The May long weekend symbolizes the kick off to summer and summer means house guests so my project this weekend is to make over the guest room.
The past few months often see the guest room become the dumping ground for stuff that has arrived at home but has yet to find a place. “Oh just put it in the guest room and I’ll deal with it later,” sound familiar? Well later has arrived and before our first summer guest arrives I finally need to deal with all the stuff I’ve put off.
Once you get the room cleared out the fun begins. Start with the bedding. I’m always finding great bedding in my travels so each season generally finds new bedding on my guest room bed. This summer, my guest room is dressed in a cool grey silk duvet and shams with tortoise shell details. The bedding will be your starting point for the makeover.
So with the bedding you’ve chosen in mind, refresh the walls. How about an incredible oversized textured paper on the wall behind the head board? Or patterned stoned tiles? Or a wild shade of paint such as bronze (yummy with the grey) or even an almost black purple?
Speaking of head boards, how is yours? Every bed needs a solid headboard; ensure that the existing one is secured tightly to the wall and or the bed. No one likes a squeaky bed. If you don’t have a head board maybe its time for a little shopping trip, there are an infinite number of fabulous choices out there.
If your old one looks a little dated (perhaps it’s a hand-me-down wood or laminate head board) try a couple of cans of glosssy black spray paint. You may be surprised. A spraying of high gloss black over a frumpy worn out piece can recreate it into a fabulous and chic focal point for the room. Not to mention saving you a few hundred dollars. You may even find one at an estate or garage sale - look at the shape of the headboard and ignore the existing finish.
Before we finish dressing the bed, remember to put an extra blanket at the end of the bed, just in case your guests get cold. I always leave extra pillows in the closet or in a bench at the foot of the bed.
How are the windows? They’ll probably need new dressing to match the new bedding. Hopefully you have a neutral blind on the window for good light control and will simply need to flank the window with a sexy pair of drapery panels and a new rod. Good window coverings are a must as your guests may be arriving with a little jet leg and nothing is worse than not being able to darken a room when you need to sleep in a new time zone.
Ensure that there are good bedside lamps for reading and put the overhead light on a dimmer switch to create ambience in the room. Speaking of reading, I always have a few trashy novels and good magazines in the bedside tables in case any one wants to read in the middle of the night. A water jug and fresh flowers are also thoughtful touches.
Before your guests arrive, place a few drops of pure lavender essential oil on the light bulb to make the room smell fresh and relaxing. I know, now the room looks so good you want to spend the night - not a bad idea. Sleep tight!
