Welcome to Week 2 of the One Room Challenge! I'm popping in with an update to show you what we've accomplished this week! But first, let me take a minute to catch you up on the plan.
For this round of the ORC, I'm taking on the smallest room I've ever decorated - the former storage space under the stairs in our basement. We are converting this 12.5' x 3' space into a rockin' playroom for our boys. You can read in the Week 1 post why this project is so special to me.
Here's the space we are working with, and the design concept:
I'm excited to show you all the progress we've made this week. You won't even recognize the space...
Are you impressed?! Ok, so maybe it looks exactly the same. Seriously though, that box and those bags may not look like much, but we've actually made some pretty good progress this week. Let me walk you through it wall by wall...
First off, I am really excited to announce that I am going to be partnering with my local Ikea store - Ikea Centennial - for the art display and storage on the left wall. It's always fun to have an opportunity to work with a brand that I love, and Ikea is one of my favorites. It's hard for me to remember how we got by before Ikea came to town!
Next up, let's talk about the ceiling...
Last week, I hinted at my secret plans - but I'm ready to spill the beans. The ceiling is going to be covered in more than 100 records! Aaaaaaaghhh! I am SO excited about this, I can't even tell you!
Our kids don't have any clue what a CD is, but vinyl - well, that they know! They love listening to music on our jukebox, and three-year old Beckett even has my old Fisher Price record player and my collection of books on records in his bedroom.
Talk about some hip toddlers, right? {Or does that make them hipster?} Well, hip toddlers deserve a hip place to play, so that's just what we are going to give them!
However, getting our hands on the records we needed for the ceiling turned out to be more challenging than I anticipated. Several months ago I stopped in to the ARC thrift store right by our house and noticed that they had hundreds of old 45s. I eagerly spent an hour or so digging through those records hoping to find some good music for the jukebox, only to come away with a mere two or three songs I'd ever heard of. So when we decided on the record covered ceiling for the playroom, I returned to the same ARC hopeful that I'd be able to get all the records I needed in one stop. But of course, they had maybe 10 records total. Darn it!
Scott and I spent an entire afternoon driving from thrift store to thrift store with little luck - a few here and few there. At $.50 to $.70 each, the price was right - but most had black labels {I was picturing a vibrant rainbow on the ceiling}, and even those with colored labels were so badly damaged that most weren't going to look great on the ceiling anyway.
Giving up on the thrift store route, we headed to a used music store where we found a large collection of 45 in the basement.
I had a great time searching through this vinyl, and I found some great new additions to our jukebox collection, but at an average price of $2 each, we just could afford to stock up on the 100+ records we need for the ceiling.
We talked to an employee at the music store about our dilemma, and he offered up the perfect solution. He told us to head to their downtown location where they have large stacks of little-known records that have come in with no sleeves. These sleeveless records are hard for them to sell because most are pretty scratched up - but since we are using them for decoration only, it makes no difference to us as long as the labels look good.
The store owner agreed that, since we were going to buy such a large quantity, we could have them for a mere $.25 each! BINGO! So we dug through the piles and filled up a box of sleeveless vinyl with bright, colorful labels. Next up, affixing all of these to the ceiling... Details on that coming soon.
Finally, let's chat about the plans for the wall on the right side of the future playroom.
I told you last week about our plans to cover this entire wall in sheet metal in order to create a large scale, ping pong ball wall coaster {a DIY version of this}. We measured the wall and then headed to Home Depot to price out the sheet metal.
Given that I need to cover more than 5,000 square inches of wall space with sheet metal, imagine my disappointment when I discovered that Home Depot does not sell sheets larger than 3' by 4'. That was going to be a lot of individual pieces to screw to the wall, and a lot of raw, sharp edges to deal with. Back to the drawing board...
I started making phone calls, and ended up finding a fabricator right by our house that is making easy work of this sheet metal wall. They are fabricating four sheets of metal for us, and doing so in a way that will eliminate the sharp edges - making it perfectly safe for the kiddos!
The boys and I stopped by the shop earlier this week to drop off the final measurements, and what a fun field trip that was for them. The loved seeing all of the machinery!
Our final, fabricated sheets of metal will be completed this afternoon! I can't wait to pick them up so we can get to work on installing them!
Home Depot may have been a bust on the large scale sheet metal we needed, but after pricing out plumbing part options for the "wall coaster," Home Depot definitely won out over the competitors.
We originally planned to buy white PVC pipes and elbows, but we ended up choosing black pipe instead.
We opted for the black pipe over the white in part for aesthetic reasons, in part because it is considerably lighter in weight, and in part because it's just plain cheaper! Since we aren't using these pipes for plumbing, I didn't really need to know any more than that, but since I like to give you guys all the deets, I Googled it and discovered that the black pipe is actually ABS - Acylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene. Of course, I then wound up going down the rabbit hole reading articles about the differences between PVC and ABS, recommended adhesives for each, plumbing codes in the US versus Canada, and, and... #bloggerproblems!
So, that's where we are at the Week 2 mark. We've done a lot of shopping, but not the kind I'm used to for the ORC. No furniture or drapes in sight... but I'm a lot more familiar now with our used music scene and I can recommend a good sheet metal fabricator in Denver should you ever need one!
Make sure you stop by Calling it Home to check out all of the other Week 2 updates from my fellow ORC participants! There are so many amazing rooms underway!
Let's get social!
What a bargain on those records! I can NOT wait to see them covering the ceiling.
ReplyDeleteMe and you both, Melissa! It's been taking everything I have not to start putting the records on the ceiling right now! But the sheet metal wall has to be the first thing to go in. Patience is not my strong suit ;)
DeleteAngela, you're moving right along on your to do list and of course are blowing it out of the water with your creativity! Seriously, old records as the ceiling, how cool is this?! Can't wait to see what you do next! Sarah, Sarah Sofia Productions
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Sarah! I am headed over to check out your progress now! I just love participating in these ORCs with you!!
DeleteTry as I might, I cannot visualize the finished room. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress and the finished project. Somehow I suspect it will be fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThanks for you confidence, Patricia! In my head, it's awesome...fingers crossed the reality will be the same! Hopefully I'll have some more legit progress photos to share next week, which should make it a bit easier to visualize! :)
DeleteI can't wait to see this come together! Hip toddlers indeed! What an amazing space you're creating for them!
ReplyDeleteXO,
Krista
www.goodwillglam.com
Thanks, Krista!!
DeleteYour boys are never going to come out of this fun play area!!
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing you are right, Beth! I just hope they'll let me hang out in there with them once in a while! :)
DeleteVery fun!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kim!
Deletevery cool....lucky boys!
ReplyDeleteThese boys definitely don't have terrible lives ;) ... They make everything so much more fun!
DeleteWow, such a fun project! Your boys are so lucky (AKA you're the cool mom for giving them such a fun playroom)!
ReplyDeleteIt's so funny... I totally never thought I'd be the cool mom ;) Lucky for me I have such cool kids
DeleteSUCH a score with those records! Looking forward to seeing them on the ceiling!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kristi! I think that is the project I am most looking forward to!
DeleteI love the idea of changing the function of a closet into living space! What a fun little room for your kids!
ReplyDeleteWendy, I dreamed of a little space like this as a kid, so I'm loving creating it for my boys!
DeleteHi, Angela. Love the record idea--this is going to be such a cool little space! I read your "about" section and I think we're living parallel lives, except I'm a brunette attorney with two girls. Can't wait to see how the closet turns out!
ReplyDeleteSo crazy! I just read your about section, and we are definitely two peas in a pod!! I love your laundry room plans - I can't wait to follow along to see it finished! :)
DeleteHi, Angela. Love the record idea--this is going to be one cool little space! I read your"about" section and laughed because I'm also a designer trapped in the body of an attorney. I think there's a whole bunch of us out there! Looking forward to seeing how the space turns out.
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy how many of us designer/lawyers there are out there!!!
DeleteI always wanted an under-the-stairs playroom when I was little! How cool and the ceiling is going to be epic. I'm working on a playroom too so I can't wait to see what you come up with:)
ReplyDeleteThis WHOLE thing is going to be SPECTACULAR, but oh my goodness a ceiling of VINYL?!?! YES!!! : )
ReplyDeleteThanks Michaela! I am super excited about it!!!
DeleteThis is going to be so great! If you ever need a 5 year old and a two year old to test it out for your boys, be sure to give me a call!
ReplyDeleteMy boys would love to have friends to test the space out with!
DeleteHow fun!! It's gonna be awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Karen!! I'm pretty excited about it!
DeleteI love your ceiling treatment idea! This room is going to be so cool, you're probably going to sneak in there to hang out during your boys' naptime...at least, that's what I would do! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's so funny you say that, because last week my three year old checked out a library book about what parents do when their kids aren't home (jump on the bed, etc), so now he is convinced that I read all of his books in the tent in his room when he's not around. I'm sure he'll think the same about this new playroom ... and he'll probably be right! :)
DeleteI can't wait to see this "skinny" playroom come together! My ORC room has similar dimensions (4x10), but you definitely win smallest space, I think! Kids love cozy, hideaway spaces - I know my boys would love this, too.
ReplyDelete