September 19, 2011

Moody Monday: The Guest Bedroom

I’ve been brooding over what room to make a board for since…uh, last Wednesday. Maybe longer. Which is incredibly sad. But I’ve been noticing that it’s somewhat harder to make a mood board when you already have a certain amount of pieces for said room. Take the hallway bath for example; I already have art, linens, hardware, and potential paint colors for it. This is great progress-wise, but the problem board-wise ends up being that nothing that you own can quite be duplicated for the board, especially if you’ve collected it slowly but surely from a hodgepodge of different places (in this case, Macy’s, Joann’s, Etsy, Home Depot…see?).  Such an endeavor can quickly become a frustrating search for similar products, inevitably resulting in madness due to the sheer amount of not-quite-right stuff available on the net (trust me, I tried making a board for two different rooms only to end up with half my hair pulled out of my head—ok, not entirely true, but in spirit it is).
So, today, I had to sit back and think of which rooms I have the least amount of stuff for. Hallway bath—definitely out of the question. Dining room—not really a good option either, considering that I have fabric, curtains, furniture, etc. for it. Master bedroom—possibly, but I’m still not quite ready to go there… Guest bedroom—ah! juuuuust right!
I’ve had definite plans for the guest bedroom ever since I first saw this beaut:

Yes, that’s the YHL guest bedroom. I’m totally addicted to it. The rich walls, the bright linens, the fun colors…be still my heart!
Initially, I had completely intended to duplicate those gorgeous walls, but once we moved into our house, I pretty quickly realized that such a dark color just wasn’t going to fly in our current space. You see, we call the guest bedroom “the Cave” for a reason; it just has kind of a cool, dark feeling in it already, even with the currently light walls. It took me a little while to get over the fact that adding peacock-blue walls to that already shadowy space just wasn’t an option, and since then I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what would work in that space.
Well, I may have had to let go of my dark wall idea, but the bright linens stuck like a bur in my mind. While at Ross (doing some shopping for Amanda’s project, which I will tell you all about after it’s completed next weekend), I happened upon this sheet set:

Bright? Check. Unique pattern? Check. Beautiful color palette? Check. I tell you, these babies have it all, and it wasn’t long before they became the driving inspiration for the guest bedroom, the result of which is today’s mood board.

1. Just as the concept of boldly-colored linens simply would not remove itself from my mind, so did the idea of playing up those linens with a very simple bedspread. This is a Pottery Barn duvet cover which is clean and simple, but not completely plain. Of course, being a PB product, it’s also a little (lot) bit on the expensive side. However, I think it would be relatively easy to either paint a simple stripe or add some ribbon to a white bedspread to create a similar look. I plan to showcase the fun sheet set (designed by Amy Butler, by the way) by folding back the bedspread and throwing in some solid-colored pillows.
2. I continued to draw on the sheet set for inspiration, this time for the wall color. I’ve heard somewhere that you should always start a bedroom off by choosing the bedding first, and that everything progresses from there. I don’t know if that was advice put forth by bedding manufacturers (seems pretty likely), but it did end up working well for me. I ended up closely examining the colors in the pattern and realized that there was actually some really pretty ice-blue in the border, as well as a bit of rich purpley-blue, too. One trip to Home Depot and about a million paint swatches later, I had two colors picked out: Silver Chalice and Castle Moat. I like Silver Chalice for the main wall color, with an accent wall of Castle Moat behind the headboard.
3. I also knew that I wanted to bring some chartreuse into the room, as well, since it’s also found in the sheets. This file-cabinet-turned-bedside-table would be perfect for that purpose.
4. When I began to think about the rest of the furniture, it became clear that I’d have to make a choice: white or espresso (natural wood grain was out of the choice given the boldness of the other pieces)? Since I’d decided on Silver Chalice for the main wall color, it made sense to look for pieces that had a darker hue. This Moroccan-lattice headboard from West Elm is both dark and airy at the same time.
5. An espresso colored dresser from Ikea would serve the purpose of (duh) storing guests clothing and personals during their stay, as well as acting as a platform for odds and ends, such as a lamp, some pictures, maybe even a small TV.
6. And this easel-style floor-length mirror isn’t only pretty, but would also give guests the opportunity to give their outfit the once-over before heading out the door.
7. I think I’ve mentioned that the Cave (I mean, guest bedroom) has a really unique light situation, with there being no overhead light at all, just a switch outside the room that controls an outlet inside the room. As a result, it’s definitely a little dark in their right now. That situation could be remedied, however, by hanging one or two paper lanterns in the corner.
8. And, lastly, I didn’t want to go too outrageous with the curtains, since there’ll be so much going on with the bedding and some interestingly colored furniture to boot. As such, I decided that a simple, white-eyelet curtain set would be a good way to provide a little privacy and to dress up the otherwise naked window (although we’ll probably add blinds down there, as well).
So, I know that I’m excited about my new plans for this room, but what do you think? Would you be interested in coming to stay at our place if you had this décor to look forward to? Have I put you off with my repeated mention of “the Cave”? Or would you just be glad to have a bed off the floor (the current situation) and don’t really care what the rest of the room looks like? Do you hate that chartreuse side table? You do, don’t you?
Product Breakdown:

Morgan duvet cover in espresso from Pottery Barn - $199
Castle Moat + Silver Chalice by Behr from Home Depot - $32
Chartreuse file cabinet from CB2 - $159
Morocco headboard in chocolate from West Elm - $399
Vallvik dresser from Ikea - $159
Easel floor mirror in black from Target - $68
Hanging paper lantern from Pier1 - $9
Eyelet window panels in true white from Target - $27 per panel

PS: Now you can click on any picture in any of my posts and view the entire collection of post pics larger and in gallery-style (that didn't really make a lot of sense, but once you click on a picture you'll see what I mean). This is especially neat because it allows you to see more detail in the pictures and (in posts with a ton of pictures, like last week's) you can click through all the pictures without text! Thanks, Blogger updates! -A

5 comments:

  1. First off, I too have a great and desperate love for the YHL guest bedroom. I hope to one day have a house where that is feasible...

    Second, I like your guest bedroom plans a lot! I think that the chartreuse file cabinet/dresser/side table business is pretty cool. Kinda industrial chic or something :) And I really do mean that in a good way.

    Last, I am SO FREAKIN' EXCITED to see you on Saturday!

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  2. Oh, come on, you underestimate the charm of the cave. It's...uh...cozy. And cool in the heat of summer as caves tend to be. And it will be the cutest cave ever when you get finished!

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  3. @Amanda - I'm excited to see you too! It's gonna be a blast playing "decorator"! Also, endless coffee and non-stop chatter with my favorite pinhead doesn't hurt. ;)

    @Kaydeemcdee - Lol. "Cozy." Indeed. Right now it's more "dank," although I tried to resist using that word in my post. It occurred to me last time you visited that I'm a terrible hostess. "Here, beloved family! Enjoy yourselves in the Cave beneath our house! Don't worry, we just got done bug-bombing it, so the spiders should all be gone...I hope." Bah. Bad, Ashley.

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  4. I really like your concept for the guest room. Very crisp and cozy.

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  5. @Julie - Yay! You got the comment button figured out! I'm glad you like the concept, since you'll probably be one of the people staying there eventually. :) Right now it's pretty sad. Big Denny will find that out soon enough, I guess. lol

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