"We are too busy dancing
To get knocked off our feet"
- New Romantics by Taylor Swift
Week 6 of the One Room Challenge.
What did I do this week?
Maybe a better question is what did I NOT do?
Laundry.
Laundry is the answer.
Laundry has been very much neglected throughout this One Room Challenge.
It doesn't really bother me because I'm pretty much living in paint clothes these days but my husband is definitely running out of acceptable work clothes so I better get on that....
tomorrow.
maybe tomorrow.
What I did do this week is build some awesome ceiling beams!
I have been wanting to build ceiling beams forever now, so this was a super exciting project for me!
I made mine out of the common board Pine 1x6s.
I cut them all to length and mitered the long edges of all of them, so that I could fit three pieces together seamlessly to make a "hollow box".
I attached them using wood glue and brad nails and filled all the nail holes with wood filler.
Then I sanded smooth and slightly rounded all the edges - this small step really makes a big difference in making it look like one bit chunk of wood versus three separate boards all pieced together.
My favorite part was aging the beams
(AKA, gathering all the tools and beating them up!)
I used a grinder, a planer, a hammer, a chisel, and my sander to create lines, grooves, dents, etc.
In this picture, you can see the difference that aging it makes.
The one on the far right is "aged".
The other three are not.
One more light sanding and then it was time to stain.
I stained with a mixture of Early American and Weathered Grey.
I used Rustoleum brand. To install them, I first screwed two 2x4 directly onto the ceiling into the ceiling studs.
I put these 2x4s in the exact spots I wanted the beams to lay and they spanned all the way across the ceiling.
Then I simply lifted my beams up and around them (the hollow box fit perfectly around the 2x4)
and screwed my beam into the 2x4.
It was a two person job to stand on a ladder, hold these overhead all while aligning and drilling - but it really was extremely simple and looks amazing.
Unfortunately, I didn't get as many pictures of the beam building as I would have liked because I was filming the whole thing.
If you don't already follow me on Instagram, check me out over there because I will be putting the footage together in a tutorial reel.
Another big build of the week was building a shelf that goes around the bath tub.
Not only did I want this shelf for practical purposes - it's going to be a great space to set things like soap, bubble bath, candles. etc.
It was also going to serve as a transition piece between the cement surround I did last week and the roman clay walls.
Bridging these two features with this shelf, makes the whole area look sleek and clean - which is what a room full of this much texture needs.
For a simple shelf - it was a little complicated working with a textured wall and many odd angles, but with persistence and a few breaks I was able to pull it off and it looks great!
Here's the shelf in the "real life" version of DIY projects - the room in complete and utter chaos.
Now you may notice the big seam in the middle of the ceiling beam.
Don't worry about that - the reason that's there is because I made 4 small beams instead of 2 large ones in order to fit them into the room with the funky walls.
I will be building some faux "brackets" out of wood that will cover the seams and are going to look awesome - trust me!
I also made some shelves to go above the vanity and countertop - but I'm saving that view for the final reveal in 2 weeks because I have to leave SOME things a surprise!
Another fun project of this week was installing the hardware I ordered last week.
It looks incredible on the green cabinets and was so affordable.
It looks a little silvery in this picture for some reason, but in real life it's a beautiful copper color.
I also got 525,600 other small projects and touch ups done in this room that you will get to see in 2 weeks for the final reveal!
My only chances to work are during the kiddos very short naptimes and after their in bed.
So it's been many many many many late nights.
As T Swift said, I have been "too busy dancing to be knocked off my feet."
I am so excited for this project to wrap up, for the deadlines to go away, and take a bath in this tub and final soak up (pun intended) all the hard work I have put into it.
Until then, I'll be working hard to finish this up.
As always, be sure to check out all the other amazing rooms in the challenge at https://www.oneroomchallenge.com/blog/orcspring2022wk6 See you next week!