$100 Room Challenge - Getting it Done One Baby Step at a Time

Last week I announced that I was launching this blog, and joining in the $100 Room Challenge with the intention of refreshing our entryway. Here's my update so far.

These things are a lot harder than they look.

So, I have a confession to make. I originally intended to join in the last Challenge, which happened in January. That introduction post? Originally drafted way back in early January. What made me wait? I had to sit down and start the long process of actually setting up my blog -- you know, not the part that you read, but the part that is supposed to look pretty and be functional. Phew! I now have a tiny idea of what my dear husband, who is a programmer, goes through everyday! (Love you!) Once I started the process, and after getting some good advice, I decided to wait until March for the $100 Room Challenge, and take January (and February) to set things up the way I wanted them.

So let's get down to some real refreshing work! I have two quick projects to share with you today. When you see how simple they are you will probably say to yourself, "That's it! You had to join a challenge to get these projects done?!" To which I will reply, "yes, yes, I did." Sad but true (I told you I was a procrastinator!).

First project to share with you: getting those frames ready and up! Recently, we have had a spell of unseasonably warm weather for a Canadian winter, and I was therefore able to get some spray painting done in our non-heated workshop. I had sanded down my frames months ago, so all they needed to get going was a quick wipe down. I let them cure overnight, and then went to see how they turned out.

And voila!

I wanted a more muted look, so I purposely didn't go for the metallic/shiny finish spray paint. This should match much better with the other elements in the room.

Now this way my first real foray into the world of spray painting things, so my results weren't exactly perfect. There were a few areas where the paint dripped, and had uneven coverage.

Not so pretty.

While deciding when I should try to gently sand them down and fix my little errors, my husband pointed out that, for the most part, they look good, and since we aren't really set up properly (yet!) to do much spray painting in the Canadian winter, he suggested that we leave the frames as is for now, and touch them up in the summer (in much more favourable weather). And that is what we will do. I've disguised the flaws as best as possible for now, and we will come back to you guys later (so if you come over, don't look too closely at those frames, please!).

So, with that decision having been made, we loaded up the frames with some free printables I had found and some I had made (you can find them on my Pinterest account), and finally hung them! :D

Much better looking than those random pages from last post, don't you think.

As for the second project, a while back I had picked up some hooks from Ikea with the idea of making a simple key/hat/small object hook shelf for under the mirror. The property that we own was used as a small sawmill in a previous life, so there's quite a bit of random lumber hanging around here and there. While not all of it is usable or in great shape (they left it for a reason), there is still some that can be used for projects. I was able to salvage a piece that, though needing a little cleaning, fit my purposes exactly. Then it was just a matter of spacing out the hooks, and screwing them in.

Easy-peasy so far.

Next step was pulling out my faithful stud finder to find the best spot to screw it in. That's when things got not so easy-peasy. Electrical lines were running pretty well all through the area I wanted to place the shelf. :( Screws where now out of the equation, so I started brainstorming other ways of attaching it to the wall. After a little research, I figured mounting tape would be my best option.

Here's the thing, though, when you live in the country, you just don't drive all the way into town for random things that pop up. So looking at what we had on hand, I decided to try mounting it with some double-sided tape. My plan is to see how well it holds, and if it doesn't work out, I'll pick up some proper mounting tape on one of my next trips.