The Friday Five: Five DIY Projects for Your Guest Room

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: