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Guest Room Progress

Things most Americans have done this summer:

1. Gone swimming.
2. Gotten sunburned.
3. Stayed in my guest room.

Yes, it’s a statistical probability that you probably stayed at my house this month. (If so, come back! It’s too quiet now.) In the whole month of July, we were home without guests for three days. THREE. And what has two thumbs and loves any excuse to update a room?

THIS GIRL:

 

Scarily accurate portrayal of how I’d look like right now if I could find the camera to take a picture. Do you like my new earrings?


I feel I should set the right expectations here: these were minor updates to the guest room. Don’t expect your world to be rocked, k? Okay. As a reminder, when we first moved in, the guest room looked like this:

Sorry for the bad lighting, but trust me, it’s better this way.

 

And last time I showed it to you, it looked like this:

What I didn’t show you then was the wall opposite the bed, because it would have looked like: A Blank Wall.

I knew I eventually wanted to add a dresser or something opposite the bed, but then I ran into this little friend at a yard sale:

A sweet little faux bamboo dresser in absolutely pristine condition. It was a steal priced at $25, so naturally I… offered $20. (What? I can’t help it!) I may have squealed with delight when the sellers accepted my offer.

Check out the details on the front of the drawers!

Let’s be honest: this thing is getting painted. Maybe a bright yellow? Green? What do you think?

So with the new desk in place, it was time to fancy up the rest of that wall. I dug through my decor closet – you have one, don’t you? – and found this set of prints I bought literally years ago from this etsy seller.

I bought them to hang in the dining room, but as soon as they arrived, my husband pointed out that people probably don’t want to look at birds and power lines while eating – no? – so they went into storage until I could find the right place for them.

Hello, guest room wall! I just needed some frames…

… so I should probably apologize to anyone who tried to buy a white Ribba frame from IKEA Atlanta recently: I bought them all.

However, when I got them home I was completely furious disappointed to find out Ikea now uses The Worst Frame Hanging Hardware In The Universe: the wire-across-the-back technique. Hanging frames with wires in a gallery style is a nightmare.

Dear Ikea: WHYYY?!

 


Well guess what? Andy and I put our heads together and came up with an awesome free trick to make hanging them super easy. And free. Did I say free? I’ll tell you about that trick in the next post.

(Seriously. I can’t wait to tell you about that trick!)

In the meantime, here’s a peek at how that side of the room is looking now:

(The lamp was a $6 yard sale find that will be seeing a coat of spray paint soon too.)

One last quick change on the bed wall. Before:

WHOA! Where are my glasses?

And after:

I picked up that giant sunburst-ish mirror from a yard sale for $3. Yes, three dollars. It went over the bed, and the pictures and frames that had been above the bed moved to above the nightstands. I swapped the nightstands too.

Easily the most dramatic change in the history of decorating, right? You can’t even believe it’s the same space? (Remember, I said these would be little updates. Miniature.)

Wait, one more thing. Let’s play a little game called:

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE!

 



Can you see a difference between these two pics? I’ll give you a hint: It took me about half an hour to get from the picture on the left to the picture on the right.

If you’re thinking: “It looks like everything has been moved six inches to left, but that can’t be right, because who would do that?!” — then you’ve grossly underestimated me. I would do that. After we swapped the nightstands, the whole world felt off-balance and suddenly you could tell that nothing was centered in the room. So I literally took everything off the wall and moved it six inches to the left. Yep. Too much time on my hands.

I still want:
1. Some cute seating for the desk. Maybe a little garden stool like this?

source
2. A pop of color and texture for the bed. I’m looking around for the perfect pillow but it continues to evade me!
3. To paint the desk and lamp, but this will come when I find that perfect pop of color.

What have you guys been up to this weekend? Are you entertaining TONS this summer too? Don’t tell anyone, but I secretly love it.



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Comments

  1. I LOVE that desk!! Great find!!

    You should totally get one of those little garden stools to go with it…mainly because I’ve been wanting one but have no use for one.

  2. Man! I need to come yard-saling (saleing? hmmm…) near you! (Maybe I can stay in your guest room when I come?)That desk is too cute. Love the bird power line pictures…I wouldn’t mind eating next to them, you know, when I come to yard sales near you and stay in your guest room. 🙂

    I love summer too, but not so secretly. I wish it could last forever.

  3. Pillow on floor in front of closet. What do I win?

    Ellen

  4. I’m on my way over! Can I borrow a toothbrush? Oh and whats wrong with the birds on the phone line in the dining room? Hello… barbeque chicken, yum!

    The room looks SO GOOD! I love it.

  5. Putting my vote in for green on the desk! =)

  6. Oh my god I loathe those stupid wires on the back of the (perfect) Ikea frames!! I had to do 8 in my dining room and then 4 in my master bedroom (and still didn’t try to find other frames that would be easier…Ikea is just so much cheaper!). I feel for you and CANT WAIT for your trick tomorrow! By the way – the room looks great! Love the sunburst and I think the dresser will look great in a bright coloured lacquer.

  7. Stephanie Kuhn says:

    1. I’m stalking you next time you go yardsale-ing.
    2. LOVE those prints on the guest room wall! Gorgeous.
    3. I giggled when you wrote about moving everything over 6 inches. You’re amazing! The results look so lovely!

  8. Looks awesome! Love, Love, Love that bamboo dresser and can’t wait to see what you do with it. I’m thinking green or a coral color but there are so many great choices of paint color out there! Glad you enjoyed the company, that’s always a plus!

  9. I’m loving this room! Your gradual changes are great! I am thinking that desk would look so pretty in a bright yellow! (but is so cute it’d be awesome in pretty much any color!)

  10. i love the artwork in the white frames, and that mirror looks perfect there. i think with the dark frames it was too dark. 3 bucks? super jealous. your room is looking fabulous!

  11. Miss Kitty says:

    I was SO wrong about the difference in the pictures. I thought that was a remote control on the bottom of the bed in the second picture and you were going to say you plopped in the bed from exhaustion and watched a TV show for 30 minutes to re-cuperate. I’m lazy…that’s what I would have done. I’m jealous of your sunburst mirror for $3. Great job on everything!

  12. Great makeover!! I love the artwork you added, and the chair in the corner is so pretty. Your room is lovely.

    Thanks so much for joining my Weekend Bloggy Reading party (and for linking back-I appreciate that!). 🙂

  13. Lovely desk, it was such a steal for $20. Love the room, you did an amazing job!

  14. Hi! Just came over from Amanda’s weekend bloggy reading, and am so glad I discovered your blog! LOVE your guest room, it’s so relaxing and inviting – just what a guest room should be! Our June and early July were pretty full of company, and I loved it too. Those bird pictures…darling! What a great yard-saler you are – you really found some steals! So nice to meet you – enjoy the rest of your weekend. ~K

  15. It’s good to see how small additions to the room or little changes can make everything look so different. I love the mirror and that desk is a steal at $20.

    I am hosting my first link-up party – Tea Time Thursdays @ Kreative Korner. Would be glad to see some of your awesome posts there. Hope to see you at the party.

    http://tanyaanurag.blogspot.com/2011/08/celebrating-one-party-time.html

  16. Wow, the desk has a lot of potential and gallery wall above looks great…the mirrors makes a huge difference. Visiting from the blooming hydrangea..Btw, love your style of writing!

  17. I absolutely love the changes! And lucky you, that mirror over the bed is fabulous! I say go with a green on that desk;) It looks wonderful. I’m becoming your latest follower so I see how that desk turns out!

  18. Love the room!! Where are your bamboo shades from? They’re the perfect touch!

  19. Did you ever get your garden seat? Because I liked the Ballard ones but wanted teal and they only had green, white and yellow. Yesterday I found them at World Market in teal and metallic, for only $80! If i’d wanted a different color, I’d still probably have bought them at World Market and painted them because the price difference is so hugemongous.

  20. I love your curtains. Where did you get these and the rods to hang them?

Trackbacks

  1. […] my husband Andy and I set out to hang a grid of six Ribba frames in our guest room like I showed you here, we determined there had to be a better way. A little googling produced this handy tool: […]

  2. […] week, with guest rooms today, craft rooms Wednesday and dining rooms Friday. I’m linking up my guest room. Head on over to DIY by Design to check out the guest room magic everyone is showing […]

  3. […] -48px}After Pics: the Guest RoomUpdate: We’ve made some changes to this room which you can see here.Well, some might call it a guest room. My mother-in-law calls it her Georgia bedroom, and I love […]

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