Decorating guest room

[zoebartlett]

My mom came to visit us last weekend, and we did a lot of retail therapy. We went to Target and Home Goods and outfitted our guest bedroom and bath. For the guest room, we got new bedding, decorative pillows, bed side tables, and lamps. We have a bookcase in the room that I''ll paint black eventually to match the tables. That can wait for now though. I''m not sure what to do above the bed, which leads me to my question. Should we leave the space above the bed empty or hang something there? I''ll post pictures of the room so you can see what I''m talking about. Hang on...

 

[zoebartlett]

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[zoebartlett]

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[zoebartlett]

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[zoebartlett]

The angle of the first pic is kind of off, but hopefully you get the idea. I think that adding artwork of any kind will compete with the pattern of the lampshades and/or the pillows. My husband thinks that the space above the bed needs something. What''s your opinion? TIA!

 

[laine]

I love the lamps and linens, but I agree it needs something over the bed. What about an upholstered headboard in the beige color? (you can just cut a piece of plywood and cover it with batting and fabric stapled on the back)

 

[luckystar112]

Date: 10/24/2009 5:23:54 PM
Author: laine
I love the lamps and linens, but I agree it needs something over the bed. What about an upholstered headboard in the beige color? (you can just cut a piece of plywood and cover it with batting and fabric stapled on the back)

That''s what I was going to suggest. You can even get a fabric with a subtle pattern. They are so easy to make and will really finish the room.

 

[packrat]

Date: 10/24/2009 5:30:27 PM
Author: luckystar112

Date: 10/24/2009 5:23:54 PM

Author: laine

I love the lamps and linens, but I agree it needs something over the bed. What about an upholstered headboard in the beige color? (you can just cut a piece of plywood and cover it with batting and fabric stapled on the back)

That''s what I was going to suggest. You can even get a fabric with a subtle pattern. They are so easy to make and will really finish the room.

Ha, I was going to suggest the same thing! I see it done on the home improvement shows and it makes such a difference!

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks Laine and Lucky! I love the idea of an upholstered headboard. I''m not craft at all, but a friend of mine made one and she said it was a piece of cake. I might jsut try it!

Okay, now that I''m looking at the pictures here, I''m second guessing my decision about the look. I love everything we got, but does it all coordinate? I''m not a designer at all, so I have no idea. The colors are similar so I *think* it''s okay but what do you think?

 

[Italiahaircolor]

I also think the headboard idea is wonderful.

It is really simple, I have two hanging over my bed that I made.

However, you have a lot of patterns in the room, so I would select a neutral toned, simple fabric that won''t take away from the other decor.

 

[Hera]

I think not having something over your bed whether you have an upholstered headboard of not will still feel empty. If you''re into upholstering, I would select a solid color, maybe in that taupe color you have and then still think about placing something over the bed. Maybe a seascape might be lovely....

 

[laine]

Date: 10/24/2009 5:44:02 PM
Author: ZoeBartlett
Thanks Laine and Lucky! I love the idea of an upholstered headboard. I''m not craft at all, but a friend of mine made one and she said it was a piece of cake. I might jsut try it!

Okay, now that I''m looking at the pictures here, I''m second guessing my decision about the look. I love everything we got, but does it all coordinate? I''m not a designer at all, so I have no idea. The colors are similar so I *think* it''s okay but what do you think?

Its hard to tell looking at the picture, but it might be that the pattern of the lampshades and the floral/circles pillow fight each other. Each looks great with the striped pillows, but together might be too much. You might try taking out the circles pillow and see if you like it better without it. But, I also like all of the pieces (especially those lampshades!) and the colors really coordinate, so I think it could be fine as is. A headboard will do alot towards giving the room a polished, finished look.

 

[Mara]

i agree the circle pillow is clashing a bit with the lamps. i am not a big pattern person though so i try to keep it to one pattern and then mostly solids or similar.

you could potentially nix the circle pillow and then tie in the colors with one 'striking' piece aka the headboard, either upholstered (but honestly with all the fabric happening already, i'd not go this route) or with an impactful wood piece. probably dark wood of some type, maybe modernish like west elm or something for simplicity.

for artwork i would go with simple pieces that don't have too many patterns in them. or even painted canvas...you can do it yourself, it's super easy (stencil or similar, aka you could play off the leaves in the lamps or if you keep circles in the pillow). you could do 1-2 large wood pieces over the bed or similar. i really love ballard designs for wall art.

alternatively to replacing the pillow, you could also get simpler lamps. there are a lot of 'visual textures' going on too.

PS looking at the patterns close up i love that circle pillow. you could even build the room around that. the green in there is lush. but i love green.

 

[zoebartlett]

Yeah, the more I look at the pillows and the lampshades, the more I don't like the look of everything all together. Darn -- at first I thought it looked so grown up and nice, but now I just think everything clashes. I thought that if you did different patterns but stuck to similar colors, it could work. Guess not. Apparently a future in design is not in the cards for me.

I LOVE the pillow with the circles on it, but I may have to move that and the two striped pillows to another room. By the way, the shades really do match -- I think I just have one of them turned around slightly so the bolder pattern is showing on one side.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your help a lot!

ETA: Mara -- that's it -- too much visual texture. I keep looking at the room and taking the patterned pillows off. Then I try putting the pillows back and replacing the lamps. The problem is, I WANT it to work so much, and I don't want to get rid of any of it. Sigh. I'll keep working on it. If we do go with a fabric headboard or some type of wall art above the bed, I'll keep it simple. The funny thing is, I'm not typically drawn towards patterns. I stick to solids instead because I'm afraid of trying to coordinate patterns. Should have stuck to that thought.

 

[Hera]

Actually, I don't mind all the textures, but I do feel it's too many prints and having them won't allow you to add artwork etc without it starting to look busy. I think you should change the lampshades to something solid.

 

[Mara]

ZB i know what you mean about wanting it to work, esp if you like everything you bought, which obviously you do since you bought it! i always wish stuff could just come together easily but decor does not work that way for me. i always have to agonize for months over stuff..and then in the end i typically change it after a few ''favorite'' elements solidify for me.

i agree maybe changing the lampshapes to something solid first then assess the room... then you could use more patterns in artwork. or can you use the lamps in another room? then you could get solid lamps ... cost plus and/or ikea has some pretty simple ones that you could try without breaking the bank.

or if the lamps are your ''favorite'' pieces then work around them. ps i love the blanket on the bed, it looks snuggly.

 

[diamondsrock]

I like your color scheme with the taupe, blue, green, etc....I have similar tastes in colors.
I do like the patterns separately, but they do seem a bit much together.
Your colors reminded me of this which I saw at Target and absolutely love in person

Targetwallart
I would probably hang that above the bed, get off white shades for the lamps, and use the circle pillow in another room.
I'd keep the striped pillows though as I don't think they'd compete too much and the colors go with the wall art.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I think what''s throwing me off is the circle pillow. I like the striped ones with the lampshades(love love LOVE the lamps, shades and tables). I''d also do a simple upholstered headboard in a khaki/taupe color and then I''d hang a large mirror on the wall above the headboard. I''d do an oval hung east/west to mimic the shape of the leaves on the lampshade.

 

[geckodani]

Date: 10/26/2009 8:52:09 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I think what's throwing me off is the circle pillow. I like the striped ones with the lampshades(love love LOVE the lamps, shades and tables). I'd also do a simple upholstered headboard in a khaki/taupe color and then I'd hang a large mirror on the wall above the headboard. I'd do an oval hung east/west to mimic the shape of the leaves on the lampshade.

Ditto all of this! I think the circle pillow is competing with the lamps a bit, while the stripes coordinate. I think a taupe headboard would look fabulous! I've got a DIY headboard, and it's served me well. Depending on how tall you make it, you may or may not need something above it 0 just depends on how high you go with it.

ETA: Maybe replace the circle pillow with a grey/silver one to coordinate with that color in the lampshades?

ETAA: Here's a tutorial on how to make an upholstered headboard: http://www.younghouselove.com/2008/07/how-to-upholster-a-headboard/

 

[stephbolt]

I love those colors Zoe! I agree with some of the previous advice that the patterns all together are too much - I think either the circle pillow or the lampshades could be replaced with something more neutral.

I also love the headboard idea, a friend of mine just did one in her guest room and it looks great and seems like it was super easy.

Is painting an option? I think a color on the wall could go a long way towards pulling things together as well.

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks girls, for the advice!

Gecko -- thank you so much for the tutorial!

I saw the lamps and shades (they came together) at Home Goods, and I was a little surprised that I loved them so much. They're different than anything else I've owned. I think I'm going to keep the shades and move the circle pillow. C&B has or had some cool wall art that we registered for but didn't get for our wedding. I may go back and see if it could work above the bed. It's this: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1540&f=664. Too busy??? Try it on a different wall? It's frustrating -- I have an image of how I want the room to look but I'm sooooo not a decorator!

ETA: Steph -- we're renting so we'd have to get permission to paint. I kind of like the look of the white walls with the other colors in the room.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

I really think that you could make the room work, but you''d have to add more texture elsewhere to make it feel more cohesive to the eye.

Right now, all your color is on one wall, which can be heavy and overwhelming.

I would think about maybe adding different texture to the room with baskets, maybe a linen ladder, art on the other walls--not just the headboard wall. Filling the bookshelf with decor items that pull in the colors will help anchor the room as well.

You could do a linen ladder yourself for super cheap...buying an old ladder from an antique store and painting it in blue, draping it a green blanket and cream blanket that in different materials and propping it against another wall will eat up some of the blank-canvas feel.

The key to any good room is making it stylishly functional. Think about how you use the space and then think of creative ways to make it work in the colors you''ve already brought in. Stocking the book shelf with banana leaf woven baskets full of spare toiletries is a great way to stock a self. Putting pictures frames in various colors/materials full of family and friend pictures. Books!

If you want to buy art...think about hanging them at different depths in a collection using different length nails. And another cool thing you can do is buy interesting hooks and hang "his and her" guest robes on the wall for your visitors. We have a very interesting one in our bathroom that we use for towels...it''s an antique window with fabric mounted behind in the colors of our bathroom, we painted his and hers and hung hooks below.

These are just some pretty simple, cheap ideas to fill up a white room with character and warmth.

 

[Lanie]

Do you have any pictures of these linen ladders in rooms Italia? I don''t think I''m picturing what you are talking about...

I 1+ the idea of the fabric headboard. I want to do this in our guest room as well. That website from the fabric headboard is FABULOUS for cheap decorating ideas. Younghouselove rocks!!!!!

Also, if you like the idea of hanging shelves, those look really cool in a room. They are just long blocks that you anchor into the wall...nothing under them. Then put pictures in varying sizes on them, interesting finds from traveling, boxes, a plant, books, etc. You could get some cool old books that have the same colors and put them up there. Any splashes of color will keep the room coming together. LOVE the circle pillow. Personally, I think that middle grayish pillow is throwing me off...it''s blending too much with your bedspread. I would put that on a chair somewhere...club chairs are very cheap (Target) and would look great next to the bed if you have the room/budget.

 

[Clairitek]

I recently did a whole guest room overhaul as well! I was bored while DH was out of town so I decided to finally do something about our dingy guest room after 18 months of living in this house.

I bought a rug, painted the walls, and got new bedding. I also put up bamboo roman shades and sheer curtains and made an upholstered headboard (I believe I'm the friend Stepholt was referring to in her post above

).

The headboard was pretty easy to make. I ended up ordering coverable buttons because I couldn't find them in a store. Besides that I bought some batting, plywood (that I had cut to size at the store), and fabric. Shout out to Stephbolt and Mr Stephbolt for helping me paint the room!

Pic of my upholstered headboard.
ETA: Not the best quality pic, its from my iPhone. Sorry for the hugeness.
ETA2: Just noticed the link to YoungHouseLove.com above. Definitely an awesome blog! I got the idea to make one from there as well. I did it a little differently- I used a solid piece of plywood instead of making a frame. I also attached legs instead of hanging it.

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks so much Italia, for your suggestions!

Lanie -- the pillow you mentioned is actually the same shade as the comforter. For some reason (the angle of the pillow?), it does look grey.

C-tek -- thanks for posting the pic of the headboard. I love it, and I may try it soon.

Thanks so much everyone! I appreciate it!

 

[Mara]

ZB i was looking in i think West Elm this week (or maybe it was CB2?) and they had a really cool recycled wood heaboard for like $199 or something. It was a bit rustic and I am not sure that is the look you are going for but it was very fun visually.