Nursery Progress: One Room Challenge – Week 5

It’s week 5 of the One Room Challenge and it’s getting down to the wire. I really wish there was one more week because I have so much to get done still.

If you’re new here. Hi! I’m Melissa. I live in Madison, WI with my family and we are currently updating our 1970’s ranch home.

If you want to catch up and see all my One Room Challenge posts for this room click here!

Last week was really rough and I felt like nothing was getting accomplished in the room. But this week it feels like we’re turning a corner and are making much more progress. I’m not as scared that I won’t finish now. But there are still a ton of projects to do so there really hasn’t been much sitting around. Let me show you what I was able to accomplish this week. 

Skim Coating

Skim coating has been on the to-do list for awhile now. But I’ve been putting it off because I’ve been intimidated by it. I think it’s mostly because this pregnancy has been a lot harder on me than my last one. I’m feeling huge. My hands are also swelling and I think I’m beginning to get carpal tunnel syndrome again (same thing happened last time). So doing a lot of these intense projects is getting much harder for me.

Thankfully Max took pity on me this past week and has been dutifully skim coating the accent wall after work so that we can get it prepped for the wallpaper. He’s the best! Thanks honey <3

Neither of us have ever done skim coating before, so I started doing a lot of research to find the easiest technique for newbies like us. Right now Max has been using a roller to apply thinned-out joint compound to the wall. And then he scrapes the excess off with a long drywall knife. Here’s a great YouTube tutorial on using the roller technique to skim coat.

We have knockdown texture walls all over the house (aka intense texture). And so far he’s applied about 3 coats of the joint compound to the accent wall. But it’s looking a lot smoother now and I think this will make the wallpaper installation a lot more professional looking (*fingers crossed*).

Roman Shade

While Max has been busy doing the skim coating for me I’ve been working on lots of little DIY projects. Last week I started working on a roman shade. And now I’m happy to say that it is finished! 

So far I’m liking the color. But I’m hoping I still feel that way once the wallpaper is up. Otherwise, there might be some more fabric dying and late night sewing in my future.

Right now it has a bit more of a “casual look”. My bad because I should have used interfacing. If it bugs me enough I might suck it up and re-do the shade just to add the interfacing. I think that would give it a much more tailored and clean look.

But at least the pompoms look cute!

Adding Liner to Dresser Drawers

I know it seems like adding drawer liner is such a minor thing, but it really makes me super happy. There’s nothing better than opening a drawer and finding a little surprise inside! Plus this dresser is going in a child’s room and I think it’s just makes sense to add a little protection to the inside of the drawers. Lotions and potions are very likely to spill inside. 

I was lucky enough to find this purple floral Con-Tact paper on Amazon. Prime shipping is so wonderful! It arrived super quickly and I was able to get all the drawers lined right away during nap time.

Brass Mobile

During week 3 I talked about a few ideas I had for a mobile for the nursery. And I finally decided I wanted something modern and brass. I did a lot of searching for something to purchase. But unfortunately my budget has been blown by wallpaper, bedding, and other accessory purchases so I didn’t really want to splurge too much on this mobile.

I used to do a lot of jewelry making (pre-baby days). And I still have a lot of my tools and supplies. So I was able to keep the cost of this project pretty low because I could use my tools, brass chain, jump rings, and flat head pins I already had on hand.

I only needed to order some raw brass circles and hollow square tubing online. And I also purchased a small hand drill to pop tiny holes into the brass pieces.

I don’t have a lot of photos of my whole process because these sorts of things get accomplished in the dark when Elliot is sleeping and I have time alone to work. But if there is interest I could eventually do the project over and write up a tutorial. 

I still need to figure out how to hang the mobile. And I also want to see how it holds up over time. I’m worried about the weight and want to make sure the jump rings don’t need to be soldered. It’s a good thing baby girl isn’t due until January. So that means there will be plenty of time to see how this hangs and I can make sure there are not issues with brass pieces falling into the crib.

Max is taking a trip with the little man this weekend so I can have some time along to get this room finished and photographed. So if possible I would like everyone to cross their fingers and toes for me that I can get the wallpaper hung and everything else moved into the nursery without issue! 

Here’s what’s still left to do…

The To-Do List

1. Paint dresser, add changing table conversion kit, attach new hardware, add liner to drawers
2. Remove chair rail and do any necessary patching to walls (working on it)
3. Paint three textured walls (working on it)
4. Figure out what to do about the texture on accent wall
5. Skim coat accent wall
6. Prime accent wall
7. Install wallpaper on accent wall
8. Source a vintage light fixture, re-wire if needed, and install
9. DIY a mobile and install
10. DIY a window treatment and install
11. Purchase accessories, art, bedding

Thanks for following along! And please make sure to check out all of the featured designers as well as the guest participants of the One Room Challenge!

Home, Nursery, One Room Challenge, ORC Fall 2018