Guest Bedroom Revealed (and always vacant!)

Just to be clear, this isn't a reveal that I've been teasing or leading up to recently. And it's not all that impressive, to be honest. It just happens to be one of the few (or should I say only) rooms in our house that is basically done. It's not mid-renovation, and it's not used for storage like a couple of our other extra bedrooms. 

Ironically enough, this guest room also rarely gets seen. The door is generally closed, and we don't often have overnight guests. Go figure! So this is my way of proving that we do actually have a decent looking room in our house.

If you're interested in the gradual transformation of this guest room, or some of the DIY projects seen in the photos below, check out these posts:

• Painting the walls
• Painting the old furniture
• DIY ombre canvas artwork
• Shower curtain turned window curtain
• Fabric lamp revamp
• DIY mercury glass vase

There's somewhat of an intended theme as far as the calming blue/gray colors and some coastal accents, but I've also collected some miscellaneous decor pieces here that just don't have a home anywhere else.

Wall color is Valspar Metropolis

Going Paperless: A Window Treatment Transformation

For the past five years, I’ve been on a mission to destroy all of the temporary paper shades that we put up to cover the windows when we first moved in our house. It’s been a slow process because A) I just don’t want to spend a lot of money; and B) some of our windows are odd sizes which makes it a bit tricky. But so far I’ve gotten through our living room and master bedroom, and this past weekend I finally de-papered the guest bedroom.

Close-up of the shade in all its pleated, papery glory

This particular window is about 45” wide by 46” high. Based on my experience, I hadn’t seen any window treatments to fit those dimensions, and I wasn't going to pay to custom order something. So I was going to have to get creative. There's definitely no shortage of DIY curtains on Pinterest, from drop cloth curtains to tablecloth curtains to no-sew roman shades.

Fabulous Fabric Lamp Revamp

This little garage sale treasure has been sitting on a night stand in our guest room for a couple of years now. I think I bought it for a whopping $2. I like the base just fine, but the ugly shade has been begging for a facelift.

During a recent trip to Hancock Fabrics, I spotted some clearance fabric with a fabulous print in the remnants bin. It was $4 for two yards, so I snatched it up.

I wasn’t quite sure of the best way to cover the shade, so I basically just rolled it up in the fabric and cut along the top and bottom outline, leaving about 1” extra.

DIY "Ombre" Canvas Artwork - ScotchBlue Painting Party

Let's face it, Mondays usually suck. But I've actually been looking forward to this Monday, because I'm part of today’s ScotchBlue Painting Party! Here’s the low-down: A group of DIY bloggers (including moi) all completed projects with the help of ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape with Edge-Lock Paint Line Protector. Now we’re sharing our projects with you to give you ideas and inspiration. Before I go any further, please do make sure to check out all the other fantastic ladies participating in this party... after you're done here, of course! ;)

1. Wendy @ The Shabby Nest

2. Anna @ Take the Side Street
3. Amanda @ Little House on the Corner *You are here!*
4. Rachael @ Lovely Crafty Home *Continue to this blog next!*
5. Stacey @ A Sort of Fairytale

And as a shameless bribe additional incentive for sticking it out through my lengthy post, there’s a GIVEAWAY at the end for you! Three lucky ducks will win their own roll of ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape with Edge-Lock Paint Line Protector. Details to follow, but in the meantime, let’s get this party started!

I contemplated for weeks (yes, really) on what project I should use my tape for. I thought about painting an accent wall in our living room, but couldn’t decide exactly what color(s), so I’ll save that for another time.

Then I started thinking about other bare walls in our house, like the one in the guest bedroom. Don’t ask me why I'm putting so much effort into this room, since no one sees it that often, but it looks so much better after last year’s makeover that I might as well add the finishing touch with some artwork, right?

So, it was time for more decisions (in case you didn't already know, decision-making is not my strong suit). I’ll spare you all my thought processes that led up to my final idea. I’ve seen a lot of “ombre” projects around the web and really like the effect. Here are a couple different applications (i.e. pretty pictures!):

Exhibit A

Pink Ombre Swirl Cake

Exhibit B

Striped Bathroom via Better Homes and Gardens

Exhibit C

Ombre Lampshade

It was a great opportunity to use my painter’s tape for some stripes (not exactly an original idea, but I’ve never tried it myself). I picked up a 22x28” artist’s canvas at Jo-Ann’s for $12 (on sale). I was about ready to go buy some blue-ish paint, and then remembered that I had a sample of dark teal “oops” paint that I had found for 50 cents at Home Depot awhile back. At the time, I had no idea what to use it for, but now it would come in handy!

I had never painted on canvas before, so I was just hoping that wall paint would be okay to use on it. I decided to do 6 stripes on the canvas and made a small mark on each side at the appropriate width (about 3.6”). My measuring probably wasn’t perfect, but to the naked eye, it seemed pretty even. Then I used the marks as guides to tape off my first stripe, pressing down the edges onto the canvas and around the back of the frame. Time to paint!

Scotchblue painter's tape... The most important part of this ombre artwork.

I brushed on two coats of the teal color to get it nice and even. After it had dried most of the way, I carefully pulled up the tape. There were a few tiny spots that had leaked under onto the blank canvas, but I kind of expected that with this type of surface. It didn’t matter too much anyway, since I was painting another color right next to it.

After the first stripe had fully dried, I taped off my next stripe. For this color, I poured some of the teal into a paper bowl and added a little bit of white (which I also had a sample of). I continued this process with each stripe, but I was by no means precise with my increments of white. I just kind of mixed it until it looked about right, knowing that I wanted the final stripe at the top to be pretty light.

I was also getting really impatient waiting for each stripe to dry, so I eventually wised up and started using the blow dryer to speed up the process. Finally, my stripes were finished! I was pretty proud of myself with how it turned out.

 I'm debating whether I should add some other element to my canvas -- whether painted on or otherwise (any suggestions?). But I don't want to screw up the stripes and not be able to repair the colors, since they were just mixed willy-nilly. In the meantime, I'm pleased with it as is.  

I still needed to hang this baby on the nekkid wall, so I got some Sharks' Tooth Hangers at Hobby Lobby for $1.29 and hammered one of them into top center of the frame. All in all, my artwork cost me under 15 bucks. Whaddaya think?

* GIVEAWAY ALERT*  (This giveaway is now closed to new entries.)
This was a pretty fun project that I would probably do again sometime, in some form or another. Now, aren’t you all inspired to go use some painter’s tape on your own project?? You’re in luck, because three lucky readers will win a roll of ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape with Edge-Lock Paint Line Protector! It's easy to enter:

1) Leave a comment on this post telling me how you'd use your painter's tape.

2) If you want an extra entry, get on your Twitter and tweet the following:
@scotchbluebrand I want #supersharppaintlines for my next project!
Then, leave a separate comment here letting me know you’ve tweeted it.

While you’re at it, make sure you follow @scotchbluebrand on Twitter, and “like” their Facebook page. You’ll get the scoop on the rest of the painting parties and get all sorts of other painter’s tape inspiration that ScotchBlue shares! You'll be amazed at all the creative people and projects out there.

This giveaway will close on Monday, September 19 at 1 p.m. (CST), after which I'll notify the winners (so be sure you leave an e-mail address in your comment!).

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Disclosure: ScotchBlue Brand reached out to me to participate in the ScotchBlue Painting Party to celebrate the launch of their new ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape with Edge-Lock Paint Line Protector. My post represents my honest experience with ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape. I am not being paid for my answers, but I did receive ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape to assist in completion.

Speaking of parties...I'm linking this post up to:
Making Monday Marvelous @ C.R.A.F.T.
Motivate Me Monday
Made By You Monday
Toot Your Horn Tuesday
Get Your Craft On! Tuesday
Show & Tell @ Blue Cricket Design
Whatever Goes Wednesday
Inspired By You Wednesdays
What I Made Wednesday
Link Party @ Cookie Nut Creations
Weekend Bloggy Reading @ Serenity Now

NOTE: Little House on the Corner is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Guest Bedroom: Please, come in

After painting the walls, painting some fugly furniture, rearranging, and tinkering, our guest bedroom is finally open for business! Just to refresh your memory, here’s the before:

The walls were kind of an aqua color, which was fine, but it’s the same color as the other two bedrooms in the house, so I wanted something different. This room was essentially used as a storage room for extra college furniture and odds-and-ends that didn’t have a place anywhere else in the house. Basically, it’s the room that you keep the door closed all the time so no one sees it unless they have to stay there.

One “powder blue” incident and a coat of Valspar Metropolis later, we had a gray room. Much better already! It’s kind of a chameleon gray that has a bluish tinge in certain lighting. I think it’s a very calm, soothing color. Perfect for a guest room, right?

And now, I present to you the done-enough-for-now after:

I bought the dark gray “blackout” curtain for the large north window last year, because it gets drafty and also lets a lot of light in. Now the room stays nice and dark in the mornings, although I don’t know if it’s really helping that much as an insulator.

Unfortunately, the east window still has the oh-so-lovely “temporary” paper shade – the same kind that currently covers most of the other windows in our house. And yes, we’ve had all these shades for over two years now. Oy…yet another project on the list… but I digress.

I found this queen bedding set on sale at Target for only $65!

I decorated with a few accents, which I either grabbed from other rooms in the house or found at Goodwill/garage sales (more on those some sweet finds some other time). Other than a couple pops of orange and blue, the room is primarily gray and white. Ideally, there would be something on the big empty wall above the dresser, but I haven’t figured that out yet. Maybe it’ll be a DIY art project someday. There is a vanity mirror that attaches to the dresser, but I didn’t like how it looked, so I nixed it. 

Although it’s an eyesore, I kept our old 13" TV in here just so guests have the option of watching a little tube in bed. (Except we only have a few channels on our limited cable, so this is certainly not high up on the amenity list.)

Bedroom budget breakdown:

Wall paint (Valspar Metropolis) - $30

Furniture – free from neighbor

Furniture paint (Valspar Satin White latex enamel and Rustoleum Crystal Clear Gloss) - $20

Bedding from Target - $65

Curtain - $50

Accents – Under $10

Total: About $175

So there you have it! I could spend a lot more time and money decorating in here, but considering we have overnight guests only a handful of times a year, it’s probably not worth the effort right now. The main thing is that I don’t have to keep this room an ugly, hidden secret anymore. In fact, I find myself wandering in here every once in awhile just to gaze around and pat myself on the back.

This is my first major room “re-do” in the house, so I’d love to know what you think. And if you have any other (inexpensive) decorating suggestions, lemme hear ‘em!

Guest Bedroom Re-do: Part II

As I mentioned in my previous post, our guest room re-do was kick-started when we acquired a free bedroom set not long ago from our neighbors who were moving and didn't want to hassle with the furniture. It consisted of a long dresser with a mirror, two nightstands, and a headboard. When they first offered it to us, my initial instinct was Heck no! A) It was pretty fugly not exactly my style, and B) We didn't really NEED any more furniture as far as I was concerned.

But never the ones to turn down free stuff, we said we'd take it off their hands. I soon realized this was my golden opportunity to discover what potential it held. If it turned out well, we could use it in the guest room so we'd actually have a matching set of furniture in there. And if not, well, at least it was free and we hadn't lost much besides time.

The furniture is a laminate, so I really saw no other choice besides to paint it. I had never done anything like that before, so of course I thought it sounded pretty easy. (Naturally, I underestimated how long it would really take.) The first step was removing all the doors/drawers/hardware, which was a time-consuming process in itself.

I thought a spray paint would provide a smoother finish than using a brush, so I bought some Valspar primer and Satin White spray paint. After the first two coats of primer, I started getting impatient with the progress and switched to the actual white paint, which I thought would have better coverage than the primer. Wrong! After two more coats, I soon discovered it was going to take many, many coats and my trigger finger was already sore. I'm not sure if I'm just really bad at spray painting, or if this is normal.

I finally decided to just buy some Valspar Satin White latex enamel and paint it all with a brush. I saw better results this way--despite the brush strokes, which don't bother me too much. Still, it took three thin coats (maybe even four?) to cover the dark laminate sufficiently. Then, I still had to get a small brush to carefully paint in the crevices of all the carvings in the drawers, without getting it all gloppy . This part would have been somewhat fun, actually, except for the fact that I had already been hunched over several hours and this was about the fourth straight night I'd spent painting in the garage... plus a couple of early mornings. I just wanted to get it done.

The hardware on the furniture wasn't exactly my stye either - brassy, gaudy, and ornate. *shudder* But buying all new hardware would have defeated the purpose of keeping this a cheap project, so I decided to get some Valspar metallic silver spray paint instead and see if that would do the trick. And actually, I ended up liking the way it turned out! Plus, I was much more pleased with the way the metallic paint covered vs. the white spray paint.

Finally, I felt that the furniture should have more of a protective coating, so I got some Rust-oleum Painter's Touch Crystal Clear Gloss and brushed a couple of thin coats just on the tops of the dresser and nightstands.

And now, the obligatory sneak preview of the transformed furniture!

I know you can't wait to see the finished room! Don't worry, it will come soon enough.  I'm supposed to let the gloss dry for 48 hours before I can sit anything on it, so that means holding off a little longer on decorating. In the meantime, feel free to let me know if I did anything horribly wrong for my first furniture-painting project. I figure at least it's just for the guest room and it won't get used frequently, so it's okay if it's not perfect. But I'd be happy to take any pointers if there's a next time!

Guest Bedroom Re-do: Part I

I'm baaaa-aaaack!

I don't know about you, but April has flown by! I returned from a business trip to Dallas a couple of weeks ago, and after taking a few days to recuperate, went straight to work on my next project here at home!

The guest bedroom has been on my to-do list for quite some time now, but kept getting bumped further and further down for higher priorities. So far, the only thing I've done to the room is replace the bedsheet that was covering the window with some real curtains. (Please, hold your applause.) A few months ago, I found a pair of suede blackout curtains at Tuesday Morning for $50, which I thought was fairly reasonable. Looking back, though, I probably should have had a more cohesive plan in place for the room before I went out and got curtains. Thankfully, they're just a solid, steely gray color, so I still have plenty of design options.

Due to a couple of recent events (including the acquisition of some free furniture), the guest bedroom project has all of a sudden been put on fast-forward. We also have family coming into town this weekend for a wedding, some of whom will be staying with us. That put me on a tight deadline to get everything done by tomorrow, but I've finally come to the realization that it's just not going to happen. I'm a little bummed, but I want to make sure that I'm happy with the final result and don't make any rash decisions.

With that said, here's the "before" pictures, taken last week. As you can see, we've pretty much used the bedroom as a place to store all our mis-matched college furniture and random crap decor. I would describe the walls as an aqua color, which isn't all that bad except I was getting tired of it.

My master plan for a sophisticated, modern guest room includes:
1) painting the walls gray,
2) adding white furniture,
3) finding a new bedding set, and
4) incorporating accents with bright pops of color (yellow, orange, blue?)

Since I'm not the type who can wait until the room's finally "finished" to post about it, I'll show it in bits and pieces. First on the agenda was painting the walls. Keep in mind that this was our first painting experience in the house. We got a sample of Behr paint called Cool Sky, which looked gray-ish, but ended up being too light. So I figured I'd just pick a darker shade (without trying a sample) and we'd be good to go. That was rookie mistake #1. Once we started painting the walls Denim Light--which also looked gray on the sample card--it appeared to be more blue than anything (I should have known by the name...duh). But we kept going, thinking that maybe it would dry darker and magically look like the color I wanted. Not so. Two gallons and $60 later, we had powder blue walls. D'oh!

I was pretty frustrated (with myself, more than anything), but I really didn't want to paint it again, so I had resigned myself to the fact that I would just change my plan and go with a "beachy" theme instead. But Luke knew I wasn't happy, so he convinced me that we should re-paint it. So, back to Lowe's we went. This time, we got three samples of gray shades and ended up choosing Valspar's Metropolis (bottom swatch).

At first I was a little worried that it would end up TOO dark once it was on all the walls, but I wanted something that would contrast nicely with white furniture, so I took the risk. And I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, although when the natural light shines on it, it still has somewhat of a blue tint. Who knew that finding a good gray would be so hard!! (Okay, so Sara at Russet Street Reno knew! Why didn't I just re-read this post about her dressing room before I painted?!)

Anyway, here's a sneak peek of the new color:

 

In case you're interested, we also decided to try the Shur-Line 2000878 Paint Premium Edger, since it was under $10 and could potentially save us the hassle of taping everything. It took a little practice and occasionally left little blobs that we had to re-touch later. So to be on the safe side, we decided to just use it next to the ceiling and still tape all of the trimwork. But overall, not a bad investment for a few bucks.

Don't tell anyone, but I also left the closet the powder blue color, because I didn't feel like taking the time to repaint it. The door's closed most of the time, and when the light is off it looks like almost the same color as the room anyway. Oh, and just for fun, here's what our living room looked like for most of this week, while we had everything moved out of the guest room.

GAH. I finally got around to moving most of it tonight.

Next up is the furniture makeover, which I'm almost finished with, so stay tuned for Part II!

NOTE: Little House on the Corner is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.