Guest Bedroom

The guest bedroom was a fun, multi-faceted project where I really started getting into DIY on another level.  In this room I sought to refinish, paint, and re-purpose everything I possibly could not only to save money, but to make it a comfortable and unique room.  In previous years, this room had been used as a makeshift office space when I was running an AIRBNB out of my downstairs office.  With AIRBNB being shut down at the onset of COVID-19 and the need arising to work from home more regularly, I had a need for a functional office and had a lot of spare time.  Once my office had been moved back downstairs to it's rightful home, the upstairs room was open and ready for its' next life.

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The color scheme (or lack thereof) was awful, I mean really awful.  The ceiling was olive green, the walls were wallpaper, wavy-textured plaster, and mustard- yellow (all at once- yikes!).  To top it all off, the floor had improperly sized carpeting stapled to the floor.  Whew- lots to do here.  After doing a thorough cleaning and removing carpeting, I started with paint.  Throughout my home renovation projects, I've always been amazed at the transformation a good coat of paint can make.  In this room, I started with the ceiling- that olive green can be pretty, but it was not working on the ceiling of such a small room.  After several coats of white paint on the ceiling, trim and doors, and a nice light grey on the walls, the room brightened up significantly.  

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Now for the electrical updates.  I had bought my cousin's old chandeliers from her circa 1800's house when she updated her light fixtures, and the smaller one was the perfect size for this room.   I did some light sanding and spray painted it flat black.  After some new light bulbs, it was ready for its' new life in my guest room!  This was my first-ever electrical/wiring project, so I took my time, bought a multi-meter, and shut off the electric for my entire house.  After about an hour of disconnecting and reconnecting wires, I powered the homestead back up and had a beautiful new chandelier.  I also replaced all the receptacles and light switch with new wall plates for a clean look.

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At this point, all that was left was getting some furniture and decor.  Which sounds simple, but was actually quite a big task since I was doing everything myself.  I wanted some deeper wood tones to break up all the white and grey.  This led me to built my own curtain rack with whatever miscellaneous items I had on hand, of course.  I found an appropriately sized (but hideous) board in my basement, some scrap wood, old discarded copper piping, and an ugly coat rack that came with my house and got to work.  By stripping the old, ugly stain off that board I was able to stain it the color I wanted that brought out the beautiful grain.  Then by adding scrap wood as risers for the coat hooks, I could hang the pipe on to serve as a curtain rod.  DIY to the rescue!  Next I added some blinds I bought secondhand and some new curtains and it was good to go.

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For the furniture I used a bed I had in storage, and an old dresser my grandmother gave me to use for some kind of project.  I sanded off the old varnish, painted the base and added some new hardware and it looked like a whole different dresser!  For the rest of the decor in the room, I strived to use things I either had on hand, or were gifted.  The old windows and lamp were something my grandfather had given me, the standing and wall shelves came with my house, and all horse-y decor was given to me as gifts throughout the years.  The pictures were from a professional photo shoot my best friend (Stef) had done of her horses, and any floral items were from the Dollar Tree, and I found all the antique books at a thrift store.

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Not bad for a budget remodel, eh?