Hidden Realities: What Clients Never See and Why DIYers Struggle to Finish Their Projects
One of the hardest parts of the One Room Challenge is keeping up with the blog updates. To make matters more complicated, I added Instagram updates for those who don’t read blogs. That being said, Weeks 4 and 5 will be combined into one post this week. This seems most appropriate since many of the projects flowed in and out of each other.
Week 4 & 5 Recap: The #SubspaceSwag Makeover Journey
I'm happy to say that we’re finally close to seeing the finish line of our extended ORC space—the unexpected hallway makeover. The results are far beyond what I expected, proving that even if a full tear-out isn't in the budget, there are always other options to achieve wonderful results. There is still quite a bit of blotchiness on the steps. Most of the staircase will be covered with a runner, but I’d still like to give it a bit more TLC.
Unexpected Setbacks and Creative Solutions
Every project, no matter how well organized it is, comes with it’s own challenges. However, the effort to meticulously plan things out in the beginning, pays off big when things don’t go the way you envisioned.
Week 2’s sofa debacle drastically altered our project’s scope. But we were able to recover slightly the following week using simple materials, and now a total hallway transformation is now underway. Just in case you haven’t put it together yet, we encountered a major setback AND we expanded the scope of our project while still attempting to meet our deadline—and of course stay on budget.
THESE are the kinds of things that interior design clients usually don’t discern as earth shattering, but they can be. Naturally, we would need to get the client’s approval to implement a creative solution that 1) fixes problems caused during demo, 2) addresses a pre-existing defect, and 3) blends in with the overall vibe of the new space. But someone would have to eat the cost. Who that will be depends on who hired the contractor. In a real life situation, the contractor would eat the cost of repairs (including labor), and the client would foot the bill for any additional enhancements.
Fortunately for us, the cost of repairs for the staircase walls, the new flooring, wood enhancements, paint and supplies hovered at just under 450 USD. As you can see, the cost to a client for such enhancements (about 140 USD) would be minimal.
On the other hand, the two issues mentioned above (a setback and an expanded scope) are sometimes all it takes for a DIY’er to delay the project 3-6 months— or worse— to never finish it at all. The solution? Having a firm deadline that is communicated to everyone involved, coupled with a talent for creative work-arounds enable both the interior designer and the DIY’er to pivot hard if necessary, even when a project is in full swing.
“Having a firm deadline that is communicated to everyone involved, coupled with a talent for creative work-arounds enable both the interior designer and the DIY’er to pivot hard if necessary, even when a project is in full swing.”
Tackling the Eyesores that Come with Basement Renovations: Bulkheads & Moisture
With the hallway under our belt, it was time to focus on one of the eyesores in the room: the bulkheads and moisture. All basements, no matter how beautiful have these two things in common. Bulkheads are the worst and always seem to be in the most prominent and awkward spaces.
Many don’t realize it, but grasscloth wallpapers have sound- and heat-insulation qualities, are breathable, they regulate humidity, are sustainable, durable and environmentally friendly. Because grasscloth wallpaper is porous, it can regulate humidity by allowing water vapor to pass through from the wall cavity to the room's open air. So that makes it great for dry but slightly humid basements. But it’s not a good choice for kitchens and baths. Another amazing trait of grasscloth wall-coverings is that they stand the test of time. For these reasons I opted to cover as much of the living area of the basement with it as possible. This coupled with a good quality dehumidifier should help to reduce moisture.
The Wallpaper Debacle
We received three rolls of wallpaper from the same dye lot. Unfortunately, the third roll was completely different from the previous two because it was created toward the end of the hand-dyed batch. In my opinion, this should have been considered a new lot becasue the color difference is insane.
This caused me some angst because I only needed two rows from this third wallpaper. See the difference in the photo below. We immediately reached out to the vendor, and after two days of running around in circles, we were hit with an unusual workaround. We were asked to send a sample of wallpaper from one of the first two rolls via priority mail to the manufacturing facility so they could find a match. The hope is that we will get a replacement roll in time for the reveal. The jury is still out on that.
Quick Wins: Flooring Decisions for the Tiny Foyer
After all the intense projects, I was in serious need of a quick and easy win. We turned our focus to the flooring for our 3x4’ foyer and decided on penny tiles for their affordability and impact.
Despite rising costs, penny tiles remain an affordable choice with the potential for strong visual impact—it's all about how you use them. Instead of the simple (and boring) solution of laying 12 square feet of a single color, we mixed it up by combining three different colored penny tiles to create eye-catching stripes.
The husband preferred black penny tiles, while I leaned towards the unglazed charcoal gray penny tiles. Ultimately, we chose black penny tiles to contrast with the taupe-tan. The random trip of charcoal gray was my compromise.
“Penny tiles remain an affordable choice with the potential for strong visual impact—it’s all about how you use them”
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how this turned out!
Lessons Learned: Insights for Client and DIY Projects
This journey reinforced several key lessons:
Flexibility is crucial: Projects often don’t go as planned, and being able to pivot is essential.
Detail matters: Even small, simple projects can have a significant impact.
Teamwork is invaluable: Leveraging each other's strengths can lead to better and faster results.
Imperfections are manageable: Knowing how to disguise and work around imperfections can transform a space.
Stay tuned for Week Six as we continue our journey towards creating a warm and inviting space that embodies both style and substance.