One Down, Three To Go
Because we started with lovely issues like this:
and this:
and a lot of this:
It took a long time for us to get around to making our house feel like a home. Call me crazy, but I figured we should get rid of the holes in the ceilings, replace the buckled and water-damaged floors, and clear out the mold before we worried about things like paint colors and curtains and such.
(If you haven't been around these parts since we moved in 2009, long of the short is that we bought a foreclosure that had been TRASHED by the previous owners and which had significant plumbing problems. We're talking about the kind of significant plumbing problems that lead to your appraiser needing an umbrella and waders to stand in the family room. We took a huge risk in buying the place, but came out ahead when most of the repairs were within our DIY abilities.)
It took about a year and a half to get all the Reasons We Got This House Cheap fixed. That means I've had the last eight months to FINALLY do fun stuff. FINALLY. Cue the angels singing and the sun shining and unicorns farting glitter!
A lot has actually gotten done in those eight or so months, but high on the AWWWW, YEAH, I DID THAT! list is the guest bedroom. I'm not sure why I love that room so much, but I do. I love it so much that I'm making you look at it. DEAL WITH IT. (Or click away. Whatever.)
So, ta-dah!
The bed we've had for years and years. It was one of those things that I really, really wanted, but then hated the second we got it home. I wasn't smart enough to fess up so I could return it, so I am learning to work with it. I still don't like it, though. (Don't ask me to explain why I don't like it. I haven't figure that part out. I JUST DON'T.)
The bedding we've also had for a few years. I think it came from Walmart. I KNOW. It's unfathomable that I go there willingly. I'm game for doing it when I can get cute bedding cheap, though.
If I'm not mistaken, that bedding cost less than the purple and green throw pillows (from Stein Mart) did.
The curtains are from Overstock. I believe I had to sell a kidney to buy them, but they were cheaper (and FASTER) than making some myself. I offset some of their cost with that chair in the corner, which I found at TJMaxx for $20. It had a broken leg, but it was the sort of broken that was easily fixed with some glue and a screw or two.
All of the frames are from IKEA, the postcards in the frames are from Amazon, and pretty much every other accessory in the room came from TJMaxx.
In other words, it's absolutely an I Found It Cheap Room. Because I'm on track with putting that room together for under $300 (not counting the stuff we already had before we moved), I refuse to spend too much for the lamps I still need, the ceiling light fixture that HAS to be replaced, and the artwork that is still missing. REFUSE. I'll find what I want for a price I'm willing to pay eventually.
Oh, and the wall color is a soft purple from Behr (I think it's called Brioche). I picked it because it flowed well from the rest of the house, but wasn't too deep or bold. And possibly because I came across an "Oops Can" of it for $5 and figured it was good enough. That definitely might have been a factor. Or the entire reason. Whichever.
Anyway, that's the guest room and every time I walk past it, I feel like someone should hand me a trophy and a Certificate of Completion because WOOOO! It's (mostly) done!
And this is where you tell me it looks purdy, unless it doesn't, in which case you just don't say anything because my ego can't handle that sort of thing. Heh.
Psst. . . I'm still working on this room. Here's the latest update. You should enter to win on both of those posts. :-)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Reader Comments (24)
It's totally purty! Love it!! A's for the bed, maybe it's because you feel like you're in an invisible box? Would some bed curtains help?? Idk.
You totally deserve a ta-da for this. Maybe even a da-ta-da-da to prolong the excitement.
Now, when are you coming to work on MY room?? Hmmm?
It's gorgeous, I love those curtains. I could use some curtains....that's so far down on the list, I don't think I remembered to put it on.
can I stay over? I promise to paint a room or something with my ~mad skillz~
Oh but it IS pretty! Actually, I'd have problems keeping it as the guest room, I think I'd want it to be MY room.
Love when you can call a room done! Looks great - I like the soft purple. Love the pillows.
Pretty! I saw the pictures on Flickr earlier and immediately thought "My husband would kill me with all those pillows on the bed!" But for a guest room? Pillows aplenty!!!
I always end up loving my guest rooms way more than my own rooms when it comes to decorating. Possibly because they're always clean and stay that way!
How about taking the top rails off the bed? YHL did that with their framed bed and it opened it up a lot. Maybe?
LOVE!!!!! Oh my gosh, I love this room! Even the bed :).
Beautiful!
that room is HUGE!! I love those pillows!! I have too many kids to have a spare bedroom! heehe
net and clan home :)
freisteller
love it!! Its so cute! I agree that it may be the extra box type part on the bed that makes you not love it? Can it be cut off and the finials brough down so its a regular bed? That would still look spactacular in the room. You'd just need to be good at welding. :)
I love the room (& the bed). You have a wonderful decorating talent.
@Tiaras & Tantrums--I've been playing with a super wide angle lens this week and it exaggerates things a bit. The room is good-sized, but not quite as big as it appears in the photos.
That room is awesome, nicer than most hotels. I want to be a guest in your home. And who knew you could get nice things at Walmart?!
I wish there was a TJ Maxx near where I lived. My mom lives in Indiana County, where one just opened. She got a beautiful end table for a great price (among many other things). I had forgotten about all the cool stuff they have.
It's SO pretty - you did great? When can I come to visit?
Oops, should have read "you did great!!!!" it wasn't a question.
It looks fabulous!
We had a bed like that...and I felt the same way...wanted it...but didn't like it in the end. .I ended up buying a string of white lights and wrapping them around the canopy. Dragonfly lights. It made a nice, soft glow when all the other lights were out...
you so need to help me decorate. my style is clutter. and call it art.
(lovely job on the room)
Love it! But feeling you on th ebed. Ive looked at those and for some reason like them...but dont like them like them. So ive never bought.
Does the bed look better if it is draped, like tuille or some other fabric, to make the box look less boxy? I think thats what doesnt sit quite right w me...the boxy look.
Looks great, girl! I love the pops of yellow. Yellow is my new favorite accent color.
Beautiful! You do have a great eye for decorating, and the fact that you did it all for a reasonable price makes it even more impressive. I have some rooms I woud like you to redo in my house. :)
I do love it!
For the bedframe that you hate? Uhm, yeah. Is the footboard attached to the frame? if not, and if those lovely long posts--and the finials at the top, too--unscrew, unscrew them buggers and ditch the footboard. Rescrew the finials into the headboard posts, and if you need to, jury-rig some sort of cap between the post and finial. We did it with ours and it's totally nicer! Our bedroom is way teeny tiny and taking that frame apart like that did wonders!
Lurrrrve that paint color. The price just gets you a million zillion bonus points. The Guest Room is awesome and I, once again, bow down before you O Queen of Interior Decorating.
(Now please come fix my house.)
I love that bed (begged and hunted until I found one just like it). Had a canopy bed as a kid though- I like sleeping under a faux roof? Also, great room (I would love to stay in it :C)
Very nice. and BTW, I have that bed in a king and LOOOOVE it. LOVE LOVE LOVE
No idea why, just do. found curtain rods and wall sconces and candle holders with the same swirlies and i love it even more.
I love that wall color and I'm totally impressed with your budget for this room.
Now, can I can come stay? ;)