September 18, 2011

Budget Guest Room

Hi, I'm back again.  Unfortunately, life got in the way and I haven't been able to put my decorating plans in place so I expect it'll take more than a year to complete my little projects.  Next, I'm going to show you the guest room I did on a shoestring.  When I moved into this house, the guest room was a child's bedroom.  It was painted teal green with kiddie wallpaper.  So I did a very quick makeover - painted it white and put yellow and white striped wallpaper below the chair rail.  At the time, I had a Martha Stewart comforter that was white with a sprigged floral and yellow trim.  It was very pretty but also pretty old and we had a double bed and a couple of old dressers in there.  They came from my Mom's place and I painted them white as well.  It was bright and cheerful but when the time came to replace the bed, I wanted to change to a queen size.  That would be much more comfortable for guests.

Because it was for a guest room that usually only gets used a couple of weeks out of the year, I didn't want to spend too much money.  I hoped to spend about $1500 including the cost of a new bed and I only went over that by a couple of hundred dollars.  I bought a very comfortable bed and a lovely dark wooden headboard.  I already had green carpet in that room that I didn't want to replace and I had a pair of blue drapes that I was recycling from another room so the colour theme was set.  Blue and green with a background of white and hits of dark wood.

The quilt came from a store in the Oshawa Centre that sold queen quilts and shams for less than $40 a pop.  I got the throw pillows from Fabricland here in Peterborough.  The pin up lamps on either side of the bed came from Home Depot - a steal for about $100.  The lamp on the dresser came from Homesense, as did the mirror and the floral "painting" beside the bed.  These totalled only $80. The side tables and the "painting" above the bed came from (surprise, surprise) Superstore.  Less than $150 for the lot.  The blind had to be replaced when the old one fell apart as I was hanging it back up.  The last decorative elements were the carving on the dresser (came from Primitive Designs outside of Port Hope - $20) and the water carafe and glass from a store in Bobcaygeon.

The painting of the room was a bit unconventional - white ceiling and trim as well as the bottom of wainscoting.  This way the quilt and furniture stood out against the white wall.  It makes the bed the focal point as it should be in a bedroom.  Above the chair rail was painted blue (Benjamin Moore's Athabaska CC813) so it would stand out and be a good background for the paintings.  I think it made this room something special. 

My favourite designer is Sarah Richardson and I was pleasantly surprised to see her  guest room in her farmhouse.  It has a similar colour palette and vibe to this one even though this room was completed before her show aired.  However, I think every time I decorate a room, some of the inspiration comes from Sarah and all her beautifully decorated rooms.  If I ever win the lottery, I'll buy a big house and hire Sarah to decorate it all!  I hope you enjoy these pictures of my guest room...