Guest Bedroom Face Lift!

When Bryan and I first looked at our house, back in December of 2008, there was one room in particular that left quite an impression.  It was painted in alternating fat stripes of light pink and dark pink, had a large rose-themed wall hanging, and rose curtains to match.

The impression it left?  Absolute hatred!

When we decided to buy the house, we asked that the builder paint the room in the same color as the game room, which they readily did--and did again for the dog-name walls in the library and the damask-pattern walls in the dining room.  The rose-themed wall hanging went in a trash can in Ft. Worth when Victoria decided that she actually did not want it--but the rose curtains remained.

After careful consideration, Bryan and I decided to go with a western-cowboy theme in the guestroom, complete with deer pelts from his past kills.  We put all of our antique pieces in that room.  My great-grandmother's bed (once we bought our king size) and hope chest took up the center, Bryan's great-grandfather's vanity went on the wall next to the closet, and his dresser was stuck awkwardly right inside the door.  There was also a bookshelf to the left of the window, where all of the college textbooks we didn't want to part from reside.

We kept the dark navy blue and white comforter, complete with a dog-caused hole, on the bed.  And, even though they were completely out of place, the rose curtains remained.

This summer, with Victoria's future in-laws coming to stay with us for her shower, I determined to give the guest room a face lift, and Annabelle and Haley decided to keep me company!

The first thing I tried was bumping the bed over and moving the chest of drawers to sit beside the bed on the left.  Even though the dresser is fairly light, it took forever to move because I had to take many, many breaks, and Annabelle was no help at all.

I thought it looked ok, but Bryan hated it (and yelled at me for moving furniture without him while I was on restriction--apparently taking breaks doesn't excuse breaking restrictions--hey, it was a few days after Dr. G first put me on restriction, so I wasn't really thinking about it, and I DID wear my brace.  Now I know better.) 

So, he took over moving the furniture.  The bed was bumped back over a bit, and the hope chest centered.  The bookshelf was de-booked, moved to the dresser's old spot, and rebooked, while the dresser took the bookshelf's place.  

Once the furniture's positioning was agreed upon, I undertook the task of unifying the room's theme and making the space not feel as dark (because of the comforter).  JC Penny's and Hobby Lobby became my best friends!

I bought (on SALE!) a new comforter that, while still incorporating navy blue and a hint of black, also had touches of light blue, white and tan.  In and of itself, it lightened the space.   At Hobby Lobby I found two little stars, and Bryan and I mounted them on the wall on either side of the large star that we were given as a wedding gift.  I also finally bought a lampshade for the lamp and found an awesomely western metal welcome sign to hang on the wall above it.

We tucked the John Wayne picture (who's frame is falling apart) and the vanity mirror (for which we can't find the hardware at the moment) into the future nursery (aka the current junk room).  Don't worry though!  The mirror will eventually get mounted, and, once we get a new frame, John Wayne will grace the wall, along with a framed Texas flag!  

And finally, FINALLY, the rose curtains were replaced with nice light blue tab top buttoned curtains!

So now when guests come to stay, they will come into a unified, light-feeling room, and hopefully feel very, well....

One room (mostly) down, the rest to go!  I think I've found a new hobby! :-D