Hi folks! Let's talk about this guest bedroom, how I achieved the look, what I still want to change and why it was an important project for me to tackle.
Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored. The products are not sponsored.
First, it is extremely embarrassing to even show the before pictures. HA! Let's backtrack. I've lived in my home for 10 years. Got married and went through an ugly divorce in the first two. Meanwhile, I went back to college to complete my degree in interior design. Started my business as a side project in my dining room. As the business grew and took over my house, this guest room turned into inventory storage until two years ago when I built a garage and 1000 square foot studio. Last year, I took on the endeavor of fully renovating the exterior and I mean everything but the roof. Finally, it's time to tackle the interior!
Who doesn't love a good before and after?
The former homeowners decorated this room for one of their children with a water/sun/fish-boarder theme hence the yellow ceiling. Giant mistake in this case, folks. Light floods this room in the morning but the yellow ceiling was making everything look drab and dreary. I repainted the ceiling bright white and used Sherwin Williams: Down Pour on the walls. (Not an easy color to photograph, by the way.) Also, if you're looking for a really good arm workout try painting your ceilings. Otherwise, I highly recommend leaving the ceilings for the pros. We also decided to keep the sandy beige carpet for now. I'm not a fan of carpet but it could be worse. It's still in pretty good shape and we're budgeting for other big projects.
I wanted the room to feel fresh and inviting for guests while adding nostalgic and meaningful moments for myself.
River Elements: I grew up on the York River and now live in Richmond, VA which is coined the "River City".
Mid Century: I lived in Southern California in the early 2000s which is where I fell in love with Mid Century Architecture and Furniture.
Florals and Flowers: I love flowers! During the winter months, I go to the market weekly for fresh cut bunches to place throughout the house. In the warmer months, I love to garden and clip blooms from our hydrangeas, peonies, daffodils, tulips, and other flowers we have throughout our landscaping.
Pictured above (
With the Tide) and below (
Desert) are two beautiful prints by artist
Clare Elsaesser. I fell in love with her work a few years ago and these two pieces inspired the color palette for the room - blues, corals and a touch of green.
Let's also discuss the window blinds above. They are NOT staying. I considered hanging white linen curtains with black rods for the photos but I couldn't bring myself to damage the freshly painted walls. We are going to be putting white plantation shutters on the front windows of my colonial house (which had to be custom ordered) and we're still waiting for them to come in. They will be hung on the inside of the window frames and I didn't want to cause myself more work by damaging the walls.
The shelf above the bed is my solution to a lack of room for bedside tables. Rather than reduce the bed to a twin, I opted to add the shelf to give a spot for cell phones, a book or glass of water within reach of the bed. If you go this route make sure to securely brace the shelf to the wall. You wouldn't want that to fall and injure your guests.
In the new floor plan, I switched the dresser placement and it has made the room work so much better (see bottom image). The doors are able to swing freely without hitting the furniture and the addition of the hamper just outside of the closet makes dirty laundry a breeze. Everything stays tidier when the room functions properly.
Precious memories. My grandfather gave me the most priceless gift for Christmas... a print of my grandparent's home from the 70s that now hangs above the chifforobe. Swinging, singing and dancing in the rain, riding bikes through the fields, harvesting fresh vegetables from the garden, countless games of tic tac toe and bingo. I miss my grandmother everyday, that home was filled with love and many of my fondest childhood memories were made there.
My goal for 2017 is all about reflecting. To embrace who I am today and fully understand how hard I've worked to get here, both personally and professionally. I want to document more, so even if no one reads this I will be able to look back and see my progress. I was in a really bad place eight years ago. If I can inspire just one person to persevere through a difficult situation with beautiful thoughts, spaces and objects... then it will give my life's most difficult obstacles meaning.
So what do you think --- Better? Worse?
What do you love? Would you change anything?