I may have finally made some changes in the guest room that I’m happy with. It’s taken me about 100 tries, but I realized that I was limiting myself by trying to avoid repainting. Why? Well before I repainted my bedroom, I hired a professional to do the upstairs rooms because I was scared to paint in a carpeted room. Yeah, I’m a wuss.

Having jumped that hurdle with the master bedroom redo, I am more confident now with my painting skills and was ready to try my hand again- carpet or not! I was inspired by February’s Better Homes and Gardens cover, which was so fresh and colorful!

Image courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens

I knew from past mistakes that I should resist the urge to paint the walls a crazy color (I change my mind too often), but to try neutral walls/furniture with pops of color in the accessories. Believe it or not, this is new to me.

I went right to work picking out shades of beige and off-white. As an afterthought, I put up a swatch of the color from the downstairs- Burnished Clay by Behr (as seen in our kitchen, living room, and hallway).  I was planning to paint the stairwell and upstairs hallway in this color anyways, but it just so happened that it looked best in the guest room. I like that it doesn’t read yellow AT ALL. Most of the other off white colors looked yellowy, especially at night with the lights on. I prefer Behr Ultra paint-and-primer-in-one in the flat enamel finish because it’s got great coverage and hides touch ups well.

After the walls were done, I began thinking about bedding. I already had a white duvet which would serve as the base for a colorful palette of pillows. A VERY successful trip to Ross yielded a gorgeous deep plum quilt/sham set, 2 turquoise patterned pillow cases, and a lime green pillow-all for less than $50. I made a new bedskirt from drop cloth, helping to keep the backdrop of the bed more neutral.

So then I was left with curtains, furniture, and accessories. I happened upon a full sized white wicker headboard at Goodwill for $10. Um, score. Nothing makes a room feel more finished than a headboard!

A few weeks ago when I bought that mirror turned chalkboard for my kitchen, I also picked up a couple of small tables from the same seller. One of them was painted a (chippy) emerald green, matching just enough to not make me want to repaint it immediately.

(Yes that’s fabric draped over the back pillows…)

(Also note that one of the pillows is different from the first picture. They are both from Pier 1 and I swapped them out after finding previously mentioned fabric)

I have a feeling that the table is solid wood, so I’ve got some plans for it this Spring/Summer. But for now, it’s fine. The beautiful coral-y fabric was a total steal. I had been eye-ing for awhile, but the price was never right (remember, drop cloth is my go to fabric which is $10 for a 6×9 cloth-making it around $1/yard). Resisting the urge to whip up another pair of drop cloth curtains, I went back again to check on the price. It had been marked down to $3/yd! I did a happy dance (which my mom totally did with me since she was there).

Four yards was enough to make the curtains and recover the large brown pillows that lived on our old couch. Except I haven’t sewn the covers yet. I plan to do one side coral, one side drop cloth or perhaps a stripe…not sure yet but they won’t be solid coral.

Next I turned my attention to the floor- it needed a rug. A colorful runner would be perfect right next to the bed. I couldn’t find anything I liked at all my usual haunts, so I trekked out to World Market and found 2 chindi rugs that I will sew together.

I know the room still looks pretty stark-lot’s of work to do still- but what do you think so far? Maybe a trip down memory lane will help.

Let’s take a look at how it looked in the very beginning, when we first moved in and this served as my office.

And then there was the makeshift guest room/office which still included a desk we never used (not pictured, but it’s on the right hand wall)…

That bed is actually an air mattress, and all the furniture in there makes it looked cramped. We never worked in there, so we decided to remove the “/office” and just make it a guest room. Again, how it looks today:

I’ll be posting as I continue to work on this space, but I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride so far!

****Linked Up****

12 Responses

  1. Ashley

    lookin’ good! LOVING the colors! They are so warm and inviting. Can’t wait to see more! I’m still working on my guest room/office too, so I know how you feel about it taking a bunch of tried and trying different things. :) Keep us posted on the progress!

    Reply
    • Lovely Crafty Home

      Thanks Ashley! Can’t wait to see what you’re going to do to yours!

      Reply
  2. Ashley

    lookin’ good! LOVING the colors! They are so warm and inviting. Can’t wait to see more! I’m still working on my guest room/office too, so I know how you feel about it taking a bunch of tried and trying different things. :) Keep us posted on the progress!

    Reply
    • Lovely Crafty Home

      Thanks Ashley! Can’t wait to see what you’re going to do to yours!

      Reply
  5. Kelli

    I love the transformation! I loved that color scheme from the Better Homes and Gardens cover as well. It all looks fabulous. Especially that bright green night stand.

    Reply
  6. Kelli

    I love the transformation! I loved that color scheme from the Better Homes and Gardens cover as well. It all looks fabulous. Especially that bright green night stand.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Lovely Crafty Home Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published.