Red Beach Themed Guest Bedroom

Over the last year the idea of decorating the guest room has been one of those daunting tasks that float around in my brain constantly, but I keep pushing it away because it just seemed like so much to do. Since I have limited space I am making my spare bedroom function in two capacities: Guest room and Craft room, but because of the small space I had no idea how to make it work. 

I was really concerned about making the space livable for guests, but also a functional work space for me without making it look tacky. It's so difficult keeping a smaller room multi-functional and looking organized and I just was never sure where to start. 

But then it happened. The man's mother said she was coming for a visit and that put some urgency into the decorating situation!

I never took a before picture of the room as it was when I purchased the house, but it was painted navy blue. The Man didn't think it was "that bad", but it just wasn't me. I had to go!  

This is what it looked like partly into painting:

BEFORE:

I know. I know. It's a horrible mess. I don't even like looking at this picture. Ugh!! 

From the same angle, this is what the room looked like afterwards.

AFTER:

So much better, right?

I decided on painting it red because red gives you creative energy (or at least so I have been told) and most of my house is gray and blue so I thought a little dramatic ump would be nice! However, I didn't want to do a bright red. I wanted a romantic red that would be soft and warm so I turned to my favorite pillow for inspiration.

My entire color palate for my house is based off a pottery barn pillow that I found and I fell in love with  called the Josephine Lumbar Pillow. So I took that pillow to Ace Hardware and I color matched the red color to Spiced Apple Cider by Benjamin Moore and it is PERFECT.

Benjamin Moore's Spiced Apple Cider is such a great color and it acts like a chameleon, changing shades throughout the day. It looks like a soft pinkish red when the lighting is a little darker, but in the sun it looks a bit more coral. My cousin came over the other day and asked me what color I was painting the room. She said she loved the color, but just couldn't make up her mind exactly what color it was because she's never seen anything like it before. For me, that's pretty cool.

I also found a great coral/seashell duvet and pillow set that was very earthy with browns, grays and blues, but there was also this red that was very close to the color of the walls. And then, an idea was born: I live in Florida. I need a beach room.

Beach Art from Target

I love the idea of a red beach themed room because it's very non-traditional. Most of the time you see white or blue beach themed rooms, but red... now that's different.

So I bought the duvet and all four pillows. And then a pillow that said "Beach"... and a piece of coral. And some drift wood. And a beach themed vase. And a candle with seashells.... yes, I went a little crazy. What can I say?! I was excited about the beach theme!

I found some cute art work at Target that was on clearance-- I just love the seagulls! And they are even cuter since it was on clearance! I love, love, love, love sales.

But since I spent all my money on beach themed decor, I needed to save money on furniture. I decided to reused an old Ikea bookcase from my old house for extra storage. I thought it would be nice to use it to store craft items (and all my beach decor), but then I realized that I needed a place to actually build my crafty things.

Oh, the dilemmas!

 So I built a closet craft table. It was super easy to make-- you can click HERE to read my blog about
how I made it. Most of the craft supplies are in the closet workspace, which is nice for when guests come over because I can hide them!

I made a little pegboard to hang my supplies and I used baskets to hide bigger items.

And since curtains seem like they are one of the most expensive things you can buy, I decided to make my own. I have really high ceilings so I needed 9 ft curtains-- which at the cheapest stores the cheapest curtains were around $50 per panel. 

These were still a little pricey because I wanted a really organic look so I used textured linen, but the textured linen panels at the store were $88 each. Yikes! For 7 yards of curtain fabric I spent $60 (with a coupon) and for hardware I spent $30 (with a coupon). I love coupons!! 

Seriously, curtains are probably the easiest thing to make. EVER. I will never buy a curtain again! I didn't make a tutorial, but next time I promise that I will! 

I originally wanted to use rope tiebacks, but I decided that would be too beachy and I wanted to do something more feminine and glitzy. I decided to use crystal (glass) doorknobs as tiebacks because I think they would be more unexpected and give the room a little element of romance.

DIY Headboard

For a headboard, I originally planned to do a bead board backing with framing, but after I did the majority of the room I realized that idea just won't mesh with the room. I was looking at pinterest (my addiction) and I was really inspired by headboards made from pallets and shutters so I just decided to make something like that! 

The headboard that I made is constructed of 1x6 and 1x4 boards. I just thought it would give it a bit more of a beachy feel to have something simple and handmade. 

It was easy and sooooo cheap. I love cheap!! The entire project cost me under $30 and it was built in an afternoon.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. You can still see the wood grain and the imperfections so it looks a bit rustic, but yet it really fits my style.

To read about how I made the headboard click HERE

I decorated this cute little trashcan with vinyl that I designed. It's not exactly beachy... but I love it.

The bookcase near the bed has some white boxes that I use to hide other crafting supplies and the rest is all that seaside decor... except for the chicken. I guess he's a beach chicken? Uhh... right?!

I repurposed an old hamper for extra storage for sheets and pillows. It sits at the foot of the bed for easy access.

The cats have pretty much claimed this room for their own so we decided that installing a cat seat by the window would be appropriate. Elizabeth Taylor (the cat) obviously approves. 

The only things I that I used in this room that I already had were the mattress and frame, the bookcase, the mirror above the bed, and some of the accessories.

Everything else is new and the entire cost of the project (including paint and supplies) was less than $500. I'm very happy with that!