Guest Room Makeover

Hey party people!
This is a break in regularly scheduled party programming to share a makeover that has been going on for over a year. Reason number 251 why I couldn’t be a home blogger. It takes me forever to finish rooms. Another reason I couldn’t be a home blogger – because I’m not an interior decorator. I have to move things around a bazillion times, take things back that don’t end up looking good, and even then I still don’t know if it really makes sense. I will say that I really like how our guest room makeover turned out.

(Sheets – Pinzon 160-Gram Yarn-Dyed Flannel Queen Sheet Set, Grey Plaid; Accent Wall Color – Seal by Behr) 

Reason number 252 of why I couldn’t be a home decor blogger…lost the before pictures. I did take them, but I think they got deleted somehow. Just know that up until a month ago, this room had a bed with a different comforter on it and all the walls were the lighter grey color.

(Moosehead – Z Gallerie; Black & White Chevron Pillow – West Elm; Yellow Pillows – Target; Green Pillow – West Elm; Swiss Cross Bedspread – DIY*) 

The inspiration for this room started over a year ago from one of my favorite Chattanooga stores – the Clay Pot. I’ve even interviewed the owner, Joe Jumper, on the blog. He’s pretty brilliant in my book. He had this wall in the shop with tree trunk disks lining it, and a deer head in the center.

(Wall in The Clay Pot – Chattanooga, TN)

 
I loved it. I wanted to do that above the bed in our guest room. So, last spring, Mike cut down a dogwood tree in our backyard. He cut a bunch of small disks from it with a hand saw. Yep. Over 100 of those suckers…with a hand saw. The problem…the hand saw created these jagged edges. So I ended up having to sand all of them. It took us several weekends just to get them all finished.
*The DIY bedspread is just a cream blanket and I added the swiss cross to using iron-on transfer. I am probably going to go back and reinforce it with stitching as well. 

(Tarva Dresser – IKEA; Leather Mirror – Goodwill…for $50, with a $1120.00 price tag on the back…score; Accessories – Goodwill or already had; Nightstand – Goodwill for $10) 

I thought I had come up with a brilliant plan to attach them to the wall. Instead of putting a bunch of nail holes in the wall, I’d put heavy duty velcro on the wood and the wall. The time had come to mount them. I got 80% done and walked into the kitchen to hydrate and get a snack…when all of a sudden…I heard…plunk…plunk…plunk, plunk, plunk. All of the wooden disks, one by one, had fallen off the wall. I was so discouraged, I threw the wood into a plastic bin and left it alone for over a year.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago. Mike and I decided that we could attach the wood pieces to a thin piece of plywood with wood glue. Then screw the big piece of plywood into the studs and attach the moose head in the middle. This way we still wouldn’t add a bunch of holes into the wall.

(Magazine Holder, Succulents, and Lamp (no longer in stock) – Target; Coasters – Star Provisions; Cup – Flea Market) 

It worked great! I had also wanted to paint the back wall a darker grey. The original grey ends up looking blue in certain lights. I really wanted something to contrast it.

There were a lot of DIYs for this room. This piece of art was a thrift store find that had an embroidery piece in it. I just used my chalkboard paint to cover the glass, then drew a constellation. The main one is for Aquarius (my sign…although I really don’t follow that) and then I needed something else, so I added the little dipper…well…at least a rough drawing of the little dipper. I do not promise my guests they will receive an education when they stay with us, just a relaxing & fun time.

This is my little gallery wall made up of a random collection. The horse print I found at Scott’s Antique Market. The white ceramic tortoise shell is a Christmas present from Mike (from Target). He also got me the moosehead. He knows the way to my heart. That black and straw piece is from one of my favorite places here in Atlanta – Kudzu antiques. The airplane picture is actually a box top that I found at a store in Portland. For some reason I was digging it, and now…it’s cheap art. The next piece is thanks to West Elm. I needed something else and couldn’t figure out what, until a voice from retail heaven said, “Look at the bag.” I looked down…and lo, and behold, my West Elm bag said, “Renew, Recycle, Reuse.” That’s just what I did.

I know…this next one is weird. I wanted something with a little character, so I was digging through my arts & crafts supply and rigged this baby up.
Thanks for checking out my non-interior designer room makeover. House decorating can take time and money, two things that are sometimes very short. No matter where you are in the home ownership spectrum, let me encourage you some things I’ve been learning…
1| Don’t focus on making over a whole house. It’s WAY too overwhelming & frustrating. You can begin to get visions for different rooms, but concentrate on one room at a time (preferably the one you use the most & go from there). I’ve spent way too much time frustrated that my house isn’t the way I want it to look like when I walk in the door. I’ve also made some unwise decor choices – financially & taste-wise due to my impatience.
2| Be flexible. This may not even be applicable to you, but when I get a vision of how I want a room to look, I will stop at nothing to make sure it looks like that. The problem? Sometimes money or space/layout doesn’t allow that. I’ve been learning to let my vision evolve.
3| If you can’t buy it, make it. This is also along the lines of “shop your house.” There are so many times I get something in my brain and no one is selling it. Or someone is selling it, but it’s 50 times my budget. That’s why I ended up making that swiss cross bedspread. Granted, it may not be 100% perfect, but it cost me $30 total, so I’m okay with that.
We’ll be back to our regular party planning post on Wednesday, and I’ve got a super simple summer recipe to share with you.
Until then…
Party On!