Hi, friends! Since we are getting to know one another better - I want to share a big part of my life with you...our home! If you have been reading along, you already know that we have a very old home, and that we've done a ton of work to it in the past 8 years. You may also recall that we live in a duplex - we have the downstairs and also part of the upstairs. So in our portion of the house, we have 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, sun porch and an office. I'd like to take you through these rooms one by one so you can get to know us and our style a little better. So, to kick off the home tour - today I am sharing our guest room with you!
To be completely honest, I sort of picked this room first because I'm really happy with it! We redecorated the room nearly two years ago, so compared to some other rooms, it's relatively new, and a huge improvement compared to what it used to look like. The room before was just bad. It was where all of our furniture and decor went to die, I swear. This resulted in a sort of mismatched design, and furniture that didn't fit quite right. Some elements of the room were actually things I wanted in there, but after having them for a while, we outgrew the style. Side note - I'm so glad I don't have any photographic evidence of the former guest room that I would be both embarrassed and compelled to share!
Given the too chunky furniture we had in the room previously, I knew I wanted to carefully avoid over-crowding the room when we redecorated. The simple furniture now includes a queen bed (which I'm told is comfortable), one nightstand, a plant stand, a chair, and a dresser that is actually mine (it won't fit in our bedroom). This leaves a decent amount of floor space for our guests to put their bags and such. Given that the previous look was a little chaotic (in my opinion), I also knew I wanted a very calm and soothing space for our guests to relax in. We stuck with a pretty neutral color palette, including a gray upholstered headboard and mostly white bedding.
The nightstand was given to me by my dad after we found it in the house he grew up in. The clean lines and perfectly worn edges were love at first sight for me. But man is it heavy! I try to avoid moving it too often...
I bought the blue books at an estate sale for 25 cents each! I decorate with a lot of books around our home. They are affordable, look great, and are always the perfect height once you start stacking! Oh look, another book...
More info coming soon on these cactus "prints"!
On the wall facing the bed is a large piece of art that my brother gave to me just because I asked nicely. He found this in a thrift store several years ago. I just love it in this space - hopefully he never wants it back!
At the end of the bed sits one of my most prized thrifting treasures to date. I don't recall how much I paid for this mid century chair but I think it was around $100. Such a steal! Literally one of the best days of my life, which maybe I shouldn't admit to other people! After new cushions and upholstery - it truly is one of my favorite pieces of furniture. I mean come on, isn't she beautiful?!
As I mentioned, my dresser is in the room. I try to keep it tidy and without too much clutter on top to leave room for our guests to use. Just a few accessories on top of the dresser, and a round mirror to reflect the natural light in the room. This room gets some of the best natural light in our entire house! We have simple sheers on the windows and pale gray walls to take full advantage of the light.
Another side note - my husband loves to fish. He owns a fishing charter business on Lake Ontario, and also loves to fish for fun. Needless to say, we have a lot of fishing books around the house - including the one you see above. Now I don't expect our guests to read the book, it just happens to be the right color for the room!
I recently bought this super cute cactus trinket dish at Target for $3! I think it's so fun, and a great place for guests to put jewelry and other small items. My sister and I were shopping together that day, and we both just had to get it. Thank you Dollar Spot!
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our guest room! Two years ago, we set out to create a calm, relaxing space for our guests, and I hope we have achieved that! The room really hasn't changed much since, other than swapping out some accessories here and there.
Full sources coming soon, including a few ways I saved money while decorating this space!