So, the most amazing thing happened!! My guest room daybed that I made from old doors is featured in This Old House Magazine this month!
I was floored when I saw my face on the cover of the magazine!! Ack!
I am seriously still pinching myself.
In honor of the daybed being featured, I thought today’s Friday Five should focus on the guest room. The guest room was always kind of a forgotten room in our home. Or a glorified storage area. But since we have guests coming in pretty regularly – between grandparents and brothers and other family all out of state – we needed a functional and pretty guest room. Here are five DIY projects you can do in your guest room to make your guests feel right at home.
FYI: This post contains affiliate links to products I used in these projects. As always, I only link to products I actually use and would recommend. Click here for my disclosure policy.
1. A Comfy Bed
You knew I was going to start with the daybed, right?
I built this daybed because the room is narrow, and having a bed in the middle of the room overwhelmed the space. The daybed allows us to have a queen size bed in the guest room while still having room to move and use the room for other things.
Making a daybed or a fun headboard is a great DIY project. Use old doors, windows, or even upholstered plywood for a custom piece.
2. Architectural Interest.
Our guest room was tall and narrow – kind of a wonky space.
To bring the ceiling down a bit and add some interest to the room, I added some inexpensive trim to the wall.
It was easy to do. I drew out the angles and measured (measure twice, cut once):
Then I cut the wood using my RYOBI miter saw – I used pine 1x4s – and nailed the pieces to the wall (using my RYOBI nailer). The post with all the details on how I did it is HERE.
It makes such a difference in the room!
3. Pillows Galore!
I am the first to admit that I might have a pillow problem. We have tons of them! But I love making a bed comfortable with lots of soft pillows.
The green square pillows were just plain, inexpensive green pillows from IKEA. I customized them by gluing blue ribbon on them with fabric glue (I use Fabri-Tac – it’s the best!). On one, I glued the ribbon to the border of the pillow; on the other, I made a grid pattern on the face of the pillow. Easy and totally customizable!
4. Draw the Curtain.
DIY a funky curtain rod for your guest room. I made this one out of a wooden dowel and two tiling trowels from the Atlanta Habitat for Humanity ReStore!
I painted the trowels red with chalky-finish paint and then mounted them on scrap 2 x 4 pieces to attach them to the wall. A great way to upcycle some old tools into something useful and decorative.
5. Frame a Map.
I have a thing for maps and globes. Maps make for great wall art, because they are usually colorful and often free or inexpensive.
I got this map from a seller on a yard sale site on Facebook. Perfect for the guest room – “Vacationlands of the United States and Canada.”
I had this map framed professionally, but you could easily DIY this by finding inexpensive big frames at IKEA or a craft store.
So, there are my five DIY projects for the guest room! How do you decorate your guest room?
For five ways to make a guest feel at home, please click HERE:
Congrats Karen! On the cover of This Old House and featured too! You are very deserving of this honor! The room looks welcoming too. The colors are perfect together. When you said trowel, I thought it was auto corrected. Then I clicked the pic to enlarge and realized they resale are trowels! That’s a new one and I love it! Great room again!
Have a blessed and happy fall weekend everyone, Hope
Thanks, Hope!! Have a great weekend, too!
I don’t know which idea I like brst, but I have to say I love those trowels! They are so cool!
Thanks, Mickey!!
Congratulations, Karen! TOH is a favorite magazine and TV show of my husband’s and mine. How were you discovered? Please tell us the story! I can’t wait for my issue to arrive!
Thanks, Karen!! I submitted the daybed project a long time ago for a reader remodel feature and then kind of forgot about it. A couple of months ago, they called and said that they wanted to feature it in the reader remodel issue! I couldn’t believe it…at first, I just stood there with my mouth open! I called her back and she interviewed me and there it is! So excited about it – crazy fun! Thank you!
Congratulations to you for the feature in TOH. That is something so well deserved to you, Karen. Again congrats!!
Thank you, Dee! So exciting!!