The Guest Room!
Painted, furnished, finished! For now, at least. There are still a few things I’d like to do, but they can definitely wait.
My poor friend Lili – she stayed in it back when it looked like this:
Lili, you must come again because now it looks like this:
I moved the brackets for the curtain rod out 8″ on each side to make the window look bigger (and to better show off the pretty new Marimekko Lumimarja curtains). I’m so glad I didn’t get the other curtains I had been considering!
The paint color is “wheat bread” by Behr, the orange daybed was from CB2, and the lamp was from Pier 1. The rug was from Crate & Barrel. I originally bought it for the living room, but it was too small. I loved it too much to return it, so I kept it, figuring I could find another spot for it. I had it in my office for a little while, but the fluffy rug meant my chair couldn’t roll anymore. It all worked out though because I love it in the guest room.
I painted all of the wood white (primer plus two coats of semi-gloss “swiss coffee” by Behr). Brandon and I also replace all of the baseboards. The room went from this:
To this:
The other side of the room was particularly ugly (and strange):
I painted it all white but it still looked a little funny so I sewed some simple white curtains to close it off. Maybe we’ll figure something out for that space eventually.
The pocket door still needs to be painted, and I’d like to paint the old dresser too.
Yay – another room (mostly) finished!
96 Responses to “The Guest Room!”
wow!! it looks really lovely, so much brighter and bigger-looking than before! i absolutely love the wall color and the fact that you went the extra mile to replace those old wimpy baseboards. it makes the room look so much more polished :)
your right, the rug is perfect in there and i think painting that dresser will really complete the room!
eek, that should have been “you’re right”…sorry for the second post, poor grammar really bothers me ;)
have a great weekend!
Oh Nicole, this is the perfect decoration for a small room. I’m sure any guests will be delighted with such a lovely room. Well done you!
I love that room! The curtains are fantastic, as is the bed! I also like that you used a plain white fabric for the ’simple curtains.’ It might have been too busy any other way. What an awesome guest room! Anyone will love to stay there!
that looks so good. i really love your color palet, and how each room in your house flows nicely together. well done!
I love the color scheme. The painting of the wood looks awesome! Great job….as usual : )
The room looks fabulous! The curtain fabric in combination with setting it wider apart is genious!
Oh lordy - everything you touch turns to gold. how come you’re not in interior design???
My goodness. You’ve outdone yourself this time, Nicole. This is by far my favorite room in your house. I want to marry that Marimekko fabric.
I notice the daybed - very original. Just in case you are looking for unusual size sheets for it (for when Lili comes over) I found a site that you might find helpful - ElegantLinensPC.com. They have hard to find bedding and great prices on discontinued items. Happy remodeling!
it looks…lovely! that daybed is the perfect color, fit, and design! such a nice job renovating.
PS i might keep the old dresser as it is. i like the contrast of the color/texture of the wood in the clean design of room!
Lovely space! I am always so intrigued by your use of accessories. Each piece looks like it was meant for this room!
Oh, wow! This space is fabulous. I am absolutely in love with those curtains. So many great ideas. Thanks so much for sharing!
Ooh, it’s gorgeous. You’ll have visitors lining up to stay there now! -Julia :-)
What a wonderful job you did! The curtains are fabulous and I love the daybed and rug. I have a curtain project myself that I’ll have to pass on when it’s finished.
You did a fantastic job! It’s a lovely, soothing room. Sorry if I missed this, but where is that cute little black table from?
Gorgeous!!! It looks wonderful!
Do you mind sharing where the bird art/print is from?
Hey it all looks amazing. The “Ugly” and “strange” area looks like a futon storage spot like what was in my old house in Tokyo, Japan. I used it to store my suitcase and spare blankets and futons, so thats what your guest could do (well not the futon part) It all looks amazing, and I love love love the curtains. I want something like that in my bedroom, but we already have so many other prints it will clash too much.
Hey, I’ve never commented to you before (just been a lurker) but this room is too pretty NOT to comment about! It looks like a luxe hotel room and any guest would be thrilled to stay in it!
Wow!! What a beautiful and amazing transformation. I’m in the process of getting ready to move and you are giving me so many fabulous ideas! I’m keeping tabs on my blog about my process. Please check in and let me know if you have any suggestions.
I’d be honored to get any feedback..I love your style!
it’s great how you’ve managed to ppull this off despite obvious shape-of-the-room constraints. i love the shapes of the vases and lamps… they really give the room a certain sexiness against the wall paint which makes the room so much brighter! nice. i love the curtains too :)
love the transformation. great eye for color. room looks larger and brighter, yes, paint the chest in a high gloss, what about that red color or even mimic the print.
for the curtain area, what about using the print or a stripe.
you have such a good eye!
I like it…but I ilked it better before. (I hated to say that…but I just loved the mustard walls and the brown curtains)
Nicole, this is clean and simple, yet I can see your attention to every detail. Another job well done!
adorable!!
i love how it’s all pulled together.
is that couch pink or orange?? i love it though.
Perfect!
On and the weird space behind the curtains?
Seems perfect for Murray’s “special place” where he can get away from those “people” who are always touching him and talking baby talk in his direction. ;)
Its just gorgeous! What a beautiful room - any guest would love staying there!
love your room… i want to divorce my husband and marry that long, skinny, black table with the lamp on it. if only i could :). can i ask where you got it? maybe i could save my marraige and get my own!
You can be proud of what you accomplished. The room looks amazing. Now all your friends will wish to be invited for a stay in your guest room. You will not regret the Marimekko Lumimarja curtains.
Love it! The whole room looks fantastic. Can I ask where the table comes from, the chair as well. Just gorgeous!
Seeing the Lubi Daybed in your guestroom (and knowing that you thought it a good enough piece to put in your own home) cemented my months-long decision to purchase one. CB2 and APT should give you a commission!
Hi I’m a long time ’stalker’ of your blog, but have never commented. I just wanted to say hi, i love your blog and your cute little bungalow!
this room has turned out amazing too! i especially love the corner with the table and chair and the lamp from pier one?
it looks so great there.
thanks for being so inspiring and making it lovely!
That little table was my first IKEA purchase, about 10 years ago. It’s held up fairly well! I had actually given it to my Dad for a little while, but I’m glad we have it again. So Rachel – it’s not worth breaking up a marriage for! It’s only IKEA! ;)
The print of the mourning dove was from pushmepullyou design.
The chair is one of four that I have (two with arms and two without). They were grabbed from an alley and were probably waiting room chairs.
Oh, and the daybed is orange. I know it’s a little hard to tell in some of the photos. It ties in really nicely with the orange in the curtains.
Looks absolutely astonishing! Did you consider fixing the curtain rod directly to the ceiling on the “ugly part of the room”? So instead of several smaller curtains you’d have one bigger that would also cover then the wood parts on that side. I think that would look great :)
I love the CB2 daybed. How comfy is it? Their pieces always look so inviting but the DC area does not have one nearby.
Hi there,
I was wondering if you bought the fabric for your curtains and then sewed them? Or did you buy them pre-fabricated? If you bought them pre-made… where did you find them? I am also in the search for great curtains.
Thanks,
Ariane
You have a wicked talent and an amazing eye for fun, intereating but subtle combinations. Fantastic!!
I really love the wall color. I actually had that paint chip as a possibility for my dining room. It’s a great color!
Beautiful room! I’m amazed at what you can do with such an awkward space. Do you mind sharing where that console/tray table is from? Thanks and congratulations on a job well done!
Love it all Nicole. All I have to add is to lacquer that dresser in bold red with pretty knobs!
Melissa, the table was from IKEA about 10 years ago.
Ariane, I sewed everything myself. I’m fairly new to sewing, and I didn’t find it all that difficult! Time consuming, yes, but not difficult.
Deidre, the daybed is very firm. I find it comfortable, but probably not for an extended period.
Jaana, I thought about just covering the whole side with a white curtain, but I thought it would tie in better with the other side of the room to have some of the wood paneling showing.
I have a question about the curtains. I’ve never really sewed before, but I’d like to start by making some curtains for my dining room(I just got a sewing machine!). Could you tell me how many yards of fabric the curtains took? The fabric seems so expensive, but based on your last post about the guest room I think I must be miscalculating? How much fabric does it take to make curtains?
WOW, this is pretty zippy! Is the lamp from Pier I? I was eyeing one that looked just like it….lovely job!
i agree, great eye for color, and the fact that we seem to have the same taste in color combos surely doesn’t hurt. i love the print of the four abstract flowers, left of the window. do you mind sharing where you got it?
And yes, the lamp was from Pier 1.
oh, and the curtains are gorgeous, i love marimekko and i am glad you didn’t go for the c&b. they are a little bit pricey for me, so for now these http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00124581 will have to do.
If I would be a guest at your house I would never leave the house :-) Just lovely. And I just LOOOOVE the curtains! Can I stay? :-)
Thanks! That helps, I just thought maybe there was some way of making curtains I didn’t know about : ) And I totally agree that it was worth a little splurge — they look absolutely fantastic!
Thanks so much for answering :) I love the curtains and the whole room. Very inspiring to try some fun patterns!
i love the paint color, but i’m partial! we renovated our entire house last summer and painted it all wheat bread from behr. it’s a great soft neutral and i don’t know if you’ve had the time to notice it yet, but at different times of the day and in different lights, it really changes colors and tones. it’s quite beautiful. i think the pairing with orange works so well for this grey.
Where did you find that daybed, someone wrote to me looking for one and so far, I’ve only seen them at DWR.
Yippey! I found the curtains:
http://www.honfleurhome.com/ItemDetail.cfm?CatID=1101&ItemID=2568&GoTo=220By220
I must say: You have a great “interior-eye”!
ooops - I am sleepy european girl over here:
You wrote in your blog about the fabric. I have to keep my eyes open and read before i write.
Holly, the daybed was from CB2. It opens up and you could fit two people.
Swiss Coffee–my absolutely fave white woodwork paint. I’ve used it in all three of my houses so far!
Gorgeous room, and thanks to the Seattle Times for reprinting the Washington Post bit about your blog. I’m in love!
Love the room. Your eye is impeccable!
Have you noticed that the rug sheds at all? I purchased one from C&B four years ago and if I even looked at it funny, it would grow fantastic fluffy balls of fluff. It was awful… having to vacuum every other day. I do have my eye on this rug but I’m afraid of it shedding like the last one.
You have fabulous taste and I love your style! Great little guest room :) Well done!
beautiful! would you mind sharing where you found the little blue side table (ththe one by your daybed, not the tray table with accessories on top.)?
wow, you completely changed the room and gave it so much energy. i think i’ve learned something from these photos, i have a great idea how to finish my living room now.
I absolutely love seeing before and after photos. What a wonderful job you’ve done with your guest room - I love the color palette :)
Karen
[...] am highly envious of this guest room. I’m thinking of going with a white/ gray/ (something else) color scheme. Now all I need is [...]
I was wondering if your daybed was comfortable and if it was easy to flip open to use as a double bed? I’ve been on the prowl for a cool (aka not white iron and brass) daybed that has the ability to become a big bed. I thought my only option was a pop-up trundle until I saw the most recent CB2 catalog with your daybed in it. I had no idea it flipped open!
Thanks,
Elizabeth
HI Can you tell me if you purchased the curtains pre made or if you made them or had them made. If you made them how much fabric did it take and how long are they? Thank you.
Hi again, you can disregard my questions I just noticed you already answered them for someone else. Thank you.
Gorgeous! Where is the table/tv tray (with the red lamp on it) from? It seems so versatile.
ok — just realized that one is the Ikea purchase. Where is the other table from (next to the daybed)?
Hello there! Thanks for visiting my blog.
March 28, 2008 - 12:20 pm
too cute! I love the new curtains for the windows!