Our guest room is one of the first rooms we "finished" in our home. I put finished in quotes because you and I both know it will never really be complete... I'll always be changing something!
Growing up I lived in a tourism area, so we always had a lot of family and friends coming to visit us. Since I'm the oldest of 4 (and to be honest probably had the nicest looking bedroom) my room was always the one guests would stay in. This usually meant I would pack up a few outfits and move into one of my sister's rooms for a night or two for a sleepover - musical beds as my mom would call it. I didn't mind giving up my room, but every now and then someone would stay in there who wore a significant amount of cologne and I would be reminded of them every time I walked in the following days.
My husband said in his family his parents would often give up their bed if someone came to stay with them. This honestly blew my mind because I had never thought of it! So kind to give up the best room in the house, but then I thought, "Wow if that were me I would feel so bad taking someone else's bed." I knew when we were searching for homes I wanted to have a place for guests. Not necessarily a guest room, but a separate space with a pull out couch, air mattress, something that really made others feel welcome and that they weren't taking over a space that was usually used be someone else.
When we bought our home we actually used the guest room as our bedroom for the first few months while we were refinishing the flooring on the second floor! It's downstairs, right off the living room and dining room. When Charlie travels for work I like to sleep down here, feels more like a mini-vacation for me and less sad to be sleeping upstairs in our king bed alone. Baby Gilligan still sleeps in our room in the bassinet, so I just bring that downstairs and we have a little slumber party! I think the couple in their 80's who owned the home before us used it as their master bedroom before they moved since it was on the first floor and easily accessible. We bought our home with the intent in it being our forever home, so thinking about our parents and grandparents aging we wanted to make sure the guest room was easy for them to get to.
Here's what our guest room looks like right now, today! It's had a few facelifts the past two years with fun wallpaper and changing accessories. I'll link all that I can below. Most of our favorite items are thrifted, from Target, or Amazon (wahoo fast shipping!). I'm on the hunt for a perfect little tv cabinet to replace the basinet when we move back upstairs. We have a vintage Crosley TV that I'd like to put in here for guests, though we really don't watch TV that often. We would much rather sit in the living room with music on, playing games or having a good conversation with each other! Personally, I feel that TVs have really interrupted the opportunities we have to connect with others. We do love a good show or movie, but usually we watch something we can discuss during/afterwards rather than aimlessly watching something and ignoring the real people around us. Just click on the pictures and they will link you to the products I used, let me know if you have any questions!
Watch out for deer!
Our rug is from the Studio McGee collection. It was originally in the living room but I really want to focus on "finishing" one room at a time so I moved it. Plus it looks pretty nice in here, don't you think? Guess I'll have to shop for a new one in the living room!
Always pick out a lamp before little chachkes and other decor. A big statement lamp takes up more space than a skinny-minnie one so you need less decor overall. More money on one lamp = less money on cheap, useless trinkets.
This bedding is what dreams are made of! The duvet is heavyweight so it feels like a hug when you crawl in bed. Always do the temperature controlled sheets so you don't sweat the bed. The euro pillow covers were a sale from Serena and Lily, sadly they are no longer available.
Also make sure you have a quality comforter and pillows, they will last you way longer! The comforter we have is from The Company Store and it has moved with us five times in two states. The pillows we sleep on are Casper and I swear I want to be buried with it I love it so much. The lumbar pillow is super squishy and we don't use it when we sleep, so I don't mind that the cover doesn't come off.
If you don't remember anything else from this post remember this: always hang your curtains high and wide! The closer to the ceiling (as long as they still touch the ground) your curtains are the bigger the room will look. I also make sure there's about a foot on either side of the window for the curtains to hang when they're open, otherwise you end up blocking part of the window and block out natural light. Bonus - it takes up more wall space and doubles as decor!
I'm lucky enough to live near Lindsay Letters and picked up one of my favorite paintings at one of the garage sales at The Girl's House (her studio/office). Her husband actually drove up to Door County and married us in the winter of 2021, what a small world!
The dresser we're using as a nightstand was actually in my childhood bedroom! It's been painted over a few times and the knobs have been switched out. At some point it had an attached mirror, but I'm pretty sure it broke along the way. These are the knobs I'm currently using, makes it seem a little more modern with the hexagons. I like to mix old and new so I'm always changing things up!
Love a good tray! These come in a pack of three so you can use them other places around your home. I feel like I'm always dusting and wiping down tables, so its' really nice to have all our accessories on a tray so I can move and wipe down without rearranging everything (though you know I'm going to rearrange anyways - ha!).
I honestly don't think I've read this book yet but it seems to sum up my life so I had to have it on display.
Our standing coat rack was thrifted, if it broke today this is what I would purchase to replace it. Really nice to have extra hooks for guests, everyone always brings lots of outerwear in Wisconsin!
LOVE a good swivel chair. Eventually we will have one in every bedroom. The one we have was actually a score on Facebook Marketplace (highly recommend for used pieces), the former owners moved and had no place for the chair so they literally gave it to us for free! My grandpa loved sitting there when he came and lived with us for a week, he said it "really made the room feel like his own space where he could relax and not have to talk to anybody." Here's another option if you're not as lucky with finding a free one.
We're not really record junkies, but every now and then we thrift an old record with some really great tunes! Anything made by Crosley is automatically adorable and meant to look vintage with modern inner workings. You can connect this record player to your phone if you want to as well.
The gold metal table we have actually came with a different colored top. I wanted it all gold so I superglued a gold tray to it instead! Love this one though, plus it comes with a storage bin (notice no closet in our guest room so I'm all about extra storage without clutter)!
This raw edge mirror is so simple but the curved edges make it look a little more fun than a plain rectangle! I have the same one in a circle instead of an oval in another area of our home.
This bed frame was a steal! Under $200, easy to put together, and doesn't need a pesky box spring? Yes, please!
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