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Amber Oliver

One Room Challenge

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One Room Challenge: Week 6 – Living Room Makeover Reveal

We made it! It’s the reveal of our Living Room Makeover as part of the One Room Challenge! Going into this 6 week challenge, I thought this would be a piece of cake based on my plan from Week 1. We only had a couple of DIY projects planned but knew they would make a big impact! We had a few challenges along the way, including moving this huge DIY entertainment center into place and putting up a faux coffered ceiling for our DIY ceiling makeover. I hope you’ll click back through and see the progress of this room, but we all know what you are here for: PICTURES!

One Room Challenge Living Room Makeover…

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One Room Challenge: Week 5 – DIY Ceiling Makeover

Week 5 of the One Room Challenge was by far the hardest yet! Have you ever gotten in over your head, smack dab in the middle of a project, and though WHAT WAS I THINKING!? I have to admit, this was me over the weekend.

When I told Eric I wanted to team up with The Home Depot to do a DIY ceiling makeover, he was thrilled. We’d talked about how much we loved wood beams and coffered ceilings but knew the standard 8 foot ceilings in our converted garage living room wouldn’t allow for too much on the ceiling. So we came up with an alternative!

BEFORE

DIY Ceiling Makeover - How to do a faux coffered beadboard ceiling
DIY Ceiling Makeover - How to do a faux coffered beadboard ceiling

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One Room Challenge: Week 4 – DIY Coffee Table

The week 4 project is super late in getting posted, but I’m getting it done before week 5 so I think we’ll consider that a win! This project wasn’t a grand slam but I wanted to share it anyway.

Because our ottoman was so big and bulky, I wanted a coffee table that was lighter and not as “visually heavy”. To archive this, I decided to build this open bottom DIY coffee table. I tried to tackle this project on my own, and as with most woodworking projects, it’s better if you have an extra set of hands.

The reason I don’t consider this a successful project is based soley on my choice of wood. I wanted to start with wood that was already square, and these 2×2’s at Lowe’s. The problem is, this is crummy wood that was not straight AT. ALL. So I did my best to cut from the straight sections, and at less than $10 for all the wood this would be a super cheap project if it’d had worked out. I could tell it wasn’t going to be perfect but figured it would be sturdier once I got the top on.

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One Room Challenge: Week 2 – DIY Entertainment Center

Welcome to week 2 of the One Room Challenge! This time around we decided to make over our living room! I shared an introduction last week with before photos, a to-do list, and inspiration photos! You can read our plans HERE.

Most of our to-dos were minor or cosmetic, but we had two major DIYs on our list. This week I’m talking all about our DIY entertainment center! I wanted a large, white, entertainment center but when we priced them they were way expensive! So instead of buying, we decided to make our own DIY entertainment center.

One Room Challenge Living Room Makeover…

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One Room Challenge: Week 1 – Living Room Makeover

It’s time for another One Room Challenge! This time last year I made over my home office and this year we decided to makeover our living room. We’ve done tons of DIYs around our house since moving in (nearly 2 years ago!!!) but we haven’t really finalized any of the rooms in our house aside from my home office. Before we moved in, our house was completely gutted – all the way to the studs! We moved in and had a blank canvas in each room. This challenge is the perfect opportunity to focus our efforts and complete a room so we wanted to focus on one of our most used – our living room!

Before Moving In

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DIY Fabric Covered Wall

When I was planning my home office makeover, I knew I wanted an accent wall. I’ve kept a pretty neutral tone throughout our entire house. We have dark wood floors, light blue/gray walls, and bright white trim. I’ve accented with shades of blue and green and love how calm and welcoming our home feels. In my home office/craft room, I wanted something bright, colorful, and fun. I wanted a room that reflected my personality and would make me happy every time I walked in. I originally considered wall paper, and found several beautiful options. Unfortunately, it was WAY out of my price range. I also liked the idea of something that wasn’t permanent. Enter my DIY FABRIC COVERED WALL!

Office Makeover - Amber Oliver. Bright and cheerful office space with floral fabric covered wall. Photo by thinkelysian.com…

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One Room Challenge: Office Reveal

My office is done! I’ve spent the past few weeks cleaning, organizing, and customizing my home office. In my true fashion, all of the projects have been DIYs! The first week of the One Room Challenge I shared an Introduction with my plan, some inspiration, and before photos of the space. The 2nd week I shared my first project: a DIY Peg Board. I used a huge picture frame and added a peg backing so I could organize many of my craft tools. The 3rd week of the challenge coincided with a high stress time in our home: my husband lost his job. I put the challenge on hold that week. Week 4 it was back to business and I shared more office organization and the fabric backed bookcases I customized. Week 5 was my second favorite project: my DIY acrylic calendar! Going into this project I knew I wanted a large wall calendar to organize my ideas and projects. I did a round up of wall calendar ideas and came across a chic lucite calendar on Etsy but it cost over $1,000! For about $30 I was able to do a knock off version. The very last project was the icing on the cake: a DIY FLORAL FABRIC WALL! It completed the room perfectly! Here is my home office reveal:

Office Makeover - Amber Oliver. Bright and cheerful office space with floral fabric wall. Photo by thinkelysian.com

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One Room Challenge: Week 5 – DIY Acrylic Calendar

Is it really week 5 of the One Room Challenge?! Time has seriously flown by these past few weeks. I kinda hate when people say “I’m really busy” (because we all are!) but I really have been! Blogging consistently (and working full time!) is no joke – especially when you are actually creating the content you share. This week I’m sharing another update to my home office – a DIY acrylic calendar! I was planning on doing a gallery wall (and I still may) but this DIY acrylic calendar stole the show.

DIY Acrylic Calendar…

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One Room Challenge: Week 4 – Organization (DIY Fabric backed bookshelf)

If you’ve been following along here on the blog and through Instagram and Facebook, you may have noticed I didn’t get a post up in time for Week 3! Our family had a few issues, and that took precedence over my office makeover and the One Room Challenge. Luckily, I am back at it this week and wanted to share a quick update about how it’s going in my home office. Week 1 I shared a bit about my plans and some inspiration for the room. Week 2 I shared the first project we completed: my DIY peg board! This week I was able to expand the storage in this room and customized some bookshelves. I found the best deal on bookcases at Walmart and wanted to make a DIY Fabric backed bookshelf! The 5-shelf bookcase is less than $30 (!!!!) and the shorter, 3-shelf bookcase is less than $20. Talk about a bargain! I’ve had the 5 shelf one for several years and decided to add on the shorter shelf next to it so I could put a TV on top. We recently got a new TV in the living room, so the old one got a new home in my office! #NetflixAndCraft. I may add on a 3rd bookcase (another 5 shelf one) on the far left, but I may put a chair in that space. Still deciding! The main point here is you can never have enough storage space! I wanted to customize them a bit since the plain white was a bit bland. I measured the backing and used spray glue to attach fabric on the back to get a DIY Fabric backed bookshelf. If you get the shelves new, this would be much easier to apply before attaching the back, but I was able to add it pretty easily regardless.
DIY Fabric backed bookshelf

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