One Room Challenge Week 7: Lights, Color, Gilding!
Finally, the week is here! Progress comes in fits and starts and the last two weeks we had a near standstill while waiting for things to happen. This week we’ve had an explosion in action, the ceilings were repaired, the electricians fixed the wiring and got our Moroccan lanterns up. We finished painting the dining room walls out gorgeous Sparkling Emerald, the final coats of paint went on the china cabinet, and so many things arrived.
One of our new arrivals is a gorgeous Moroccan area rug. We’re so thrilled with the combination of reds, oranges, blacks, blues, golds and hints of green. It’s the perfect compliment to the shapes and colors of the room design and the soft pile of the surface is so silky- you sink right into it. The diamond forms in the center of the rug recall the shapes present in the chairs and in the cut-out forms in the pendant lights.
Speaking of the pendant lights- they’re finally up and my goodness do they sparkle. Watching the sun play off the metal surface and reflection the emerald color of the walls is stunning, but when the sun goes down the lights really show us their magic. The pendants cast their intricate patterns around the room, it transforms the walls and ceiling of the space into a romantic, dimensional space that reshapes the room. It’s safe to say, we’re obsessed.
You might think this would be enough for one week- but you’d be so wrong! This week Karen continued her experiments with wrapping the dining chairs in vibrant cotton cord from Unfettered Co. Each chair is going to receive a gathered and braided tassel that brings in the colors of its partner chairs- a little hint of color to create a cohesive set.
Finally, while we pull the china cabinet back together and remove all the careful taping it’s time to start on one of the finishing touches- gold leafing the archway between the living and dining rooms. Gold leafing walls, for those who haven’t done it yet, isn’t necessarily for the faint of heart. Not only is the gold leaf a bit fussy but also you’ll go through so many more sheets than you ever imagined! We went through an entire book of gold leaf sheets and got maybe 1/4 of one half of the archway done! But even though it’s resulting in more materials than we expected it already adds such a “wow” factor (as cliche as that term is) to the space.
Next week is the last week of the challenge and I can’t believe eight weeks could fly by so quickly! We’ll be focusing on staging our room, coordinating dishes and lamps and textiles (and even reupholstering the chairs!) to bring the final design together. Thank you for everyone who’s commented, messaged, and liked our posts here and on Instagram and Facebook. Your feedback keeps us pumped and excited to keep rolling forward even when things feel exhausting or we feel a bit stuck. We truly appreciate you.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the wonderful participants in the 2022 One Room Challenge here, and check out event sponsor Apartment Therapy!
Until next week, stay creative!
James
