The space in question is our guest room and it was just over twelve months ago that I decided a re-do was definitely in order. No longer utilized by its previous teenaged tenants, the bubblegum pink walls, chocolate brown accents and funky mod decor that delighted my stepdaughters was not exactly in sync with my own design sensibilities, to put it mildly. I preferred that the room reflect the look of the rest of our home, being a somewhat traditional but also slightly transitional design, mixed with a dose of classic cottage style.
Unfortunately, my Pottery Barn taste is severely hampered by my KMart budget. Nonetheless, I set out a year ago to redecorate our guest room. I cleared the room and felt inspired. I am an HGTV addict, so I know how to go about such projects and I told my husband the room would be done in a couple weekends, give or take. Turns out, my timeline was a tad overly optimistic. A year later, at least the room is close to done.
The obvious initial fix for the room was paint, always a cheap way to transform any space. However, contrary to all the design authorities out there, I will never call painting "easy", because I frankly find it to be a royal pain in the ass. In my situation, repainting is also not "quick", primarily because I pick paint as if I'm choosing my last meal. Deciding upon the wall tint for the guest room was a prolonged process involving much indecision and agonizing scrutiny of a pile of paint samples I had toted home.
After the room sat bare for a couple weeks, I finally ordered up some paint, and got the walls done in a long but tedious weekend, slathering the existing pink paint with a gorgeous taupe shade. The end result was a perfect color...light enough to be cool and soothing in summer, but just dark enough to be warm and comforting in winter.
I was thrilled...game on! My plan, and a good one, was to use the existing brown velvet drapes and valances, which would be gorgeous against the taupe wall color. A quick change of bedding and - voila! - the room should essentially be done, more or less on time.
Unfortunately, after seeing the room empty, we came to the unavoidable conclusion that the carpeting was totally trashed. Stained beyond repair by grease, food, drink, mud, dirt and all the other assorted grunge that a trio of teen girls and a tribe of their friends had tracked in over time, the carpeting had to go. Another month passed while I obsessed over those ridiculously small pieces of carpet on sample boards and, once a color was picked, there was still the major problem of paying for a room of carpet. Flooring was certainly not in the original design budget, but a timely income tax refund thankfully solved that problem a week or so later.
With new paint and carpet finally in place, the room was now ready to decorate and I figured that I could get it finished in no time. Inspired by photos in several design magazines and catalogs, I decided that bedding in a bright, almost chartreuse, green would look very fresh against the taupe walls and deep brown drapes, although I realized I may tire of the bold color in a couple of years. Couple of years? Try a couple of days. The comforter and shams I had purchased went back to the store within a week, and I went back to the drawing board in terms of bedding.
Another color inspiration finally struck a couple months later while I was aimlessly tooling through Walmart. There, a display showed a rich paprika red coverlet with deep brown accents. I already possessed the brown drapes, and the deep red looked great mixed with the chocolate color. A sale enabled me to get a coverlet, shams, and two mix and match throw pillows for around 75 bucks, a total steal. (Thank you, Sam Walton, wherever you are.)
After the bedding delay, I thought the makeover was back on track, until I went looking for a light fixture to replace the dated white ceiling fan in the room. Initially, I desired a chandelier, but each one I found was either too big, or too small, or too expensive, or not the right finish. Feeling a bit like the Goldilocks of home decorating, I continued my search for a lighting fixture that would be just right. I finally found a period-style ceiling fixture in antique bronze with an alabaster glass shade at a great price (which, for me, meant under fifty dollars). Let there be light!
With that dilemma solved, another one quickly took its place. The white painted wood furniture previously in the room looked just awful with the new color scheme, and so I informed Scott that we needed to purchase a new piece or two in the deep stained wood tone I was envisioning. That idea was immediately shot down on the basis of budget (or lack thereof). Thankfully, I recalled that an old rattan writing desk and chair of mine was gathering dust in my mother's basement. When I went to retrieve the desk, I began eyeballing the dining room furniture that was also being stored at chez mom. Necessity is definitely the mother of invention, and it occurred to me that I could use a dining room sideboard in lieu of a dresser, since storage was not an issue in the guest room. Another design issue resolved, albeit half a year into my "quick" room makeover.
Accessorizing took another six months. (Insert heavy sigh here.) Small but critical, accessories can add up quickly in cost, and I was forced to shop for mine over time, looking for bargains to help decorate the space. A lamp on clearance at Lowe's was my first buy.
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