This has been a tough week for me with the One Room Challenge.  It is time to make some tough decisions what I have been putting off.  And, things have totally come to a screeching halt with my indecisiveness.

So let me back up, when I first decided to participate in the One Room Challenge, I made a long checklist of things I wanted to get done.  I wanted to paint the entire basement white.  I wanted to rearrange the furniture.  I wanted to declutter the entire space.  I wanted to update the bookshelves.

Well, we got those projects completed.  But then, the more complicated projects, such as painting the fireplace and deciding on what do paint on the back wall have taken a total stand-still.

I need to make a decision and stick to it.  Does that ever happen to you?  You get so excited about a project, only to become incredibly indecisive about a few final details?

I never actually finalized the color scheme for the space, so I thought I would start there.  I was hunting all over my favorite color inspiration site, Design Seeds.  Our couch is an olive green color, so finding colors that would work with the couch is actually rather challenging.

Most greys fight with the green in the couch, so putting a grey behind the couch wasn’t going to work.  I was really liking the white because it made the space look so big, so I had to rethink what to put behind the couch so it would mostly stay white.

After playing around with TONS of color schemes (and having my sister-in-law help with colors), I decided on this color scheme from Design Seeds.

This color scheme will work really well with the color of the couch and the color of our play nook we created.  The deep blue is a perfect match.  So by adding pops of orange and the light blue, I think the space will look both playful and functional!

Now that the color scheme was selected, I needed to get to work on painting the fireplace.  I know this project will take a while, due to all the nooks and crannies of each rock.

I started by trying to wipe down as much of the nooks as I could.  There were so many spider webs and dust…ewww.  You never realize how dirty something is until you start to clean it!

Once it was semi-clean, I took out the white paint from Benjamin Moore.  After talking to the guys at the paint store, we didn’t actually need special paint like I had anticipated.  We could just use any paint, so we had some left over from painting the walls.

Taking a small roller brush, I started to roll as much paint onto the rocks as I could.  I knew I wasn’t going to get into every nook and cranny, but it was a start.

Then, I took a brush and started dapping the paint to cover each rock.  I had to use a lot of paint to cover some of the more groove-y rocks.  I had to take frequent breaks because my arm was totally hurting.  This is a serious arm workout, and I am so out-of-shape!

I will continue to cover the rocks, as I am not even close to being done with this project, but it’s a start!

And, while I was taking frequent breaks from painting the fireplace, I decided to add some vinyl cut-outs to the play nook.  So, using my Silhouette Cameo, I cut out some white clouds to add something playful to the play nook.

I will be adding a curtain so the kids can use that space to perform and play in!  I decided that I am going to dye a cheap, white curtain to make it look ombre blue.  I think that will fit the space because it is still blue, but it is still playful and adds space to create plays or puppet shows!

I have my work cut out for me the next two weeks.  I have to finish painting the fireplace.  I have to hang the curtain for the play nook.  I have to decide on and paint something on the back wall behind the couch.  And, I have to find pillows or make pillow covers for the pillows on the couch.  It’s a lot of work, but by trying to accomplish a small amount of work each day, I think I can have everything done by the reveal day!!

Don’t forget to check out all the amazing room transformations of the other participants from the One Room Challenge!  They are incredible and I am truly inspired!