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You are here: Home / DIY / The Friday Five: Five DIY Projects for Your Guest Room

The Friday Five: Five DIY Projects for Your Guest Room

September 25, 2015 By Karen Cooper 8 Comments

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!

daybed featured in This Old House Magazine - thediybungalow.com

I was floored when I saw my face on the cover of the magazine!! Ack!

This Old House cover - thediybungalow.com

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?

daybed in corner - guest room - Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

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.

finished upholstered headboard - Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

2. Architectural Interest.

Our guest room was tall and narrow – kind of a wonky space.

guest room dimensions - Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

To bring the ceiling down a bit and add some interest to the room, I added some inexpensive trim to the wall.

add trim for architectural interest to room - guest room - Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

It was easy to do. I drew out the angles and measured (measure twice, cut once):

guest room sketch after brainstorming - freestyle design - Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

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!

guest room before and after - Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

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.

pillows on bed - guest room - Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

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!

trowels as window treatment holder - guest room - Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

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.

map over daybed - guest room - Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

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.”

Vacationlands map close up - guest room - Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

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?

Five DIY Projects for Your Guest Room - thediybungalow.com

For five ways to make a guest feel at home, please click HERE:

Five things every guest room needs to make guests feel at home - thediybungalow.com

You might also like:

  • Five Things Every Guest Room Needs
    Five Things Every Guest Room Needs
  • The Friday Five: Five Projects Using Old Doors
    The Friday Five: Five Projects Using Old Doors
  • Guest Room: Before and After
    Guest Room: Before and After

Filed Under: DIY, Friday Five, Quick Room Updates, Repurposing and Upcycling 8 Comments

About Karen Cooper

Hi! I'm Karen. I call myself a “recovering lawyer” - I traded in my power suits for power tools and a life of DIY adventures. Join me for DIY, home decorating, repurposing and upcycling, and organizing projects and tips as I transform a 1929 Tudor bungalow into our home. I believe in merging old and new to make a house a home.

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Comments

  1. Hope Williams says

    September 25, 2015 at 4:41 pm

    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

    Reply
    • Karen Cooper says

      September 27, 2015 at 11:12 am

      Thanks, Hope!! Have a great weekend, too!

      Reply
  2. Mickey Wood says

    September 25, 2015 at 6:31 pm

    I don’t know which idea I like brst, but I have to say I love those trowels! They are so cool!

    Reply
    • Karen Cooper says

      September 27, 2015 at 11:12 am

      Thanks, Mickey!!

      Reply
  3. Karen says

    September 25, 2015 at 7:55 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Karen Cooper says

      September 27, 2015 at 11:11 am

      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!

      Reply
  4. Dee Graham says

    September 26, 2015 at 7:11 am

    Congratulations to you for the feature in TOH. That is something so well deserved to you, Karen. Again congrats!!

    Reply
    • Karen Cooper says

      September 27, 2015 at 11:08 am

      Thank you, Dee! So exciting!!

      Reply

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Hi! I’m Karen. I call myself a “recovering lawyer,” because I turned in my power suits for power tools and a life of DIY. This blog is all about DIY, home decorating, repurposing and upcycling, and organization. I believe in merging old and new to make a house a home.




find projects here!

My Daybed in This Old House Magazine!

Daybed from Old Doors featured in This Old House Magazine
Best of 2016 - Best Blog DIY Category - thediybungalow.com

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Dogs Don't Eat Pizza is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.  Dogs Don't Eat Pizza also participates in other affiliate programs.

To see my complete disclosure and privacy policy, click HERE.

About Karen

A "recovering lawyer," I turned in my power suits for power tools and a life of DIY. I believe in merging old and new to make a house a home. Read More…

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