Floral Flamingo Nursery. One Room Challenge: Week 4

No, you’re not crazy, I did not do a post for Week 3 of the challenge. This was mostly because we were out of town but honestly, I didn’t really have anything to share at the time. We made absolutely zero progress that week so I didn’t really feel bad skipping out on a post but I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaack.

Before I get into it, I wanted to mention that due to delays for people dealing with all of the natural disasters that have been happening, the challenge has been extended and is now a 7 week challenge.

So last time I posted, the nursery was looking like this:

Which was a HUGE improvement from this:

I don’t really feel like we’ve gotten too much more done but all I had on my list for the last two weeks was to finish the trim work (spackle, sand, caulk, paint) and refinish the dresser. Doesn’t seem terrible, right? WRONG. The trim work is pretty much good to go but there is still some caulking to get done. The dresser on the other hand is going to defeat us.

I love this dresser but it’s not perfect. The amount of storage in it is insane and it’s got the exact lines I want but it’s not really the right tone or shade and the drawer hardware has got to go. No big deal! Those things can be changed!

Famous. Last. Words.

We bought a Rust-Oleum Furniture Transformations kit thinking it would solve all of our problems. Nope. Turns out, it goes on more like paint and I don’t want to cover the grain of the veneer or else we would have just painted it to begin with. Luckily, we only applied it to the interior drawers which you haven’t seen because I always forget to get pictures (the cabinet doors are hiding 6 drawers). We quickly decided it wasn’t the look we wanted and started to research Plan B.

Enter: Minwax Polyshades. Not only is this product supposed to change the color but it can supposedly change the actual tone of the wood. Perfect! Uh….maybe? Jury is still out. We’ve only done one coat because it basically sent me into a panic. It really doesn’t look any darker than when we started, just richer and I was afraid multiple coats wouldn’t really do much. We were researching Plan C when I found a few things online that said the Polyshades could take several coats to get the look you want so for now, we’re going to keep going. Coat 2 was supposed to go on last night but we didn’t realize we were out of steel wool which we need to use before additional coats go on. If 3 coats doesn’t do it, we’ll try a darker shade of Polyshades.

This is the only picture I have right now that shows the dresser and it’s what the nursery looked like up until yesterday evening. The dresser itself has one coat of Polyshades, the drawers and cabinet doors are raw. It does look darker in this photo but I think that’s mostly because it’s just a dark photo to begin with.

So we haven’t been able to move past the dresser yet which is a bummer but all is not lost! The closet doors came in way before the original estimated delivery date and we have one of them painted and hung. The closet is still a nightmare sorrynotsorry.

Yes, there is a gap at the top but we’re going to fix that. I’m also going to need to do a billionth (4th?) coat of paint on that door. Harumph. We also need to figure out pulls. I think the doors came with plain white wood pulls but I’m thinking of stopping in Hobby Lobby or Michael’s to see their options.

We also put together the little nursing corner last night and it’s so nice to see the room start to come together. The curtains are from Overstock and still need to be ironed. The rug is from Lorena Canals and I’m a little obsessed with it. You guys, it can be put in the WASHING MACHINE. *Angels sing, harps play, all rejoice* I still need to get a large rug for the room (maybe?) but I’m excited to have something soft and cozy underfoot for the hours I’m sure I’ll be spending in this corner.

Seeing everything put together in this corner also helped me decide between the pink Target footstool and the natural pouf I was having trouble deciding between in this post. I think the pink footstool would just be too much pink so I’m going with the pouf! I just need to order it. It should add some nice texture and will also bring more natural tones to the room.

We also got our flamingo prints but they aren’t working with the frames we bought so we decided to just build our own because what’s one more project at this point? Hoping to get that done this weekend! The seller was incredibly generous and gifted us the prints on canvas as well and they are so gorgeous! I can’t wait to share them.

So that’s where we stand right now and I’m hoping this time next week I’ll be able to share a finished dresser with you guys at the very least. If we can’t get it to the right color, we’ll probably just roll with whatever the outcome is because it’s really not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things as long as it still functions.

Here’s an updated list which includes some additions to the original list:

-Remove staples from floor
-Put down flooring underlayment
-Install new floors
-Install new baseboards
-Spackle/Sand/Caulk/Paint new baseboards – mostly finished
-Install new door trim
-Spackle/Sand/Caulk/Paint new door trim – mostly finished
-Upgrade ceiling fan (already purchased the new one)
-Paint ceiling
-Sand/Repaint crib wall
-Reconfigure closet
–Purchase/Install new closet doors – In progress. 
-Refinish vintage dresser – In progress.
-Put crib together
-Replace curtain rod and install new curtains
-Build/Install book shelves
-Purchase decor – In progress
-Purchase remaining furniture 
-Figure out rug situation – In progress. Need to decide if I want a second, larger rug in additional to the rug under the glider. 
-Decorate! – In progress
-Build frames for art
-Frame/hang art
-Line dresser drawers
-Add closet trim to close gap (spackle/sand/caulk/paint/yadayadayada)

Here’s the anticipated to-do list for the upcoming week:

-Finish all trim work
-Refinish dresser
-Build frames
-Hang other closet door
-Paint closet doors
-Hang art
-Buy lumber for book ledges
-Build book ledges (time permitting)

Be sure to go check out what the other guest participants are up to!