We finally painted the guest room! And Burger, as you can see, is THRILLED.
No more over-spray marks from door painting forming a lovely “accent wall” over the bed. Huzzah!
The color? Sparrow by Benjamin Moore. It’s a color we’ve loved for a while now (it was one of our whole-house-color-palette guesses from last year) and we thought the guest room was the perfect place to try it out since it gets a lot of natural light from that giant triple window along the back wall.
Since it’s a deep color we used a tinted primer first, and as usual I did the cutting in while John did the rolling. Oh and we painted the ceiling first (Simply White like the trim, but in a flat finish instead of semi-gloss) just because it’s nice to do that at the same time while the room is cleared for painting if you have the energy. Sparrow is more of a brown tone with gray undertones than a cool/flat gray color (you can see from the paint going on over the tinted primer that the primer definitely had a cooler/grayer tint going on).
With all the painting done, we decided we were over the blank walls in there, so we dug through our storage room for some frames and a mirror to complement the new paint job. A few old Ikea frames ended up in a grid over the chairs across from the bed.
They used to hang over our sofa in the last house, and they contain a few of our favorite instagram photos with big linen-like fabric mats behind them for some texture.
Over the bookcase to the left of the bed we went with another one of those Ikea frames, but we added one of our picture hanging knobs from Target along with some gold ribbon (to tie into the gold mirror we hung over the bed).
Here’s a panned out shot for you. The wall on the left looks weirdly yellow because sunlight is shining in and reflecting green from the trees, so the other photos are more accurate in terms of the color.
The gold mirror was an old yard sale find that used to hang in our last house’s laundry room, and when John held it up over the bed we both liked how it looked with the wall color. Originally we thought we might want to hang something on either side of it to fill things out (like some small candle sconces, ledges, or art) but there’s something simple and sweet about the gold mirror without a lot of other stuff going on.
We also switched out the luggage-tray-turned-side-table for something a little more substantial with a drawer for concealed storage and a cubby for a few books and magazines. We found two of these tables for $11 at a yard sale a few years back, and I’m glad to have a spot for this one again – especially since it meant we could add a nice big light that felt more to scale than the tiny one that used to sit on the luggage rack.
The flowers are just a grocery store bouquet leftover from Clara’s party (alstroemeria for the win, they tend to live for 3-4 weeks!).
We still have a few things on the to-do list in here, like adding crown molding, eventually updating the seating area to a sewing spot so the room gets more use, and making a new headboard (we’d love something more substantial – and maybe with an interesting shape). I’m sure we’ll also upgrade some of these working-with-what-we-have-items over time (like the art, the bedding, the rug, or the curtains) but for just a gallon of primer and paint and some stuff that was sitting around mocking us in the storage room we’re really happy with the new vibe.
The guest room is at the top of the stairs, so we both do that “ooh!” thing when we go upstairs now. It’s amazing how blind you can become to certain eyesores (like those over-spayed door marks) but when you finally take care of them it’s like a breath of fresh air.
What did you guys do this weekend? Anything fun? We had a nice balance of work and family time – and spent a lot of time being grateful for everything that Memorial Day stands for. Hope you had a happy one!
MORE PAINT COLORS WE LOVE
You can check out more of our favorite go-to paint colors by touring our homes in the menu at the top of our blog. We’ve also written these detailed deep-dive posts about our favorite paints:
- The 12 Best White Paint Colors
- Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray
- Benjamin Moore Simply White
- Sherwin-Williams Pure White
- Sherwin-Williams Extra White
Psst- Wanna know where we got something in our house? Just click on this button:
Sarah says
I painted with Benjamin Moore’s Sparrow this weekend too! However, it was my shed. It’s amazing how different the color reads in different light. I love it! And I love how it looks in your guest bedroom too.
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo
s
Sue says
The wall color looks great! Just curious … did you think about turning the mirror sideways?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, that was my original plan! But John held it that way and it just looked squished/sideways, so we liked it vertical better since it felt balanced with the height of the tall vertical curtains. It’ll be fun to see where we end up when we update the headboard though!
xo
s
Joanna @ TheNestbook says
The paint color looks awesome in there! Quick question: do you guys get your paint color matched or do you buy the actual Ben Moore paint? Just curious more than anything! :)
YoungHouseLove says
We used to get it color matched to Olympic Premium but have been buying the real thing for the past three years or so (the coverage is great so it’s hard to go back). We do occasionally use other brands like Olympic though.
xo
s
Linda says
What I found (in my novice painting) is that BM colors don’t always look quite the same when matched to another brand of paint. IMO the actual BM paint tends to be far richer in tone once applied. Also, at least for this amateur, BM paint tends to be easier to apply with better coverage. I love the Aura line!
Lindsay says
I just bought this color this weekend! (thank you home depot for $5 gallons!). I will be painting my nursery with it and doing teal and white accents. I love seeing it in these pics! I was almost worried it would be too light and we wouldn’t see much gray but it looks really good in here.
katie says
It was a holiday weekend here in the UK too, although no home improvement got done a lot of training and equipment buying for climbing my first mountain this Saturday was done!
By the way it occurred to me reading this post that I like your new posting schedule better although it is less posts, it doesn’t feel like we’re missing out as the posts are all good quality. I often had 2 or 3 of your posts to read at a time due to following a lot of blogs and not getting time to read them every day…so this is more manageable and I hope you guys prefer it!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Katie!
xo
s
Pat S says
What a nice inviting room. Love the wall color and I really like your pillows. All of them … the floral, the teal, and the chevron bordered ones. Fun, fun! That’s basically the only thing I did this weekend – make some pillows. Here are mine.https://www.flickr.com/photos/wheatens/sets/72157644797293192/
Lisa E says
Wow, Pat, you do amazing work! Beautiful!
melissa says
Love the use what you have attitude!
Must say for some reason that mirror screams “Ohio State” on that big expanse of wall
Allison says
Love the new update! It’s amazing what a new coat of paint can do.
Just wanted to let you know that I’ve gotten a few pop up ads recently. Today’s didn’t have the option for me to close it at all. It was for Martha Stewart pet toys and was a survey. It said it was powered by Vizu if that helps you track it down. Just thought you might like to know.
YoungHouseLove says
Argh, so sorry about that! They keep sneaking those in and changing the code, so as soon as we block one another one pops up.
xo
s
Lucy says
ya, i got it too this a.m. mine was about orange juice I think.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Lucy!
xo
s
Aimee says
Would installing something like AdBlocker help? It really kills ads dead. Even when doing a Google search, it takes away the paid search results.
Jenny says
Would you guys ever consider a murphy bed for this room? My grandmother had one in her guest room/office and aside from the magic of having a bed that pulls down from the wall, it always seemed really comfortable (since it was a real mattress) and practical (since it disappeared entirely when out of use). We don’t have a guest room, or I’d have direct experience with them…but it seems totally within your guys’ skill set to make one, and it seems like that could help enhance its functionality as a craft room! You could even use some kind of gate-leg or fold-down table for the sewing machine in that case, so it could get smaller when the bed was in use…
…just fantasizing about how I’d do it in my house! But also curious for your thoughts. ;)
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds really cool! I think for now we like a bed that’s ready to go (doesn’t need to be folded out and made, etc) but it sounds really fun for a tight space!
xo
s
Jenny says
You can keep a murphy bed made up! I don’t know if pillows can be kept on it, but my gram’s was always made up and ready to go. Remove oversized picture hanging on the “wall,”, pull down handle hiding by the built-in bookshelves next to the “wall,” “wall” (that’s really the base for the mattress) comes down to reveal a bed (that rests on the handles as feet). Pull pillows from closet, and voila. Super magical!
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds awesome!
xo
s
Reenie says
Love everything about it… even the mirror hanging that way. ;)
…”alstroemeria for the win, they tend to live for 3-4 weeks”… my fav flower to buy because of that reason… and they come in all different colors. :)
Candice says
What did we do this weekend…. Started on Friday when my family of 5 rushed off to the middle school for my sons NJHS induction night…and as we opened the door son says, “are you sure it’s not next week?”…and we barge into a school play :/ Scraped popcorn off our ceiling in the upstairs hall and master bedroom. Painted it. Started installing wood floors. And the nailer broke. And we had a natural gas emergency and had to call our gas company after appliance guy confirmed it wasn’t our stove…(turns out the adhesive we used on the wood floor is ‘attracted’ to open flame and when curing smells like kerosene. Guy barely stepped in the door when he asked if we were priming, varnishing, or gluing anything. ) And my car keys refused to come out of the ignition when I went to buy a new nailer. And when trying to get a box spring/frame out of the attic to give to a needy family- I smashed three fingers on my right hand (“I got it, just let go”…crash/smash). And it was hubs 43rd bday.
QUESTION: with all your ceiling painting that the ceilings are sans popcorn and the floors are wood. Are you guys experiencing any echo?
YoungHouseLove says
Wow, you were busy! As for any echo, in empty rooms or hallways we had them, but once you add curtains, bedding, and rugs that absorbs it.
xo
s
Sherri says
Gorgeous! What a beautiful room. I’m not sure that I would change a thing!
BTW: I’ve always scoffed at “one coat coverage” paint claims, but after two straight days of painting my kitchen (once with primer, then with paint) and hating the results, my tired arms and I decided to give it a go. I used a paint-and-primer combo called Marquee sold by Home Depot, and it actually WORKED! You have to choose from among their colors and use certain brand brushes and rollers (which I was using anyway), but it all worked for me. I’m a fan for life!
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds awesome. Thanks for the tip!
xo
s
Kierstin says
It’s lovely, and I still adore the homemade ikat curtains (that used to be in your other house’s Livingroom).
Kati says
We spent the weekend together – normally my husband works weekends, so it was such a revitalizing time to be together as a family. I kept trying to clean up around the house but we just wanted to play with our kid together. We did get some plants in the ground (eggplant, tomatoes, squash, yum!) and bought a new bath mat for our bathroom. You’re right – that naked bathroom floor was an eyesore. The mat is the breath of fresh air we needed!
Andrea says
Lovely, folks! How do you do it all with a new baby? Hoping this means that Sherry’s feeling good and recovering quickly.
Tore out our ’80s shower doors this weekend, thanks to you guys! So appreciate the tutorials and tips!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Andrea! I’m recovered and feeling great. Teddy is still learning how to sleep through the night and is a pretty random baller throughout the day so we mostly switch off being the full time parent and the DIYer these days :)
xo
s
Gilly says
Can’t help but ask, is he also a shot-caller? ;)
Katie says
He’s a random baller? What does that even mean? Did he get invited to Kimyes wedding?
YoungHouseLove says
Bahahaha! That was auto correct on my phone! Napper got turned into baller somehow…
xo
s
Steph says
LOVE IT! It is so bright and happy.
I spent my weekend being lazy. Got myself a pedicure, spent 4 hours in a lounge chair (and a sunburn to accompany it) and ate all my parents food. ;)
Oh, I saw the rug of my dreams at HomeGoods the other day but I have no place to put it. It was like 8×11 with huge pink and purple flowers on it. Young and girly (would probably look adorable in a little girls room) but I think it could be made to look grown up in the right situation.
Unfortunately, there’s carpet in my bedroom. I was so sad.
Lisa E says
Don’t be sad, I’ve seen designers on tv layer rugs on top of carpet. Go get it! :)
kris says
I like that color. It looks close to my leaving/Dr color. BM sandy hook gray. This weekend I started painting our half bath. Its so outdated so for our “phase 1” we’re painting everything but the toilet, floors, and sink top.
erin @ dfmi designs says
Looks great! I always love the power of paint and pops of color!
Michelle says
Your knack for creating fresh spaces is really quite consistent and special. The crisp white always helps, but your fearlessness with bright colours is what I believe takes your creations to the next level.
I loooooooooooove the brass pineapple. I think my love of useful brass items (no small collectibles please) may parallel your love of ceramic animals.
Thanks for the post, thanks for the blog.
Lucy says
Many years ago, we painted our guest room this color. The room has since become our nursery and the paint color has only grown on me. It’s flexible, sophisticated but also simple so it stands the test of time. Love it!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome!
xo
s
Christy Niebaum says
I don’t just love the color, I LURV the color. Great choice! And I’m kind of uh-bsessed with those bright pillow cases.
We spent the weekend working on some “dude, get on that” projects. I primed a closet door and some shelving for our guest room (managed to get one coat of paint on, but will have to finish up this week). My hubby built new railing around our egress window in the backyard (that’s been on the to do list since we moved in…4 years ago).
YoungHouseLove says
Love hearing what you guys were up to!
xo
s
christina says
I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS ROOM! I thought I’d miss the teal from the old house but I think this grey makes the colors pop even more. Really love this, and such a great use of everything you already have.
My husband and I biked 30 miles for Chicago’s Bike the Drive event. It’s along Lake Shore Drive in the morning, the street is closed down for the event. I’m sure John would love it! Needless to say, your guest bed is looking quite comfy for these sore legs :)
Evelina says
I love the way this turned out. You guys are so talented at layering colours and patters. The trim and baseboards really pop against this new colour! It looks like you repainted them a really crisp white. I’m in the process of repaiting mine from a not-so-white “builder’s” white to a true white. It’s taking FOUR coats! I feel like it shouldn’t take this much paint to cover white with white… is that normal? Am I doing something wrong? Does my paint just stink?
YoungHouseLove says
Wow that sounds like something unusual is going on. Maybe the paint is bad (past some sort of expiration date or too watered down or something?).
xo
s
Lisa | Winter Heights says
Such a welcoming guest room, glad you all had a nice weekend together. I’m currently doing lots of needed organization in our home. Tackling our guest room/office/crazy junk room and this post serves as motivation. :))
Lynne says
Wow, I am crazy about that side table! What a lucky find! I followed the links to the original story, and love that the matching dresser is in your family as well. I can’t believe someone priced those at $11 – in DC they’d sell for easily a couple hundred in the vintage shops here.
Cristina S. says
Love it! We recently touched up our guest bedroom since we had some last minute guests seeking some Miami fun :) We were able to add some fresh white linen, put two gold night stands and your same rug in a dark gray (yes that one from Target) but we are stuck as far as choosing a wall color. I put down some last minute decorative pillows but can’t figure out a headboard or wall color to tie in the gold and gray?!?!?
Your post definitely got me searching through Pinterest again ;)
Great post!
Aimee says
Look directly across the color wheel from your colors to find a wall color that won’t clash. You’ve basically got 2 neutrals going on so far so a pop of color on the walls is what the room needs.
Lynne says
Beautiful! Love the floral/patterned textiles mix. The green headboard pulls them together and this wall color grounds everything wonderfully well! But I’ve got to toss in another vote for mirror on the horizontal… ;)
Kristen @ LoveK Blog says
LOVE the new paint color! What a beautiful space!
Nicole says
Love the color with your bold accents.
I don’t like mirrors hanging over headboards. I would be thinking all night….what if it falls, lol.
Have a beautiful week!
Christiane says
LOVE IT!
One small idea- what if you turned thr mirror horizontal instead of vertical?
YoungHouseLove says
That was my first instinct so we tried that first but we liked it vertical better (just looked squat/squished and sideways the other way to us). Who knows where we’ll end up when we update the headboard though!
xo
s
Shayna says
WOW! It really is amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do for a space! The room looks so good! We started our kitchen backsplash over the weekend & so far so good! We’re loving it! Have a great week!
Emily says
Wow, it looks beautiful! All of the pieces you used look like they were made to go in there.
I spent my weekend eating ice cream – definitely not my proudest moments ;)
Bailey says
Great color choice! It looks so much different with grey walls!
Lauren says
This might sound crazy, but I LOVE the plain white duvet. I know there are a lot of nice bed linens out there, but I don’t think anything beats the crisp freshness of white duvet covers. It let’s everything else in the room pop, while it chills out looking like it belongs in a 5-star hotel. Any guest would be lucky to crash at Casa Petersik!
Lauren says
This might sound crazy but I love the white duvet. There are a lot of nice bed linens out there, but nothing beats the crisp freshness of a white duvet cover. It let’s everything else in the room pop, while it chills out loooking like it belongs in a 5-star hotel. Any guest would be lucky to crash at Casa Petersik!
Lauren Nicole says
I actually filled out about 5 pages in my 7-month-old’s baby book this weekend. To folks that do not have at least two kids this might not sound like an accomplishment, but it was!
Brianne says
This is absolutely beautiful! I am not much of a dark colour on walls fan (after living in a basement suite of all gray tones for two years) but the brown with gray tones in this are amazing!!! I also love your style and this looks great :)
Jeanine says
I have the same (very heavy!) mirror & I also have it hung vertically. Is gold the original color? I, too bought it at a yard sale and it was painted white, but I have long considered painting it gold! Now I know it will look awesome!
btw…Mine has the original JCPenney price the on the back from 1982, $79.99
YoungHouseLove says
No way! It’s super heavy and ours looks like gold is the original color! Such a small world.
xo
s
Diane says
This weekend I planted flowers and arranged the deck. It feels so unbelievable to be outside after that winter. I also made some lighter throw pillows for the couch and love seat and they give the room a lighter summery vibe. In the fall I’ll bring the old ones back and feel like I got new pillows again!!
Erin says
LOVE the pineapple!!! My husband is Hawaiian so I have developed a fondness for them, and this one is adorable! It’s looks like a vase? I would ask where it came from, but as a thrifter myself I’m sure it was probably some awesome score at the Goodwill or a little resale boutique. Love the whole room, very bright and cheery. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Yes it was a local thrift store find!
xo
s
Laurel says
Love it!
Laurel says
Love everything you guys do!
Gillianne says
Have you considered hanging that wonderful mirror horizontally rather than vertically? The width of the headboard seems to call for a little more width above. Very cheerful space to welcome lucky guests. :D (I have a single end table very like yours from an estate sale in the DC area; it has a “World Bank” plaque on the back.)
YoungHouseLove says
That was my first instinct so we tried that first but we liked it vertical better (just looked squat/squished and sideways the other way to us). Who knows where we’ll end up when we update the headboard though!
xo
s
Amanda says
I love how this room turned out! Can I move in?
TheNewLeff says
Your mirror whispered to me that it wants to be turned 90 degrees. It was a very soft whisper.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! I think it whispered to a few other people too!
xo
s
Penny says
This weekend we repainted a closet and used oil-based primer for the first time since we were painting over oil with latex. It went great. Then we hiked five miles uphill in the rain and I died.
elaine - Visual Meringue says
Love it! Looks awesome. Perfect colour choice and the accessories all look amazing. I especially love the side table and mirror :)
nicola han says
Loving the colours in this room, vibrant yet relaxing if that makes sense as they all work together. Thrilled to say your book arrived at the weekend so in my free time (4yr old girl, 2yr old boy, so I type free time loosely! ) I have enjoyed reading it and coming up with ideas of my own. And as we visit my aunt and uncle in Florida in July (we live Northern Ireland) I am over the moon to find out in her recent email that I have 3 Targets nearby (literally jumping up and down with excitement) therefore roll on the chihuahua hooks for babes bedrooms :-) x
YoungHouseLove says
You’re so sweet Nicola!
xo
s
Ashley C. says
I love it! I want to do a similar color with my hall bath, but it’s pretty small, so I might need a lighter gray.
This weekend, I did a bunch of yard work and decided I want to paint my front door. I started talking with my roommate about colors, and said something to the effect of, “I’m thinking a classic red, or maybe a cheerful yellow. And I’ve also seen some teal/turquoise ones lately that are cute.” And then we decided to hit you guys up to get your door-painting method,and realized that those are the exact colors your three front doors have been! Great minds, I guess.
Carrie K says
We celebrated our Peanut’s first birthday with over 80 people coming through our doors. The weather held beautifully and we were able to grill and smash her cake on the lawn. Her true birthday is tomorrow but I’ve been having flashbacks from last year about where I was at this particular time, waiting for her arrival. I’m even wearing the same nail polish color I had on when she made her grand entrance. Nostalgic & emotional much? I think so. :)
YoungHouseLove says
So sweet!
xo
s