DECORATING 101: GUEST BEDROOM - What's A Girl To Do??

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

BEFORE

AFTER

What's a girl to do when she's completely out of rooms to paint?  Easy......she starts on her neighbor's house!

Yep, I had painted every wall in our house at least twice and was craving more walls to paint and decorate..........so I convinced my neighbor Kim to let me do a "Trading Spaces" type makeover on one of her extra bedrooms that she hadn't had time to do anything with yet.   She gave me a budget, which, if I remember correctly, was about $250-$300 to put towards this makeover.

This was soo much fun!  RULES:  I had full control of the makeover; she didn't see the room until it was completely done; and as long as I stayed in the budget,  I had carte blanche on what to do!  YIPPPPEEEE...

We started with white walls, no headboard, no curtains, Bed-in-a-Bag linens and no end tables or lamps.  I found this fantastic headboard in my attic, which was actually a decorative architectural wall piece I found at Horche Finale outlet store many years prior for about $50.  It had some minor damage to it that wasn't easily visible and had been in my attic for several years.  The linens were such a find!  Located these at Tuesday Morning (the large warehouse distribution center) and were so very INexpensive.  This was a crinkle fabric duvet cover that came in a package no larger than 6" x 6".....had to search other Tuesday Morning stores for the shams, but finally found them.  Don't ever forget; it's the "hunt" that creates the "fun"!  I then found these great throw pillows at TJ Maxx which determined our wall color and the curtains are 100% silk purchased at, of all places, Habitat for Humanity.  I purchased an extra set of curtains which were cut up to make the bedskirt.

But the BEST part; yaaaaa, the VERY BEST PART in my opinion was the idea to make a type of 4-Poster effect with sheer fabric.  This was incredibly easy; very inexpensive; and EASY to do.....Here's how we made this look:  We first purchased inexpensive sheer fabric (paid about $2 a yard.......to determine how much fabric you need, simply measure the height from floor to ceiling.....usually, 8', 9' or 10', double that number and add an extra foot).  Find some "rings" that you can hang from the ceiling...Chuck made these rings for me and they are just made out of thin wood.....run half the fabric through the ring and you are done!  Do this on all four ends of the bed and you've got a truly unforgettable, romantic look.

I realize that most men might find this look a little "chicky" for them, but hey, they'll get over it.  Do I tell them how to organize their garage?   Naahhhhhh

Anyway, I loved how this room turned out..... It was a room I would love to stay in....would love to have in my house..........too bad its in my neighbor's house!!