Creating A Guest Room: Gray and Coral

When I came back from my little vacation and did my first post, I told you a few things I had been up to.

One of the items on the list was creating a guest room from my old studio.

My sweet sister was coming for a visit and I was determined that she would not have to sleep on the trundle bed in my daughter’s room. I wanted her to have a pretty room all to herself!

I had already emptied out the studio and re-located to the room over the garage. If I ever get that sorted out, I’ll show it to you!

The original studio was a pretty greenish/blue but I wanted gray now.

And, of course, since it was a crowded studio with WAY too many interests going on…the walls were banged up.

My TV had hung above this door and so there was quite a hole to fill where all the wiring had been.

Eventually, everything was prepped and I started painting. I knew the gray would be perfect. I wanted a restful, elegant space.

The gray I used was Martha Stewart’s Driftwood. I have 6 sample bottles of gray I tried. I chose this color first and eventually came full circle back to it.

Gray is a very difficult shade…can be blueish, can be purplish, can be brownish….and a lot of other “ishes”.

I painted squares on the walls in different areas so I could see it in different light and this one was perfect.

Several months before this project started, I went to our local Calico Corners because they were moving to a new location and having a HUGE sale. I mean HUGE. Stuff was VERY cheap. I bought a roll of celery colored Belgian linen for $7/yd…….like I said….cheap.

One of the things I couldn’t pass up that day was this custom table skirt…….it became my inspiration fabric.

Even though the fabric didn’t depict coral….it seemed to look like coral to me. I loved the colors and the burlap cording around the top. I knew I could use it.

I went to Home Goods with my paint sample to look for bedding….harder than I thought it would be! After a few trips to various TJMaxx stores, I found a gray spread by Cynthia Rowley (LOVE her style!)

But I also found these pillows! Perfect with the fabric!

I was getting more comfortable with my decision to use the gray/coral combination as I put things together.

The final bit of decor I found was a picture at Goodwill. It is actually a piece of wallpaper someone put in a frame but it worked for me!

I began to work on the antique bed I had found at Goodwill also. I decided to paint it in Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in Ironstone. It was missing some veneer on the footboard but I was fine with that and the price was right ….$45…seriously, it was….

I was very happy with the result. I didn’t distress it much, just used some MMS Antiquing Wax in spots.

Here

And here

While I was working on the bed, Gary added a ceiling medallion and hung my vintage chandelier. My sister had given it to me several years ago when she took it down from her dining room and it has been sitting in the attic. I knew it was perfect for my sister’s guest room!

It came together nicely….there is still MUCH to be done, but I love it!

The day before my sister arrived I found this Cynthia Rowley throw for the foot of the bed!

The lamp on the table came from Goodwill too. OK, now that you’ve seen the pretty side of the room….let’s look at all that still needs to be done……painting the lamp for one thing.

Slipcovering the Goodwill wing chair, changing the valance boards, making/buying drapes, painting that vintage drop-leaf table…..

…..painting this chest of drawers, recovering the seat on this chair (luckily it is gray already so I can cheat on painting that)

For now….it’s good. I see this room every day and it makes me happy to see a place in my house that is so pretty……partially anyway!

One last look…..BEFORE

And AFTER!

Thanks for visiting! 

PS…don’t forget I have Miss Mustard Seed’s Look Book One ready to order! $15 free shipping! The pictures are beautiful and if you love MMS Milk Paint or just want to see some great examples of using Milk Paint before you decide…then you will love this book! And….Guess What? Miss Flibbertigibbet has a little blurb in the book too!