Guest Bedroom Update

We love having guests visit us.  So when we bought our house 5 years ago, we were anxious to make a welcoming guest bedroom.  Over the past 5 years, the room has been painted 3 times, curtains switched out twice, floors refinished and yet it still lacks the warm welcome I'm hoping for.

Let's start with the beginning.

Here's how the room looked during the inspection (we think this was somebody's art room at one point as well as a sewing room from evidence on the floor):

We refinished the wood floors prior to moving in and then re-purposed Mikey's college futon as our guest bed.  We stacked 2 futon mattresses on top of each other but were always a bit embarrassed at the humble accommodations for our guests. 
After grad school, I did some major purging of stuff in that room.  Here's the chaos:

This fall I decided to get serious about getting the room in tip top shape.  My top priority was getting a new bed.  The room is long but narrow and I wanted to upgrade to a queen size mattress.  So, I started looking online at various stores and blogs for inspiration.  I eventually came up with a color palette and used various "props" to pick a wall color:

Per usual, I was diligent (maybe mildly obsessed) with checking the paint samples in different light levels:

Here's the room all stripped down and ready for some paint:

I got a workout- for both my muscles and patience- painting this room!

Crown Molding: Before

1st coat of primer

2nd coat of primer

Painted Gray Wall and Painted White Trim

Final Touch up!

Someone has a need to be next to her mommy at all times- especially while painting and cleaning- and got a little too close to the wall:

My helpers kept me company while I painted:

I love my peeps!

You may have noticed one of the "props" above being this map:

It was my gift to Mikey for his birthday in September and is a detailed map of the trails, lakes and roads around Lake Superior in our neck of the woods.  It's about 7 feet long and 6 feet wide and he loves it!
The map was the color inspiration for the room and is great conversation piece for our guests.

I'm really happy how the wall color turned out (it's my favorite color in the whole house):

Now that I had the wall color set, it was time to start accessorizing and finally getting a new bed!
We were fortunate over winter break when Mike's parents bought us the mattress when they were up visiting.  I was happy that they were able to be along for testing and picking out the mattress since they will probably get the most use out of it!   Unfortunately, the mattress wasn't delivered until after they left but we've got it set up in the room and ready for their next visit:

We've obviously got some work to do... particularly a bed frame.
Notice how the windows are almost the entire height of the wall?  Well, it creates a bit of a pickle for having a head board that won't block a ton of natural light.  Also, there is virtually no room for bedside tables.  So, I've come to love this bed from CB2: 

bed from CB2

 It will sit lower to the ground and has a nice shelf on the back of the headboard for our guests to put some of their belongings on as well as a lamp or two.

Speaking of lamps, the roll of toilet paper in my "props" photo was meant to mimic this beauty:

table lamp from CB2

 I love how clean it looks and the solid bright white looks classy against the gray wall and dark trim in the room.

I couldn't possibly have a new mattress and frame without new bedding, could I?  I am loving this duvet cover and pillow set:

duvet from west elm

 Funky, no?

With all the modern accessories I've got picked out, the light fixture- which I presume to be the original in this house- has got to be updated.  I love this fixture but also might consider a patterned shade if the room needs a little punch:

ceiling lamp from CB2

 The area of the room where the book shelf currently is needs to be more guest friendly.  I want to bring in some personality to this space and try to mix some vintage pieces with all the modern ones.  For practicality's sake, I'd love this full length mirror:

Full length mirror from Ikea

Ideally, I'd also like to find a vintage little desk for guests to place their belongings along with an artsy stool/seat.  I'm kinda loving this little seat (the table isn't bad either):

In the mean time, we'll utilize the book shelf.

I'm still undecided about a rug, curtains and art work.  I want to get the bed, bedding & lighting in place and then see how bold I want to go with other textiles.  Should be fun!!