This is our 3rd One Room Challenge and our first that isn’t a bathroom! It’s always fun at the beginning when you’re all cocky thinking you’ll be done WAY before the eight week deadline. And then week eight arrives and you’re still waiting for deliveries. They arrive and one of the main pieces is damaged, you try to buy a replacement but thanks to this pandemic all your fave stores are lined up. You finally follow your own advice and shop your house to pull your space together for photos! Sound familiar to anyone else?

If you are knew or have been here all along, here’s a little recap of our project, starting with this gorgeous Design Board!

When we purchased this new build inventory home in December 2019, the basement was unfinished except for this weird little alcove at the bottom of the stairs. It was completely finished with two doors opening into either side of the basement and some hospital like ceramic tiles!

We also spent nine months last fall and winter finishing our basement, including laying gorgeous Rigid Core Vinyl Plank Flooring. Because we installed it over top of Dricore sub floor, it was an easy transition to continue the same flooring right over top of the existing ceramic flooring. Meet “Tuscan Oak” by Golden Select. We are SUPER impressed with this flooring and recommend to anyone without hesitation. The best part…it’s sold at Costco, in-store or online. We ordered ours online and it was delivered right into our garage on a skid!

The walls in this little alcove were also painted “builder beige” and while I had plans to install a mural on the largest wall, I knew the other walls would be painted the same dark and moody colour as the rest of our basement…..cue “Stargazing” by Digby Paints. The most perfect muted black.

Our next big move was to replace one of the doors in the alcove ( the one opening into newly finished rec room), with a gorgeous Barn Door by Renin. We opted to buy the unfinished door from Costco that came with all the hardware and was super affordable at $200. I stained the barn door to match our floors using “Varathane Ultimate Wood Stain by Rustoleum, in Espresso”….two coats was all it needed. And naturally AFTER we installed the barn door I decided that the door casing and trim needed to be painted the same shade of black (Stargazing) as the walls because it was looking too choppy. So we removed the door (which is easy to do after the rail is installed) and using my new Handy Paint Pail, I got the job done. All I can say is, I now want to paint ALL the basement trim the same! I should also mention, while staining the barn door, I also stained two lengths of select pine that we installed as a simple moulding at the ceiling on the two black walls. A small thing but it really ties this whole corner together.

Next up was doing the prep work for new lighting in this space. In particular the main wall where we would be installing the mural. There was no lighting on this wall before and since the other side of it is unfinished, my husband was able to install two boxes and run the wire that was needed to make my lighting dreams eventually comes true! Stay tuned…..

Now it was time to install the gorgeous wall mural from Limitless walls on this blank slate. The mural is peel and stick and came in two large pieces. I absolutely love the scale of the pattern! Limitless Walls can print your mural based on your wall size and this one was printed to perfection! But like installing wallpaper, you need to do the prep work, making sure the walls are clean and smooth and most importantly, draw that first straight line, otherwise your pattern will not be straight. In this case, we used our laser level because the mural pieces were so big. We also recommend having two people to make this job easier! But no matter how much blood, sweat and tears went into this installation, it was totally worth it! This mural was the basis of my entire design board for this space, I saw it and fell instantly in love.

I mean what’s not to love right?

Now that the gorgeous mural was installed it was time for lighting! Our friends at Living Lighting Canada once again sponsored this One Room Challenge and provided us with the lighting of my dreams! Meet the Alden Sconces and the Armstrong Flush Mount - both in Natural Brass, both by Kichler.

First up was the Armstrong Flush Mount….and a little happy dance ensued since this was replacing another boob light! And the gorgeous Alden Sconces against the mural made my design dreams come true! The ceiling light provides so much light in this windowless space but I also love turning it off and only using the sconces…they provide instant coziness and I think are my favourite Kichler fixtures to date.

Next up - furniture!

I really wanted a solid wood desk, I wanted to upcycle one and started scouring FBMP and other buy and sells back in February but had no luck. I decided to ask my friends at Simple Love Furniture if they had any pieces or could they keep an eye out on their next picking adventures for something I would love. Call it fate, but I barely got words out of my mouth when they told me they already had the PERFECT piece. I took some measurements, they took some measurements and the rest is history! This is a Deilcraft piece, made in Canada and it came out of the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Toronto! You can’t get much better than that! I showed Marla my design board and she was more than happy to transform this piece. To me it was a win win, I found an old piece of furniture to be upcycled and I was able to support a small local business at the same time. I am so in LOVE with this desk, there is something about it, it definitely has a story to tell.

Ok next it was time to build some Ikea furniture…we all know how that can go! In this case we were building two Eket four cube cabinets and the process went fairly smoothly….a little cursing but all in all these were a user friendly design! The Eket series are so versatile- they come in various sizes and colours. You can use them with the Ikea rail system to hang them on the wall in various configurations or add legs. We chose to add legs and they are gonna keep me organized! I also paired them with the Ikea Kuggis baskets to hide all the tings!

I also had to pivot on my office chair. I had ordered the most perfect mustard yellow office chair from Structube way back in March and it was backordered but due to arrive early May, lots of time right? But then the date kept getting pushed and pushed and I was getting more stressed by the minute! I made the decision to cancel that order and i found this cutie on Wayfair. While I would have preferred the yellow one, this subtle pop of pink has grown on me and i’m not in love with it! This is the from the new Kelly Clarkson Home Decor line up on Wayfair.

Now the fun stuff begins….but in our case we were at the mercy of packages being shipped, being returned, lost barcodes, damaged goods. You name it, we encountered it. But the items i’ve incorporated into the space were all meant to be.

Let’s start with the rug. Meet Rosemarie (in Gold/Sage) by LoLoi Rugs. This beauty is from the Chris Loves Julia line and I am in LOVE. It is the perfect size to warm up the space but still showcases the beautiful floors. I love having it under my desk, it is plush and soft and absolutely perfect. It pulls all the colours in my new office together even the blush pink chair. Lucy also approves!

Two very special pieces that I added just last week are the gorgeous custom sign of my logo made by a local small business, Little Gray Farmhouse. I think it is the most perfect finishing touch and compliments the modern rustic design of this space. It’s not always easy having a custom sign made but Lisa has never let me down, her attention to detail is what keeps me coming back!

Next is the handmade mirror that was gifted to me by my friends at Jervy. A Toronto based small business, all of their pieces are one of a kind, ethically sourced and handcrafted. Another brand that stands out to me because I love what they stand for. The Aleb mirror is perfect in this space and we may even need to incorporate a matching pet bed from their line up.

The most favourite decor piece of all, is my Vincent Van Gogh Skeleton Poster I had framed for the space. I can’t believe I managed to not even give a sneak peek of this to anyone in the months I’ve had it. And the best part? It was under $20 on Amazon - linked in my shop! And I had it framed at my local flea market.

And of course my fave small macrame shop, Knots of Love Macrame made me the gorgeous plant hanger for my faux string of pearls.

A recent trip to Bouclair confirmed that yellow is definitely on trend this year! I brought home a few decor pieces to pretty up this space….the ottoman, the gorgeous desk lamp, the clock, the cute plant and the hourglass timer, how perfect!

And last only in terms of when it was delivered - are some fun accessories from Sullivan Gifts They have a fun new line up of Office Accessories and when I saw the black and wood combo I knew they would be perfect. I’ve aded two of these pieces as well as the gorgeous faux Onion Grass on the credenza. Not only is it another layer of texture in the space, it’s hiding the ugly modem my husband says HAS to stay!

My new Home Office was a true labour of love and I honestly could not have created this space without my husbands help. And we did this just a few short weeks after finishing a nine month build of our basement.

This is definitely our last project….for now. We are going to putter this summer and relax up north, with just a few small projects to keep the DIY juices flowing. Oh, and did I mention i’m already planning for the Fall One Room Challenge? The early bird gets the worm i’ve heard!

Thank you ALL so much for following this project, your constant support and feedback mean more than you know! It’s because of all of you that I share our home, our passion and our life. And of course a BIG thank you to our sponsors, we love working with you all. And we especially love sharing affordable products that all of you can use in your own homes.

Now I am heading to my cozy new office with a cup of coffee to check out ALL of the feature designers and my fellow guest designers on the One Room Challenge website and i hope you’ll do the same.

Until next time….

Cheers!

Michele xo