Friday, June 26, 2009

Glorious Guest Room


After a year and four months in this lovely castle we have called home, I have learned one thing. (Well, actually, I have learned a lot, but I am only going to talk about one today. :-) )

 
Home renovations never go as quickly as planned.



One year, three months and seven days ago, I blogged about the spa'oom as we liked to call it. I showed you pictures of what it looked like, and the theN current state, and promised the after pictures "real soon." And now, approximately 440 days later, we are finally finished, and I'm back with pictures. Hey, good things come to those who wait, right?

Here's a refresher of what the room used to look like, taken the day after we closed on the house.


Lots and lots of honey toned wood, grass green carpeting on the floor, on the headboard and on either side of the dresser mirror. Black floral wallpaper, black valances and black blinds. Builtin window seat, dresser and desk on one side, built in bunkbeds on the other.

We knew this room would lend itself to one of the most dramatic makeovers in the house.


Here's how the hideousness became the lovely view you see above. We tore out the awful wallpaper the first week, and the bunkbeds came crashing down shortly thereafter.



Then we let it sit for a while as we discussed decorating ideas for the room. It was lover's idea to go with a black and white theme with just a few pops of color. Now it was time for the serious renovations to begin.

We spackled the walls, sanded down the builtins and tore out the carpet. Once this was accomplished we discovered that: the walls were in decent shape and were drywalled, so that saved us the headache of repairing the plaster. The builtins were not cooperating with being sanded so that we could whitewash them, so we had to come up with a plan B. The wood floor was in pretty rough shape, with paint splatters, scratches and a random skinny section of the floor that was simply MIA.

We decided to simply paint the wood builtins a crisp white, along with the newly patched and sanded walls. That gave us a clean, blank slate for the rest of the room. The dresser drawers became a matte black, set off by white handles. Funny story: Apparently there are no drawer handles to be had in white unless you are willing to get yucky plastic ones. However, some pretty silver pulls and my trusty white spray paint saved the day.

And now I will leave you with some beautiful before and afters... so you can admire all of our hard work ;-)

Before:




After:


Before:




After:




Before:






After:








 
Linked to Metamorphosis Monday. Check out the other transformations!

21 comments:

  1. Wow, it looks so sophisticated now. Great job with the makeover!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Jen, we love it too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. hmm. green carpet on the walls? what a lovely improvement you've made. gotta love a window seat!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love it! The black and white is so gorgeous and elegant. Thanks so much for sending the link our way.

    xo,
    Sherry (& John)
    www.thisyounghouse.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think this is my favorite one yet! it looks fantastic! I really like that white nightstand.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Aw, I am so glad you guys are loving our makeover! It's a great room for guests now. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow-this fabulous!! The built-in looks like an entirely new piece!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Visiting from Nester's Party. This room is fabulous. All I can say is WoW!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful!
    Robin
    All Things Heart and Home

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love your window seat and the black and white. Looks very fresh!

    ReplyDelete
  11. That is ONE AWESOME makeover...great job!

    Alyssa
    lifeoflyssie.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. This was a real challenge,but turned out beautifully! You did a fabulous job on those built ins! The dresser doesn't look like the same thing!! Clean, fresh, and gorgeous! Worth the wait!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow!

    What a change -- and what a lot of work -- I can't see the wallpaper with those bunk beds.

    But the new look is stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  14. wow wow wow, but I'm sure you know how awesome it is! Great reno!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love your tranformation! Stop by for a visit sometime!
    Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  16. Kathy @ Creative Home ExpressionsSeptember 28, 2009 at 5:27 AM

    Love your transformation and the black/white scheme. The built-ins and window seat look fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  17. WOW... big change... looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Now it's very, very elegant! You guys had a real vision.
    Brenda

    ReplyDelete
  19. Love it! The black and white is so elegant... What a wonderful improvement....
    xoxo
    Julie

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow; can't believe the difference!!

    nannykim at spindle cottage

    ReplyDelete
  21. I am in LOVE with this room! If I ever own a house that I can decorate, I'm calling you. And maybe will be offering to fly you to Africa. :0) Do you make house calls?

    ReplyDelete