Week four of the One Room Challenge has come and gone, and I can honestly say that it was not as harrowing as I thought it would be! In case you’ve missed the first three weeks of this home decor adventure, the ORC is an event hosted by Calling it Home, wherein bloggers are invited to make over a room in just six short weeks. In the first week, I revealed our plans for our little girl’s Harry Potter-inspired nursery.

Having participated in the ORC this fall, I knew that week four is a make-it-or-break-it situation. In week four of the fall edition, I was struggling with decor and hardware decisions, and thoroughly regretting my decision to participate in the first place. I also know week four to be a turning point, though, so I’m glad to show you the progress (slow as it has been) that we’ve made.

Harry Potter Nursery | One Room Challenge - Week 4 | flourishandknot.com

Today, I’m sharing the Saga of the Dresser: an epic tale of re-glueing, sanding, prepping, and watching paint dry!

Thrilling stuff, I assure you. 😉

Our Harry Potter nursery dresser "before" | One Room Challenge | flourishandknot.com

This dresser was actually MY dresser as a baby and small child, so we’re pretty pleased that it is making its re-appearance in our baby’s nursery. But its refurbishment has not been without challenges and setbacks.

The first problem we encountered was a tonne of necessary re-glueing. Erick had already sanded down the finish (which was in horribly rough shape), but having to stop and re-glue a whole lot of pieces was a real downer. Worth it in the long run (always do DIY projects the right way the first time!) but not ideal.

 

Our Harry Potter nursery dresser "before" | One Room Challenge | flourishandknot.com

The drawers were in particularly bad shape. Just look at that finish! One of them was completely missing its veneer.

Our Harry Potter nursery dresser "before" | One Room Challenge | flourishandknot.com

Erick removed some little decorations from the sides. I didn’t mind them so much, but I agree with him that they didn’t add a whole lot. And they probably would have required re-carving, which is honestly more work than we were prepared to do.

Navy Dresser Before Bottom

As you can see, there were at least four different layers of finish/paint on this piece. It was blue at some point, and also a dark burgundy. History!

Once we’d re-glued the wobbly bits, I primed the entire piece with a primer-sealer paint. I decided to prime because I thought that I would get a more even finish when I got to the actual painting stage. Yes, it took longer, but I’m glad I did it.

Our Harry Potter nursery dresser "before" | One Room Challenge | flourishandknot.com

Once it was primed, I got to start painting it. We went with the same colour as for the accent wall, Newburyport Blue by Benjamin Moore. It’s coming up a bit lighter than the wall, which I’m actually pretty pleased about. I wouldn’t want it to be too exact a match.

Our navy dresser transformation for our Harry Potter nursery | One Room Challenge | flourishandknot.com

Navy Dresser In Progress Side

I love how rich the colour is turning out! Getting an even finish has required four coats of paint, but again, the time and effort are worth it in the long run. I’m so glad that we are breathing some new life into an heirloom piece!

I still have two coats to do on the drawers (the drying time on this paint is quite long), so I’ll try to knock that out by the weekend. I wish I had more to show you in the way of furniture, but since the dresser is currently taking up the entire room…

I’ll leave you with this made-over gem:

Our made-over windsor rocking chair | One Room Challenge | flourishandknot.com

As a reminder, it looked like this last week:

The "before" of our Windsor rocking chair makeover for our #OneRoomChallenge nursery | flourishandknot.com

That’s not the final cushion that will be on it, but it gives you an idea of how cheerful a spot it will soon be!

Slowly but surely, things are getting crossed of our massive to-do list. I think this weekend will be a real game-changer.

Nursery To-Do List

  • Prep the room (including filling holes and an old cable outlet)
  • Prime the room
  • Paint three walls “Snowfall White” 
  • Paint the focal wall
  • Decorate the focal wall
  • Paint the ceiling
  • Paint the closet
  • Paint the trim and doors
  • Shop for a crib and mattress
  • Shop for an area rug
  • Buy or make curtains (bought them)
  • Prep and sand the dresser
  • Paint the dresser
  • Hardware for the dresser (using the original hardware)
  • Repaint the rocking chair
  • Throws and cushions for the rocking chair (started!)
  • Make Dumbledore quotation throw cushion?
  • Buy frames for art
  • Buy shelves or ledges for books
  • Hang shelves/ledges
  • Assemble crib
  • Install curtain rod and hang curtains
  • Artwork (started!)
  • Side table?
  • Paint rocking horse
  • Sand bookcase
  • Paint bookcase
  • Accessories (started!)
  • Organize the closet
  • And about a million things I have forgotten due to baby brain

I have one more piece of furniture (the bookcase) to paint, but that’s going to be a quick job. With luck, we can also assemble the crib and start moving things a bit more into place before next week’s post. You know, in between rehearsals, children’s choir festivals, school concerts, and work.

Wish us luck!

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Spring 2016 One Room Challenge | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6

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Fall 2015 One Room Challenge | Reveal