Yikes! This is the halfway mark of the Fall 2020 6 week One Room Challenge to redo my office and I’m feeling the crunch! I came across this pinned to a bulletin board during my great office purge of 2020 and it sums up how I’m feeling.

PS If you don’t know what the One Room Challenge is, or you want to get caught up on the super embarrassing BEFORE pictures, see our ORC Week 1 HERE. and the progress report in ORC Week 2 HERE.

SO I am happy to report that there was a floor under there in the office and I’ve even unearthed my desk enough so that I actually WORKED at it yesterday - this is nothing short of a miracle if you’ve seen the before pictures…

I’ve been sharing my co-working space with an intrepid colony of spiders for years. No matter how often I evict them, they reappear. I am SO #notafan of this arrangement. They are messy, leaving webs and spider poop everywhere, and they totally shirk any responsibility for paying rent. I have tried vacuuming them up, and various remedies including scents they are supposed to dislike, but all to no avail. So, I have finally called an exterminator that I hope can make them exit permanently. We have a lot of “nature” here and it keeps wandering INSIDE the house where it does not belong. I’ve had mice in the walls, and even an office chipmunk. I’m just grateful there haven’t been snakes. For snakes, I might have to move. I’ll keep you posted on how the spider eviction goes…

For this project, I’m trying to reuse most of what I have and that means my significant mahogany bookcases. They are a bit larger than ideal, but I am the queen of #makeitwork. It also means my new plan calls for getting rid of some furniture including an extra desk and a drop leaf table that found their way into the office. I’ve been selling it off on FB marketplace. I’m relatively new to the whole FB buying and selling gig, but got hooked during the spring ORC when we snagged an awesome piece for the Vintage Diva Glamour Den bedroom on FB marketplace.

I ordered sconces for the presentation wall this week that were supposedly in stock and got a shipping notification that they won’t ship until the end of November/beginning of December. This is a daily frustration in the design world these days so I’m not surprised, but I specifically selected in-stock to avoid this! Anyway, I reselected something that will work just as well, was less expensive, and that is arriving TODAY. Problem solved. I originally selected the pretty, warm brass sconce with the plan to mount it on a black surface, but plan B is the really inexpensive matte black sconce with brass highlights which will get mounted beside the black instead. I’ve included links to both in the legend below.

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I also reached the elusive handyman, who THINKS he can get to me in time, but actually made no promises…he is SUPER busy. Everyone has been home staring at their house too long and realizing they need to DO something to make it better so the contractors and handymen all have more work than they can handle right now. I guess that puts them in the 2020 shortage category right up there with sanitizing wipes and toilet paper!

In other news, I may have a fabric sponsor - we’ll see soon. If I do, I might add new Roman shades to the list of things to get done :) Here are some of the fabrics I’m considering for windows and pillows/upholstery possibilities. There are TOTALLY different directions here and I’m I’m not planning to use them all together…and because I’m working with color for clients all day, I’m inclined to keep the space neutral so it won’t distract, but there are so many gorgeous options…textures, embroideries, hand-blocked prints…what are your favorites?

The STUFF LEFT TO DO list is much longer than the stuff that is done list, but the hardest part was definitely the sorting, cleaning, and shuffling between rooms and that part is almost done! Hallelujah!

I need to get an electrician in once the sconces are in hand.

I should also repaint, but I’m waiting until the ceiling gets repaired for that, so painting may end up as a phase 2 if the handyman doesn’t make it here, or I may tackle some of it myself and just save the ceiling paint for phase 2.

And I need to tackle the sample storage solutions soon. I already have wall hooks for the sample books, but there are tons of other loose samples that need some organizing. More on that next week!

Check in next week to see where we are, if we still have spiders, and whether I have broken out the paint yet (still procrastinating)!

Also, check out what all the other ORC participants are doing HERE!