It’s week 5 of renovating our 1960s hallway renovation for the One Room Challenge and somehow I’ve turned this ONE room challenge into a THREE room challenge! Here’s the thing… we wanted to paint the ceiling in the hallway, but it doesn’t make sense to stop at the end of the hallway because it would look really bad AND the rest needs to be painted (front entrance and living room), so why not just do the whole thing, right? Keep reading below under this weeks progress, to find out the rest!
FYI, ORC = One Room Challenge, you’ll see this acronym a lot over the next 8 weeks!
Click the following text or photos below to see my past One Room Challenge transformations! When you have really crappy before photos, it makes the after one’s look even better 😉
Back Entrance Renovation – Fall 2023
Office Renovation – Spring 2023
First, let’s talk about what the One Room Challenge is. Have you heard of it? It’s a biannual event that is held every spring and fall. Anyone with a blog, Instagram or TikTok account is welcome to join the fun. It goes over 8 weeks and each week you share an update on your room. It’s a fun way to connect with other like minded people and be able to encourage each other through all the ups and downs of renovating! I highly encourage you to check out all the other participants HERE.
Before Photos of our hallway
PROJECT GOAL: Remove past layers of low quality renovations and simplify the space by creating a bright, classic hallway that is welcoming and calming.
From a distance it might not look that bad, but our walls are three layers. Wood horizontal shiplap with 1/4″ wallboard over top and then drywall over top of that. Once the drywall was added it made the wall thickness uneven with the door jams and the trim that was put over top was notched out of the drywall and VERY poorly done. Honestly, it just looks like crap.
This hallway is getting renovated from ceiling to floor, however the new flooring will not be put in until the wall is removed on the other side of the house. Still waiting on the Engineer we’ve hired for that…
Progress of our hallway renovation
WEEK 5: This week I added popcorn spray to the hallway ceiling that we fixed, gave it a light sand, did the final coat of paint on the door jams, took the front entrance and ceiling lights down, removed all the trim and outlet covers from the front entrance and living room, filled holes in the living room and tried to replace the attic box but that was a fail.
Here’s the thing, we decided to paint the ceiling in the hallway, front entrance and living room because it all needed to be done and is conencted so logically it made sense. BUT before I like to paint, I like to be done with the dusty work, so I figured I should paint the walls in those rooms too and before I paint walls, I need to patch drywall. There are so many dents and holes that need repair in our drywall, it’s crazy. And this is how our one room (hallway) renovation, turned into a three room (hallway, front entrance and living room). I keep telling myself it will all be worth it!
Next up: sand the walls, paint the cieling, fix the attic box, install the hallway ceiling light, prime and paint walls in the front entrance and ceiling, remove flooring in the front entrance and hallway and then hallway walls! Not all next week, but that’s the plan.
Check back for the Week 6 update to see how good the ceiling looks!
Here’s the plan for our DIY Hallway Renovation
- Week 1: Plan
- Week 2: Demo drywall (Yay, so far we are ahead of schedule)
- Week 3: Remove floor, work on ceiling
- Week 4: Sand and prime door jams, finish mud and tape on ceiling and prime
- Week 5: Repair popcorn ceiling and prep house for painting ceiling
- Week 6: Paint ceiling, install light, install and paint doors + living room walls
- Week 7: Install walls + trim
- Week 8: Touch ups, decor and reveal!!
For the day to day DIY updates, check our Instagram stories.
Here’s my inspiration. I am still unsure about the beadboard for the walls and unsure about the rug, what do you think?
Here’s the cost of our DIY Hallway Renovation
Some of these costs are associated with the front entrance and living room too.
- Popcorn Ceiling Spray $82
- Ceiling fan and light $210
- Hallway light $62
- Other supplies including drywall for the ceiling, electrical outlets, primer, ceiling paint, door hinges, etc: $530
TOTAL TO DATE: $1094
We’ve got some big purchases yet, all the wall treatments, trim, flooring (to come later) and a rug (in the meantime until flooring is an option).
Any questions! Let me know in the comments!
We would love to see your projects! Please share with us by tagging us on Instagram @sewbrightcreations or email them to [email protected].
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