We recently finished up a mini makeover remodel of our guest room.
- Paint the walls, ceiling, and trim
- New crown molding
- New custom made window valances (made by me!)
- New window blinds
- Replaced the door hardware
- Slipcover for the chair
- New bed (headboard & footboard)
- Art
Way Before
The way it was, before we purchased the house. Builders beige carpet & paint everywhere. All fixtures (lighting, doorknobs, cabinet pulls, etc.) were all brass.
Before
A few years ago, we painted the room a bright blue with a faux glaze to give it some texture. The color was a bit overwhelming. Notice that we also carried the paint up onto the ceiling to give it a fake tray ceiling look. The armoire was big and bulky, and hid the large 27″ CRT TV. It was time for all of that to go. We sold the TV. We still need to sell the armoire.
Paint
We painted the walls and ceiling. Color: Dovetail, from Sherwin Williams. It took 2 gallons of primer and 5 gallons of paint to cover the blue and get into all the nooks and crannies of the textured walls.
We painted the trim as well. Color: Ultra Pure White, from Home Depot (Behr)
Crown Molding
We purchased the crown molding and painted it. I then had my contractor Mark install it. I then puttied the nail holes and touched up the paint.
Its amazing to me how much crown molding changes the look of a room. The molding itself was $140. Mark charged us $125 to install it. $265 total (not including paint). To me, that’s pretty cheap to radically change the look and feel of a room.
64 feet of 5 inch crown molding. Painted, and ready to be installed:
installed:
The contrast of the white against the gray paint really make them pop.
Blinds
I also installed faux wood blinds, as you can see. Custom cut to your size, free of charge, at Lowe’s. Typically they come with more slats than you need. Its easy to remove the extra slats, and that gives it a cleaner look when the blinds are down.
Window Valances
I built valances for the two windows. Super easy. Build a 3/4 box using 1×6 pine. I then use 3″ crown on the top, and 1/4 round molding on the bottom. Lots of putty to fill the gaps. Prime and paint. As my Dad says: “Putty and Paint hides the carpenter that I ain’t.” They really “class” up the windows. Again, molding makes a big difference. And the contrast of the white against the gray paint really make them pop.
Slipcovers
We already had a chair (technically a chair and a half), and the ottoman. Their flowered pattern didn’t work with the room, but a simple slipcover does the trick.
Slipcover for the chair and ottoman, purchased from Stretch and Cover:
Bed
A new bed (headboard, footboard,and side rails). Purchased from Big Lots. The bed is normally $200, but we signed up to their Buzz Club, and got a 20% coupon, bringing the price down to $160. Cheap! Perfect for a guest room.
Art
We took some of our vacation pictures, saved them as Black & White, and had them printed using RitzPix. I upload the photos, and they’re ready for pickup in an hour. Prints are only 6 cents each on Tuesday & Wednesday.
We purchased frames from Aaron Brothers, and used the 40% off coupons that show up in the Sunday paper every week (also available on their website and by following them on Twitter).
A large picture of my niece and nephew looks perfect in this room:
Other Furniture & Accessories
We already had a dresser, two nightstands, the lamps with white shades, and the vase with lilies.
I also replaced the old brass doorknobs with simple nickel finished ones.
Makeover Complete
We’re thrilled with how the room looks now. It’s clean, simple, and sophisticated. And besides installing the crown molding, we did it all ourselves.
