HEAD SPINNING!
Welcome to Week Five of my One Room Challenge. It seems like a lot has happened, and not a lot has happened all at the same time. You know when you hear saws and sanders buzzing all day but visual progress is not evident? It takes more time to do the small stuff than the big stuff like demo and drywall. Crown molding and adding a cap to the baseboards in various places requires a lot of cutting and running up and down the stairs. And fixing stupid stuff like this from past homeowners:
I’m going to try to keep this one kind of short and let the visuals do the talking (while I talk about all my other stuff you probably don’t care about but hopefully you will read because you won’t know if I was talking about you if you don’t).
In case you didn’t read WEEK ONE, WEEK TWO, WEEK THREE, OR WEEK FOUR, let me tell you that if I had half a brain I would only attack one room at a time. But if you know me, you know I somehow function better when it is crazy.
My mudroom looks nothing like it used to, with a newly added (well not yet but soon) bathroom and a door to the backyard to the pool. That way wet people don’t have to walk all the way through the house to use the bathroom. The living room also looks nothing like it used to, and the fact that I’m packing my belongings up again like I’m moving is freaking the dog out.


Aside from the One Room Challenge room, which is a bathroom being built in a closet, have six other rooms in my house in various stages of construction, and we have our kitchen and primary bath getting ready to start, then lots of floors to finish, walls to paint and paper, and oh yeah, the outside is getting more stuff done.
Plus my day job!
I have tried to keep my client list quite selective, yet somehow I’ve got quite a few at the moment. From hourly meetings on new home construction or home remodeling projects, to several long distance projects, and a home that includes installing a glass tube elevator that will span three floors and a sofa that costs more than my first AND second car.
I need to travel to see some of these projects in person, it’s been so long but how do I carve out the time? Thankfully some send me good pics! Check out this before and after.

Project Rockledge Primary Bedroom before and after

Plus I have to travel!
I am heading to Napa on Monday as part of a select group of over 30 designers for some deep dive into cooking, wine and technology with SKS, Signature Kitchen Suites. As a Modenus Design Hound and 2020 Top Ten Design Influencer, we were supposed to originally go in May of 2020 (when I still lived in CA) but hello, dawn of the Pandemic!
Moved to the fall, but then that didn’t happen as we were still in deep isolation and confinement. A few more failed attempts (bomb cyclones and atmospheric rivers, anyone?) the trip is FINALLY happening! I will be posting a bunch on my Instagram and will follow up next week with all the scoop. SKS has some really cool products, and I’m going to be using some of their appliances in my new kitchen!

But wait, I have to travel again!
Yeah, I get home on Saturday, do my laundry and hit the road Sunday for NYC. I have to hit the ICFF, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair for a couple of days for more client sourcing. There are SOooo many cool and gorgeous things, from small creators to huge international brands. It’s always one of my favorite shows, but it’s miles and miles of walking the Jacob Javitz Center, which will have my legs falling off.
After that, I wish I had time to check in on some New Jersey projects but I have to head to the Bronx to scoop up my kid from college and then head back to see what I’ve missed at my own house after almost two weeks away. Ozzy is going to miss me.
What about the ORC??
Oh yeah. Next week I guess I’ll be relying on people to update me and send me pics so I can share it with you. I’ll figure it out! Here are some things from this week. The washer and dryer are now on the second floor and usable! Third floor Jack and Jill bathroom is looking good. And my little design assistant was doing product inspection and says the new replacement vanity is in good shape. Notice the old hardware vs the special knobs I put on the vanity? It’s the little things, people.
Three weeks to go!
I am hopeful the glass guy comes soon for the first floor shower, the second floor ORC tub surround and third floor shower. Maybe I’ll be lucky and that will be done by Week Seven. I have a feeling that is a pipe dream though. Of course the tile needs to be finished. I’m praying that gets done while I’m gone and he starts on the mudroom for Week Six. THAT will be so cool, and I can’t wait to show you. And please pray that the window for the ORC bathroom comes sooner than expected (hahahahahahahahaha).
As always thanks for sticking around. Please leave a comment below, share my chaos with your friends, and thanks for supporting my small business. If you refer me, please make sure they mention you when they book a consultation and you might get a little bonus from me!

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