Fall 2016 One Room Challenge [Week 3: All The Things Are Arriving!]

Ok. Seriously. This challenge is half-way over. Say what?! If you’re sitting there wondering what challenge I’m talking about, then let me catch you up a bit!

Today, I’m sharing my week 3 progress post for the Fall 2016 One Room Challenge hosted by Linda of Calling It Home. If you missed the start of this space, here are my Week 1 & Week 2 posts.

The One Room Challenge™ is an event that takes place every April and October, where 20 selected design bloggers transform a space in their home over the course of 6 weeks. But this challenge is not just for the pros! ANY blogger, referred to as a “Guest Participant” can join in the fun as well! By Thursday of each week the internet is roaring with ORC buzz! Ideas, inspiration and so so much support! All of the participants are genuinely encouraging and extremely helpful and motivating. Each week the support system grows stronger and stronger — we’re all in this TOGETHER!

For for me, this challenge is more than just sharing a pretty room at the end. It truly is a challenge. Coming up with a vision and creating a design is only a small milestone in the grand scheme of the challenge. It pushes me to plan, be organized, frugal, thrifty, creative, bold and brave. Of course, I want there to be a pretty room at the end of all of this, but the journey is what makes it fun! The good, the bad and the ugly. And yes, most of us all start with the ugly.

The before right??!

I just can’t decide which one is worse!

After I shared my before pictures, I showed you my overall vision for the dining room with this mood board I created.

I still love my plan and I’m working my butt off to make this thing come to life! Last week, I shared with you my favorite lighting options from Lamps Plus and showed you which glam gold fixture I selected. Lighting is key in this space, so a touch of modern glam seemed to be the right direction to take.

Now, this week….I’m waiting. Just waiting for the rest of my pieces to arrive. I’ve been scouring the internet and literally stalking my favorite local thrift store nearly everyday after I drop the boys off at school. Let me tell you. I’ve scored a few times. Like BIG time a few times. Between cardboard boxes arriving on the porch every other day and my white plastic thrift store sacks being snuck in and stashed in the dining room, I’d say I’ve got some loot piling up! T hasn’t said much because he knows I’m doing what I can to find great deals and use things we have. Or the things that I find and can’t live without. He’s become quite used to those times, I guess too 😉

Let’s take a quick peek at the original checklist and see where we’re currently at with each item:

• pick out paint colors
• paint walls & repair damage / holes [happened this week!]
• ceiling feature [I’ve got a few ideas brewing!!]
• unique wall treatment?  I decided to just go with paint…the walls are eaten up by doorways and windows which would have made it difficult to bring some of the ideas I had to life.
• replace chandelier [made selection & it arrived!]
• sconces? [yep, found some!]
• have lighting installed [next week!]
• replace blinds
• find curtain rods / determine how to hang in bay window – working on this…
• find hutch
• paint hutch??? [not sure if I’m going to or not]
• order table
• determine chair situation — how many? what type(s)?
• order rug [it came yesterday!]
• find barcart [& stock it!]
• find various decor items
• style, style, style!
• miscellaneous projects / diy’s:

And oh my goodness! All the things that have arrived so far, I am IN LOVE with every. single. one. I did mull over many of the selections into the wee hours of the night, many nights in a row, but so far I haven’t been disappointed with the quality, coloring, etc. of the pieces. And that isn’t always the case, especially when making online purchases. Admittedly. I am the Queen of “returns” but that is honestly the last thing I want to be doing over the course of the challenge!! Printing return shipping labels and running around town taking things back. No thank you! Now, I’m not saying that won’t happen because I’m pretty confident I will be doing that at some point. But for now, I’m relishing in my *good* decisions thus far!

Want to take a peek a few of the lone rangers hanging out in the [finally!] empty dining room?!

The rug is pretty sweet. And I will say I was suuuper nervous about ordering a rug with flecks of….color. I mean…I tend to stay neutral with my larger decor items, but this funky blue and gray abstract rug was calling my name from the get-go! It just landed on the doorstep yesterday! I showed you the chandelier last week, but here is an up-close shot of a few of the crystal “leaves” on the ends of the spikes.

Aren’t they gorgeous?!!

And yes. I DID put that whole thing together. 100 spikes and all!

And for the other biggy in the room right now…

Um. Can we talk about this hardware for a second?

So, here is where I could use your help. Should I…

A – paint it?

B – clean it up and leave it?

Please, please tell me your thoughts in the comments section. I am SO torn! I of course will clean it all up and polish the hardware, but I am kinda digging the wood look, but the white in my design board had me leaning that way… THESE are the decisions that stress me out!

Thanks so much for bearing with me through week 3. There wasn’t any earth-shattering updates and I quite frankly, didn’t want to share too much of my new goodies yet!! Next week will be here before we know it and I’ll be sharing more sneak peeks and progress updates with you!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

A big thank you to This is our Bliss’s brand partners!

*[Affiliate links were used below.]

RugsUSA | Lamps Plus | The Bouqs Co. | Cutting Edge Stencils | Minted | Luna Bazaar

Week 1 | Before Pictures + Mood Board
Week 2 | Glam Gold Chandelier Options
Week 3 | All The Things are Arriving! [we are here this week!]
Week 4 | DIY Cornice Boards
Week 5 | Wall Art
Week 6 | The Reveal!