathers Blog to see our upcoming Holiday Season posts!
