It is week 7 of the One Room Challenge Spring 2021. What projects have you been following? Are you inspired to start a project in your home? We are experiencing so many shipping delays in the interior design world. Furniture is being quoted at 24 up to 42 weeks. Appliances are back ordered with many moving into new homes without them.

I think I mentioned that I do not like to start a project until all the materials are in hand and this habit is even more important this year. It is quite disruptive to get all the demo done and then have to sit in the midst of the chaos waiting on something. It really is never too early to order once you have finalized your selections. We are also seeing daily emails of price increases and shipping costs being raised. If you have been watching the news at all you know the price of wood has doubled or even tripled in some cases since last year. I am hoping the uncertainty will diminish soon and we can start planning as we have in the past.

Well the plumbing and tile challenges seem to be (mostly) behind us! We have a couple of things to fix. The plumber misplaced the cover for the handheld slider bar so the contractor had to locate some. ( I had also had to reorder the shower arm because it somehow turned up missing!) The tile has some issues that need to be addressed. I am hoping he will get to the house and finish it up but I am starting to worry I will need to hire someone else to come in and finish it all up. I have worked with this tile guy before and he was meticulous and did amazing work. He seemed to have a series of problems that caused him to not do a great job. He was having a very hard time finding anyone to help him and this caused many delays and issues. He was also experiencing personal problems and scheduling conflicts all of which made the project difficult for all. Overall it was stressful dealing with the plumber and tile subs and caused me more than one day of massive anxiety.

I had wanted a natural wood look vanity to warm up the space. I love the white and black tiles and walls but we definitely needed a visual break. The tile in the bedroom is this wood look tile so it was important the vanity played nicely with it. I had originally ordered this vanity from room and board. When I first placed the order in early January it was scheduled to arrive the end of February which was perfect since the foundation work was scheduled then. It would be here in more than enough time to set the plumbing. Well within a week I was notified it was delayed until the end of March. This would still work but would definitely make me stressed. And then I received another email that no, it would not be March, it might be here in May. This was not going to work so I contacted my local cabinet guy to see if he could make it and what the cost would be. He said sure he could have it done in a month and even better I could now make some changes to the design. I lengthened it from 72” to 80”. I changed the door style to a shaker look with very clean crisp lines. Instead of 3 drawers in the center I opted for 2 deeper drawers and added the open shelf on the bottom. The wood was also upgraded from veneered white oak to solid white oak. I seem to always put an open shelf at the bottom of the vanities I design. It is a great way to add softness with towels and baskets.

I am obsessed with the terrazzo look quartz. Quartz was the obvious choice for my bathroom. It is easy care and durable. Black countertops have become popular in the modern farmhouse look but all I can think of is toothpaste dribbles all over it. While I love the look of dark countertops they just show dust and dirt and water spots way too easily. The white terrazzo look is somewhat friendlier when it comes to those of us who are not overly meticulous about wiping down counters every time we use them. This one from Allied Stone looked great.

When the vanity was getting set it became apparent that the plumbing had not been placed correctly. The drain for the left sink was not moved over enough so the drywall once again was chopped off and the drain reset. The plumber made a return visit and then we waited for the counters to be templated and installed and then the plumber came back by again.

While waiting on the counters to be templated I noticed the vanity still needed to be moved over a couple of inches. The sconces were supposed to line up with the outside edges of the vanity, so one was inside and one was outside. So, yep you guessed it, they moved it again. The floor trim had been placed by now so it also had to be redone.

Next week is the big reveal! I do not think we will have the glass installed by then. They have measured for it but it will take 3 weeks- partially because I am using the black hardware. The contractor has to tweak a few things and I am trying to get the tile guy back out to finish. I have had him work for me several times and he just did not seem to be doing well on this job. He has had a hard time hiring helpers and was dealing with some personal issues. I am afraid I am going to have to hire another person to complete the job.

There are so many fun blogs to follow this time. I hope you are checking out many of them. Kitchens and bathrooms and bedrooms, oh my! It is also great having a media partner like Better homes and gardens on this journey. Head over to the official One Room Challenge page to see all of the projects from featured participants and guest participants like myself.

On Instagram follow these accounts and hashtags- @OneRoomChallenge & @Betterhomesandgardens #bhgorc