The Rule of 8-One Room Challenge Week Five

Hello! It’s week five of the One Room Challenge and I am so happy to say….I WILL FINISH!!!!!!!!! I seriously had my doubts I could pull this off while juggling a full time job with out of state travel, a design business, and the million personal things going on in our lives but I did….and I am proud of myself. Do you ever say that to yourself? I don’t too often, but we should!

Last week I shared our reupholstery project and shared some tips for getting reupholstery done on one of your pieces. This week I am sharing my “Go-To Formula” for almost any space. It’s definitely a consistent theme in our home but I can completely respect that everyone has their own style and may hate some of these below touches. I have seen various versions of this type of design theory over the years and mine has continued to change as my knowledge and experience grow.

Wood-The natural warmth that wood introduced to a room cannot be replaced with anything (IMO). Whether maple, oak, pine, or walnut, each grain is unique and adds not only warmth but texture to a space. If you are lucky to score a vintage piece of wood furniture (or even decor), you are in for such a special treat with your finished space.

RH Design Studio, AD

Animal-Now, this one can be controversial but is a very broad category. I am a firm believer that every room needs a touch of “animal”. This can be in the literal sense: Animal Art, Horns on a wall, animal prints, etc. or it can be something a bit more subtle such as an angora throw, layered sheepskin rug, or a framed feather. Manufacturers have perfected the faux animal so this can be a very accessible and affordable item to add to any room.

Texture/Pattern-By now you have probably learned that I do no( use much color in my spaces. Even with clients, I try and create a neutral foundation first and then layer in color, if requested. Texture/Patterns are my preferred way to add interesting touches to a room. A simple woven bench or stool….a chunky pillow….a pattern on a rug….there are so many ways to add texture to a room and help create a space that does not fall flat.

Abbie Naber featured on Apartment Therapy

Black-Every room needs a touch of black. I stand firm with that believe. This does not need to be a black wall or black sofa like we have in our home and can be as subtle as a stack of black books or a black sculpture. Black is a timeless and bold color and just the tiniest bit of it can enhance a space.

Design by Jake Alexander featured on All Sort Of

Nature (Plants or flowers)-Plants and flowers bring life into a space. While there is definitely a time for a good faux, I am an advocate for real plants and flowers. Trader Joes and your local grocery store should always have a nice assortment of fresh flowers to add to your room. Check out your local nurseries for houseplants and be sure to use the expertise of their staff if you have any questions on caring for your plants

Jean Stoffer Design

Brass (or your choice of metal)- While I am a fan of brass (brushed, antique, and even the gaudy!), I know it isn’t for anyone. Adding a metal element adds either shine or a nice masculine touch to any space. This can be in a mirror, legs of a table/chair, or a unique wall sculpture, there are so many options.

Design by Athena Calderone featured in AD

Vintage-Find me a beautiful room that does not have a touch of vintage or antique included…I dare you…There has been such a shift in our culture to re-use and re-purpose that vintage and antique home decor finds are at an all time high in popularity. Notice how your local thrift and antique stores are suddenly much pricier than in the past? There you go! Each vintage piece tells a story and is unique. Find something that captures a piece of your soul and bring it into your home.

Design by Jeremiah Brent, featured on EyeSwoon

Modern-I used to be a gal all about Modern. As my design aesthetic evolved, I pulled away from it a bit but found that there was consistently at least one piece of modern furniture in every room I was drawn to. Look for classic and timeless lines so it can be versatile as you and your style change or evolve over the years

Amber Interiors

If you dig into each picture, almost all pictures are great examples of the Rule of 8.

Next week is REVEAL week and you will see how I incorporated my formula into our 150 sq ft of sunroom.

Thank you to our hosts Linda from Calling It Home and Media Partner Better Homes and Gardens. Be sure to swing by the ORC page to check out what is cookin’ with the other participants!

When Life Hands You Lemons, You Paint.....One Room Challenge, Week Three

Week Three. I can’t believe it. Time sure does seem to fly lately! If you are new to House Haus Home (HHH), welcome! If you are returning, thanks for coming back! If you have been following with our One Room Challenge Transformation, we have completed the walls, windows, and are onto the floors. If you haven’t checked out the progress be sure to take a peek at week one and two.

If you saw my stories last week, I shared our new plan for flooring. Originally we had planned to do a polished concrete slab….then we planned on tiling. As always, we seems to run into issues with contractors either not showing up or showing up and then never sending a quote (WHY ?!?!) I did get one quote from a really nice man who I may use for another project but life happened and we decided not to move forward with the tile.

As many of you know, we have been working through some fertility challenges for over a year. Long story short, we were about to start IVF when our insurance company (our plan does cover IVF) caused a giant hiccup and that is still not resolved. We may have to pay for all the fertility drugs out of pocket (goodbye money) so I needed to reserve our tile fund for baby making and look for an alternative.

I was in bed and couldn’t sleep and was playing on good ole instagram when I was watching a story by the amazing artist William McClure. William is not only known for his beautiful works of art, but also creating clean and organic interiors. His signature white floors always looks beautiful but when I watched the transformation of the flooring in his new home, a lightbulb went off. Why not just paint them?

image via William McClure

I was initially hesitant to paint them given we have four dogs, but after some research, I saw many pet owners have white painted floors. Yes, this could be disastrous, but it’s just paint. I came across a tutorial by Vintage Revivals and used it as guidance. She recommends a top coat for easier cleaning so I researched this and it appears to be a product with great reviews.

The process was pretty easy for us. Once the tile was removed (nice use of an entire weekend), we cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. Did I mention we cleaned? When we thought we were done cleaning, we cleaned some more.

Our base floors were not perfect. There were some hairline cracks and dings. I used this product that I picked up from Lowes and basically patched it exactly like you would patch a hole in the wall. It’s self leveling and really easy to use. If you have a deeper hole, you can fill it with sand first or add multiple layers of this product. The instructions on the bottle were pretty easy to follow.

One all the holes were patched, I vacuumed a few more times and then the painting began. Painting is the DIY home task I despise the most. I put on some jams and started the floors exactly like I would a wall-cutting in. Since I still had to touch up the last two inches of brick, I wasn’t overly concerned with it being perfect. Once that was done, I literally poured paint on the floor in sections and painted myself out the door. SW recommends waiting 4 hours between coats, but I waited 24 hours.

In all, I painted three coats of paint on the floor. I used our Dyson cordless very gently each day I painted a new coat to minimize any debris that would be carried in with my clothes.

After the paint had cured, it was time for the top coat…….that is when everything when my hard work went down the drain. DO NOT USE A TOP COAT OVER THE SHERWIN WILLIAMS PORCH PAINT.

If you follow my stories, I shared that the porch paint and top coat had a chemical reaction causing both a ripple effect and cracking (remember that 90s faux finish? Barf.) I called my local SW store and the manager had major concerns that one of her staff advised me to use it. I shared with her where I got the information and she was like “umm no”. Maybe it works for some people-it definitely didn’t work for us.

After a ton of sanding and re-cleaning, I added one more coat. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. It definitely helped but the only way to have gotten it perfect was to chemically remove the finish. Since I was putting a larger rug down, I decided that we can accept the imperfections as it is part of our ORC story.

In any event, this was the week one of the tedious weeks but I am excited because now that the floors are done, the fun part can start! Thank you to Linda from Calling It Home and Media Sponsor, Better Homes and Garden for this event. Be sure to check out what the other guest participants are up to over on the ORC Blog!

From the Window.....to the Wall, One Room Challenge Week Two-Spring 2019

Random fact. I am obsessed with the above titled song and sing it with waaaaaaay too much enthusiasm when I hear it. Another random fact, I googled the lyrics and was taken to Urban Dictionary and I am really disappointed to read what it allegedly means.

Back to the topic at hand, welcome to week two of the One Room Challenge. This week we are talking about all things walls and windows. Our sunroom does not really have much “wall”. We have a beautiful room surrounded by three “walls” of windows. One “wall” has an original sliding MCM door that was painted black many moons ago.

Whenever I go to my local Benjamin Moore store (FYI for you local peeps-I highly recommend Everyday Paint and Wallpaper in Nora, really great people with tons of knowledge!), he asks me what projects I am working on. I am pretty sure he thought I was bats—t cray-zay when I said the black paint I ordered was for a SUNroom.

I always like to add a bit of unexpected to a room. While most people would never dream to paint a sunroom black, dark walls can create a moody and inviting space. Given the room is more or less is surrounded by windows, we are constantly getting beautiful (though mainly indirect) light coming through the floor to ceiling windows.

Black paint was added to add a dramatic effect and tie the colors into the main floor of the house. Even the ceiling was painted black!

Part of renovating is the reality that things do not always go as you plan. You will notice that there is a 2-3 inch line across the bottom of the wall that is not painted. We painted BEFORE we realized we are going to have to demo the floors due to a change in plans (hey, life happens). There will be lots of repainting and cleaning of that bottom area. If you have demo’d anything before you probably understand the mess that creates. Lots and lots of dust.

Also added this week, are black sheer curtains from wall to wall. These were super affordable and purchased here. The curtain rods were hung up soon after we moved in and were placed as close to the ceiling as possible. Unfortunately they are sold out, but these Umbra ones are super similar. I am a sucker for simple curtain rods with clean lines. The curtains are a couple of inches longer than the floor kissing length I like but given the sunroom vibe is more laid back, I am keeping them as is.

There will be a lot of paint touching up prior to reveal day but for now, I am super pleased with the direction things are going. Next week, I HOPE to be sharing information on the floors. Fingers Crossed!!!

In the meantime, please head over to the One Room Challenge Blog page and check out both the guest and featured designers. Thank you so Linda from Calling it Home and Media Partner Better Homes and Gardens for hosting yet another great round of this event!

Spring 2019 One Room Challenge-Moody Sunroom Retreat

Life is funny. You have grand plans and then life intervenes and forces you to change the path you started. I hit the “duplicate” button on my one and only fall ORC post. It started with an intro on how I left my company and was starting with a new one….how happy I was…..and how I felt like myself again. My goal was to focus more on the blog but life had other plans. I quickly dropped out of the fall ORC for a couple of reasons. First, the fabric I wanted for my chairs was on backorder (and just arrived a few weeks ago!) and second (and more importantly), last fall was the start of non-stop health issues for my two oldest chihuahuas as well as the next steps in our (in)fertility journey. Guess what? 5-6 months later and nothing has changed on either front but I realized that I can’t stop living so here I am.

This will be my second time as a guest participant. I participated previously and transformed my home office space.

This time around, we are working on sunroom. This room is off of our living/dining room and is our main access to the back yard. Having four dogs means we are going in and out of this room multiple times a day. With my husband being OBSESSED with his yard, that also means lots of muddy shoes coming through this space.

Below are a couple of pictures from the MLS listing. The sunroom is right off the dining area and separated by original metal MCM sliding doors.

A Mid Century purist would probably cringe at the fact that I hate these floors, but I hate them. Our house is a split level MCM style but it isn’t too “mid century’ so I do not feel bad eliminating them.

THE PLAN

COLOR: Black. Black. Black. The room was inspired by the kitchen area of The Handmaid’s Tale. While most people seem to love bright white, open, and airy spaces, I crave darkness. I find comfort and peace with moody spaces. So while it may seem counterintuitive to paint a sunroom black, I believe this will create a inviting and warm space for us to relax in. Because I value my privacy, all the windows will be covered in flowing sheer black drapery. It will still allow light to filter in but not let our neighbor peek in.

NATURE: Our sunroom has three walls of windows and is north facing. We have a fairly wooded lot so we do not get a ton of bright light but we do get enough to be a thriving place for certain types of plants. The room will have several plants introduced the space. Despite the fact it does not get a ton of direct sun, plants have historically thrived in this room. The one obstacle is watering them in the winter as that has resulted in the sudden unfortunate deaths of several plans due to freezing roots.

FLOORING: Now this is one of the most important aspects of the room due to heavy foot traffic. Two humans + four dogs + a cat who thinks planters are his bed= need durable flooring. Candidly, I do not know what the plan is for flooring. Life and time will determine what we will do. We have funds set aside for the floor but may need it for IVF medicine (thanks insurance) so we will have to wait and see.

FURNITURE: I have sourced a few pieces since the last attempt of the ORC. Two beautiful vintage Alky chairs will be transformed with the above ochre velvet fabric. Every room needs some wood and this room is no exception. A vintage desk will be welcomed into the space and will probably serve as the station for preserving and pressing flowers (my new obsession). I scored a gorgeous black marble plinth coffee table off good ole Marketplace. I still need to determine some additional seating, a rug, and minimal decor.

LIGHTING: We currently have two recessed LED lights in the room. They are bright and harsh. we never use them. I would love to covert these lights into pendants and find some type of textural pendant light (woven, rattan, etc.) Hello Leanne Ford for Target?!? We will see.

Candidly, I am winging this guys! As a last minute registration and a mind full of ideas, who knows what we will end up with. Hopefully you guys will fall along on the journey during the next 6 weeks and see what each week will bring! Be sure to go look at all the other great projects that are happening over at the ORC Blog!

One Room Challenge-Office Reveal

What day is today? Today is One Room Challenge Reveal Day! 

It's here! It's here!  My office is DONE!  After 18 months of living in this house and using the office as storage, I finally have place of my own to do all my "arts and crafts" (my husband's words).  

If you are new to visiting House Haus Home, welcome and thanks for visiting!  I suggest taking a quick peek at week one for before pictures of the space.  It was filled with wall to wall orange bookcases, windows were blocked by them, and it lacked character.  

So without further adieu, I am so excited to show you our home office!

The office is located right off of our living room so I wanted the room design to easily flow from one room to the next.  A set of double doors (which were previous louvre doors and DIY'd to a solid panel) separate the two spaces.  

Both sides of the doors have lucite and brass DIY door pulls (DIY coming next week) to maintain a cohesive look whether the doors are open or closed.  Usually when I am working in the office, I have the doors to the living room open (where Chris is normally watching something that annoys me ;) )

Below is the view from the living room and looking into the office.  

If you follow me on Instagram, there is no secret that I have a love for neutrals.  I prefer designing my own home with a neutral base palette and adding in texture, prints, interesting art and objects, and organic elements such as plants, faux furs, geodes, metals, etc.  

The office continues my home's design formula and is filled with a patterned rug, DIY faux fur throw, organic elements such as crystals and geodes, (faux) plants, and for this shoot we have LIVE flowers (that's a big deal since we have a wooded lot and north facing windows for our living, dining, and office).  

I wanted the room to be designed beautifully but most importantly, I needed it to be functional.  Our office is a decent size for an office space but it is still small.  I originally purchased the Lack Desk in black from IKEA but it felt cluttered and the line of sight was blocked by this big black rectangle.  Thanks to the suggestion of a friend (Thanks, Christi!), I purchased a glass desk.  I am usually very anti glass tables and desks because they show every fingerprint, but in this case, having the desk made of glass kept the space open instead of heavy and cluttered.  Also, having a glass desk also offers a space to work on my "arts and crafts" without causing damage to the furniture. 

Instead of bookcases (I mean, HELLO, we just removed like 7 sets), I am using this vintage brass etagere' for storage.  I purchased some stylish storage accessories from Home Goods, IKEA, and The Container Store to keep our paperwork, DIY supplies such as glues and fabrics, memories, and so on.  

Within the shelves of this Milo Baughman vintage brass etagere, we have owners manuals, tax documents, health records, documents from the veterinarian, mortgage papers, magazines, design books (covered in linen), plus much more.  Office storage has the ability to be functional and stylish!  

I mixed in affordable art and objects to minimize the look of "storage".  While you can still see the storage items and even some papers, the eye (hopefully) goes to the art or sculptures and is not focused on the functional aspect but instead the design elements.  

I will do a full shopping post soon but just as a heads up, all the small prints on the etagere' were purchased via Etsy and downloadable/print yourself.  This is currently one of my favorite ways to add art to our home.  It is budget friendly, helps small artists, and you are finding unique items that you are drawn too.  In this case, all 5 of those small 8 x 10 prints are from the same Etsy shop (which I just discovered and LOVE). 

I am a firm believer in incorporating things that you love and have meaning to you.  There are ways to "edit" them to make them fit seamlessly into your space.

For example, I am a DIE HARD, Harry Potter fan.  Actually, I should take a quick second to thank Harry, Hermoine, and Ron for keeping me company during the many late nights I had while working on the office.  

I recovered all of my beloved HP books and a black linen since the original binding varied so much in color.  Ohhh, you didn't know I was the owner of the most powerful wand known to man? Yes folks, that is the Elder Wand on my shelf.  

As we rotate counter-clockwise around the room, you will find the original oak door painted in Benjamin Moore Onyx.  I love how the grain of the wood still shows through the paint.  The bells are from a temple in Thailand.  This was the one item I requested when my sister visited Thailand over the summer.  I used some jute twine to hang them on the doorknob.  I am a big fan of hanging things on doorknobs.  

To the left of the door, we have this beautiful Mid Century Modern curved sideboard with brass legs.  It serves as additional storage and as a piece of art.  I found this piece on eBay and coincidentally the seller was here in Indianapolis so that saved shipping costs.  If you are in the Indy area, you MUST check out Flux Antiques.  The owner, Chris, sells via eBay, has a store, and a booth at Midland Antiques.  Follow him in Instagram to see new finds!

The art is a mixture of photographs, drawings and DIY abstract piece.  

Of everything in this room, I am the most proud of the DIY lamp below.  I came across this lamp by Arteriors but unfortunately it was not in the budget for us.  We made our own version using a scrap piece of wood, a lamp kit, and some creativity.   

The art on the top left is a last minute DIY that I made since one of my prints did not arrive.  This piece was inspired by a Kelly Wearstler piece called Midnight Tide. 

I basically took a piece of wood, added layers of joint compound to make it look like moving water, painted it black once it was dried, and then made a frame of some pieces of wood which were painted gold with Liquid Gold Leaf (which is the best product ever).

If you recall from week three, I took a major detour from my original design.  The original design was centered all the set of blush chairs from West Elm.  It just was not feeling right.....so I changed it.  It was a lot more work but I am so happy I trusted my gut and changed directions.

I can handle some basic sewing but when piping is involved, I have to bow out.  I found a wonderful lady that has a sewing business in a nearby town.  She was just wonderful to work with.  She came to my house to pick up the cushions, her pricing was beyond reasonable and she had cushion covers done in a WEEK!  The fabric was purchased via fabric.com and is a black velvet and only cost $9 a yard!  I still have the original blush cushion covers and upholstery on the chair in the event I want the blush chairs back again!

The vintage campaign secretary to the left of the door provides additional storage and also houses my wireless printer.  Through the years I have met so many interesting and wonderful people that work in the industry.  One of my furniture sources buys estates and then resells the items.  I gave him a list of items that I was looking for and ended up with this piece for $50!

The art is via Etsy and is a nod to the Pacific Northwest (where my heart is!) and the shadow box ontop of the secretary is my dried wedding bouquet with rocks I picked up at various sites during our honeymoon in Oregon and Washington.  

I wanted to add a touch of color to the room and chose these plush velvet chartreuse lumbar pillows.  I love how this shade of green works so well with the black, wood, and brass in the room.  

Like Carrie Bradshaw (who I also should thank for giving me company during the ORC), I love carnations.  These vibrant magenta carnations add some more color to the room and add that pop of femininity to an otherwise masculine space.  

So that is it, folks!  If you are still hanging out-THANK YOU SO MUCH!  I know it was a long post but I am just so happy with the space and wanted to share as much as I could with you.  Hopefully you enjoyed following allowing these past six weeks as my vision came to life.  

This was my first time participating in the One Room Challenge and I am so happy I did.  Along the way, I met some new friends, challenged myself, improved my photography skills, and completed a room that had been on the back-burner for the longest time.

Without our lovely host Linda at Calling It Home and media partner House Beautiful, we would not have this wonderful opportunity to come together as a design community and motivate and create with fellow creatives.  

Be sure to check out the other guest participants and featured participants at Calling It Home.

Now, onto scheming up the next ORC space (well, in my head) and getting ready for Thanksgiving and the Holidays.  Stay tuned!

xo

Saher 

One Room Challenge-Week Three

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are halfway there!  Welcome to week three of the One Room Challenge.  Thank you to our gracious host Linda of Calling It Home and Media Partner House Beautiful for hosting this inspiring event.

I cannot believe we are just a few short weeks to the big reveal.  And although I am working on a smaller space, participating in the ORC has given me the motivation to finally finish this room.  I am so excited to finish up and to be able to checkmark another space of our very long reno "to do" list.  

If you follow me on Instagram (if you don't, you should ;) @househaushome) you saw the design dilemma I was facing last week.  Something with the design just felt off.  At that time, I could not explain it, but it just never felt right.  Maybe this is the reason that it's still not done after all this time.

Original Design:  

While I have a love for all different design styles, I am a neutral girl to the core.  To me, white walls serve as the perfect blank canvas to layout a design that will easily be able to be refreshed and evolve as time goes on.  I love to mix the warmth of wood with metals, bold dark colors, and a contrast of creams or ivory tones.

I purchased these beautiful blush chairs from West Elm last year.  That was a huge ordeal and I will spare you the details.  Long story short, it took a hot second for them to arrive.  Although I had these amazing luxe chairs, it never felt right.  I could not decide on the walls...the rug...desk....nothing.

I was up late one night last week and couldn't stop thinking about the room.  Then it hit me.  I don't like the blush chairs in my office!  As a result, my ORC is being refreshed and this feels so right.  

Since the living room is right off the living room, I wanted the design of the living room to flow into the office.  

New Design:

Moody.  Dark.  This is my kind of space.  

My little painting disaster is almost corrected.  The walls and ceiling have been painted in Cloud Cover by Benjamin Moore.  The doors and some trim work still need to be completed.  Once again, the battle of dark vs. light on the doors is occurring.  

I will be bringing in warmth with a MCM credenza as a nod to the original style of our home.  This particular piece has beautiful brush brass.  This metal finish makes an appearance in every room of our house.  This piece was purchased on eBay but it happens to be at a local antique store, Flux Antiques.  If you are in the Indianapolis area, be sure to check them out.  They sell via eBay, have a booth at Midland Antiques, and their store/warehouse in Fountain Square .  

Curtain rods, hardware and drapery have been hung but need to be hemmed and steamed.  I picked these up at my go-to store for curtains-Home Goods!  I believe they were $29.99 a pair and I needed three sets.  Not bad for 96" panels.  The color is a beautiful light taupe with a light sheen and embossed design.  I love the depth that these subtleties add to the overall look of the room.  

Both the curtain rod and the rings are from Crate and Barrel.  If you sign up for emails you can get  15% coupon.  Even at full price, I found the cost very reasonable for the quality.

Let's talk about those new windows.  Sexy AF if you ask me!  My husband painted the window trim black (the outside is black as well but came pre-finished).  

The last decision for today is the battle of the rugs.  Unfortunately I could not photograph the room for this post until this evening so the lighting is off due to the overhead light that is on.  

Both are so beautiful and I wish I could just smash them together and put the thick lush trim on the rug on the right.  What do you think?  

Here are some close ups:

The second rug is more of a dark greige with dark brownie black spots. 

I am leaning one way but do not want to let the other one go.  #firstworldproblems

So there you have it.  Week three is DONE.  

Week Four will consist of:

• Finishing paint
• Hemming and pressing curtains
• Finalizing rug choice
• Sourcing Art
• Styling Etagere
• Some other surprises that I hope to start

Be sure to check out my fellow Guest Participants over at Calling It Home to see their progress.

Please swing by next week to check on the progress.

One Room Challenge-Week Two

Happy Thursday Guys!

I can't believe we are already at the second week of the ORC!  As a newbie, I am really happy I chose to tackle a smaller room.  Balancing work and life, learning to navigate a blog, taking pictures...PHEW...I have a new sense of admiration for those who have been doing all of this all this time! It is way harder than it looks. 

If you recall from Week One, we had three walls of 1950s orange bookcases.  As they were brought down, we slowly introduced much needed natural light into this room.  Our backyard has several large trees which causes a problem for our north facing rooms.  

As I mentioned in last week's post, there were a few surprises during the demo.  The first surprise (which we figured out prior to the demo) is that there was a closet behind one of the built ins.  There is another door to this closet that can be accessed in our hallway so we decided to close up this entrance to have more, very much needed wall space.

Surprise number two:

Oh heyyyyyyyyy there, window.  We had NO IDEA that you were hiding behind that orange bookcase!  Now this was a VERY pleasant surprise!

(Quick shoutout! All of the major construction in our home is being done by Distinctive Home Solutions.  If you are in the Indianapolis area, I highly recommend them.  Sean (one of our contractors who has also become a great friend) was kind enough to always snap me progress photos since I am at work when the magic happens.)

Since the walls came down, there has been a good amount of progress made, but also one regret.   I will touch on that in a bit. 

The espresso floors were installed and our ceiling light was added.  I choose the Vega Brushed Brass Flush mount light from CB2.  I was in love with the frosted round domes, brass finish, and the price point was perfect for our budget.  

The brass etagere was my very first purchase from an antique store back in 2012.  At that time, our house was almost all IKEA (rolling eyes).  If you are a fellow Hoosier, you must check out Midland Antiques located in downtown Indianapolis.  It is an old warehouse filled with all sorts of goodies.  I went there specifically looking for this piece.  After an hour of walking around and exploring, I started to leave when I saw something glisten.  Underneath about 400 vases, books, and other items, stood my beautiful baby.  I slowly walked over with the expectation that this would be at least $1000, BUT I WAS WRONG.  I remember the exact amount I spent, $243.00.  I was ec-sta-tic!  

All the windows in our home will be replaced as we renovate each space.  These are the original windows from 1954 and they are in rough shape.  You can see dried out caulk along the edges and I am pretty sure if I sneezed, it would fall out. 

We have been working with Pella Windows and have chosen an unfinished interior/black exterior and will be painting the interior part (black) ourselves.  I do not recall the exact savings but it was several hundred per window.  Luckily I have my very own painter....my husband, Chris, who handles all of our painting needs.

Now, back to the regret.  Paint.  There is not a home DIY task that I despise more than painting.  Nothing.  I was really excited to come home and find that my husband had finished painting the walls and the ceiling.  24 hours later I realized I hated it.  It was too dark.  It felt cold.  There was no warm undertone to the paint.  

I politely requested he repaint the room in the same off white color we had in our living room.  Well folks, he pretty much laughed in my face and told me it would "grow on me".  I guess I have another item to add to my "to do" list!

Most of the items that will be in this space are already owned, but I have been on the hunt for a rug for a long time.  I swung into my local West Elm since they had their 20% off sale this weekend and came across this rug on display when I walked in:

I found this blush pillow in the store and threw it down to see how it looked with the rug.  My chairs are this same blush color and I have been going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth with rugs.  Do I go dark? Do I go light? From far away, this appeared to be a solid, but close up this was a tweed style mix of various colors with the plushest ivory fringe on the end.  I LOVE me some tassels or fringe on rugs.  

I took a few laps around the store, kept coming back to stare at the pillow/rug combo and finally inquired about the rug and price. 

Wait for it....an 8 x 10 was $319 + 20% off for a total of $255 ! SOLD!  

The downside is that I have to wait for it to be shipped to the store.  I just need to be patient for a couple of weeks and then it will be here for the install.  I have plenty to do till then!

Next week I should have some big updates to share:

• New paint color
• Windows
• Furniture (if you saw my Insta-Story today, you got a sneak peak)
• Curtain rods and maybe even curtains.  Maybe....

Thanks so much for visiting!  Be sure to checkout the other participants over at Calling It Home!

xoxo

Saher

One Room Challenge-Week One

Hi hello! I am thrilled (and crazy nervous) to be jumping on board for my first ever One Room Challenge™.  For years I have read hundreds of ORC posts, watched their transformations....would daydream about participating...being a feature designer...fantasizing about the room I would transform.....but then I would go put on Netflix or Harry Potter and sit on the couch. Whaaaa whaaaa.    

Thanks so much to Linda of Calling it Home  and Media Partner House Beautiful for hosting this fab-u-lous opportunity and allowing little ole aspiring design bloggers, like yours truly, to participate.  

I am new to blogging.  This my second post everrrrrrrrr.  Go big or go home, right?! So I apologize for any mistakes as a give myself a crash course in blogging while I navigate this 6 week makeover challenge.  

Ready to see the ugliest office ever???

Welcome to 1954!

Now, I know built-ins are totally in right now.  I love them, wish I had some (they don't go with my house though!).  These are not the type of built ins that the design world is gushing over.  

One of my favorite things about renovating an old home is uncovering the story of the life that lived within the four walls before us.  While I am not a fan of the excessive built in basic book shelves on every. single. wall. in this house, I love the story behind them.  

The previous owner was a Scientist.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a real life scientist.  He was an extremely well read man and this home was filled with walls upon walls of books.  I never saw the house in that state (info provided by the realtor) and this "before" picture of mine is actually their after with some help of a stager.  Having my husband agree to remove these has been a battle, but he has finally realized I am right (see that right there? :) ) and that they have to go.  We do not own enough books to even fill one shelf nor are we really avid readers.

The photo below shows the layout and location of the office to the living room.  The living room has already been completely updated and I will be sharing before/after pictures of that in a later post.

Soooooo...here's a little secret...that's not the current state of the office, but that is where this 6 week design journey is starting.  I have learned from listening to Chris Loves Julia's podcast (if you don't listen, you totally should) that you really do not have to have your transformation in real time.  Yes!!!

The Plan

• All bookcases removed.  
• Floors-replaced with espresso engineered hardwood.  This will be running throughout our home w/ the exception of bathrooms and the entryway. 
• Build out wall.  You cannot see it from this photo but that bookcase to the left is built over a sliding door *insert eye roll*  This closet has another door in the hallway so there is no need for two doors to one small closet.  Oh, 1950s builders, what were you thinking?
• Let the room ooze with femininity.  You have heard of a man cave, right? Well, this is my woman cave.  Blush.  Florals. Brass. Maybe some unicorns and rainbows.  
• Functional.  I occasionally work from home and am committed to blogging so I need space to work, store my arts and crafts, and so on.  

Mood Board

I am still determining whether I want the rug to be dark/light, sorting out all the details such as art and accessories, but I have laid out the high level design of the room.  

As I mentioned on my welcome page, I do try and mix high/low/DIY as much as possible and this mood board is a perfect example.  I will dive into more details as the weeks progress on sources and costs.  Full disclaimer, I am going to be an open book about cost.  I feel it is extremely important to those wanting to tackle a renovation to have some idea on pricing.  

I am so excited to finally be tackling this project and creating a private space where I can work. Stay tuned to next week when the bookcases come down and the surprises behind them are revealed.

Thanks so much for following along!

xo

Saher