Vintage Military-Inspired Office: Phase 2
One Room Challenge, Week 1
And here we are kicking off another season of the Fall One Room Challenge! I kind of promised myself (and Doug) that I wouldn’t participate in another Fall One Room Challenge. The finale is right before Thanksgiving and it makes the lead up to the holidays very hectic. I signed up as soon as I got the registration email and I’ll admit, Doug was a little mad at me over it.😅
This year, we have been focused on creating an office space for Doug. In the Spring ORC, we made a ton of progress, but we are far from having a finished space for Doug to work in. He’s still working out of our living room and kitchen. I knew participating in another challenge would be just the kick in the pants I needed to get this project finished before the holidays!
What is the One Room Challenge?
For those of you that are not familiar with the One Room Challenge or the ORC as it is often referred to, it is a bi-annual event hosted by Linda at Calling it Home and media partner Apartment Therapy where bloggers, designers and content creators are challenged to make over a room in eight weeks and provide weekly updates. I love participating in it! It builds community online and I love seeing what my friends design! There are so many talented people out there! Fortunately, this time my design plan is a little more simple that it was when we did my office. I will still need Doug’s carpentry skills, but we’ve proven that we can do just about anything once we put our minds to it.
We are moving into Phase 2 of Doug’s Vintage Military-Inspired Home Office DIY. The first phase was to clean out the room, get new hardwood floors installed, paint the entire room, switch out the light fixtures, change out the yucky fluorescent light in the closet and add in wainscoting. If you’ll remember, Doug was fighting me on the wainscoting and picture frame trim. I’ve won him over even though he is still a little hesitant to tackle that project.
When we finished the Spring ORC there was a lot going on in our lives. For one, Doug started a new job that he is loving but the demands are different and he’s traveling quite a bit. Secondly, he is getting his master’s degree and so he spends most of the weekends catching up on homework. He’s a busy guy. So, learning how to install picture frame trim was definitely not at the top of the list for him.
Once we painted the room and put in the chair rail, which I also painted the wall color, everything came to a screeching halt for me. I didn’t like the way it looked. The wall color is fairly dark and moody which I think will look great with his military accessories, but with the chair rail being dark too, it just did nothing for me. Since this room is on the north facing side of the house, it does seem a little too dark in there. Doug thinks the room is too dark for him so I started scheming ways to lighten it up without having to repaint the room. I decided to paint the chair rail and below the same color as the trim, a soft white.
As we start Phase 2 of the One Room Challenge, I still have a little painting to do. Once the painting is finished and the picture frame trim installed, I’ll start working on the accessories that I plan to DIY for this project. We also have a furniture flip planned and a few more fun projects up my sleeve. My goal is to have this room ready for Doug to work in by the end of the challenge and also have it ready for guests for the holidays. We want to still have plenty of room for our family at the holidays so we are making sure we can still use this room as a guest room.
The Design Plan
Finish painting
Install picture frame molding and wainscoting
Refinish desk
Find a chair
Build a custom lamp
Furniture flip a bookcase
Find a comfy sofa bed that will fit in the room
Custom frame a military jacket, maps and vintage photos
Style the room
Decor & DIY Tools We’re Loving
PB Comfort Modern Square Arm Sleeper Sofa in Chambray
Chris Loves Julia Terracotta Rug
Hinkley Harper Ceiling Light
The Active Painter's Dream Package: Handy Paint Pail & Liner Combo + Free Paintbrush
Paint Spray Gun
Wooster Brush
Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra Earbuds
White Vinegar
Sanding Sponge
Mister Rui Foam Paint Roller
Brown Paper Roll
Frog Tape
Brown Kraft Paper
Canvas Drop Cloth
Disposable Aluminum Pans
DryDex Heavyweight Spackling
Kilz Interior Primer
Plastic Painter's Drop Cloth
Paint Samples
Benjamin Moore Paint
Press N Seal
