Hi hi hi!  Welcome, at last, to the final week of Calling It Home's Room One Challenge. As the name implies, this is an online challenge to transform a room, in its entirety, over the course of six weeks. I'm a longtime listener, first-time caller when it comes to the One Room Challenge, and I have to say this experience was fascinating. even though I frequently make changes to rooms pretty quickly - much more quickly than six weeks - there was an unexpected element of pressure this time around. I wanted it to be perfect! Well, I don't know if it's perfect, but it did turn out pretty darn awesome, if I do say so myself. Want me to shush up and show you all of it? Twist my arm.

Some things to keep in mind as we go through this photo dump: We rent our Brooklyn apartment, so while I took some liberties with new paint and switchplates, and painted the doors and knobs and pretty much anything I could get my hands on, I didn't switch out the light fixture or the front door itself, which has seen better, and from the looks of it, worse days.

That's the front door, and on the right you can see the shelf and coat rack I DIY'd, plus the Ikea bathroom mirror I treated to a coat of Rub n' Buff. A thrifted chain of driftwood adorns the left wall. I went back and forth, back and forth, on whether to stencil that left wall, but realizing I didn't have enough paint sealed its fate as a lovely blank white. I love having the driftwood here though, so all's well that ends well. That's just a cheap Command hook I sprayed gold holding itup; I might switch it out for something better down the road. On the door, I repurposed a scarf hanger to hold mementos, and I like to think its cuteness distracts from the ridiculous chain of locks and sorta shabby peep hole. I've had the scarf hanger for so long - I love the lines and the copper! - but I haven't found it all that useful for scarves. I was stoked to put it to alternate use after my sister suggested doing so.

You know I love me some photo fun by a doorway. You also know i can't get enough of chalkboard paint, and I'm loving this little functional zone on the narrow strip of wall that greets you when you walk in.

Like, literally, greets you. I know, it's a lot of hellos, but we're a friendly bunch of folk. The "Oh, hi!" is a quote from our dear Westley, who looks up with joy and says just that to anyone lucky enough to walk through the door.

I spruced up a couple thrifted baskets to hold mail and library books, and it's a useful, fun little spot to jot down reminders. Then, at the last possible second, I also added a coat of chalkboard paint above the door; I thought a coat of black might help the clock pop, and make the door look like it was trimmed out. And, I think I was right?!?

Yep, I love it. Meanwhile, if we back up from this angle a bit, we can see the whole thing.

Here's the view from the end of the hall (which happens to be our kitchen). There's the other chalkboard wall - our super-handy calendar - and I think it all ties together well. This shot also provides a good view of the rug I finally selected. After being straight up ridiculous about rugs for weeks, I finally went with my gut and chose a bleached jute that matches the one in our family room. And, well, I love it. The thick fringe is adorable, the color is warm but neutral and doesn't steal the show from the walls, and it's superb at hiding dirt and dust. I had thought about possibly painting a border or pattern on it, and you never know - I might. But for now, I love it just as it is. Which is so rare I'm going to embrace that feeling. From here, you can also see the turquoise/teal tool bench beneath the coat rack. Its former gunmetal color was really bringing me down, but the coat of teal helped make it palatable. It's not my very favorite thing I ever saw, but I didn't want to lose it, because it not only holds bags and detergent for the laundromat, but also acts a stool for perching yourself or a small child whilst lacing up. Sometimes function wins, y'all. You can also see a glimpse of the little appliance shed/dry bar I put together last week.

And here are a few more pics, just for fun.

 It's a tough space to document, but these "before-and-after" really shows how far we've come:

Uh, yeah, I love it! I mean, I know it's a lot of loves and a lot of exclamation points, but I think they're actually warranted in this case! This little area is small and hard to photograph, but changing it fully changed the feel of our home. It's the first space you see when you come in, of course, and you can also catch glimpses of it from the whole front of the apartment. I had let this area languish for a long time, and I'm so glad it's finally beautiful and - and more on this next week - functional. Of course, I'd love to know what you think. Thanks for reading along, and don't forget to check out the amazing transformations by other guest participants at Calling It Home's One Room Challenge.