Update: We brought in a few of the items on our to-do list below and it changed everything! Well, not everything, but a few things came out (the brown blanket is history, at least in this room) and a few other things moved around. Gotta love those last minute tweaks. Check out the whole shebang here.
Here’s what things are looking like right now (well, as of an hour ago when we snapped these pics and uploaded them):
Which is definitely an improvement on Monday’s more spartan look…
… but we still have lots to do (an quite a few things aren’t in their “final resting place”) but here’s what we’ve checked off so far:
- Get all of the junk out of there (thanks to a Habitat for Humanity ReStore pickup & moving stuff into the playroom)
- Buy a mattress & boxsping along with a cheap-o bed frame
- Dress said bed with already-owned bedding
- Add shower curtain & other bathroom essentials (towels, new toilet seat cover, etc)
- Paint the room
- Hang curtains
And here’s our outstanding to do list:
- Hang something above the bed to balance out the big window to the left (probably a large round mirror to soften the harsh angles)
- Add a nightstand & table lamp (here’s hoping we actually get around to this one)
- Put something on the empty bookcase between the bathroom door and the bedroom door (which will eventually be switched out for a proper dresser that we can use to store a ton of stuff)
- Wash and hem the curtains
As for the room’s layout, we tried about a million different things (bed placed diagonally in the corner, bed on the other window wall, bed centered on the back wall, etc) and this is the configuration that we loved most. Especially once we added in things that we knew we’d be including, like our green headboard (see how we DIYed that here) and our old yellow Pottery Barn rug from the living room (since we’re due to get a rug much bigger than 5 x 8 in there for Karl).
The off-centered, foot-of-the-bed rug placement wasn’t exactly intuitive, but we loved the rug so much with the walls and the bedding that we vowed to make it work. Bringing in those two slipper chairs that used to live in the living room (and squishing them together like a loveseat) helped to make sense of the rug placement and add balance to that side of the room. And once we introduce a night table to the left of the bed we think it’ll look even more balanced and make more sense in the space. Speaking of balance, we can’t wait to hang something above the headboard as we mentioned up in our little bulleted list. It’ll help balance out the window to the left of the bed, and a large round mirror is at the top of our list (for the nice curves it’ll add to a room with so many rectangles and squares).
We also added a $10 white bedskirt from Target to complement all of the existing bedding that we already had from our old guest room (the brown and white blanket is from Bed Bath & Beyond back in the day, the white comforter is from Ikea, the printed pillow cases are from Pottery Barn, the yellow pinwheel pillow is from Target, and the long blue pillow is from TJ Maxx a while back). The bedding isn’t 100% finalized, we just threw everything that we already had on and though it looked kinda fun. Who knows where we’ll end up tomorrow after we finish those last few to-do list items though…
Psst- There’s already been an update and a few of the bedding items have been switched out – check out this post for the room as it looked when our guests arrived.
Oh and the curtains are from Ikea.
They were $39 for two, which makes them $19 a pop. Not bad for extra long 95″ curtains (86″ ones never quite do it for me since I like them hung extra high to make standard ceilings like ours feel taller). Of course I still have to wash and hem them. Ack. And add crown molding above them – but that’ll have to wait a while.
When it comes to the little things, we even switched out the hardware on the closet door from this basic brass pull…
…to this cute lime greeny-yellow one (with oil-rubbed bronze hardware to match our curtain rods) for $1.25 at Hobby Lobby. Oh and speaking of those curtain rods, they’re from Target for just $9.99 a pop.
I’m off to finish those last few items on our to do list (and move things around for the 100th time), but I’ll leave you with this pic of what the room looked like just eight short days ago:
How crazy is that? You’ve come a long way baby.
fd says
i’m loving it and loving seeing how it looks ‘in progress’ – so encouraging for my rather slower decorating endeavours. other than the brown bedding which i understand is now gone, it all looks fab to me, especially the curtains. i love mixes of colours and patterns!
betty in munich says
The progress you guys made in such a few days is just mind boggling! Well done! The teal walls are so pretty. No matter what you get done or not get done on your lists, your guests are very lucky. It looks like a room in a sweet lakeside cottage at a B&B.
My unsolicited advice…the simpler a guest room the better. So don’t sweat it that you don’t have all the perfect furniture and decorations. I often find that people put too much decorative “stuff” in guest rooms anyways and then you don’t have any place to put anything as a guest. So keep surfaces free and what guests really need is:
*place to hang clothes and nice hangers all the same style
*place to put non-hanging clothes like undies/socks
*or a place to keep the suitcase if they aren’t unpacking
*place to hang wet towels after a shower
*place for a glass or bottle of water to take a sip at night
*a nice reading lamp by the bed and some magazines
*place to put toiletries in the bathroom
The chairs for instance although they look nice make it seem a bit cramped if you are coming into the room with 2 suitcases. And if you are keeping the bookshelf in there just as a thought – don’t put any decorations leave it blank and then guests can put folded jeans, sweaters etc plus toiletry bag etc. on it.
Caity says
So I’m drying to know…what happened to Karl’s space? I loved all the yellow in his room :) Is he just waiting for a bigger carpet to come along with new pillows?
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, that 5 x 8 rug wasn’t cutting it with such a huge sectional, so we’re on the hunt for a bigger rug and some fun pillows. Rug hunting can take a whole though…
xo,
s
Amy says
Love it!! :) This makes me so anxious to redo our bedroom. Our six month old daughter’s room is the only one that is DONE in my house and the only one I love. I’m aching for some bright colors and will draw lots of inspiration from this room! And I had to laugh when I saw the old showerhead. My parents have the same one and my husband hates taking showers at their house…he says that showerhead just spits at him. Every time we pass the showerheads at Target, he tells me to buy one for my parents.
Monique says
Beautiful room. I’m glad you are trying out more dramatic colors in this home. You’ve pulled the room together nicely. If you’re family didn’t read this blog, the’d be amazed.
Barb says
Somewhere in your pictures I saw a light blue comforter of sorts. Perhaps that will be replacing the brown comforter that everyone was so nasty about.
Sherry and John: YOU CAN”T PLEASE ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME!!
Hope you aren’t upset with all the negative comments. As you said, as long as you are happy….that is all that counts.
So, carry on….have a blast with the “parents” and may they spoil that bambino the entire time they are there!!!
Oh yeah, remember I am the one that keeps telling you to have lots of wine ready!!! Hope you have it “chillin’ and breathing”.
Happy Trails
YoungHouseLove says
Nope, we’re not upset at all. Just excited to get the pics of the room as it looks now uploaded since there have been a few fun changes!
xo,
s
Kim says
I know you’ve made changes, but I actually like the brown blanket with the teal walls. I think the colors of the pillows and headboard as well as curtains are what wasn’t working. So if those were changed, or everything else was changed to work with the pillows and headboard, it would work. I like the fun-ness of it, though. Makes me want to have fun with color and pattern. I like seeing the work in progress-I think we learn more from mistakes than what works. Great design lessons for all of us! Thanks!
Nancy Shirley says
Enjoy your guests! Hope you won’t be too tired to have a fun weekend! Funny thing, as a grandma, I know my eyes would only be on Clara anyway! But I am sure they will appreciate your bright and welcoming room!
porterjane says
Paint your chain pulls or change them out. It is quite distracting to me. Room looks great otherwise.
Lori @ Richmond, BABY! says
Super cute…love it! You guys rock!
Debbie says
I love all the colors and patterns! Someone mentioned Sarah Richardson and I agree—love her style and yours! Do what you love and you’ll always be happy. I like to walk into a room and feel like I know someone and I feel like I know you guys! :)
Allison says
Don’t you love that Hobby Lobby has a whole isle of cheap adorable knobs? When it opened on Broad I literally screamed out when I saw it for the firs time and scared my husband (this also happened with the addition of Home Goods : ) ). I got some great brushed nickle truck and airplane knobs for our future baby boy’s dresser that I am in the process of painting.
Every thought of doing a local meet and greet? I am sure there are plenty of locals that would love to meet you guys!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha that’s so funny. I had the exact same reaction when I saw Hobby Lobby and HomeGoods! As for a local meet & greet, it sounds like lots of fun. We’d love to go shopping with the locals (maybe we should meet at HomeGoods and make our way over to Hobby Lobby- haha).
xo,
s
Corie says
Overall, I like it! It’s cheerful!
Denise says
John & Sherry,
This is such a fun and whimsical room! It reads “color outside the lines” and “happy home” to me. Thank you for allowing your readers to follow along and enjoy the ride as you experiment with design choices in your new home.
Gotta say, Clara is so darn cute (Burger, too)! Your family is going to love their visit and the guest room. Enjoy your weekend.
Kelley says
I’m loving it! Such a fun room! Which I totally think a guest bedroom should be. In what other room in your house can you get away with such fun?
Sarah says
Love it! Glad the brown blanket is gone though. ;)
Jenn(ifer) @ heim-elich says
maybee one of these will be a nice addition on the wall side of the bed, as a tiny nightstand:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50103618
(I absolutely agree on being able to exit the bed on both sides)
As many people before I would also like to say that you are amazing about answering comments and all the questions – especially those many times when I fell like: just read the post (or search through the blog a little) when i read the question…
Even though I too didn’t love the room I think you are doing an awesome job in such a short time and can’t wait for the updated pictures!
PS: my husband was absolutely against a white kitchen, but with the suggestions of you wall colour I was able to convince him, yeah ;)
Gina@ Temporary Nest says
Um I love it so much. Its BRAVE and bold and I love the color couplings. I think those pottery barn pillows really tie the whole thing together. And I want those curtains so bad I can taste it. YAY GREAT JOB!
Heidi S. says
Can’t wait to see the “final” version! I think the wall color is BEAUTIFUL and I like the curtains with the wall color. I agree that the brown blanket may be throwing things off a bit. It will also be nice to see some art on the walls.
Areader says
I think you two have so much class, with your responses and attitude.
You have done such a large amount in such a short time, with everything in the house.
Your job is anything but eating bon-bons. You never get a moments peace from this full time job of yours.
Don’t quit posting the process, that is the best part. You’re right that making your house a home is a process and should be enjoyed along the way.
Thanks so much for sharing your journey, and keep up the good work.
Robin W says
So funny – I just picked out a similar Teal for my kitchen. I’m wondering if you kept the ceiling white, or went with a white with a tint of blue to minimize contrast with the teal walls – this is my current dilemma.
YoungHouseLove says
The ceiling is white and it looks pretty good. We do hope to add glossy white crown molding someday though- just to finish things off.
xo,
s
Justine Wicks says
I just want to say that I think you guys did a great job. I loved your old house and but this bedroom blows the other away:) The color is so dreamy and i love the “looks like everything has a story even though some of it is from target” look… way cute:) And I LOVE the curtains!!!
P.S I just want to say I am loving your attitude- you just listen people’s criticism and let roll right off! Not to sound too nineties but ” You go girl!” :)
@christinamdick says
Hi there. This looks great! Where did you find the rug and the pillow on the chairs? I think they are adorable!
YoungHouseLove says
The pillows were from Target (the Dwell collection) and the rug was from Pottery Barn but they no longer sell it, so maybe try ebay? The chairs are from Target (called Dolce Lounge Chairs). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jennie says
I love your guest room “before” (brown blanket included!) and after. It such a bright, cheery, visually interesting room. I am surprised by the negative commentary from some readers (after all it is YOUR room!) but I love how you always maintain your positivity in responding. Thank you for reminding everyone that we all have different taste in decorating. Personally, I visit your blog because I want to see your great ideas in action and read your interesting entries, not because I want to advise you.
I love how the two of you are always finding new and exciting ways to trim out your rooms. Your new house demonstrates an evolving aesthetic and I am enjoying every new post. I think your guests will love spending time in this room … if they can peel themselves away from Clara, that is! Great work – so lovely.
Kimberly says
Love the colors! I have never be brave enough to paint a room that deep of a color, however this is definitely inspiring!
Claire @ Claire K Creations says
Wow! You guys are so speedy. I love how it’s all come together and I especially love the curtains. What a bargain.
Can you share the final cost of putting the room together when you’re finished please?
YoungHouseLove says
Sure, if you check the post after this one of the full reveal here:
https://www.younghouselove.com/2011/02/the-guest-room-done-for-now/
… you’llscums a full budget breakdown. Thanks to using a lot of things that we already had it was really affordable!
xo,
s
SBE79 says
First time reading comments- you guys are SO patient! Kudos. I’d be annoyed. Anyway, I love your use of what you’ve got, and how you still do cute stuff on a budget. I love mixing patterns! And adding vintage helps give the room texture, instead of a bunch of new stuff which can feel predictable. Some family photos would do well in this room. Cheers
jja says
It is great place to stay!
Jessi says
Saw this pillow in a catalog today and it made me think of this room. http://www.crateandbarrel.com/decorating-and-accessories/decorative-pillows/greta-20%22-pillow/s152393
Hope your visit with your family goes great! Don’t let them take Clara! :D
YoungHouseLove says
So cute! Thanks for sharing the link. Off to make sure mom didn’t steal Clara yet…
xo,
s
Ruth says
It looks beautiful!
Erin says
Just wondering if you know if there is anywhere I can look to get the curtains from your guest room? I looked on ikea.com and am so disappointed that they no longer have them on there/ :(
YoungHouseLove says
Us too. Our suggestion would be to try eBay, Amazon or craigslist. Sometimes used sets come up on there. Fingers crossed for ya!
-John