The guest room/office has been one of my least favorite rooms in the house since we moved in. I painted it almost right away which helped a lot, but I was constantly moving furniture around and reorganizing and then letting it become a huge mess again. I couldn't ever figure out how I wanted it to be, and I couldn't for the life of me keep it organized/picked up. It was a little embarrassing to have people stay in there with piles of unfiled paperwork and such scattered throughout.
We set up the room initially, and then I moved it all around one day for no reason, and then last year we got a treadmill and we rearranged the room for a second time to move that big boy in...and then I spent all winter, spring, and summer walking on that treadmill and staring at this room that was constantly a mess and that I did. not. like. trying to figure out how to move it all once and for all. I really wanted to figure out what made sense for this dumb room and then be done with it forever. Not a band-aide, not a temporary fix that would inevitably annoy me two months later, but a real fix that would be easily maintained and would look good. I wanted a welcoming place for guests that functions as an office (let's call it what it is: a place to store our family's excessive amount of documents), and that doesn't make me sad when I'm working out staring at it all.
First thing first: the documents. I had been using a small filing cabinet with one drawer and a handful of very general, nonspecific files. This just didn't work for both of those reasons: it was way too small and also wasn't nearly specific enough. When I'd have a bill or an insurance form or receipt that needed to be kept, I'd stare at the six files and wonder what the heck I should do with this piece of paper. So I bought two large plastic filing boxes from WalMart, took all of the pieces of paper our family currently owns and spread them all out on the floor, and spent exactly one evening reorganizing them all. I was as specific as possible (ex: instead of one file called "Medical," I have a file for each member of our family's medical information for each year, as well as separate files for special medical instances like JTs accident and my Birthing Inn stay). I made all new files and all new labels and it looks beautiful and clean and organized like whoa. A couple of times since then, a new document has come in and/or the need for a new file, and I've just made one and called it a day. It doesn't sit around for months until I see it and wonder what on earth that piece of paper is for. It's just filed and gone. It's amazing, and I love it.
Now for the good part. The cosmetic part of the guest room makeover.
I decided to leave the dark grey wall color, which turned out to be an awesome idea. I'm contemplating using the same/a very similar color in our master bedroom someday. Instead we switched out the bright green curtains (the color of that pillow on the bed) for white ones. I got rid of the bulky IKEA Lack table that was being used as a nightstand - waaay too big a footprint - for a collection of narrow end tables and barstools working as nightstands on either side of the bed. The addition of a $25 Goodwill headboard dramatically changed the bed, and whenever we get around to figuring out how to attach the matching footboard I'm sure it will have even more of an effect.
The large basket to the right of the bed stores a queen size extra blanket and the small white basket under one of the nightstand tables has extra phone chargers.
I wanted to change up and add to the art in this room, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on anything in this room (more on that in a minute). So I bought the fruits and veggies poster from The Lady Jane in Harrisonburg, but made the rest.
I've always had two identical desks in this room, pushed together to either make one long desk or a big square table. Both layouts worked really well, but just took up so much space in this room. If I spent a lot of time working at the desk I might justify having the extra surface space, but since it rarely/never happens right now, it made a lot more sense to move one to the basement and save the real estate. I love the change it made. That plus the addition of my great-grandfather's old office chair makes this desk a fashion statement rather than just something taking up space. I love how this corner came together.
The treadmill is huge and imposing and really tries to dominate the room, which is why I had such a challenge initially. I didn't want the room - and our guests - to feel like they were sharing the room with my exercise equipment...I wanted the treadmill to be more of a hidden afterthought in the room. I think that came as close as possible to happening by putting it in this corner. It kind of blends in and doesn't dominate the room, and I have a great view when I'm working out. I have a charger for the iPad, my sneakers, some washcloths to...um...dry myself off with, and a yoga mat hidden on the other side of the treadmill too.
I didn't want the wall space around the treadmill to go completely wasted, though, so I made some art using two of my favorite motivational lines. Thanks, Tay Sway and also original Rocky movie. I owe all my treadmill motivation to you. (For those who are curious, those are just normal mats wrapped with beautiful fabric.
This chair was one of my family's dining room chairs for most of my life. My parents bought a dining room table when they were first married with four matching chairs, but there were six of us so for about fifteen-eighteen years we had four matching chairs, this chair, and a metal office chair. Looking back now, it's kind of bizarre but equally awesome. Somehow I inherited this chair (it wasn't even mine growing up, it was my sister's I think), and since I don't currently have a need for it at a table, I figured it should hold some of JT's old space textbooks and a plant.
The half bath in our guest room is still dated as ever, and honestly probably will be for many years. It's ugly and weird (who puts laminate tile on the walls, really?), but it's so handy and so cool to have a half bath in your guest room so I love it anyway. And who even notices laminate tile walls when you have an adorable picture of 10 month old Charlotte in a sunflower frame? (Thanks for the frame and the welcome sign, Grandma!)
And that's it! I don't really have before photos of this room which is ridiculous (and, I feel, a problem I've repeated multiple times), but you'll have to take my word for it that the change is dramatic. What was once an awkward, messy, confusing room has become a breath of fresh air that relaxing for both guests and me during my workouts. Now I look at this room and wonder how I can incorporate this light, airy, relaxing vibe into our master bedroom. One more look from the doorway:
I mentioned that I wanted to spend as little as possible on this. I wasn't looking for a major renovation, and it wasn't needed. Just a couple of intentional, though-out changes that had a huge impact. Here's the breakdown of everything in the room:
Things we bought:
- new curtains: from IKEA, I believe they were about $10 a pair
- curtain tie-backs: from WalMart, about $10 a pair
- frames for all new artwork, all from IKEA
- yellow barstool: from a thrift store, $15
- headboard/footboard for bed: from Goodwill, $25
- new rug for under office chair: from WalMart, about $20
- the faux magnolia branch and flower: from WalMart, about $3
- fruits and veggies poster: from The Lady Jane, about $15
- the small hook the poster hangs on: from Hobby Lobby, about $1.50
- the "hello" pillow on the bed: $15
- small table and other barstool used as nightstands: both from my aunt and uncle's garage (one has my aunt's high school's crest engraved on it!)
- desk chair: my great-grandfather's office chair, from my aunt and uncle's garage
- all other artwork: made by me
- the rug under the treadmill
- the basket holding the extra blanket for guests
- the extra blanket for guests
- all bedding on the bed
- the bed itself
- the desk and small filing cabinet, printer, etc
- the decorative chair, space textbooks, and plant
- the green pillow on the bed
Tomorrow I'll share the main bathroom makeover we did back in November.
No comments:
Post a Comment