Primary Bed Renovation: ORC, Week 6
I ended up making minimal progress during Week 5 (and then my work week got a little wild!) so I skipped an update last week. I did get some quality time with my uncle who builds literally the most beautiful homes in the whole world. He helped me talk through some of my questions/concerns with hanging the sliding door — and I feel LOADS better and more confident about it!
→ Check out the other One Room Challenge guest participant updates!
→ Watch my process videos on Instagram — saved to the “orc main bed” highlight!
Goals this week were to:
Finish Jemma’s bench — DONE! (And I solemnly swear I will never do upholstery again lol. I don’t even have photos of the process because it was really really challenging.)
Finish DIY dresser — almost done! Need to attach two more handles, and the veneer.
Install sliding door hardware — NOT DONE! But I did get good advice on this process from my uncle.
Start building (complete?!) sliding door — almost done! Just need to paint the front.
I have a list of “finishing” items that I had planned for the last week of the challenge, but since I’m running behind, I tackled some of those as I had time this week! I installed the baseboards and started getting artwork/decor in place. The sunrise coming through our window one morning had me so excited for how the room is coming together!
Then, I got started on the door! I had the most wonderful experience at our Lowe’s store — the worker there was super helpful with questions I had and helped me cut the panels down to the right size. I transported them home on my car’s roof using my husband’s rooftop surfboard “racks” — it was the longest short drive home ever, and I wish I got a photo.
My sliding door hardware allows for a door thickness between 35-40mm, so I attached a 3/4” (18mm) and 1/2” (12 mm) panel together, and then added the 1/4“ (6mm) shiplap panel to the front. I saw some really cool, modern, minimal door designs that I considered tackling, but ended up being the most inspired by this photo from my favorite coffee table book, Surf Shacks by Matt Titone. I love the way the door front “blends” with the actual wall paneling. Intentional, functional, and minimalistic.
To attach the panels together, I spread a thin-ish layer of wood glue on the 3/4” panel — went the finger painting route after my foam brush absolutely deteriorated — and then placed the 1/2” on top of it, lining up the edges, clamping (I needed more clamps!), and then I used general purpose screws to attach them together as well.
I used the same process to attach the shiplap panel — except I used brad nails instead of screws. Much easier to fill and cover! We flipped the attached panels over, and I used the cut-down panels as a guide to trim the shiplap panel down to the right size.
The plywood panels I purchased came pre-primed (as did the shiplap panels), but since I did a bit of sanding, I added another coat of KILZ all-purpose primer, and then got a first coat of the wall color (Sherwin Williams Pure White!) on the back and edges.
We also got the two Ikea Malm dressers built, I attached them together (they’re about 1/8” apart when you put them side by side, so I cut some scrap wood shims to put the screws through!), and got the knobs attached!
By next update, I’ll (ideally) have finished:
Veneering the dresser
Hanging the sliding door
Ceiling and corner trim on paneling
Large format artwork (!!)
My dad (I call him “DIY Dad”!) gets in town on Saturday, and I’m SO excited to have him here to help hang the door (it’s heavyyyyy). I get my attention to detail (borderline perfectionism) from him, and he was an advanced high school math teacher (recently retired!) so I know he’ll have a good, fresh eye to help! Not to mention I’ve learned everything I already know from him (and the occasional YouTube video)!