I hinted in this post that I was working a wee bit on a much neglected room of late. That room being our guest bedroom/office. As Sarah from Modern Country Style is giving us a linky party to attend with Inspiration as it’s theme, I thought I’d share my inspiration for this room with you and then let you see how I’m getting on with attaining the look I’m after.
But first, I must share my outfit for the party. Considering my post title, I figured red hair, red lippy and a white dress were just the ticket. Fitting, no?
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Now that I’m dressed and looking pretty damn gorgeous if I do say so myself (oh that I was this young, this thin and this stunning but a girl can dream, can’t she?) here’s where the inspiration started…
Viv from Ish and Chi decorated this lovely room for her son.
Now this may seem a bit strange because, well, this is a nursery.
I know, I know, I’m weird.
But look how bright and fresh and clean it looks!
Granted it’s a departure from my normal grey/black/white/olive/mustard/red palette but did you notice? It still actually fits in with my scheme. Red and White baby. Oh yeah.
Part of the reason this room is such a departure is because when we moved into this place, I promised W that I would incorporate his favourite colour in the house colour palette. And part of the reason I made that promise was because before I moved in, I made him obliterate every scrap of the brightest glossiest blue paint that was on every bit of trimwork in that boy’s house. Seriously, the door frames, the chair rail, the rug, the curtains, the sofas – all bright royal blue. By the time I moved in, he’d repainted almost the entire downstairs, donated the sofas, hung new white curtains and stuck the rug in the loft. Have I mentioned how much I love that man?
And now you’re wondering how that ties in with a quite obvious red and white colour scheme aren’t you? Mmhmm, I know, I often tease him that he SAYS his favourite colour is red but I know the truth – it most certainly must be blue because it covered his old place from top to bottom. But no. He assures me it’s red. I have to take his word for it. Therefore, the colour I promised I would incorporate into the house colour palette is most certainly red.
And so the red and white colour scheme for the guestbed/office was born.
Here are some other images I saved for inspiration.
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| Mad beautiful chandelier in an all white room. We’ll come back to that one. |
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| The stripes look grown up and make an incredible statement. |
Unfortunately, my reality looked more like this shortly after our move in date.
Not very inspiring eh? There were stickers and decals on every wall as well as on the closet doors and one wall was painted a very bright berry pink whilst the others were white and pale blue. When we’d viewed it, it was a little girl’s room, bright and colourful with bunting and a multi-coloured chandelier. Once it was stripped of the furniture and accessories, we were left with a bit of a project to breathe some new life into.
The first thing we did was paint it white. The whole room top to bottom got the treatment.
And then I brought in this little baby for £50 from eBay.
Uhhh yeah, in case you couldn’t tell, those are actually little flocked hearts hanging all over the chandelier.
The room just felt like it needed an injection of madness. It was so staid, so white. It needed a punch of colour, a bit of fun. Enter mad beautiful chandelier.
I also changed out the knobs on the closet door (£2.75 each).
And I purchased two prints from Etsy and framed them using some old picture frames I found in the cellar that I spray painted white.
We also hung some Ikea shelving that I’d had in my last place, threw some older bedding on the bed and moved on to the zillion and one projects we had going on and sort of forgot about this room.
Well, we’ve had guests over. Actually in the last 9 months, we’ve had quite a few visitors. And I’ve always been a bit embarrassed about what we were calling our guest bedroom. It was just a bit cold and uninviting despite the changes we’d made.
So this past weekend I decided that I would spend a bit of time and get it looking a little prettier.
Can I just interject, just in case there is any misunderstanding, that this is NOT a ‘big reveal’ post. There is still so very much to do in this room but I just wanted to share with you some of the incredibly cheap and easy little tweaks I’ve made. So we’re clear right? This is NOT a reveal. Don’t get your hopes up. Right then. Ehem.
I bought this rather sad chair from a chap off eBay for £4 and picked it up on Sunday.
I covered the cushion with a fat quarter of cotton fabric I also purchased from eBay for £1.75.
Sanded, primed and painted it white with supplies I already had.
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Not too bad for £5.75, eh?
The pine headboard had to go. But with no money to replace it, I decided it’d get the white treatment as well.
Add a stripey double duvet set from Sainsbury’s that was on clearance for £7 and I ended up with this…
But it still didn’t say THIS IS A GUEST BED ROOM so I decided to add something that did. It involved another go at one of these trays… This time I decided to stop at white.
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| First coat of primer… |
And within the tray I placed a little basket (£1.50) filled with some of those pretty little toiletries you get (free) when you stay at a hotel, a few inexpensive toothbrushes (88p each) in case a guest forgets theirs and a couple of face towels in bright red (79p each).
So now the room looks a little bit more inviting.
As I said, it’s by no means done. That red and white striped walls from my inspiration picture is making me think about getting jiggy with the painters tape and a can of bright red paint (horizontal stripes? vertical? chevron?). Alternatively, I’ve also been keeping my eye out for an equally fabulous wallpaper as what Viv included in her fabulously inspiring nursery. I’ve found, however, it’s been really difficult to find a wallpaper with a true white background. Every time I get a sample, they seem to be more cream or off white and I want this room to be every bit as bright as my inspiration pictures. And so I keep looking.
But for less than £100 for everything, it’s definitely a start. I’ll share the other side of the room which includes the desk, the shelving and the framed prints when I get around to tweaking it… So definitely more to come here.
Make sure you pop on by to Sarah’s fabulous blog, Modern Country Style and see what other bloggers have posted as their inspirations! And let’s hope they don’t all waffle quite as much as I do ;)
And if you want to follow the progress of this room and the rest of the house, make sure you click ‘Follow’ and you too can be one of the beautiful people!
Image credits: 1. this is glamorous; 2-5 Ich & Chi; 6. Unknown; 7. Elle Decor; All remaining images my own.
OMG dahling, I <i>love</i> what you've done with the place! Can I come and stay? <br /><br />Your creative projects turn out fabulous – thrifty chic! <br /><br />Love that little magazine rack and the tray of toiletries – you are so thoughtful. :-)<br /><br />The red and white with the striped bedlinen works beautifully. Can't wait to see what more you do here! <br /><br />Meera xx
Beautiful work. Can I come stay? I have been seeing amazing stencils that would be beautiful on the wall behind the bed. Much less expensive than wallpaper. Now I want to go work on my guestroom. Then you can come stay.<br /><br />Fondly,<br />Glenda
The fact that you don't see this as a 'reveal' shows what amazing style you have. It's a huuuuuuge change from the before. I love what you've done. This is such a great post.<br /><br />Have you thought of going the stencil route? I was never a fan of stencils before but you can get really nice ones now. It might give you the white/red look you want without the faff of finding
Why did I put my name twice? Bizarre….the excitement of your room made me feel all heady for a moment!
omg that chandelier. yes to an injection of madness. yes to getting jiggy with stripes. and a big YES to your creativity and inspiration, woman. loved every moment you highlighted here.<br /><br />now if you'll excuse me, i have a date with excedrin and a tall glass of caffeine.<br /><br />hugs (is this too lame to tack on? prob teetering.)<br /><br />michele
Looks great. I love red and I love that birdie fabric! Stephie x
I'm totally loving your inspiration pictures – nursery photo – so not wierd, it's the concept, like you said the clean freshness. But what I'm loving even more is what you've done. The chandy, the chair, the pictures, I'll come and stay there. I've had red in my home, but not now, and you have me loving it. Thanks for sharing.
Just popped in from Sarah's linky party…love following your inspiration pics to the ''tweeking'' you've done & . It all looks very inviting, love the little touches with the toiletries – sweet! Your guests may never want to leave!! <br />Alison x
I love love love love (how many times can I say that? LOVE) that elephant nursery bedding. Those stripes on the walls are to die for too. Great collection. And your new chair fabric is really cute.
You're welcome anytime babe! :) x
I like it! I love how you have painted and recovered the chair, it looks so good!! And love the chandelier too! We so need to get started on our guest room too – why is it that children stick stickers on everything?? – ours had her name in diamente stickers stuck to the door – took hours to remove!!<br />xx
Aww thank you! Of course you can, everyone is welcome ;)<br /><br />I have considered stencils, it's on the list of possibilities! <br /><br />xxx
Awww thanks darlin, it just seems so unfinished to me right now with the ideas I still have flitting about in my mind!<br /><br />I have considered the stencils, I see some fab ones on US blogs – I need to see if I can get equally beautiful ones here in the UK! It's on the list of possibilities for sure :)<br /><br />Thanks so much for the linky party, so much great inspiration from the
Hahaha thank you my darling!!<br /><br />xoxoxox hugs and kisses and bff!!!! xoxoxox<br /><br />(that's too lame) ;)
Thank you! It's so cute, I wish I'd gotten more ;)
Aww thanks Lisa! I'll be honest, I wondered how I was going to incorporate red because I wasn't such a huge fan myself! The inspiration pics changed my mind and made me realise you can make it look fresh and modern!<br /><br />And you are welcome anytime ;) xxx
Thank you Alison :) xxx
Thanks Jen-ay! :) xxx
Very pretty!
I really like what you have done. Each one of your updates has made a big difference and it looks so fresh.<br /><br />congratulations on your blog. I check out your blog every couple of days and really enjoy reading it and seeing what changes you make. Your style of writing really draws the reader in. Thought you'd like to know.<br /><br />Beautiful room and details.<br /><br />Bianca
I love the red & white stripes in the photo. I have similar stripes in my master bath.I recently devoted a post to stripes-just can't get enough of them.<br /><br />Ann-Marie
Your updates are lovely…I can see where you are going and look forward to seeing more later. Fun, huh? <br />~Pam<br />pamspaintparlor.typepad.com
I love the red and white – nice and fresh and updated. I'd definitely be willing to stay there.
Thank you so much, Bianca, for your lovely comments! You've gone and made me blush now ;) xxx
Wow, incredible changes! That red chandelier is out of this world. Really makes a statement in the room. <br /><br />Hope you have a wonderful Monday!<br />B.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thatgirlinpearls.com/" rel="nofollow">That Girl in Pearls</a>
You have a beautiful blog. I am your newest follower. Hope to see you at My Dream Canvas:-)
Oh, those Etsy prints are pure perfection and absolute bliss!<br /><br />Leigha
The chandelier is so cool, I love it. I love the stripey bedspread too. I used to have the same doorknobs, but in pink. The chair makeover is great. Looking good.
ooh yes, love that combo, so chic and fun!!
fab, im loving all the bargains, looks really good xxx
Soy amante de la decoración!! Y una habitación papel de pared bonito queda muerta. Paso muchas horas leyendo las nuevas posibilidades que existen para decorar nuestro hogar. Ai una web que me gustaría compartir con vosotros ya que tiene diseños muy bonitos http://goodvinilos.com/es/7-fotomurales
Yo estoy enamorado de cada centímetro de su casa, gracias por compartir! http://goodvinilos.com/es/8-vinilos-decorativos