Guest Room on a Dime

Things have been crazy around here recently. We've just had so much going on, mainly getting ready for 4 very important house guests who arrived yesterday! In particular, we were busy turning the basement bedroom into a welcoming and inviting space for two of our guests, using only items we already had in the house...

You think I had my work cut out because it looked like that, right? Well... that's just what it looked like the second time we viewed it. It actually looked like the picture below when I went down there to get to work last week...

Here are the steps I took to get it guest ready, broken down nice and simple.

1. Sort and Organize - Clearly there was a lot of stuff collected into the space that we had yet to unpack/didn't know what to do with it. I started by taking out everything that didn't belong in here. I discovered most of it belonged in my office/craft room, which means that I will be spending a lot of time cleaning and organizing that space a well in the future.

2. CLEAN! - Once everything was out I pulled out the vacuum, warm soapy water, a cleaning cloth and the mop and got to work on the space. You don't always realize how dirty a room is until you are down on your hands and knees wiping up those dusty (blue) baseboards.

3. Repair - There were a lot of holes and dings in the wall that needed to be gone. So, last Friday I pulled out the Drydex and filled some holes. We may not be able to paint the walls, but they are light enough that once we took some find grit sandpaper and a damp paper towel to the walls, it made the spots almost invisible.

4. Shop Your Home - While I waited for the floors to dry from mopping, I started shopping the house for items I could use to cozy up the guest room. Artwork, a throw blanket, our guest book - whatever wasn't being used elsewhere and could be used in there, was set aside.

5. Rethink Your Space - We were left with picture ledges all over the room when we moved in. They looked pretty awful with those huge screw heads sticking out, but I realized if we hung them over the bed and filled them with pretty things and artwork, they would make for a really interesting piece!

6. Decorate! - We moved in everything we had set aside for the space and started putting everything together.

7. Details - Don't forget about the little details to make the space feel extra special. For example, I left a basket of extras that our guests may need while staying with us. It really helps to put the finishing touches on a space. 

It may not be exactly how I would want our guest room to look, but considering we only used what we already had, and didn't spend a cent I'd say we did a pretty good job in less than a week...

The bed and bedding are from Halle's room, and the "nightstands" are two Ikea Lack shelves that hung in our kitchen at the rental. The curtains also hung in the kitchen dining area at the rental house.

All of the artwork had been hanging out in different rooms, waiting to be hung in a forever spot. For the time being, I think they have all found a pretty good home in our second guest room.

Have you been whipping any rooms into shape, using what you already have on hand? Sometimes all it takes is a little vision and handwork to make a room into something new!