My Secret Seven Day Bedroom Redo, Part II
Hello, It’s Me.
Hello from the other side.
My bedroom’s done I almost died.
OK, not literally, but at times it felt like I might. Of course, I’m talking about my Secret Plan to surprise my honey with a new bedroom while he was away on a week long trip. Guys, this project was hard. Seven days is not enough time to make a bedroom from nothing.
But I did it anyway.
Previously on My Crappy House…
I had this crazy idea to make a bedroom in seven days, from spackle to sparkle. Wah to wow. Raw to RAWR! I had been fibbing for months, purchasing decor and supplies on the sly, scheduling tasks, making lists, checking them twice, etc. Well, I’m sure you remember because, of course, you read the Part I post. So, at this point, I imagine there are three burning questions you are just dying to ask:
- Did I finish the room in time?
- Was it a surprise?
- WTF took me so long to write about it?
The answer to the first question is, mostly. There were two things I did not finish in time, that are not finished now (because this freaking winter made it impossible to work outside), and will not be finished until… well, until I feel like it. More on that later.
The answer to the second question is, YES! My honey had no clue what I was up to. He was completely shocked upon his return from his trip and said, “Are you kidding me?” about eighty six times. He says it’s the nicest room in the house now. He’s not wrong.
The answer to the third question is… life. And death, actually. Egor died. (I know.) I’ve been trying to write a post for him, but it’s proving to be harder than I expected. I finally had to put it aside to get back to this bedroom post before you all put me on the bad blogger list, but I will get it together and write something special for him in time. My sweet boy.
I guess, besides those three questions, you really just want to see the freaking room already. I get that. If you need to see it right this second, click here. However, if you can be patient, if you’re emotionally invested in me and my DIY journey, if my riveting storytelling captivates you, then keep reading because my week was physically and emotionally (spoiler alert: I did find time to cry) exhausting and I really want to tell you all about it.
Dear Diary…
I thought it would be fun to journal this as I go, and share it with you, so I started writing things down the moment my honey left for his trip.
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 – 12:02 PM: It’s go time! I am standing in our loser bedroom and contemplating the immense amount of work I have ahead of me. I need to move this bed out of here to make some room to work.
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 – 12:46 PM: Moving our multi-layered latex mattress was like moving several dead bodies.
I imagine.
I could use a rest now, but I have to spackle, then go buy supplies. I’ll be sleeping in the dressing room for the week.
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 – 4:04 PM: I have spackled and bought supplies.
Saturday, April 11, 2026 – 12:17 AM: I am here writing this blog post (yes, the one you’re reading right now) and realizing other people’s journals about DIY projects are the opposite of riveting. Deciding not to torture you in this way. You’re welcome.
Let’s make up some time…
The First Three Days
Things that happened:
- Someone hit my cart full of expensive 12-foot-long molding with their car in Lowe’s parking lot.
- Had to hang said expensive molding out the passenger window of my too-small car to get it home. The cold December wind blew apart the bundle and pieces snapped off, flying into the road behind me.
- It rained on day three, which meant I could not cut my crown molding, putting me behind schedule.
- Sherwin Williams was on fire when I went to buy paint.
Things I accomplished:
- Spackling and sanding the walls
- Installing window and door trim
- Assembling the ceiling light fixture
- Picking paint colors
- Installing panel molding (wtf?) on all of the walls
- Not crying
In case you’re wondering, there were thirty individual rods that had to be attached to this light fixture, one by one, in a space that clearly was not designed with adult hands in mind. A spare 8-year-old would’ve been useful here, but I didn’t have one of those. I made do.
Behold the ceiling and wall swatches. I picked my colors in record time. Just two and a half days! (My previous record was seven months.) What do you think I chose? Write down your guesses on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope for later. Let’s build some suspense…
At some point, I (guess I must have?) decided to add wall panel molding to my to-do list. I don’t know wtf I was thinking, but here it is in progress.
These spring clamps were a huge help during the install. The ten clamp set comes with pliers that are specifically designed to… well, clamp them onto your molding corners, holding them in place while the glue dries. Clamps clamp. It’s what they do.
Day Four– Baby’s Got Backup
You may remember my BFF from this post when I told you all about how I traveled from New York to Virginia to help her make over her closet on a budget. Sooo, you might say she owed me.
OK, no, I will. She owed me.
When I told her about this idea back in October, she was about as excited as I was and offered to fly up to help me. The thought of her here made my to-do list feel so much less daunting. Like, We can totally do this in seven days!
Ah, yes. I remember now. That, right there, was the moment I added the wall panel molding to the list. Because what’s an extra forty pieces of molding when your BFF is coming to help you?
Stupid, stupid girl.
(Me, not my BFF. It’s not her fault I’m a legend. In my mind.)
Between the panel molding and the rain on Day 3, I was really behind schedule with the crown molding. Still, I was confident I could get back on track today, with my friend here to help me.
This wasn’t my first time installing crown (this was), but it had been so long, I totally forgot how. Fortunately, there’s YouTube, and I still had these handy crown hanger helper thingies from the last time. They’re like a second set of hands holding the crown while you nail it in. (Or, in my case, a third set because BFF had arrived and she has hands.)
I totally nailed this angle on the first try!
No, I mean I nailed it on the first try. You know. The angle. It was perfection.
Unfortunately, this was a crown high point. (Some foreshadowing for you there. Dark days are ahead…)
This photo was taken at about 6PM on Day 4, all prepped and ready for primer!
Except for the crown.
(*sad trombone*)
We had two more walls to finish, but rather than make a materials run in the cold, dark night, we decided to prime the walls in the warm, bare-bulb-bright, crappy house. We finished two coats before we called it a night.
The plan for Day 5 was to install the remaining crown early in the morning, and then patch, sand, and caulk that, giving us nearly two whole days to paint everything.
That was the plan…
The Next Two Whole Days
Things that happened:
- The plan left the building.
- The crown revolted.
- My remaining seams were unseemly.
- Time ran out on the caulk clock.
- I cried.
Things we accomplished:
- Painted the ceiling and the walls
- Finished installing the crown molding
- Patched and sanded the crown (on day SIX!)
- Painted the door and all of the trim
- Rolled out the rug, arranged the furniture and assembled the bed
Here’s a little DIY math for you: CROWN + DEADLINE – EXPERIENCE x HORMONES = DISASTER. We got the rest of the crown installed by 3PM, well behind schedule, on Day 5. It was a train wreck. Gap City, yo. This would normally not faze me, as paint is very forgiving and I am a patching wizard. Patchium Gapicus! No problem.
Wait, no. Problem! When you’re filling tiny holes with wood filler, no problem. When you’re filling multiple chasms with wood filler, big ass problem. It takes 24 hours to dry!
T W E N T Y F O U R H O U R S ! ! !
Are they kidding? Who has 24 hours?? We have to sand and caulk, like, right freaking now!! We have to paint!! My honey will be at THE AIRPORT to come HOME in 24 hours!!!!!
uh oh
While I began to experience a loss of containment, BFF assumed control. (She is a first grade teacher with a minor in psychology. She had been training for this moment.) She started getting paint on the ceiling while I spiraled figured out what to do.
After I cried (told you that happened), I finally came up with the solution: Bondo. It’s a two-part mixed putty that smells very bad, but you can lay it on very thick and it dries very fast. It’s overkill for small holes (use this instead), but for seriously incompetent crown installations, Bondo is the bomb.
Anyway, with our deadline looming, we couldn’t afford to hold off painting while I fixed the crown, so we did both at the same time.
And since caulking comes before (not while) painting, we had no choice but to skip it. I don’t even feel bad about it. With the dark ceiling and the dark crown, you’d be hard-pressed to notice it’s not caulked.
And if you did notice, and that’s something you felt inclined to judge, then excuse me, but wtf are you even doing in my bedroom? Scram, you.
By the end of Day 6, all of the painting was finally DONE. (*Happy trumpet!*) The room was clean and the furniture was in place (yes, the bed too, but the rug was very comfortable). Mostly easy projects left to do. It was smoooooth sailing from here!
Just kidding.
Day 7 Drama
BFF was heading home at noon on Day 7. There was still much to do, but they were all things I could do on my own, save for one: hanging the ceiling light fixture. We had plenty of time before her flight though. No problem!
Wait, no. Problem. The bolts that are attached to the hanger bracket (the ones that hold up the light fixture) were in the exact same spots as the holes in the fixture box, so I couldn’t mount the bracket to the box. Whoever designed this set up, I hate them. We went to several hardware stores to find a solution. It was this:
That’s a universal bracket and new screw assemblies to bolt the fixture hanger bracket to it. Plus spacers because the threaded bolts didn’t hang down low enough to poke through the fixture canopy where the cap nuts could secure it.
It’s OK if you just zoned out. So did I. The important takeaway here is that this detour into engineering hardware hell deprived me of BFF’s help. She had to catch her flight. I was on my own.
Question: How do you hold up a heavy light fixture while connecting the wires with only two hands?
Answer: You build a scaffold on your bed with a step ladder and storage totes. Totally safe and OSHA compliant, I’m sure. Not at all ridiculous.
Once I got the fixture wired, I had to get my body under it to screw the cap nuts on, which meant removing my scaffold. But how? I couldn’t leave the light dangling by the electrical wires…
I’m so innovative.
Yup, that’s yarn wrapped around a few of those thirty laborious rods, holding it up so I could get under it. Hey, I had to do what I had to do. The good news is it worked.
The better news is I’m done telling you all about HOW I got this room done in seven days. (I know, it was a lot. You really hung in there. Have a cookie.) The rest (the hanging of assorted fabrics and frames) went smoothly, so we can skip that and get to the good stuff. (Not that everything up until now wasn’t good, but this next part is really good.)
Are you ready?
OMG, I am!
The Reveal
The video is short. If you didn’t watch it, could you? I’m quite proud of my editing. I’m not Spielberg, but I’m close. (Oh, and it’s best with the sound on. Very dramatic.)
Now I’ll be quiet and let you absorb my accomplishment.
Headboard | Similar Table Lamp | Similar Sheets | Light Fixture | Similar Bench | Similar Rug | Similar Gold Curtains | Sheer Curtains
Headboard | Similar Table Lamp | Similar Sheets | Light Fixture | Similar Rug
I know, right? I am amazing. (BFF is pretty great, too.)
Hey, remember that envelope from earlier? (If you skipped to the reveal, you missed out on a lot. Too bad for you.) Time to open it…
For the walls, I chose Coquina, by Sherwin Williams. The ceiling is Vintage Wine, by Benjamin Moore. The trim is Sealskin, by Sherwin Williams. (But I told you that was going to be my trim color in my last post, so that wasn’t part of the game. (Which, btw, did you win? Have another cookie.))
Makeup Mirror | Similar Wall Mirror | Tissue Box Cover | Similar Makeup Organizer | Similar Picture Frame
Seven days, people. Well, seven days, plus all of the days of neglect before that. Nearly fifteen years worth of days, hours, minutes…
Seven million, six hundred eighty-two thousand, four hundred minutes. That’s like watching Die Hard fifty-eight thousand times.
Things that didn’t happen:
- The baseboard molding
- Painting and reupholstering my little vanity stool
Things that do happen now:
- I make the bed every single day
- I dust regularly
- We are no longer embarrassed to leave the door open
- I sleep better and wake to a sunburst on my ceiling
If I do say so myself: freaking mic drop! I am so impressed with me! I mean, I know me. I am a procrastinating queen with a focus problem and I did this in seven days? There should be a parade or something. People should walk in a straight line in my honor. Seriously.
Vintage Look Fan | Similar Table Lamp | Similar Picture Frame
OK, not seriously. Parades are dumb. I don’t want one. What I really want are compliments. Will you please leave me some in the comments? They feed my soul.
(You can say mean things too, if you want. I just like the attention.)
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