The Guest Room

Sweetness...pure and simple sweetness.

And now to break away for a few...prior to MC's grand entrance, I worked like a mad woman, trying to finish this and that...for fear that I might never get to finish a project again...at least not for the next five or so years! (Still not sure if that's realistic...) (And FYI, I THRIVE on projects...I am energized by coming up with an idea and executing!) So...a few weeks prior to little bit's birth, T had some out of town training...and his parents offered to keep MW and T3 for THAT ENTIRE WEEK so I could have some time to myself...WOW! (Thank you grands!!!) It's been about five years since I've been alone in the house like that. No joke.

T and the kids pulled out of the driveway on a Sunday afternoon, by that evening the entire house was clean, the laundry was done and put away, and the dishwasher was running. It was a nice break.

My project list was a mile long and I was convinced I'd get it all done...ha. The guest room was number one. Mom graciously joined me and spent several days doing nothing but PAINTING!!! We painted the walls and trim of both the guest room and the nursery, and Mom took on cleaning and painting the louvered doors that separate the two rooms...YIKES! Quite the project! (Thank you so much, Mom! - It wouldn't have happened without you!)

Anyway...I hit the thrift store in search of a chandelier for another crazy idea I have...didn't find one, but I did find this little chair, it was quite nasty, but loaded with potential!

Note the lovely grey-blue cushion and the nasty foam backing...

stripping it down and sanding...in 100 degree heat!

I sprayed a few coats of primer and paint, did a little re-upholstery work...dug out some buttons from a box T's grandmother had given me...grabbed the fabric from a bag of scraps I'd bought at a garage sale...and wha-la!

Not bad, I'd say!

another little peek.

The curtains...what is now the guest room was the nursery for MW and T3. T built the cornice when I was pregnant with MW...a fresh coat of paint and two lined panels later and wha-la!

Now for the bed/bedding...for MC, and because we wanted room for lots of family and guests, we decided to turn my closet and dressing room into a nursery. T removed the sliding closet doors, knocked out the framing around the closet portion, and went to work transforming. When I saw those sliding doors I knew we could re-purpose them...and after some brainstorming...I decided to upholster them and turn them into a headboard. T sweetly figured out a way to attach them...

foam batting...

the doors atop saw horses...in our living room...(sure beat the 100 degree heat outside!)

Some spray glue, a staple gun, and a little sewing later...and wha-la!

I like it.

Now...regarding the bedding...a very, very generous friend GAVE me an entire bolt of fabric! Which provided for the curtains, headboard, duvet, and the crib bedding (saving that for another post)! So...a lot of pinning and measuring and piping later...I had a duvet cover...

but I still needed a dust ruffle...and I had this crazy vision of a box pleated dust ruffle. Insane. This took me three, very fun days to make. I'm pretty excited with it!

Oh...and I really wanted to raise the mattress so the bed wasn't so low. T (who is SO sweet and encouraging with regard to my million mile long list of ideas and projects) bought a 4x4 - or maybe it was a 6x6...anyway, he cut and drilled custom risers to lift the bed.

I've still got to make shams...one day...

While at the thrift store, I spotted this lamp...which had great potential!

I primed and sprayed and topped it with a linen shade and wha-la!

another sweet little peek!

While Mom was here, she also polished the door hardware...I wish I had some before pictures. It looks SO MUCH better now!!! Thanks, Mom!

Here's the chandelier we bought for the nursery before MW was born...when I find a thrift store version of what I'm looking for, we'll play chandelier swap...and this one will go in MC's nursery...until then, in the guest room it stays.

Just a side view, looking in...

Ok...that sums up the current progress in the guest room.

Little bit slept 4, 5, and then 5 last night! I totally expected her to wake around 8am to feed...and when she didn't, I kept going in the nursery to check on her...now if we can just move those two 5 hour stretches to night hours, we'll be in business!!! Sweet!