Week 5

We are over halfway through the ORC. We have a lot of work left to do! Here is a quick run down on week 4.

Skim coating, floating the wall, joint compound… all those words make me think of dust, mess, and a killer arm workout. I know how important it is to prep the walls before I wallpaper, but it doesn’t mean I enjoy it. There are certain things that just aren’t that fabulous. Skim coating a wall is definitely one of them. It took me a full day to sand down both the dining room and living room after skim coating. I used 180 grit sandpaper on my orbital sander that I attached to my shop vac. I stopped in between areas to vacuum up extra debris and empty the shop vac. Make sure you wear a mask when sanding. I need to wipe down the walls so they are ready to prime for wallpaper. One great success this go round-no fire alarms!

I discovered that my existing panels in the dining room are not installed on top of the wall. That would’ve been too easy. They are installed inside the wall. The panels are original to the house and the living room has the original front door prior to the add-on. The drywall was cut in half and installed inside the wall. After much debate and some trial and error, I decided to build on top of the existing panel. I measured all the areas and got MDF cut down to size. I’m using 1/4″ thick mdf on top of the existing panels.

I made a box molding mock up on a small wall spot. I used a 3.5″ spacer all the way around the molding. I decided I’m going to do a wider molding versus the one in the picture. I am very tempted to install and complete an entire mockup with paint and caulking prior to installing the rest around the room. But that will further delay the wallpaper that needs to get installed ASAP. Keats has one full week of school left and I need all the major “work” stuff close to complete.

The electrician came out and helped clip the wires I needed removed. I could’ve done this myself as none of the wires were hot, but I’m glad I was being safe. The electrician also showed me how to remove my existing lights in the living room and replace them. I bought a 4 pack of flush mount lights. I plan on switching these out soon.

Wallpaper change

I decided to change the navy grasscloth in the dining room to the Schumacher Hydrangea Drape wallpaper. I was chatting with my Aunt who is an experienced designer. We both agreed it would help open up the space with the same wallpaper and not be as choppy with the navy grasscloth. I’m planning installing the grasscloth inside the china cabinet instead.

Week 5 Goals

• Clean walls
• Paint the door and trim
• Purchase wallpaper adhesive
• Tint and apply wallpaper primer
• Continue shopping for various decorative items for the room (rugs, accent chair, side table, lamps, shelf items, credenza or media cabinet)
• Call McManus about the chandelier (meeting set up for May 19th)
• Complete box molding
• Start wallpapering (if time allows)

Check out all the transformations here:

Week 5 ORC

Until next week, thanks for stopping by and cheering me on! Don’t forget to follow the fun @pinchmeimhome