I have two rooms in my house that I’ve set up as guest rooms.  The first room, the one I’m featuring in this post, is the more finished of the two for now.  I felt like going with a slightly french country chic look in this room, especially after I found some wonderful fabrics.

First, a look at the dull, bland room before.  When we purchased our house, none of the rooms were actually painted.  There was a basic primer over everything, and that’s it.

Guest bedroom before

We had purchased some furniture from a newspaper ad for very little money, and threw a few of those pieces in this room.  Namely, the bed and dresser.  About a year after we moved in, my stepson and his girlfriend moved in for a few months.  When they left, they took the bed with them.  So now I was left with essentially a blank slate.

Guest bedroom before, looking at the dresser

I tend to go about things a little backwards, and love to choose paint colors before anything else.  I am just in love with a color and want it on the wall.  In this room, it was a compromise because I really felt it needed a color that would be neutral enough to appeal to more potential buyers.  Also, I wanted to keep a lightness to the room, so I settled on a creamy color.  It is more of an off-white than yellow or beige, but it’s enough to pop against the white trim.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of this particular color, but I’m sure I have the extra paint around somewhere…

Guest room in progress

The headboard I upholstered myself (found here), and made the pillows to match.  I just went with a simple white comforter cover and bed skirt for now- we had guests coming and I wanted it to look presentable and I did not want to spend very much money on it.  (To me, anything over $20 was too much money).  The painting on the wall was a ‘thrift’ store find for less than $25.  I did a quick dry brush of white paint over the frame to spiffy it up a little.  I’m still trying to decide what sort of lamps I want (I’m leaning towards mounted wall lamps), and I still need to refinish the side tables.

Upholstered King Headboard

These side tables are another freebie from the studio.  I was told they originally had blue glass tops (how neat!) but they are unlocated at present.  Originally I had hoped to put some sort of marble tile in there, but they are a whopping 16″ square.  Time and money were prohibitive, so I settled on a mirror top.  This one is painted brown, so I don’t feel so bad refinishing them.  Even though it may not fit the room, I think they’d look best with a dark or black stain.  I also considered painting them something bright, like a turquoise color.  But, I’m just not feeling it.

Art deco side table

There’s one window in this room, and for now, one curtain.  I found the curtain at Target and loved it- especially since it seemed to mimic the design on the headboard.

View towards window in guest bedroom

The dresser stays, for now, even though it’s a poorly constructed 1970s plywood-like special.  I do like the pulls though, and might consider doing a two-tone paint job to make it a little more fun.  On the dresser I made a little vignette.

Dresser vignette

I framed a picture I took of the interior of the Pantheon, and a photo by Ansel Adams from an old calendar with frames from Michaels.  The mirrored tray and pitcher are family pieces handed down.  The pink dog was a freebie from Victoria Secret, and I can’t remember where I got the stars and candle.  The painting is one I did for my landscape painting course, after Cezanne.

That’s all the progress for now, but I hope to be able to add some things to the room to make it feel more finished.  At least, I think my guests feel cozier than before in this room! :)