One Room Challenge- Week 1

So I am really excited to announce I am going to join in so many talented bloggers and designers, and tackle designing a room in six weeks! I will be linking up each week to the One Room Challenge, sharing my progress {fingers crossed} and I am thrilled and oh-so-nervous at the same time. I've got some ideas in my head and I can't wait to get started.

For anyone new that might be reading, this past Spring we found an old house we loved in a location that we loved even more, and pretty quickly decided to move and buy a new {old} house. As with most old homes, they have their fair share of work. The room that I selected for the ORC is maybe my favorite room in the house. In fact, it was my favorite when we first viewed the house. I saw so much character, and so much potential. Since we moved in, it has become "that room". And when I say "that room" I mean its the room all the odd belongings and mismatched pieces go into.

Everything you see that is white has been recently painted...I spent the better half of the summer laying on coats of paint to cover the wood tones. I know some people do not care for wood paneling, and I get that. I really love it though and I think it's so much more durable for babies and dogs. The TV box is not my favorite shape but we have looked into getting that redesigned and I think I would rather spend my money elsewhere.

The stairs have been stripped of their former heinous carpet {plus 1.5 million staples} and are a beautiful pine. However, that pine is not in good shape. There are markings all over the treads that the carpenters used back in 1973. Also, the banister is not legit. Those spindles are not ok and I have witnessed my puggle try to fly from the top opening down below a few times. The stairs are a major project themselves, and I'm not sure how much money we are willing to pour into preserving the pine/replacing...we will see as we do more research. In fact, the stairs might be their own mini room project, but I sure would love to improve them in some way during the next several weeks.

This is the opposite view. You can see on the far right where I started testing paint colors. I would like to paint the walls a dark charcoal, to pop against all the white. We have a long bookcase spanning the wall, and then a seating area with wingbacks and a loveseat. The furniture is in excellent condition, passed down to us from Stephen's parents. I am looking to recover or slipcover all three pieces.

I love bookcases but ours needs some work. Overall, I would like it to have a more cohesive look.

We have this sideboard on the exposed brick wall. The brick wall has recently been primed, but not painted yet. It's on the list. 

I love the wood beams but I am not crazy about the color! It is a really dark stained wood and closes in the room, even more so in these pictures. I would love suggestions on those :) And the ceiling fan and fireplace spotlight will be exiting the room asap! 

The fireplace used to have a wood burning stove which we removed. We don't plan on using it as a working fireplace, so I am enjoying the idea of decor in it instead. 

I know this room is reallllly hodge podge and cluttered. Don't doubt me just yet. I did want to keep it real and not edit it to make it look much better than it is though. What you see is what you get!

I hope y'all will follow along the next 6 weeks as we pull this room together just in time for the holidays. A big thanks to Linda for organizing it and allowing people like me to join in! I have been a huge fan for a long time and I am so excited to finally take part! Oh, and a big thanks to the hubs for agreeing to help me in the craziness!! Now go check out some other rooms that are being made over! Go ahead, its addictive!