From Granny to Beachy Glam

by Rhoda on November 10, 2008

in Decorating Details

In case you don’t remember what this room looked like before…..well, be ready for a BIG change. If you’re a new reader, you will not know that this all started with a yardsale find…yes, the hazards of yardsaling, when I found a great looking black and white damask king comforter set for $15. That got the ball rolling. There was really nothing wrong with this room, it was comfortable, the colors were pretty, but let’s face it…it was a little granny. I had just used all the bedding and leftover stuff I had in here when we moved in to make it a decent guestroom, but deep down, I wanted CHANGE. And change I got! Feast your eyes on the new beachy glam guestroom.

I’m totally thrilled with how it came out. Now remember, I wasn’t out to change everything in here, I wanted to recycle and use a lot of what I had already, by making some changes to update them for the new vibe I was going for. I’ll do a recap at the end of the post on how much I spent, so you can get an idea of how you can do things on a budget. Most of my new accent additions were yardsale finds that fit right in with my new plan. You’ll have to indulge me…I took a ton of pics. It’s all in the details, right?!
Wall color is Sherwin Williams Rainwashed with another slightly brighter aqua shade colorwashed over the top. You really can’t tell from these pics, but it made it slightly less gray. If you have a room with plenty of light, Rainwashed would be beautiful all by itself. It’s a great color! The damask bedding really makes a nice look in here.
This is a yardsale water color I found last year for $5 that I moved in here. Love the colors in this room.
My grandma’s sewing machine now becomes a side table for the bed. You can see how nice the newly redone lamps look, just as I imagined they would be.
The antique store oil painting fits right in leaning on the sewing machine. That tin planter with the dried arrangement was a yardsale find for $1 & I added the arrangement.
All the books I already had laying around, most of those came from yardsales. Even the aqua cloth is a kitchen linen towel that I’ve had a long time and it worked so well in here.
The newly redone print looks great with the bedding. And you can see my yardsale Staffordshire dogs are a nice addition sitting on the sconces. Those are the sconces I painted and showed you recently.
Large sham came from Steinmart, the 2 middle pillows were both yardsale finds, and the pretty vintage linen monogrammed pillow cover in front came from Grandma Eleanor. She passed it on to me and I had my friend, Lynn, monogram it for me. I love it!
Closeup of the Staffordshire dog, along with a zebra plate from TJ Maxx.
Poppy print and dogs.
Other nightstand on right side of bed with the other lamp and a large seashell. That’s an original Grandma Eleanor oil painting that I rescued from her little cottage.
Nightstand that I’ve had for a long time.
Another bunny yardsale find in the window that you probably remember recently, this one was $5.
And here are all the white mirrors I showed you when I painted them. I finally found a place for my $3 chippy white birdcage I found earlier this year. I love how the mirrors really add some light to this corner.
And painting them all white was the ticket.
This is such a sweet birdcage and I love the reflection in the mirror. Found this Flotaki-like rug at our new Garden Ridge. They were having a rug sale and I got it for $55. I didn’t want to spend much for a new rug and this one feels so good underfoot. In a perfect world, I’d have hardwoods in this room (and every room), but that’s not gonna happen.
Now, you’ll just have to picture this chair with a new linen white slipcover that I’m going to attempt to make myself with the new sewing machine…wish me luck! I’ve got it draped for now, but I can see it! You see the black/white yardsale lampshade that I found for $3 works great in here, as does the $3 pillow.
Since we have this funky ceiling downstairs in this room, I only bought one damask drapery panel from Target and it was $37, shipped right to my door. I got the longer length of 96″, pulled it back with a tassel and I think it works fine. I used an old swing-arm rod that I’ve had forever and added some rings (remember I found those at a yardsale too?) and added an iron fleur de lis finial that I had.
Here’s the Big Lots bench recovered in the black/white zebra fabric.
And you’ll remember this aqua $5 yardsale table that was newly painted, showing off the white shell I picked up on our family vacation, as well as the black/white box that I found last year yardsaling for 50 cents. The candle came from Melissa, a blogger friend here in town, that she got in a doorprize and passed on to me. Works perfect in this room.
This old pot came from Grandma Eleanor’s little house & it was so chippy, I brought it home and added this plant to it.
I’ve hung onto this dresser for 20 years now and thought I would have gotten rid of it a long time ago, but it’s one of those pieces that I just love and will probably always keep. I started to paint it, but since I went light with the walls, I decided the room need the dark furniture to keep the balance going. I may get some fancier pulls one of these days. Those blue starfish came from our Garden Ridge store. That aqua large ceramic finial was a yardsale find from last year.
Complete look at this side of the room.
Two more original Grandma Eleanor oil paintings of the beach that I rescued from the little house. These are perfect in here. I did darken up the frames.
The old dresser. It’s not a fine piece, but I like its character and charm.
Now, in case you were wondering about the bookcase, here in is, just inside the door.
I had fun pulling things from all over to add to these shelves. I didn’t buy much at all for this and had plenty to fill it up..probably too much really, but I am not a minimalist. You can see the aqua bunny bowl and the blue/green bowl that I found at Homegoods. That basket holds my driftwood and some shells from the recent beach trip. Also added some shells to that recent yardsale bottle I found.
Top of bookshelf.
Entire bookshelf.
Closet side of the room. I think guests will be comfortable here, don’t you?
Here are a few closeups of the bookshelves. Found this little bunny oil painting at Tuesday AM.
Driftwood and shells in the basket.
Bunny bowl, bunny plaque, and seashells.
A little greenery with a tag I added to it from Susie Harris (Bienvenue) that she sent me when I won her giveaway. It was a perfect little accent for this planter.
These 2 oils are yardsale finds from Bombay Co. that I found a few years ago. Their color still works in here too.

I really hope you enjoyed this new beachy guestroom tour. I had a great time doing it, as I just love the process of thinking these ideas out and letting the plan come together. I guess you could say I am passionate about design and decorating and if I can make a room look better, then nothing pleases me more. I have no more entire rooms to redo right now, but I’m sure I’ll have some projects and a little tweaking going on (I always dream up new things to do!), but my house is as finished as it can be for the moment. And that’s a good feeling! We do enjoy living here and it’s a very comfortable house, peaceful and serene. Now I know this redo is not a designer’s dream, but I love to show what you can do with a fairly minimal budget.
Here’s a breakdown of what I spent. I really didn’t know how much it was going to be until I sat down and added it up, but it came to just over $400, which I don’t think is too bad.
Damask bedding from yardsale – $15
Rug from Garden Ridge – $55
Bookcase (redone from yardsale) – $68
Bunny Oil – $15
Blue starfish – $6
Bottle oil painting – $9
Lamps (redone from yardsale) – $38
Staffordshire dogs from yardsale – $6
Zebra plates – $8
Poppy print – $7
White fabric for slipcover – $5
Drapery panel from Target – $37
Pillows from yardsale – $7
Sham from Steinmart – $17
Black/white shade from yardsale – $4
Ottoman from Big Lots – $100
Misc. yardsale accessories – $20
Wall Paint – $30
Total = $447
I could have saved even more if I hadn’t bought the zebra ottoman from Big Lots or found that bookcase that I repainted, but I love both of them and wouldn’t change a thing. And you can see how much can be saved just by buying things like accessories and pillows at yardsales.

Thank you all for being such wonderful friends and coming by to spend time with me. That makes my day!
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{ 120 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Diane@A Picture is Worth.... November 11, 2008 at 7:29 pm

Rhoda,
I love reading about your makeovers! You have a wonderful ability to accessorize and pull it all together!

I really love this room…every inch of it!

And the oil paintings done by Grandma Eleanor make it even more special!
Diane

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2 Susie Harris November 11, 2008 at 9:44 pm

Beautiful…and just think it all started with 15.00.hehe

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3 Adventure girl wanna be November 11, 2008 at 11:00 pm

Wow! that is gorgeous. what a transformation.

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4 laurie November 11, 2008 at 11:25 pm

Wow! Amazing! Yes, I think your guests will enjoy it. You may never get rid of them. I’ve enjoyed following you when you found something for the room, and I’m so glad to see how beautifully it all turned out. laurie

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5 sarah @ a beach cottage November 12, 2008 at 4:07 am

evening Rhoda

oh goodness, I can’t believe just how good it is and for that price A M A Z I N G

such a fab transformation from Granny and oh of course just such a wonderful tour, love the pics

sarah

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6 Jillian, Inc November 12, 2008 at 7:19 pm

Everything looks great. You’re amazing!

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7 Linda November 12, 2008 at 8:26 pm

Oh my word! I want to stay in that room! I would never leave….better not give me your address! ha. You have such a flair for color and pairing. Thank you for sharing your gorgeous work!

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8 cityfarmer November 12, 2008 at 9:30 pm

I feel like I was right there…thank you for the lovely peek into your soul

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9 Daisy Cottage November 13, 2008 at 8:52 am

Oh Rhoda!
I love this transformation SO much – you can see that you had fun with it and your artistic side really comes through with your creative touches… it is awesome! I love the rug and bird cage too!!!! Way to go girlfriend!
xo,
Kim

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10 Anonymous November 13, 2008 at 10:19 am

Very pretty, Rhoda! I love the new beachy colors & accessories you have chosen for the new look. I bet your guests will LOVE it too!
Bonnie

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11 Gina @ Six in the Country November 13, 2008 at 10:35 am

How breathtakingly beautiful!!! You are such an inspiration to those of us who don’t have $10,000 to redo a room. It looks like a million bucks!

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12 Lisa November 13, 2008 at 5:37 pm

I could seriously live in this room and NEVER come out! And what a creative thrifty way to achieve this major designer look!! Perfection.

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13 Pattie T. November 14, 2008 at 10:46 pm

OMG! This is just incredible! It has been such fun to watch you acquire each piece and then transform them into this wonderful room. Bravo!

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14 Mrs. Limestone January 23, 2009 at 11:48 am

Looks great. Especially love those little nooks and crannies and how you’ve styled everything beautifully. Really impressive!

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15 Rosie's Whimsy February 1, 2009 at 9:10 pm

You have done a marvelous job! I love the black and white. All your details are so wonderful!

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16 selina March 26, 2009 at 10:45 pm

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Sarah

http://blanket.ws

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17 Kathy@Creative Home Expressions August 3, 2009 at 3:31 pm

Thanks for the link to this, Rhoda! The bookcase looks great! I love the transformation you did here, but I have to tell you that I have that same area rug in your “before” picture in a small den I have (we call it “the kids’ den” where they hang out with friends instead of our great room).

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18 June September 7, 2009 at 9:45 am

Fabulous makeover!

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19 Prissyville September 7, 2009 at 4:38 pm

The black and white theme with a splash of color here and there is way too cute! The little decorative items just adds to the rooms cozy feeling! Nice!

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20 Karen July 5, 2010 at 1:16 pm

Found your website from “Living the Good Life” I never would have thought of black and white as “beachy”, but with the shells and the aqua color it is! Love it!

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