Hello my friends,
Armed with the tiniest of budgets, and very little time on hand, I set out on a trip to the mountains to give a guest room a very simple interior refresh to erase the dated an boorish styling that graced its four walls for quite some time.
Before I get into the makeover, let me give you a little back story. We've owned this vacation home at Northstar in Tahoe since 2013. I even wrote a story about the original remodel HERE. It's in a very expensive market to own and to maintain. Over the last two years, we've had it listed on VRBO and have rented it out on the short-term rental market. It was an interesting experience, to say the least, but I took it off the rental market this last summer. (I feel an additional post coming soon to describe the short-term rental market, my experience, and why I took it off. Keep an eye out for that post and make sure to subscribe below to stay in the know with SSDesignHub.)
WHY was I going to do a budget friendly guest bedroom makeover?
Because I'd made the decision to put the house up for sale. We're weren't using it very much, and the rental market just wasn't right for this beautiful home, or me!
So, here was my goal: deliver the quickest, the easiest, and the least expensive makeover I could to give this room a fresh and updated makeover. In essence, stage it for sale.
HOW was I going to make this happen?
With a tiny budget and very little time to conduct this makeover, I decided the best approach was to limit the makeover to paint, new bedding, and a small amount of decor.
As you can see, this room with its child-like plaid, dated bedding was missing the mark, and it certainly wasn't going to convince buyers to make it their own. I'm pretty sure it would have been a stern "No".
With its wood ceiling and crown molding, chair rail, and interesting shape, this room had the potential to be a lot more pleasing.
Because the lower wall color was almost the exact same color as the carpet, it just looked blah and boring. Therefore, the first order of business was to paint the lower section of the walls below the chair rail. And yes, I painted it black. Black paint has the power to update and modernize almost anything.
The new color brought an element of boldness to the space, it showcased the chair rail, and it brought increased interest. Unfortunately, a package containing some of the bedding did not arrive before I needed to leave the mountains, so the budget friendly guest room makeover had to be put on hold.
A few days ago I was able to revisit the mountains and finish the makeover. Below is a reminder of what the space looked like originally.
And here is what it looks like now.
With limited new paint, inexpensive bedding, and new art I was able to give this room a seemingly whole new lease on life.
It was all about working with what the room already had and highlighting the existing architectural details.
I used a black and tan rug to marry the carpet with the new bedding and wall color, and the tan in the rug invited the wooden chest to the party. It also provided some physical and visual texture inherent in mountain homes.
Even though I was using the existing furniture pieces, just the addition of a few accessories, a modern lamp, and art on the walls gave the space a fresh new appeal.
I love that the green paint above the chair rail lives to see another day. Even though it's original to the room, it provided a new freshness once it acted as the counterpoint or juxtaposition to all the black.
I always love a little side-by-side before-and-after. This one proves a very little can go a long way.
I must share with you that, during my first visit to paint the walls and start the budget friendly guest bedroom makeover, I was reminded of just how much I love this home and how much I enjoy being there with my family. So much so that, when I came home and shared the experience with my husband and kids, we decided not to put it up for sale. We've decided to hold on to it for at least another year. We won't put it back on the market as a short-term rental to the public but we are opening it up to those closest to us who we know will take care of it as their own.
I hope you enjoyed this post and The HOW and WHY of a Budget Friendly Guest Bedroom Makeover.
Merry Christmas to you all. I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your friends and family. I have more makeovers and projects coming in the new year. I'd love it if you'd subscribe to this new blog below to receive future posts.
Always with love and a deep passion for home and design,
Sandy
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