One Room Challenge| Formal Living Room REVEAL

Welcome back to Week 6 of the One Room Challenge hosted by Linda of Calling it Home.  You can see our initial plans here and the following weeks here: 2/ 3/ 4/ 5.

Wow. I can't believe it's here...REVEAL DAY!! Just six weeks ago we started with a plan:

And we've been slowly chipping away at this vision for what feels like decades.  Super dramatic right?   I can honestly say that our new space is beautiful and ready for her debut...just barely.

What a difference one week can make let alone six! Our progress was slow...painfully slow sometimes...but that's real life peeps.  We are a two-person show and this is the reality of renovating on a budget of time and resources.  I'm SUPER proud of us! This challenge has challenged me (see what I did there) in so many ways...but I guess thats why they call it a challenge huh? I'm normally one to let a room slowly evolve all with a general vision in my head.  In this case, items remained wrapped and boxed until reveal day and I was forced to see them only in my brain! 

Are there things we would have done differently? Absolutely.  But that's live and learn for ya.  Here are just a few things: 

• We painted the walls prior to building the built-in. And saw dust was literally everywhere in that room.  Now we could have avoided this by my husband working in the garage, but he had to make a million cuts which have taken a million trips so in the long run it was easier to cut in the room.  So, in hind-sight we would have built the built-ins first and then painted the rest of the room. Wiping down all that saw dust was oh so fun.  
• I'm not sure purchasing the Ikea bookcases was essential in this built in plan.  Home Depot sells sheets of melamine if we were set on using that material.  We encountered some limitations in using the Billy Bookcases that was specific to our set up.  The base my husband built was level, however, the bookcases were not level.  So when we placed them on the base there were some major adjustments that needed to be made to ensure they were straight. Also, from a cost perspective.  We are going to do a detailed built-in post and I'll compare prices on purchasing the materials for the built ins that resemble the Ikea Billy system.
• ALLOW MORE TIME. Just when you think you have your timeline and schedule figured out-double it. That will be your more accurate time.  Because, hey life happens.  

Here's what I LOVE most about this space. All the handiwork that went into so many of our projects.  My husband built those built ins with his own two hands and countless sleepless nights...I'm amazed by his talent and precision.  Our behind the sofa table? That was built my best friend who swooped in to save me from a total meltdown.  

The Anthropologie Knock-Off Curtains were a last minute DIY. The lace was hand dyed by yours truly with the assistance of a sweet friend of mine who also sewed the lace trim on.  Oh, and she made me two gorgeous pillows that are professional quality.
My dad came into town and stayed up until 2 am helping paint, caulk, and clean. How did I get so lucky to have such amazing people in my life?! Truly humble.

And now for a slew of pictures because that's what everyone wants to see right!

Look at those beautiful lace curtains! I'll do a detailed DIY on those in a later post but I chatted about them a bit in Week 5. Huge thanks to Anna from Zengs Lace and More for the lace!

Lamps | Table

Amazing artwork is by Parima Studio.  It really is the inspiration for the whole room. The color palette with it's blues, pinks, and golds was so chic and fantastic I just had to have it front and center! So thank you Patricia for this fantastic piece! You can find yours here.

Clock | Vase | Box

Vase

Bowl | Frame

Hollie at Stuck On Hue did such an amazing job on these floral pillows. They were the perfect expression of my color palette in my signature print...florals! She was fantastic to work with, I highly recommend her shop!

 This gorgeous velvet couch was from my sponsor for this challenge, ATG Stores. It's soft, chic, and oh so Parisian.  I LOVE IT! The perfect place to kick my feet up and enjoy a cup of coffee...or two.  My daughter is looking forward to this being her new favorite reading spot- who could blame her! 

The rug I selected from Rugs USA was just perfect.  I worried it would be too blue but once I had it all together I was giddy! So, thank you RUGS USA for supporting me over here at this fancy ol blog of mine.

These gorgeous velvet and gold pillows are from Therese at Therese Marie Designs. She was such a gem to work with as I teetered back and forth on the look I was going for.  Her collection of pillows are sophisticated and playful and her work was exquisite. So definitely check out her shop to see all she has to offer!

                          

The upholster over at Brass Tack Upholstery here locally in Grand Rapids did an amazing job on my custom cushions for these craigslist chairs.  He took those Target curtains and turned them into something truly special and unique! 

Im so happy with my color choice for the built-ins. The Sherwin Williams Peppercorn gives the room an elegant feel and everything on the shelves comes to life!

Now how about a little before/after!

What a difference! I just threw that together...no big deal.

One More...

I can't thank my sponsors enough for their gracious donations and support. Everyone has been so wonderful to work with! While I wanted to crawl into a hole sometimes during this challenge the results speak for themselves. It's the room of my dreams!

I have to share with you one more picture of the room at night with the soft glow of the lights.

It's so beautiful at night. I can't help but sit and feel so grateful to have a place like this to call home. None of this would be possible without the support of my husband, who truly made this room happen  and who continues to support me and make all my built-in dreams come true!

There are a few special blogger friends I have to give a shout out to! You girls were my sounding board when I needed to vent, whine, or celebrate.  I couldn't have made it through this challenge without your endless support and encouragement! So here's to Cristy from W Collective Interiors who did a killer living room update and Sarah from Making Joy and Pretty Things who did a combined boys room for her One Room Challenge and Rebecca from Inspired Life Interiors who did the most beautiful bathroom makeover. Love ya girls!! 

Grab a cup of coffee and head over to see the other 200+ bloggers who also made amazing transformations here. Huge thanks also to Linda from Calling it Home for hosting this challenge! 

Now, I'm ready for a nap.

Couch provided by ATG Stores. Artwork provided by Parima Studio. Lace for DIY curtains provided by Zengs Lace and More.  Velvet pillows provided by Therese Marie Designs. Rug provided at a discount from Rugs USA.  Floral pillows provided at a discount from Stuck on Hue.