One Room Challenge Week 5: Paint, Wallpaper and Shiplap

by Jen @ RamblingRenovators - 7:00 AM

Week 5 of the One Room Challenge has come and gone. With the more important conversations around Black Lives Matter happening last week, Week 5 recap posts were delayed. I was grateful for the pause and used the time to learn, listen and reflect. I hope you found the past week enlightening as well.

Today I'll catch you up with our progress, and you can come back tomorrow for my Week 6 recap. There's only two more weeks until the reveal and we've got lots to do.

If you're new to Rambling Renovators, welcome! My name is Jennifer. I'm an e-Designer and social media strategist and I've been writing this blog since 2007. I live with my husband and daughter in Toronto, Canada in a centre-plan, colonial style house that we've infused with the fresh traditional style we love. We DIY all our renovations and have a fondness for architectural details, built-ins, and classic decor.

Catch up on Week 1 (basement layout options) - Week 2 (coastal basement design) - Week 3 (framing an old fireplace) - Week 4 (shiplap, plumbing and sewing projects)

simply white basement, simply white benjamin moore, basement white paint

We're half-way through the 8-week challenge and I'm happy to say we're finishing up the dirty work. For starters, we've painted the basement. Right from the beginning, we knew we wanted to paint the tan walls white. We decided on Simply White by Benjamin Moore for the basement.

Benjamin Moore Peel and Stick Paint Samples

You can read all about Benjamin Moore Simply White OC-117 in this post and see how it looks in different spaces. If you're considering any Benjamin Moore white paint or Sherwin Williams white paint, I highly recommend getting paint samples first. This company offers large format peel and stick paint samples - such a brilliant product! Light conditions in a basement can be tricky and this is a great way to test out paint before you buy.

Simply White by Benjamin Moore

We've used Simply White paint throughout the rest of our home, and I love the quality of Benjamin Moore paint. It's the paint colour you see below in our entryway, on our dining room wainscotting, and in our upstairs hallways. It's a classic, livable white and makes everything feel calm and serene.

We decided to use our paint sprayer instead of painting the walls with a roller. We did this for a few reasons:

it's a large space and spraying would go much faster
the walls and ceiling would be painted the same colour so we wouldn't have to stop and start
Prep work was minimal.The floor was already covered in paper so all we had to do was mask off the windows and attach plastic dropcloth at the entryway to contain any overspray

Since our recessed lights were LED's, they don't generate heat. Sean was able to keep the lights on but take off the covers and leave the lights hanging enclosed in ziplock bags so they wouldn't get paint on them.

Painting went really quickly though we need to get better with the sprayer and finding the right volume as there was a little bit of texture. You might notice a bit of sheen. We used an Eggshell finish as the basement walls, especially in the stairwell, tend to get dirty so I wanted a sheen that would be easier to wipe and keep clean. The ceiling has a slight sheen but it's not as noticeable once we got the recessed lights back in place.

Speaking of the stairwell, the new drywall and cleaned up stairs (we will be getting a railing) look fantastic. One thing we did note is the Simply White does read a touch creamier here in the basement as there is not as much natural light. Sean and I debated whether we repaint to something crisper and pure white but decided not to. How paint looks can be impacted by the lightbulbs you use, and the furnishings in the room, and I think once everything is in, it'll feel just right.

One spontaneous decision we made was to add shiplap to this knee wall. After Sean installed the new cap and trim where the balusters will go, I still felt something was missing. Adding in this shiplap was just what we needed. Now, this middle area ties in with the shiplap in the craft room and the shiplap on the fireplace. Small details like that... consistent finishes, consistent moulding and trimwork... can make your space feel cohesive and finished.

Spoonflower Wallpaper

With the walls painted, we're ready to move onto the next task: wallpaper. The walls to the left and right of the fireplace will be covered in wallpaper. The rest of our home tends to be more classic and muted but here in the basement, I wanted to introduce more colour.

Basements always feel like "fun" places to me... they're more casual and relaxed. It's where you hang out, play games, enjoy movie nights. I wanted the wallpaper to be more playful so here's a few options I considered from One Room Challenge sponsor, Spoonflower.

If you're not familiar with Spoonflower, it's a site which allows creatives to create, print and sell their own artwork on fabric, wallpaper and home decor. You can shop from over 1 millions designs, or sell your own designs and earn up to 15% commission on every sale! (Side note: I've had my own Spoonflower shop for years though I haven't designed much for it lately.)

Spoonflower has generously offered a discount for you: from now through to June 30th, enjoy 20% off all Spoonflower Home Decor products with code ORCS2020

spoonflower wallpaper, spoonflower traditional wallpaper, spoonflower removable wallpaper

Clockwise from top left: Blue plaid cornflower blue in peel & stick removable; Nordby stripe faded blueberry in pre-pasted removable smooth; Flowers and Honey Bees Blue in pre-pasted removable smooth; One Inch Horizontal Stripe in non-pasted traditional pebble; Elaine Rose Stencil Blueberry in non-pasted traditional pebble

Blue, blue, and more blue. For the basement, I wanted to play on that coastal feeling established when we renovated the craft room. But what direction? I could go with classic stripes, a modern plaid, or something floral. Ultimately, I decided on something a bit more architectural:

spoonflower wallpaper, kayak wallpaper, blue nautical wallpaper

The Antique Kayaks Blueprint had a design that felt like a modern spin on a classic, with a hint of Ralph Lauren style thrown in. The only issue was the scale of the boats on the sample (top paper) felt too small and purple in the room. So I contacted the artist Kadyson and asked if she could scale up the sizing by 60% which she did (bottom paper)! It was so easy to get this wallpaper custom sized for our project!

We better get moving on the wallpaper, because another project is ready to go. Inside these boxes are the Ikea cabinets for the kitchenette! Time to break out the Allen key!