Guest Room Makeover

Wow! It's been so long since my last post. I have been so busy lately, I started babysitting a few of my friend's children and my oldest started Kindergarten this year so I have been juggling lots of things trying to get it all together.

If you follow me on Instagram, then you probably saw me working on this room months ago, but if not then you are in for a treat. This room was previously my husband's "man cave", if that's what you want to call it. I made the mistake of allowing him to pick the paint color for this room when we first moved into our house and it was green-screen green up until I worked up a serious sweat covering it up during this project.

I had made plans for some out-of-town family to come and stay with us for an extended period of time, and due to my youngest child taking over what used to be our guest room, I had to make a space for this family member to sleep and have time to themselves while they were here since it was going to be for possibly a month or longer (and we all know how things go when you're around family for too long with no escape).

I knew before I even started that I wanted this space to double as a war-room/prayer room when it wasn't being used as a guest room, but I also wanted it to be calm, relaxing, and inviting to whoever was using it. So I started planning my vision for the room by using a mood board to get a better idea of what I wanted things to look like.

A mood board is described as 'an arrangement of images, materials, pieces of text, etc., intended to evoke or project a particular style or concept' and they are great for getting an idea of what certain decor and furniture will look like together before you actually purchase the items. They simple and easy to make and you can do it right from your phone. I just save stock images of the items I like to my phone and then piece them together with a collage-maker app, but there are other apps that are made specifically for this purpose.

So once I knew what I wanted to do, I had to start with relocation of my husband's "man cave". Which meant fixing up an unused room down in our basement which was an old workshop filled with all kinds of rusty and dusty things. You can see that transformation by clicking here.

After I got the room cleared out, I started prep for paint. I chose a light ivory color for the walls because I wanted it to feel clean, but not cold and pristine. I wanted things to feel warm and inviting and lived in. It took two coats on the walls (without primer) to cover the awful neon green that is now hiding underneath. Once the walls were painted, I felt like I could've stopped right there and things would've already been so much better.

Once the walls were all painted, I decided to paint the ceiling. Yes, my husband painted it green to match the walls. Why? Mostly because he doesn't have an eye for these things, but probably also to torment me a little. And for this extra trouble he caused me, I made him paint the ceiling himself...kidding. I did make him paint the ceiling, but only because my arms and back were killing me and I had been painting non-stop for like a week and I just couldn't do it anymore. Physically, mentally, emotionally. It was rough and I was burnt out on painting. He paints so much faster than me anyways, he should just do all the painting in this house. While that was happening, I decided to paint the wall shelf he left behind. I planned on reusing it (and I'm so glad I did since there wasn't much decor space in here).

But I didn't stop there. I continued on to paint the trim which was previously painted a dark brown (my husband's doing) to a crisp white to highlight the wall color. White trim always goes great with light-colored walls, in my opinion. Before I painted the trim, it seemed like the walls were white, but with the white trim in comparison you can see the difference in color.

 As soon as the paint had dried, I was ripping the tape off as fast as I could. I was so ready to see the room, bare bones, with it's fresh new facelift. It was like a brand new room. I've said it before and I'll say it again, paint can change an entire room. If you're looking for a big change, but have limited funds, I will recommend paint every single time. And at roughly $15-$25 a gallon, you can't beat that.

Now that everything was painted, things were ready to move back in and get decorated. I had bought most of the decor for this room like a month or two before it was finished so I was dying to get it all in here. First I spread out the area rug, I didn't buy a non-slip rug for underneath so I just adjusted it to where I wanted it and then I took a few wide-head nails and literally just nailed it to the floor around the edges. Hey, sometimes you just gotta get creative.

My color palette was a range of white, creams, browns, and navy blue. I wanted to incorporate a lot of rustic woody accents with my clean white pieces to mix old and new and the navy was the perfect blend of classic and cozy to give the room a pop of color amidst all the neutral going on.

After the rug was in place, I moved the rest of the furniture in. I stole the rocking chair from my youngest son's nursery since it wasn't being used anymore and the cube-shelving from my oldest son's room because I liked it better in here. I set up the side tables, hooked up the lamps, decorated the shelves, and hung the wall decor. The only thing that was missing now was the futon. I hadn't ordered it yet since I wouldn't have anywhere to put it until the room was finished being painted. So I picked a futon I liked and I ordered it, it was easier to know what would look good now that everything was in its place. When it got here, I had my very strong hubby carry it up the stairs for me and got to work putting it together. It wasn't as easy as I'd hoped it would be, but eventually I got it figured out and set up. It was a lot sturdier and nicer looking than I had expected, and it fit perfectly in between the two end tables so everything worked out great. I'm laying on it now as I type this and the mattress is super comfortable, I can't feel any of the metal poles in my back or anything. Hooray!

I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into this room. It was so hard to keep going during the process of the transformation, but I pushed through and finished strong and it was well worth it. This room is open to any guests we may have that need somewhere to sleep overnight, but it is also a space for me or my husband to go when we need to pray or meditate or just relax. Sometimes I like to come in here and read during nap-time, or I've taken some time alone to sketch and color, and recently I just brought in my laptop and I have enjoyed some peace and quiet to work on the blog which has been really great.

I hope you all enjoyed seeing this rooms amazing transformation and I hope that it has inspired at least one of you to take the leap on a project you have been wanting to do for a while. If you want to see some video footage I took while working on this room, you can watch the full Instagram highlight here.




Yours Truly,