One Room Challenge – Fall 2023 – Weeks 6 & 7

Week 6: Sponsored Wallpaper Mural by Milton & King

Catch up on Week 1 || Week 2 || Week 3 || Week 4 || Week 5

Performance Anxiety & Wallpaper: A Love Story

When Milton & King accepted my submission to sponsor my first ORC, I was so thrilled. Being a designer who loves working with artists, original works and works with lots of vendors, I was continually impressed with the customer service as a trade member and sponsored room while working with Milton & King.
The family owned textile business prides themselves on refining the textile industry and it truly shows in the quality of the wallpaper delivered to me. From the moment I unrolled the paper, I was so impressed with the detail in the printing, the vibrancy of the ink, and of course the artistic detail in each motif. I’ve even sourced Milton & King wallpaper for two current clients, and I’m already excited to see how it’ll turn out!

As I devised a way to bring wallpaper to our military rental home(s), I also wanted to work with a company that would be able to provide additional murals when the time is right to adhere it to the wall. For now, we are going to install two panels into custom frames that Mr. Z built and we will use behind the nightstands in our master retreat.

When it came to installing it, I had major performance anxiety. My most recent wallpaper project had been undone, and it was a mess with peel & stick paper (like using a giant sticker) so I was really nervous to mess this up. Thankfully, 4 hands are better than 2 when it comes to installing, smoothing, pasting and smoothing again so Mr. Z and I tackled it together.

I used a roll-on tube of wallpaper paste so there was an element of control with the amount of paste and waste, and a simple smoother tool to go along as we laid down the paper. A quick dry overnight in our garage and then we used a staple gun from the backside of the backer boards to attach the frames.
A final trim of any overhanging paper and they made their way into our room!

As I mentioned, in our next home, these will be mounted to the wall but out of respect for our landlords’ home, I didn’t want to put any holes in their tongue and groove wall treatment. So a little part of me died in not having them hung, but such is life as a military spouse!

I had found the most amazing photographer out here (which was also a huge concern of mine for any client and personal projects while we’re stationed here) to work with on a mini rebranding shoot for Bleu Bee Designs, as well as capturing the final images of our One Room Challenge space.

I’m so excited to share with you all next week, the FINAL REVEAL!!! Thanks so much for following along on our first ORC, and it certainly won’t be our last. I already have in mind that I want to complete my office for the Spring 2024 ORC but I have lots of client projects wrapping up in Florida this spring, so we’ll have to see how it all works out. Either way, this has been an excellent way for me to have a public accountability to starting and finishing a space in our own home and a joy meeting so many other creatives working their way through the ORC as well.

Be sure to check out the other amazing DIY’ers and Designers participating in the Fall 2023 One Room Challenge here. You can also follow the hashtag #oneroomchallenge and #ORCAT on Instagram to discover all the projects and progress from One Room Challenge with media sponsor Apartment Therapy!

xx

Brittany “Bee” Zimmerman