It’s officially the start of WEEK TWO of the One Room Challenge, and if you’re not familiar with the ORC, it is a biannual event held in the spring & fall where bloggers and designers transform a space within 6 weeks and share the process along the way. We guest participants will share our weekly progress every Thursday up until the final reveal day in May! Check out all of the other guest participants and their spaces here!

According to the original weekly plans I laid out from Week One of the ORC, we are right on schedule. We were still in Florida for half of week one, but we made up for it by tackling our to-do list as soon as we returned home on Sunday, when I decided that instead of unpacking my suitcase, I would throw up a few paint swatches on the walls.

Before purchasing a few paint samples though, I spent hours on Pinterest and Instagram looking at paint colors. I wanted the perfect bluish/greenish/grey, if that existed, and here were my top contenders:

Top Left: Silver Strand by Sherwin Williams (@oursouthernhaven)
Top Right: Healing Aloe by Benjamin Moore (@lifeonvirginiastreet)
Bottom Left: Sea Salt by Benjamin Moore (Pinterest)
Bottom Right: Boothbay Gray by Benjamin Moore (@designlovesdetail)

Since we were on a timeline, I purchased the two Sherwin Williams color in Florida right before heading back to Georgia. Between Sea Salt and Silver Strand, I decided the Silver Strand was the color I was after. Although Sea Salt is beautiful, it read a little too green/blue as I was wanting more of a cool grey with green/blue tones. You can see the Silver Strand swatch to the left in the image below.

After deciding on a paint color, it was time to take out the awful white wire shelving. I never realized how much of a pain the Closetmaid hardware was to remove. This is because the anchor spreads when nailed into the wall which is what allows it to hold so much weight. The first one I tried to remove, I just pulled straight out (oops) and it destroyed the drywall. You have to get a thin flathead screwdriver or knife and pry the nail out first and then when you pull the anchor out, it will condense small enough to come out of the nail hole instead of ripping a large hole in the wall. To see a video of what I’m talking about, scroll through the laundry room highlight reel here.

I thought I wanted my husband to move the washer and dryer out so I could paint all the walls, but I can just paint everywhere except behind the W&D and do that when it’s time to do the flooring. That’s when the appliances will have to come out. There’s no way our family of 5 can be without a washer and dryer for that long so this will work for now.

Week Two plans consist of:
-Finish painting the walls
-Remove door from hinges and put in storage
-Build storage with faux marble shelf and gold brackets
-Add rod for hanging clothes
-Work on laundry decor/sign
-Shop for storage decor

And that’s it for now, friends! I share daily over on my Instagram so feel free to join me over there! To the rest of my ORC challengers, have a great week!