Shades of Blue - ORC Week 3 -Living Room Makeover

We have arrived to Week 3 of the One Room Challenge with Calling it Home and House Beautiful. Halfway there!  The holiday weekend took precedent over my DIY projects, so I will have busy weekends in my future. To catch you up on the previous weeks and the plan for the space here is Week 1 and Week 2 blog post for your review. 
As an athletic trainer, I knew there was a time in an athlete's recovery from injury they would plateau in their rehab. I was prepared to encourage an athlete to keep them moving forward. We would focus on evaluating the progress made and then reaching the goals. The same can be said about design makeovers. There is a plateau during the project, the hump day of the process, that can steal your momentum. I think the other One Room Challenge participants would agree we are there! So I am tackling the small things and focusing on the goals to gain momentum. 

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The 'small things' I focused on this week were the plant shelves and my corner office. Plant shelves or 'spaces cut out of the wall near the ceiling' was a trend in building homes over 10 years ago. It's like the space above the kitchen cabinets, what do you do with it? DON'T PUT PLANTS! Some chose to leave this area empty. Not me. Its like leaving a shelf empty, can't do it. The possibilities for more cool accessories is irresistible! As a Mom, plant shelves can be where you put your pretty breakable things you can enjoy but not worry about little hands or flying balls. 

So after the painting, and more painting. I gathered my accessories by style and color and worked on accenting my shelves with my theme. I also went searching for a couple of new items--of course! Using styling shelves rule of odd number items and varying heights, I conquered the awkward space. My new little addition will match the removable wallpaper perfectly!

Next was the corner office, the main reason for starting this redesign. Found a table I liked, but it was too small. Fell in love with some great wood and metal desks that were perfect but outrageously priced! So pinterest helped with finding a DIY desk that looked similar but still a daunting task right now. So garage diving I went. I have an old sewing machine table that I haven't been able to part with and a new love of chalk paint. Transformation to match my style and suddenly I have a trendy table with a little hidden storage. 

Also couldn't pass up office accessories from Target. Hexagon love continues in the office nook with these great bulletin boards. With some rose gold spray paint, blue acrylic paint on hand, and some painters tape, I transformed my hexagon shapes into colorful accents.  

Now to reaching the goals of the room. 
To do list:   DIY curtain rod assembled and attached to wall.
Custom mantle shelf and apply wallpaper to feature wall. 
Textured wood treatment for the island (maybe shiplap;)
Custom shelving unit for another awkward cutout in the room. 
New Furniture and rug.  (The new puppy may dictate this goal!)
That's a tall order for a halfway point. I guess that's why they call it a challenge!