The Guest Room

Our downstairs bedroom is the largest in the house, the real master.  It's nestled between the office and the living room and has become what I like to call "Dan's Dressing Room".  This is where all of Dan's clothes are kept, since I've taken over the upstairs.  

It was a blank slate when we moved in - white walls, brown trim, basic blinds on the windows.  We started with the same approach we used in most other rooms in our downstairs: we painted the trim white.  For the walls, I knew I wanted some sort of gray.  We picked up a gallon of what I thought was gray, and I hated it.  It was very blue and I wanted a true gray.  My loving husband had already painted 3 walls before I decided it wasn't right.  

So I trekked back to the hardware store and consulted with a staff member.  He told me that depending on the light, gray paint will either look blue or green and there were only a few colors that were a true gray.  He showed me my three options and I settled on Smoke Embers.  Dan got to work...again...and I knew immediately that this was a million times better. 

Once the walls and trim were painted, it was time to move in some furniture.  Nothing in the space is new other than some of the accessories.  We reused or re-purposed everything.  The bed was taken from the guest room in my parent's house.  My father wanted a queen sized bed for his guests so we gladly took the full.  He was also gracious enough to give us the dresser.  Back in the day, my mom painted my brother's dark brown bedroom set with crisp white.  I must have gotten my love of white paint from her.  I knew it was perfect for the space, but I hated the knobs.  So we picked up some cheapies from Home Depot and changed them out.  The simple change made all the difference. 

   
We also put a coat of white paint on the wooden shelves Dan's grandfather made years ago.  I wanted to stick with the blue and gray theme so I picked up some decorative glass bottles and a candle holder at Ikea.  

The other accessories we got at a cute little boutique in Newburyport one summer.  It was actually the inspiration for the entire room.  I wanted a beachy them with crisp whites and pops of gray and blue.  We picked up the bedding and sheets from Target.  The pillow was made by my mother-in-law using some old napkins from my mother.

The final piece of the furniture puzzle was put in place when we found the little end table at Home Goods one weekend.  It was the perfect size and color so we snapped it up.  The drawers provide some much needed storage too.  I shopped the rest of our house for the additional accessories and the room was as complete as it was going to get for the moment.
 

It sat in this stage for months.  For my 30th birthday, my boss had given me a print that perfectly matched the room, along with a gift card to have it framed however we wanted.  However, when we went to the frame store, the cost to frame it was triple the gift card.  I was sure I could find a frame at Michael's or AC Moore, but boy was I wrong.  I literally looked for months at several different stores, and I couldn't find what I wanted.  In the end, I did end up going back to the frame store.  It turned out to be a little bit less expensive than I originally thought.  Plus, it has a lifetime warranty, so if anything were to ever go wrong with it, we can exchange it.  They really did a great job and I can't believe how perfectly the print matches this room.

While we were at the store, we brought in a world map poster I've had for ages.  They were able to dry mount it to some thick poster board for only a few dollars.  I ended up putting it between the window and closet door.  We used to have a linen board there, but it just wasn't working for me anymore.  Things would constantly fall off of it and it didn't seem to fit in this room.  So we replaced it with the map.  I still have to get colored pins so we can mark where we've traveled to and where we'd like to go, but I haven't found anything I like yet.

So this is how the room stands now.  It definitely feels more complete with the recent artwork additions.  I also got a new lampshade at Target for an old lamp I've had since college.  I do eventually want to change out the base or spray paint it, but for now it'll do.  I'd also love to add some crown molding down the road.  I think that will really finish it off.  I also have plans to replace the over-sized chair in the corner, but not just yet.  
Be well,