As soon as the last One Room Challenge ended, several of my friends were already planning the next. After busting my derriere to finish Emmy’s bohemian bedroom on time, I couldn’t wrap my head around doing another one quite yet, but I thought to myself, “More power to ya, crazy people!” After the holidays passed, the decorations were put away and I settled into the groove of 2017, I started to think about it again. We have several finished or close to finished rooms in this house, and then some spaces I’d love to make over but don’t have the budget for at this time (upstairs bathroom, I am looking at you!). Of course, I also had dreams of creating a nursery space during one of these challenges, but I am not sure that will happen either. With all of that in mind, I really hemmed and hawed over whether I would participate and, if so, what space I would complete. Finally, with about two weeks before the launch of this round of the ORC, it dawned on me. The “room” I will be working on is one that I have looked at for the last 5 years, one that I can’t avoid and see every single day… with its terrible lighting, orange maple trim, horrendous hollow core doors, a railing that has been falling off of the wall, a strangely tinged off white wall color…. yeah… embarrassing!!! Today I am sharing my One Room Challenge Plans for that space which will be transformed into a more modern black and white upstairs hallway and staircase. (Thank you to Linda for providing this challenge to motivate us!)
If this is your first time here, I don’t want to scar your brain with terrible phone photos of my hideous hallway and have that be your first impression, so let’s take a look at the overall plan first.
Rope Rail / Rope Hardware / Lighting / Frames / Focus on the Good / Be Silly / Doors / Knobs / Paint / Black Tassels / Stairway Inspiration
My overall look is black, white, and wood. The one good thing the upstairs hallway has going for it is wood floors. Unfortunately they end in the hallway and don’t extend into the bedrooms, but at least we can enjoy them for about 10 feet, right? Currently, this is the look of the upstairs hallway… You have been warned.
The duck sticker Sawyer added to his door adds a little je ne sais quoi; n’est-ce pas?
Now if you were able to scroll by that image without walking away, you get to hear the details of the plans!
- Lighting: As you can see from the picture, I did already go ahead and change that out. It’s not the actual light in the mood board, but it’s one that I happened upon at The Home Depot and it doesn’t seem to appear on their website.
- Paint: The trim and spindles on the railing will be painted the same white as the trim in the rest of our home, Simply White by Benjamin Moore. The wall that faces you as you walk up the stairs (the wall the photos and art hang on) will be painted a black of some sort. I haven’t yet selected the paint. The other walls will be white.
- Art: I am planning to take a couple of new photos of the kids and print them in black and white for two diagonal frames. For the other two, I plan to make my own prints in black and white, similar to the ones I found on etsy for the mood board.
- Doors: I am so excited to be replacing these doors!!!! The existing doors are cheap, decorated with stickers by my kiddos, and boast that lovely orange wood tone I detest. I am replacing them with the true craft solid door from Metrie, and I will be painting them black. Originally I planned to used Rustoleum gloss black, but I am not completely sure yet. All of the doors hang on walls that will be painted white. I plan to use simple antique brass knobs on the doors; I love how brass pops on black.
- Runner: Yeah, just kidding there isn’t one. I anted an awesome vintage runner but was vetoed by Chris… “I hate runners… they slide around. I trip on them.” He usually is quiet about his opinions, but when they are strong and loud, I listen. Love is never using vintage runners even when you really want to.
Now let’s take a look at the staircase which leads to this hallway as it’s part of this makeover, too. I haven’t shown it often, because like the hallway, it’s not in great shape or aesthetically pleasing. You can see a little peek of it here (from the post on our new entry lighting).
Plans for the staircase are as follows:
- Paint: Originally I intended to paint the staircase just like my friend Charmaine’s, whose gorgeous staircase appears in my mood board. However, I’ve since started on the paint process and have changed my mind a little bit… You’ll see!
- Rope Railing: The wooden railing on the left you see is falling out of the wall and has been that since we moved in 5 years ago. I wanted to remove it and replace it with something unique, and decided on a DIY rope handrail in black, using this hardware.
- Chunky Black Tassels: When I am in the planning stages on a project, I often text with Julia to hear her thoughts She suggested adding black tassels to my wooden rails. Once I decided on the black rope railing on the other side, I knew these tassels would add some texture, funk, and unite the two sides of the stairs.
And there you have it! My One Room Challenge this time isn’t so much a room, but it’s a space that needs a total overhaul and will take a lot of work, but it’s all work we can DIY and it’s within our budget, making it the perfect space to do. Changing this space will also help set a much better mood through the center of the house, and the entire upstairs… legit health benefits. 😉
Now head on over to Calling it Home to check out the designer’s and their plans this month, and tomorrow check back to see all the participants. Are you joining in the madness?
