One Room Challenge Fall 2022 ~ Week 3
Welcome to week 3 of One Room Challenge Fall 2022! Time flies and we have a lot of work ahead. I have shared my design board of the living room in week 2, and today it is all about getting the space ready for the makeover + my journey to checking off one critical item on my to-do list.
image via Jacqui Turk
I know I want a fireplace (real or faux) in the living room to give the room the presence and charm it deserves and let’s face it, who wouldn’t want a fireplace for those fabulous vignette moments? Fireplace mantel comes in every shape, style, material possible. For this living room, I envision an elegant classic mantel with a simple yet sophisticated profile. I would like it to have a stone finish (would love a real marble mantle but that’s not in the budget) + deep enough to display some of my favourite decorative objects.
I will show you a few options in a moment but here are some of my inspirations:
image via Allison Willson Design
image via Anthology Creative Studio
image via Anthology Creative Studio
image via Colin King
I would love to have any one of these four fireplaces in a heartbeat but going custom will blow my budget and finding the perfect vintage one in the right dimension + price, not to mention both options will require TIME, which is a luxury I don’t have. So I went for a hunt on Facebook Market place + visited Artefacts Salvage & Design for some options:
It wasn’t easy and my top pick was #1, #4, #5 for style but I wasn’t sure about the dimension or the finishes. Luckily, I found this handsome piece in the right dimension, and it has a cast stone look … all for $150 cash & carry!
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine if the piece of furniture, artwork, or in this case a fireplace mantel would fit in the room. What I often do is to tape it out on the wall or on the floor just to be sure, especially if it’s something can’t be returned (never mind the shipping costs). In this case I actually taped out the desired dimension ahead of time so I know how much I could go larger or smaller when I am out hunting.
After securing the fireplace mantel, I turned my attention to the elephant in the room, the popcorn ceiling. It has always been my dream to clear off the popcorn ceiling in the living room, especially the entire house already has smooth ceiling (so odd). Aside from the fact that the living room doesn’t have a ceiling fixture, I also noticed a couple of dried water spots (Dad told me the roof has been fixed). So this looks like the perfect opportunity to clean up the ceiling and give the room a whole new lighting plan.
I am sure you all know about this … NEVER EVER paint over popcorn ceiling! If unpainted, the material itself is actually pretty easy to scrape off after a quick spray of water if unpainted. I of course gave the ceiling a fresh coat of paint 20 years ago and that ceiling refresh did give my handyman a whole lot more trouble. Thankfully he was able to clear the texture off and was ready to start on wiring up a new lighting plan. Once completed, the living room will have pot lights to brighten up the corners, a stunning chandelier for design statement and overall illumination, and wall sconces by the fireplace for ambience.
Now that the room is prepped, next week is all about wallcovering + window covering. Since I am tackling both the foyer and living room (adjacent to each other), I will need to make sure the elements flow between the two spaces. On that note, it’s time to head over to Week 3 ORC and cheer on the fellow guest participants!
