Welcome to week three of the Fall 2020 One Room Challenge, a quick turnaround home makeover challenge hosted by Linda of Calling It Home and media sponsor Better Homes and Gardens. In the span of five weeks, hundreds of bloggers and designers transform one space in their home (or a client’s home) and blog about the process. It’s a blast to participate in, and I love to follow along even if I’m not tackling a room (rooms I’ve completed are here and here). If you’re new around here, you know I didn’t have any progress to blog about in week one or week two, but I’m happy to report that in the last week, we’ve started and made strides toward finishing Kaden’s built in loft bed. I’ve also painted two coats of the white I used as the base color for the Kelly Wearstler wallpaper DIY I’m going to attempt. Read on for more details!

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When we built our home, I knew I wanted white walls as a blank canvas for all of the pattern and color I would eventually add to the space. We settled on Benjamin Moore Decorator’s White because it didn’t have any warmth in it, and therefore coordinates really well with our GE Cafe Appliances in Matte White, as well as the marble look tile and quartz we have throughout the house. However, our builder uses Sherwin Williams paint, so we had it color matched.

We have three different types of paint in our house… Flat on the walls, acrylic enamel on the trim and doors, and some sort of spray enamel on the cabinetry. All of the color matches came out slightly different, which is typical, and enamel especially tends to pull a bit more yellow tones, which I would say is definitely true of our trim.

I debated with myself whether or not to repaint Kaden’s already white walls, but I realized I’d be mad at myself if I spent a ton of time painting the black pattern on the builder grade flat paint. So I decided to do it “right” and painted two coats of Benjamin Moore Decorator’s White Ben in eggshell finish. Wow, am I glad I did! Not only is the true Benjamin Moore Decorator’s White slightly cooler, but I also love the eggshell finish so much. Now I have an even better blank white canvas to start from.

You can really see the difference from the window wall above (Benjamin Moore) to the wall left of it (Sherwin Williams). And if you’re wondering why I didn’t paint the wall on the left, it’s because that wall, as well as the bed, are going to be painted Benjamin Moore Soot (a deep indigo that reads as black).

My sweet girl wanted to get in on the painting action! I usually have to brush or roll after her, because she puts the paint on THICK, but I love that she wants to help.

Next, I decided to tackle building the loft. I wasn’t sure if I should paint the black wall first or after, but I got antsy to work on the bed, and I figured the walls might get banged up a bit as we were building it, so I went with building the loft bed first.

This is definitely not a “how to” post, as I really have no idea what I’m doing. But I read a lot about how some other people built bunks and loft beds and I remembered how our “loft storage” was built in our old garage, so I figured I could make it structurally sound and then build the pretty around it. I started with a loose plan and knew I’d change things up as I went… Kaden and I have made at least five design plan changes, but I’m excited about the direction we’re heading in…

I started with a frame constructed of 2x4s. Some of it was leftover from our deck (the painted stuff) and the rest I purchased from Home Depot.

Kaden was already excited at this point. He’s so easy to please. 🙂

Kaden is going to be tall like his daddy, so even though I started with a twin bed size in mind, I ended up calling an audible and adding enough on to the end to make it a twin XL before we mounted the frame to the wall.

My main concern (besides structural integrity) was making sure this bed takes up as little space possible in the room.

So instead of using a 4×4 post for support on the corner, I borrowed a friend’s Kreg jig and joined a 2×6 and 2×4 that wrap around the unsecured corner of the bed frame.

I’d never used a pocket hole jig before, but for the eight foot post, I used eleven screws and wood glue, and that baby is secure!

Once the weight of the loft frame was screwed into the post, it shifted down into the carpet slightly (which I knew would happen, but there was no way to get the post in place without cutting it a tiny bit short).

In addition to the corner “post,” the frame is screwed into seven different studs with 3.5 inch construction screws. All four of us can hang on and it’s not going anywhere.

We cut a 1/2 inch MDF 4’x8′ piece down to serve as the bed platform. We initially had it as one big piece, but couldn’t squeeze it into the space, so had to carry it back out to the garage to cut it down into two separate panels. It won’t show under the mattress, and it will be getting painted anyway!

The next step with the bed is adding different wood pieces to make it look pretty! So far, I’ve added two six foot long 1x6s to act as the bed edge and a “header” of sorts. I’ll be incorporating some book storage into the top of the bed as well. There’s still a ton to do, but I’m so glad to finally have some Fall 2020 One Room Challenge progress to report this week!

Don’t forget to check in on the other One Room Challenge spaces!