Kate Pearce Vintage’s Speakeasy Takes Shape | ORC Spring 2021: Week 3

It’s Week 3 already and this is usually the point in the One Room Challenge that I start panicking. This time around is no different. It feels like we’ve come so far, yet it also feels like we have so far to go. So far to go, and so little time. But, enough of that. Let’s run through what we DID do this past week.

THE CUSTOM BENCH

• 

• 

If you’ve been following along via Instagram stories, you may have gotten a sneak peek of our custom bench we’ve been working on this week. I’ve always been a huge fan of dining nooks, and a built-in swanky nook is just a prerequisite when building a speakeasy. While I worked on the design of the nook, Billy built the bench from scratch. We decided to go with a high, channeled back for the custom bench. I know, I know. Channeled upholstery doesn’t exactly scream 1920s. To balance the channeling, I decided to bring some speakeasy-era shapes in via some art deco scallops. If you’ve been following along on IG, you may know I scored some marble table tops at our local Habitat for Humanity store.

On the “to-do” side of things, I have yet to choose the fabric for the bench. Stay tuned, though, because I will bring you along to the fabric store via IG stories when I do! The reason for the holdup on the upholstery is because the bench will be built-in, we want to make sure all the walls are painted before we upholster the bench.

THE WALLS

The good news is that painting the walls is coming up fast on the list. My dad was very kind to come over and help us tape and spackle the entire space this week to prepare the walls for paint. The bad news is that I literally have zero idea what color I am going to paint the walls. I’m not panicking. You are. Ok, maybe me too a little.

Having lots of loose ends when starting on a space is pretty much my MO. I like to have a room come together organically, and I find that having too many details set in stone before starting can be a bit too restrictive. Did Jackson Pollock know what each drip of his canvas would look like before starting? I think not. And while I could only dream of possessing the same genius as Pollock, I do look to his methods for inspiration.

But, also, the walls will almost certainly be either white or black. Why, you ask? Because that’s just how I paint 90% of my walls. I say go big or go home when it comes to walls. Give me the most whimsical, colorful wallpaper…. or give me black or white. The latter gives me the freedom to go wild elsewhere in the room. As much as I love color, I adamantly believe it should be used with restraint and intentionality. Of course, that is just my personal preference. I also adamantly believe that one’s color tolerances and preferences are exactly that: personal.

THE CABINETS

In other news, the cabinets arrived yesterday and we were relieved to find that the color of them was exactly what we had hoped for. We were unable to find these cabinets at our local IKEA, and so we were left with just one choice: to order online. The IKEA images of the Kungsbacka cabinets had an almost brown tinge to them, which had me a bit nervous. We were hoping they would be more true to the matte black, “anthracite” description. Fortunately, they were exactly the color and the finish we had hoped they’d be. Billy almost immediately got to work on installing them and it’s really fun seeing the shape of this room finally come together.

TO DO

• 

• 

TO DO

We were excited to see that our lights from LETI shipped this week. Hopefully they arrive soon because we can’t wait to get our hands on them. We are hoping to get the remainder of the cabinets installed this week. Once that is complete, we will pivot to focusing on the butcher block countertop installation. I DO still need to pick out cabinet hardware. If we’re REALLY lucky, we may also get started on installing that gorgeous green zellige tile from RIAD. And I’m also excited to have ordered the art from a new sponsor who came on board this week – Minted. Check out these beautiful prints by Cyrille Gulassa below that will be used in the space. I love how they’ll offer a pop of contrasting color to the green zellige, and how their undulating shapes will bring an art deco flair to the walls.

As always, be sure to head on over to the One Room Challenge blog to catch up on all of the other amazing transformations taking place. If you’d like to follow along with our project live, be sure to give me a follow on Instagram where I have all of the stories pertaining to this ORC project saved on my profile highlights under ORC 2021.

Until next week!

XO,