Malinda’s Guestroom Consultation

One of my readers and another blogger, Malinda, asked me recently to help her with her guestroom. She had moved in this house recently and really didn’t know what to do to finish this room off and give it the warmth and coziness that she wanted in here. So, I checked out all her pics and gave her some ideas on achieving the look she wants for her guests. The bed is dark wood and traditional and there’s nothing wrong with the shape of it, as well as the nightstands that go with it.

But, the hutch on the matching dresser just screams “country” loud and clear, so first thing I suggested was to take the hutch off and add a nice wide mirror in a brown tone above the dresser. This alone will really update the dresser and take away that Colonial feel that she doesn’t want in the room. She wanted to keep the bedding, which I love, so I’m glad she won’t have to replace it. It’s a nice neutral tone on tone in the camel family. She had mentioned maybe painting the walls a soft blue and I love that idea, so I threw out some paint chip colors for her: Rainwashed, Palladian Blue, Wythe Blue, Oyster Bay, these are all beautiful blues, but I suggested she definitely try a few samples out in the space to decide on just the right one.

She’s going to add a pretty dark wicker chair there in the right corner, along with a floor lamp to create a cozy reading nook.

She’s got one large window and one small one, so I suggested she definitely get some panels on those windows to soften things up. And I hope that later, she’ll add some bamboo blinds along with the panels. That will really take it all up a notch.

These burlap fringed beauties from Ballard Designs will be perfect. One pair on each window will really soften up this space and I advised her to get some simple dark iron rods and take them almost to the ceiling to give the windows more height and width. Adding panels will go a long ways towards softening the entire room too. Fabric just has a way of doing that.

The fringed bedskirt from Ballards will be added to the bed, as well as a couple of pretty pillows for the center of the bed, bringing in some of the soft blue that will be on the walls. She’s definitely going to get the burlap panels and bedskirt.

The small round decorator’s table will go and in it’s place, I told her to look for a small chest of some kind that could go in that spot. The collage print above will probably be moved to another room. The 2 longish prints will be moved on either side of the closet space and the 2 smaller prints that are currently above the bed will be moved to the reading nook and placed closer together as a grouping. They should all be moved down some too, as right now they are floating too high.

I love her current glass lamps. They are a great size and shape and she could fill them with shells for something different or keep them empty as they are now.

With some changes in here, this room will really come alive.

(from Elle Decor, July/August 2009)

And this pic above is one that I sent to Malinda to show her the feel her room can have. The email that I got back from her said it all:

I LOVE it all!!!! This is exactly what I was looking for. Direction from someone who knows what they are talking about. I told my husband yesterday afternoon, “You have to get that hutch out of there this weekend.” I plan to make some of these changes in the next few weeks and I’ll email you when I’m done. I definitely want you to help me with a few more rooms. Let me get this one done and I’ll be in touch. Thanks so much. I can’t wait to see what it looks like.

Thank you, Malinda, for letting me work with you on your guestroom. It was so much fun coming up with these ideas and the good thing is, they won’t break the bank, but are very doable on a budget. This was the $50 consultation and Malinda just took my ideas and ran with them.

And for the first time, I’ve actually gotten to see the AFTER pics of a space I helped create. Malinda just posted these on her blog and I can’t wait to share them with you.  Go over and read all her post too for all the details of what else is to come. I advised her not to rush on buying artwork for over the bed or a rug for the floor, so that is still to come.

Isn’t it gorgeous now??  I love the new paint color, Rainwashed, by Sherwin Williams.  It’s the same color I used in my beachy guestroom.

I just love it and the addition of the burlap drapes and bedskirt, really kicks it up a stylish notch.  The bedding was already nice, it just needed some accents.

Beautiful color!

It really looks like a different room now.

Check out the burlap bedskirt, love this little detail. They have some beautiful stained concrete floors in here too, which I’m extremely jealous of. I’d love to do this too in our downstairs rooms.

I thought a striped rug would look rather beachy in here and this is the one she found. So cute!

Malinda personalized her space with some cute accessories, but I cautioned her against TOO much of a beach theme.  This is good!

And while these lamps are cute, I advised her to only keep one of them in here. I love the simplicity of the glass lamps on the nightstands and she already had those.

This little nook really came alive with a wicker chair, floor lamp, and throw.

And last, but not least, this is the big mirror that she found for over the dresser and it’s been painted with an oil rubbed bronze paint.  I just love how it all turned out!

If you have a problem room that you need another opinion on, just click here for details! I’d love to help you out with one of your rooms too.