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Welcome to Week 4 of the One Room Challenge being hosted by Linda of Calling it Home.  You can see our plans here and follow all of the progress here.

Is it really Wednesday already?  I must say, it is scary to type, "Week 4" in the blog title.  I have been feeling under the weather for the past two weeks, and that paired with the two weeks until our room reveal timeline is leaving me filled with a bit of anxiety.  Mad props to designers who do rooms for a living, I bow down to you.

Each week we have been making progress, and although I am showing a few more pieces of the puzzle this week, we have about 109 more things happening behind the scenes to power through.  My hubby deserves a big hug.


Last week I mentioned I was giving the paint color one more week and making a decision.  Well, my decision is that I just don't have the strength to take on a full paint job at the moment.  And as I layered in some new elements over the past few days, it keeps coming together.  So for now, it is staying and I am going to keep working with it.  Anything we are doing to our space will match an endless number of wall colors should we decide to change it down the road.  And knowing us, we will.


Because we basically transplanted our previous living space to our downstairs family room, that left this space a complete blank slate.  Everything down there is now super cozy, including our previous living room rug.  In fact, it was a magical addition because it is so much thicker and softer on our lower level floors, literally warming it up.  I brought the rug from downstairs up to see how it would fit, but quickly realized we needed something bigger than a 6x9 option.

Knowing we are bringing our pattern and colors into the space through things like fabrics and accessories, I want to keep our investment pieces a bit more neutral.  We are hoping that we won't have to touch this space for years after we are done with it, so things like cabinets, the sofa, floors and the rug, all have to be timeless and more "grown up".  My husband did remind me that we are now closer to our 40's than our 30's the other day... sigh...

Rug shopping wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.  How hard can it be to find a simple 8'x10' solid rug?  Everything I loved at my "go to" Rugs USA was on back order or sold out.  I am also sure I hit every HomeGoods and rug store in the Twin Cities area.  When I spotted the Grey Fringe Rug at Pottery Barn, I managed to grab the last one in inventory.  Such a relief.  And even more of a relief is that it really defined our living area just as I was imagining it would.


As you can see above, we started pulling apart the media cabinet.  We have been going over plans and have our electrician coming to move some outlets for us this week before we can build it back together.  It will be nice to bring our TV back into the space, watching Hulu on the computer while we work on projects isn't quite the same.

Let's chat about the added chairs for a minute.  For years and years I have had my eyes on spindle chairs.  But the prices!  I never had it in me to take the plunge because they were typically only found at high-end furniture stores and cost more than any sofa we have purchased.  And for good reason, they are gorgeous!  So last year when I spotted a spindle chair at HomeGoods for a quarter of the normal price, you can bet I scooped that baby up in a heart beat.  It had been living in our son's room ever since....


For the last six months it has been waiting patiently for this renovation, but it needed a little face lift before moving to our new living room.  I painted it Benjamin Moore's Simply White and had it reupholstered in Tonic Living's Meadow Monarch Trellis fabric.  The upholsterer added extra support and batting and the cushions are all removable and washable.  The combination of the fabric and chair is stunning and finally brought my love for green into the room.


The chair is so comfortable and plush.  I can't wait to add books back to the space and call dibs on this corner as mommy's "time out" chair.  I am slightly concerned that it is a little light colored for a family space, but I found some well reviewed fabric protector which is a healthier alternative to Scotchgard (I will be sure to post a review once I have tested it out, a few of you had questions on my fabric protecting plans).  And the cushions can all be washed like slipcovers so hopefully my dream chair stays.  If not, a chair swap can happen easily enough, but that will also mean that I will have to move with it....

(lamp source)

After the rug came in, we realized that we had room to add a second chair.  In fact, it would balance out the conversation area, which I am really giddy about.  What I also love about using a couple of chairs in this space is that they can easily be moved around depending on how we are using the room. (In the photos the chairs look a little crammed with the bookcase but they have a few inches to move forward, and with the bookcase taken apart the center unit is temporarily pulled out quite a bit further from the wall than where things will ultimately land.)  I hopped right onto Craigslist and my quick hunt turned up this pretty gal.


Of course, when I picked it up it had seen better days, but it also received a few coats of paint and she instantly looked like new.  Now I just have to decide on the fabric for the cushion.  Speaking of fabrics, wanna see what I landed on?


I finally found a combo that will flow with the rest of the home and continue to tie all of our spaces together.  I am not-so-patiently waiting for some pillow covers to show up in my mailbox and I may even try to dust off my sewing machine this week.  Clock is a tickin'.

I thought about tufting the coffee table top, but I couldn't find a darker fabric that was feet friendly yet didn't weigh down the entire space visually.  So I decided that a sturdy wood top would be a feet and cocktail approved alternative.  We cut a piece for the top and still have to cut a second chunk for the bottom to fit, and this week I am also playing with stain combinations to finish things off.


Although I have always had a crush on airy spaces with white and bright colors, I also love adding black accents.  The drapes will have black banding, the table has pretty black legs and we also added a gallery of black frames to the large wall going down the stairs.


One of the things I appreciated when we walked into our home prior to the renovation, was our large wall of family photographs.  Those larger frames also moved downstairs, but I still want our family moments to remain in this space.  The stairway frames are from Michaels and the mats are from Amazon.  The photographs... they still have to be printed...


I still have to land on a decision regarding the entry pendant and we have a few hooks sitting on the ledge to be installed.  I would also love to add wallpaper to the panels going down the stairs but we will see if that makes the cut.

Although trying to take on this big of a space in six weeks is a bit overwhelming (I typically tweak rooms over the course of years so I am learning as I go), it is nice that we are finally to a point of being able to actually use the room again after almost four months.

Now, I am going to curl up in my "time-out" chair, take a breather, and check out the rest of the One Room Challenge spaces before getting back to kitchen floor installing, table staining, pillow sewing and media stand building.





Chair fabric provided by Tonic Living / Lamp provided by Wayfair.  IHeart Organizing is extremely grateful to have the help of special sponsors to finish this room in six short weeks.

For those of you who love to be prepared, and adore projects that involve zero DIY skills, this one is for you!


Truly, today's task was as simple as stocking up on a few essentials and corralling them in an easy-to-access bin. 

This was definitely another case of, "Why did I wait so long to do this?!" 

I don't purchase new clothing seasonally, but shoes?  I have a bit of a love affair with shoes.  And just like everything else, there are times when I might save big on clearance flats or splurge on comfort and style.

And while I appreciate having footwear for various outfit types and seasons, our Wisconsin weather does not always love our shoes in return.  My boots are always covered in a salty film, the boy's tennies tend to be mud magnets and the hubby's dress shoes become dull and dirty after multiple days of wear. 

Shoes are an investment, but how do we extend their life and keep them looking nice season after season?  We create a shoe care kit, that is how!


What you put in your shoe care kit will vary based on your environment and shoe types.  Different types of shoes require different types of care.  So to create our kit, I took note of the types of the shoes we wear most frequently. 

• Suede: I added both a suede cleaner and an eraser bar (similar). 
• Leather: I added saddle soap and a rag (to clean and soften) as well as shoe polish and an applicator brush. 
• Tennis Shoes: I added baking soda and a toothbrush (combine baking soda with dish/laundry detergent and gently scrub shoe and soles with the toothbrush).

I also added a variety of spare shoe laces, comfort pads and an anti-friction stick.  Those items were tossed into containers found at the dollar store and labeled with vinyl cut from my Silhouette.

A few other items that could be added to the kit are: a magic eraser (for those really tough cleanings - not to be used on delicate shoe finishes), rain and stain repellent, color shine, conditioning cream, shoe grips, shoe horns, shoe whitener, etc...  Whatever footwear maintenance items that make sense based on your shoe wearing habits.  (Should we start taking a drink every time I type out the word shoe?)


I found a narrow bin that can tuck away on our coat closet shelf, and printed off a label for the front.  Popped everything inside and boom, done!


Part of being organized, is being prepared ahead of time.  For me, that comes in the form of small kits or zones around our home.  In fact, I am a kit-making fanatic!  Sewing kits, cleaning kits, medical kits, stain kits, tool kits... I love and frequently use them all!  This is one more I know I will be grateful I took the time to put together, especially now that I will be able to extend the life (and looks) of my favorite foot candy.

What are your top shoe cleaning tips and tricks?  Any footwear maintenance essentials that we should add to our new caddy?

Looking for more quick tips?  Check out the entire series here!

Head to your favorite home goods store and you are sure to spot a variety of beautiful storage boxes.  Head to my abode, and you are sure to find the same.  I am a storage box addict.  As a girl who loves to organize, I am always seeking out simple ways to reduce visual clutter while also giving specific items a place to call home.  Decorative boxes fit in almost any room or space, are versatile and are an easy solution to most small clutter problems.

So, I thought I would show you two different boxes I recently picked up from my local craft store, and share how I put them to use around our home.

Both boxes were quite simple to create and both also came in under $10.  The first was a black lacquer-esque box found on clearance for $1.99.


It was already pre-finished inside and out, which meant no painting required.  I simply removed the screws and the brass clasp, and filled the holes with some wood putty.  I then used a fine grit sandpaper to sand it smooth and a black Sharpie marker to fill in the holes.


Agate is pretty hot as of late, so I decided the box could benefit from a little agate embellishment.  The agate is actually a jewelry pendant, also found at the craft store for another $1.99 but add a 40% off coupon and the price is even better.

I used a wire snips to remove the small loop at the top of the pendant, and some super glue to adhere the agate to the front of the lid.


$3.18 later and I have a stylish place for my hubby to toss his wallet, keys and phone clutter which usually just ends up in a pile on the ledge near the front door.

Welcome to Week 3 of the One Room Challenge being hosted by Linda of Calling it Home.  You can see our plans here and last week's progress here.

Well, by now I should have more completed than a painted shoe cabinet.  But that is about as far as I have come over the last week.  I must admit, I am feeling a little nervous and anxious as the weeks roll by and things are moving slower than I anticipated.  The next few weeks are going to be buuuuuusy but we are still up for the challenge.


Before I get to the shoe cabinet, two quick updates to note before I change my mind about the two updates....

• My initial fabric choice that was my driving color combo behind everything I am doing in both the kitchen and living area, is on back-order.  Like for quite awhile back-order.  This is really throwing me for a loop and has really prevented me from mentally moving forward.  Silly thing is that the fabric is being used for a total of two pillows.  That's right, fabric for two little ol' pillows is causing me to stumble.  So I started ordering more swatches and even more swatches... We need color!

• Me wavering on the wall color is probably driving you all about as crazy as it is driving me.  Some days I LOVE it, some days I feel meh about it.  And I am quickly discovering that I am either awful with my camera, or it just doesn't photograph true.  Probably the first one, or the fact that the color has fifty various personalities.  Anyway, I am giving it about one more week of layering and if I still don't really truly love it, I am going to paint it.  Which is scary right?  The real problem is that I don't know what color I would rather have on my walls to pair with the already installed white cabinets and slate gray island and now slate gray shoe cabinet.  Some days it gets to me, but most days I realize that there are much bigger life problems than a silly paint color, soooo, moving on.

One thing I am sure about is that I totally dig our freshly painted shoe cabinet!

With the entire kitchen/living room renovation, we always planned on bringing in a couple new pieces of furniture, but also have to use many of our existing items.   The shoe cabinet and school cubbies (white credenza) both provide us with great storage and needed to come back into the space.  But now that we have white cabinets in the kitchen, I don't want all white furniture in the adjoining living space.

I decided to take a small risk and paint our IKEA shoe cabinet.  I brought our island door sample to Sherwin Williams and had them color match to their ProClassic Enamel paint.  The goal is to start marrying the two spaces, so the gray was my instant gut choice.  So happy with it!


Because I was so happy about the outcome of our painted dining room hutch, I followed the same steps and wasn't afraid of painting such a high traffic piece of furniture.  This paint goes on like butta and cures nice and hard for a durable finish.

To quickly go over those steps again, I started by giving the entire cabinet a coat of primer.  I prefer Zinsser Oil Based - Bond Coat.  No sanding required to get started is a thumbs up from me.


Once the primer was dry, I gave the cabinet two coats of the gray enamel.  I used a brush for a few of the grooves and used a small microfiber roller for the rest.  I find the microfiber rollers coat well and don't leave the small bubbles that come with foam rollers.



Two coats total and it was completely done.  I only painted the outside of the cabinet, I didn't see a need to mess with the inside where all the dirty shoes are thrown.  And I only sanded a few small spots where dust or puppy hair landed, otherwise, I probably could have done without sanding all together. 

As the second coat was still drying, I held the previous hardware up to the new paint color.  There was zero contrast between the two.  (Hardware was originally purchased here.)


So I grabbed my tube of Rub 'n Buff and a pile of cotton swabs and gave the hardware a little gold attention.


The hardware definitely paired beautifully with the gray.



The colors of the walls and cabinet in the images above are pretty spot on.  The moment I step away... not quite the same. #tipswelcome  Let's blame the lack of window treatments and not my photography.


I also realize that my mirror is hung too low.  I was thinking of adding a sconce above, but have since changed my mind.  So ignore the low mirror, it should be fixed next update.


Now, let's chat a bit about the room layout and the sofa.  Last week I had some questions regarding the sectional and our current seating plans.

When we purchased our sectional a few years ago, we purchased something we knew we would love regardless of the space and room it was in.  After we got it home, it became more and more clear that we preferred our new, smaller sectional to the larger leather one in the basement (due to comfort and style).  Our home has always given us layout challenges, divided kitchen wall or not, but no matter how I mapped it out I just couldn't make our favorite piece of furniture work with the new open concept.  It would either have to live tight to the backs of the barstools or tight to the window.  Once that wall came down, we were happy to move the sofa to our lower level and bring the old faux-leather sectional up to the garage to be sold on Craigslist. In fact, because the lower living area was basically a blank slate, we brought down all of our main level furnishings, including the chair, coffee table and rug.  Suddenly the basement felt lighter yet warmer and everything seemed to fit perfectly, like it was always meant to be.  Phew.


The sale from that sectional and storage ottoman was designated to fund the new sofa.  I looked and looked and looked some more.  Almost every sofa we both agreed on, measured to be too long for the space.  Because we already knew what we were looking for from our previous sectional search a few years ago, we decided to keep many of the same criteria, with the exception of possibly adding a tufted back and rolled arms this time around.   I finally narrowed it down to two options; one from Macy's and another from Home Decorators.  We went and sat on the Macy's option and it was comfortable but I wasn't sure that the upholstery would hold up because the display model was looking loose and "loved".  When Home Decorators had a 20% off upholstery sale plus a free shipping code on the back of their catalog, I decided to order it and hold my breath.


Although the couch looks small in photos, it is almost six feet wide and the arms take up very little of that space.  We have seated three adults comfortably, and the boys and I are all able to snuggle on it together without issues.  We will also have a chair near the window just as we did with our previous layout.  The new sofa leaves us with about three feet of open space near the window and almost four feet to the future island stools.  Plenty of room for the boys to run laps.



Being that we have two living areas, we are happy to know that we can use our main space for day-to-day shenanigans and for hosting friends and family with the open layout and amount of seating in the dining room and at the island.  Major family snuggle sessions and movie watching can happen in our lower level on our loved sectional.  Overall, we are pretty smitten with how it all worked out.

And as you can see above, the built-ins haven't been started yet.  Plans are drawn up and finger nails are being bitten but I am trying to remain confident in our DIY abilities. I also brought in our old coffee table which was ultimately going to be a deck table but I wanted to see how it would fit here.  I may end up using one of our round ones instead or changing the glass out with a wood or upholstered top.  Although the furniture still seems a little choppy, an area rug should be the piece to pull everything together.  Decision making is at an all time high the next few weeks.  Time to stock our new wine rack!


P.S. My boys are into playing Wheel of Fortune right now which I totally love.  P.P.S.  My eight year old believes that mis-matched socks are the cool "thing", which I also love because they were when I was a kid also.  Some things never change....


OK, I have jabbered enough today.  Let's take a long coffee break to check out all of the other amazing One Room Challenge participants below.