Welcome to week 6 of the One Room Challenge! If you missed my previous posts – check them out here: WEEK 1 / WEEK 2 / WEEK 3 / WEEK 4 / WEEK 5 / Week 6 (You Are Here) Here is a breakdown of what I have completed so far & what is still to come! We are so close to the finish line!
To Do:
Buy trim and molding – DONE
Get custom color match paint – DONE
Install wainscoting – DONE
Install & paint crown molding – DONE
Trim windows – DONE
Paint walls – DONE
Paint baseboards – DONE
Apply wallpaper – DONE
Install Chandelier – DONE
Order prints and photos for gallery wall – DONE
Hang gallery wall – DONE
Hang curtain panels – DONE
Style bookshelves Spray Paint Bookshelves – DONE
To Source:
Gallery wall frames – DONE
Curtain panels with rods – DONE
Office chair – DONE
2 accent chairs – DONE
Book shelves – DONE
Buffet table – DONE
Desk – DONE
Chandelier – DONE
Lamp – DONE
Mirror – DONE
Accessories – WORK IN PROGRESS
Throw pillows – Just placed the order today! Nothing like waiting till the last minute! My final photo shoot is scheduled for next Tuesday!
Literally ALL that is left in this space is styling these gorgeous etageres & showing ya’ll the final reveal!! Next week I will be sharing all things shelf styling. I have a fun video to share revealing my tried and true shelf styling tips. Get excited friends! 🙂 Anyways – more on that next week…. For this week, I am sharing likely my most proud accomplishment from the One Room Challenge so far!…My floor to ceiling gallery wall!! I pushed my creativity and trusted that good ol’ intuition when designing it and am so proud of the result! I think it turned out even better than I imagined. I wanted to do something a little different than the standard family photo gallery wall. I mean – don’t get me wrong – I looove them. I actually have one in my home and wrote all about it previously. Check that out HERE. But for this gallery wall I wanted to try something different. For this gallery wall I wanted to only include digital art yet wanted each piece to represent myself and my family in an abstract way. i.e a large fist bumping with 2 little fists to represent my husband and our young twin boys, and a picture of an elephant to represent my husband and I’s travel to South Africa, also a one line print of a hand holding wine because well #momlife. Finding these prints definitely took time and effort but the result is so beautiful and so special to my heart!
Here is a breakdown of the steps that I followed to design out this gallery wall. Of course you can just buy a bunch of frames and play around with them until you find something that works. This wasn’t much of an option for me as this one room challenge is happening right in the middle of a global pandemic so Ikea isn’t a hop skip and a jump away. So instead I meticulously planned which frames would work so I could order almost exactly what I needed to get this gallery wall done!
How to Design a Gallery Wall
Step 1: Draw a to-scale drawing
I used a design computer software to do this – however it can absolutely be done with good ol’ pencil and paper. Grab some grid paper and an architecture ruler (can be found on Amazon or any craft store) to first draw the elevation of your wall (this is what you would see from looking at the wall straight on). Don’t forget to include baseboards and any outlets as you will need to consider those when deciding your placement for frames. You can then draw and cut out to scale “frames” and play around with placement on your sheet of paper. Doing this will give you a good idea of how many frames and what sizes will work for your wall! Here is the to scale drawing that I initially came up with….
Problem was I did all of this work before realizing Ikea was out of stock of many of the frames I needed. I decided to just order what I could and make it work, which luckily ended up being just fine. I ended up tweaking the design a little bit, which you will see, but I actually ended up liking the result even better. Speaking of Ikea.. they have some of my favorite frames. They are so affordable and great quality. I love the gold finish – it isn’t a shiny/cheap looking finish. I will plan to write a future blog post on my favorite frames that I use!
Step 2: Lay out frames on floor
I lay out all of my frames on the floor before hanging them on the wall.
Step 3: Start with center frame and work way upwards and outwards
It is best to start with the very center frame and work your way directly above and below to complete the first row. Once you have these centered and where you like them – it is a heck of a lot easier to hang the rest!
Then move onto the second row.
And finally the 3rd!
I decided to hang my frames first before printing my digital art. I did this so I could be certain on which size to print each. I figured I would end up making changes from the initial design – which I most definitely did! Another little pro tip hack (which I didn’t grab a photo of): use 3M tape on the back of your frames to secure the corners perfectly level to the wall.
I decided to write an entire blog post showcasing the shops behind all of the amazing prints that I used because they deserve their own post!! You can check that post out here.
My favorite gallery wall prints
The Best Curtains Ever
One other significant area of progress made in this space was adding curtains. I went back and fourth on if I should even add curtains at all. We designed crown molding to all of the windows and it was tough covering some of it up (check that post out HERE if you missed it)- but in my opinion curtains are a must in almost all rooms. They add that layer that really finishes the room off. I bragged about these sage green beauties all over Instagram the other day because they are so so good. They weren’t my initial curtain choice for this room. I had originally purchased an emerald green silk taffida panel – which although were beautiful – didn’t work in the room. And honestly, I’m glad I passed on the original choice because I have now find my go to curtain. They have over 5,000 5 star reviews, so I’m clearly not the only one obsessed. And did I forget to mention they are less than 10 bucks a panel!? SCORE!!
My initial plan was to pinch pleat them – but I fell in love with the ruffle detail they have when you attach them directly to the rod. They come in all sorts of colors and 3 different lengths too! I have them in the 108″ length and have 9′ ceilings in my office. I like a little puddle on the floor with my curtains.
SHOP THE POST
What I’m Loving
Shop The Post
That is all I have for week 6! We are getting down to the wire and I have some really fun stuff still coming your way! Plus the final reveal is going to be LEGIT!
What is to come
Week 7: How to Style Bookshelves + Progress Updates
Week 8: FINAL REVEAL
If you’re on Instagram, follow me @lauramithell.interiordesign to watch my progress in my “ORC – Office” Instagram story highlight! I’ll be sharing a lot more there. Thank you to Linda from Calling it Home, for organizing the One Room Challenge! Don’t forget to check out the featured designers and guest designers to support them and see the awesome things they are doing in their rooms too! Affiliate links are sometimes used in my posts to make it easier for you to shop! I may receive a small commission if you use my links to make your purchases – at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your continued support!