Sometimes in home decorating, a room needs major surgery or a complete transfusion. But other times? It just needs a couple of small tweaks. That was the case with one of our guest rooms that hadn’t been changed much in 14 years.
This room is affectionately known as the grandma suite, because it is the room my mother stays in when is here. It is located off of the great room, and while it isn’t technically an ensuite bath, it is right next door. There is also a hallway that has an outside door that leads to the covered patio, which is convenient. The nicest thing about this guest room and bathroom is that the entire wing can be closed off by a pocket door, making this the quietest and most private guest area in the house.
The room has gone through a couple of changes over the years but has always retained a black and cream color palette. At first, the reversible duvet cover had the toile scene facing up. After many years, I tired of the toile, so I reversed it to show the black and cream check, which I still love. I updated the pillow story a couple of years ago by adding two IKEA pillows in a more modern geometric, which seemed to give it a fresher, more contemporary look.
The biggest change I recently made was to the headboard and wall above it. First, the original headboard was a black wrought iron that we purchased in 2008. There really wasn’t anything wrong with it, but I was ready for a change. Last summer, I did a vacation rental decorating job in Idaho, and knew that the iron headboard would be perfect for that project. So, I sold it to the client and the bed has sat without a headboard since June.
We recently found a lovely tweed upholstered headboard and I knew that it would be the perfect addition to the bedroom. It has a somewhat masculine tweed, with a sculpted silhouette that adds to the style. It also goes with everything I already had in the room, which was a plus, and it is neutral enough to go with almost any bedding I might change to in the future. It was also great quality at a good price, so we took it.
The next major change we made to the headboard wall was the framed collage of plates, art, and other miscellaneous items that filled the space. It was all contained inside a large black frame that I had used at my home decor store in Hawaii for a variety of rotated displays over the years. As my husband and I were installing the new headboard, he casually mentioned that maybe that arrangement had been there too long. Since my husband rarely comments on my home decor decisions, when he does, I take notice.
Luckily, I had an oblong charcoal drawing of the Wentworth by the Sea hotel located near my husband’s childhood home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It filled the space nicely and was something we already owned, so that was even better. Removing the busy-ness of the collage and replacing it with the single drawing made such a difference in how the room feels, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner.
We also added a coffee table that had been languishing in the garage to the foot of the bed. It now holds a tobacco basket with books, which can easily be replaced with towels and toiletry supplies when guests are coming. Other than that, I made a few simple changes to the wall art and this room was done with its mini makeover.
It doesn’t always take a major change to give a room a fresh new look. Finding items from other areas of the house and moving them around, as well as augmenting existing items with a couple of new, updated purchases can breathe new life into almost any space. Ahead of the upcoming holiday season, you may be wanting to freshen things up for guests. All you may need to do is a little tweaking!
Good tidings,
Diane
