Today is my last check-in for the One Room Challengebefore the big reveal next week, and I’m definitely going be busy trying to get as much done as possible! I missed a Week 4 update last week for our Sun Porch renovation progress, but that’s in part because there wasn’t much progress at all. To be honest, all the painting is taking FOREVER. Painting the panels black required two coats of primer and three coats of black paint, plus touch-up in some spots. Then the mullions took (are taking) much longer than I anticipated. I’ve also been in the process of painting a cabinet and 5 Windsor chairs, which is brutally tedious.

The biggest news and transformation for this week is the floor. We finally got tile installed and I am in LOVE! I knew that I wanted a slate or slate-look porcelain tile because I love the look of grey/blue slate with brick. I toyed briefly with the idea of a cement tile or even a black and white checkerboard pattern, but the slate just felt more appropriate to the house and I wanted the flexibility to add in additional pattern or quiet the space with a rug. I searched high and low for a budget-friendly slate tile that didn’t require paying $500+ in freight to get here, and that I could get quickly. Somewhat surprisingly, I found it at Home Depot for $2.99/square foot, which is cheaper than a lot of the quality slate-look porcelain I’ve used for clients in past projects. Don’t get me wrong, the tile definitely isn’t as nice as the $15-$20/square foot slate tile I’ve used in client projects, but understanding that we still have a long road of renovations ahead of us that will be much pricier than this cosmetic update, $2.99/square foot was exactly what we needed.

To save a little extra money on the tile, I bought a 15% off coupon on ebay for Home Depot that was going to net us an $80 savings. The only catch was that it had to be used in stores and wasn’t valid online, which meant we couldn’t place the order ahead of time and just pick it up. So we went to he store nearby that had the most inventory of the tile, and proceeded to load up our cart with 25 boxes. They even had to shut down the aisle and use a forklift to get another palette down. We were totally THOSE people. My sweet husband hauled the tile three times, first onto the cart, then into the car, and then into the garage, all the day after he removed a gigantic fig tree from our yard. He’s not much of a DIYer but he’s been super supportive in trying to get this room finished, and I very much appreciate that!

Many of you who follow me on Instagram have asked if the window panes are going back in the windows, and a few of you noticed that two sets already have gone back up like in the picture above. My intention has always been to put them back to make them look kind of like steel windows, but painting those window panes has taken forever! In order to paint them, first I had to remove all the little prongs that hold the window mullions into the window frame. Then I had to tape the back of each piece so that they are still white from the outside. I had the two (smaller) sets set up in my garage on a drop cloth where I applied two coats of white primer, and then three coats of black paint to each mullion. I painted most of those coats one at a time, before and after work. Once I pulled the paint off I had to touch-up the back with white paint and use my X-acto knife to trim the edges where the paint separated from the tape. Then I had to use my knife to cut paint out of the little slots that the prongs were originally held, and then I could FINALLY reinstall them. I still have two more to tackle this week/weekend, but I learned from the last go-around and will be making a couple changes to my process this time.

The cabinet got painted last week. We use this cabinet to store outdoor things like grilling tools, bug spray, baby wipes to clean off dog paws, and treats to bribe reward the hounds for coming inside from the backyard. I painted it using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Amsterdam Green because I knew I wanted to do minimal prep work and also use a black wax to add a little bit of depth and darkness to the green color, since my goal for this space is give it a sense of history and depth with patina and layered finishes. I ordered black glass knobs for the piece and will installing those this weekend.

I also got two coats of paint on my Windsor chairs that I scored on Craigslist for $100 total. I am painting them with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite so that the chairs are slightly different from the black behind in the window they will sit in front of. They need another coat and then I will probably do a tiny bit of distressing around the edges before adding a coat of clear wax to them. I’m not normally into a distressed painted look, but I think the style of the room lends itself to a little wear.

Unfortunately we determined that there’s no way we are going to be able to add the tongue & groove to the ceiling in time for the completion of the One Room Challenge, but that’s OK. I’m glad we prioritized the floors since they are such a dramatic change. We’ve come a long way in this room and I would rather wait and have one of my favorite carpenters to install the ceiling when he’s available in a month rather than rush it or attempt it myself purely to show it off here. I still plan to replace the ceiling fan since that’s relatively easy to do myself and it won’t be a big deal to take down when we do finish the ceiling.

I have a lot to accomplish over the next week but I’m looking forward to getting this done so we can enjoy the space–and so I can give myself a break before the next project! Make sure to visit the One Room Challenge Blog and follow #oneroomchallenge on instagram to see everyone’s progress and their big reveals next Wednesday and Thursday.