Spare Me the Details…

Sorry, no can do! Today is a big day around here, because we are revealing all things “new and improved” about our Spare Bedroom! The term “spare bedroom” is actually a bit underwhelming in the way of truly describing what we need this space to be able to do. As it is our only other room besides the Master, Kitchen, Family Room, and Bathrooms, this “spare” really does have to be able to do it all! By all, I mean:

• Guest bedroom
• Laundry Room
• Office
• Library (because I love books too much not to have a library in my house)

One might say… we need a Room of Requirement! For our non- Harry Potter fans… you should Google that term for a more holistic understanding of this post. Quite the challenge we have on our hands, huh? Before moving in, our precious extra room looked something like this:

To see “before” photos of the whole house, click here.

Although not completely decided on what our plans were for this room, we knew a few things for sure:

1. The dark trim and doors (a consistency throughout the house) had to go. We would soon trade the gray in for a crisp, bright white.
2. We wanted to paint this room a funky, fun color that we would not dare to use anywhere else in the house for fear of it being “too much”. However, in this room, we wanted to have a bit of fun.

So off we went to find the perfect color! Any guesses to the color family we landed in?

Step #1: Choosing the paint color (s). We decided on two separate colors, in the same “family”- aka. on different ends of the same paint chip. The plan was to choose a light turquoise (Mint Fizz by Behr) for all, but one wall and paint the fourth a darker version of that same turquoise (Mint Majesty by Behr).

Step #2: Gather the junk into the middle of the room and START PAINTING. This room took us a while to start because it had been our “room to put everything” while all of the other rooms were getting painted. One night, while Mitch was off coaching, I bit the bullet and started the project.

As you can see, I wasn’t kidding about the accumulation of stuff…

Bonus Points: We knew we were going to replace the carpets in both bedrooms, so I didn’t even bother laying drop cloths down. I love the kind of projects where you don’t have to worry about making a mess!

If you look closely, you can see the Mint Fizz on a couple of the walls, in comparison with the unpainted white wall.

Mint Magesty, here we come! This was one of the most exciting walls to paint in the whole house- sometimes it is fun to be daring…

Some call it daring, others call it “getting carried away”. I call it: “don’t care, I’m having too much fun”.

 Annnnd… our FINISHED PRODUCT!

Step #3: Installing Hiring someone to install new carpet. This was a job we left to the professionals. Most of the carpet in the house was in pretty good shape, but we decided to replace the ones in the two bedrooms. We ended up choosing a light colored carpet (Empire Carpets, Series: Ponce, Style: Ivory) and have been very happy with the results-it has helped to make the rooms look bigger. Even though we hired a company (Empire), I took their advice and cut a two inch strip of the existing carpet away from the walls so that I could put a fresh coat of paint on the base boards before they installed the new stuff.

Step #4: Two coats of Ultra White on the base boards. Painting trim is my absolute least favorite job, but hey, it has to be done, right?

Step #5: Carpet goes in! Empire Carpets came in like a swarm of (two) bees and had the new in for the old faster than you could ever imagine! I barely had time to grab my camera and take some shots of the “during” before they were almost finished!

First, they removed all of the closet doors and tore out the old carpet (Loving those fresh, white base boards!):

They put down new padding:

And installed the new carpet right on top (You can really see the difference in color between the hallway and Spare in this shot):

The end result looked a little something like this (thank you, Mom, for staging a “sitting area” for us with some of our newly gifted lawn chairs):

 Please note: I definitely rolled around on the floor in here for a few minutes. I mean, brand new carpet? How could you not??

Step #6: Touch up paint on the closet doors and paint laundry room doors white. A HUGE improvement when all was said and done. You may remember that these were once gray? Painting them white was the best thing we could have ever done for them (thank you for pushing me to do it, mom!). It completely opened up the room and reflected the natural light coming through the window, making the room seem much larger.

Step #7: Replace the dark fans with a white one. Another easy way to lighten the room! Although they were unique and interesting, the original dark wooden fans immediately drew your eye to them and made the ceiling feel lower than it was. Replacing them with white ones creates a loftiness for the room that we weren’t getting before.

Step #8: Accessorize! More details to come on some of the specifics, but we decided to shoot for the turquoise and red/coral combination, just to throw a twist into the room. We added a few things to help this space truly become the “Room of Requirement”. Seriously, just think of what you need it to be, walk in, and it’s ready to go! Let’s check out some of the details:

Desk: I have loved using the room as an office space and have especially enjoyed having a view out into our backyard as a back drop!

The long-term plan is to find an actual desk chair, but for now, a chair from the kitchen will have to do!

Lamp: Found this beauty at the Restore and paired it with a patterned shade. I stayed with the neutrals to offset all of the color that’s already happening in the room.

White Curtains: A Target find- they caught my eye because of their (not too) feminine, unique pattern. We’re not sure if this is their final home, but for now- they really do bring a great lightness to the room.

Futon: This piece has been a saving grace in the way of allowing us to have a room that is multi-functional. In fact, I am going to save the details for another post, just so I can do it justice. Want to see an office become a bedroom in just two “clicks”? Check back tomorrow to see this baby in action! Here she is as a couch: 

End Table: Sadly, I have no “before” pictures of this little cutie. Let me paint you a picture, though: cheap, fake oak table with a Chinese-patterned depiction of vines and other purple figures. I gave it a quick sand and a few coats of coral paint and it has been a perfect fit, both in size and in style!

Basket and Blanket: The basket was a wedding gift and we use it in this room because it brings a darker, richer version of our color scheme into the space. The microplush throw is a.m.a.z.i.n.g. and I highly recommend it if you are in the market for a new blanket. It’s a nice something to offer over-night guests, as we tend to keep our house on the cooler side. And so, so soft!!!

Bookshelves: A semi-homemade creation of ours. We went through the ringer to get them to where they are today and someday I’d love to share it with you. But this post is getting too long and therefore, today is not that day.

Map: Target find #2! (You can get this for $9 on their website) Another something we have in mind for this room is a “traveler’s diary” of sorts- a place to imagine, dream up, plan, and document adventures we take throughout the years. I’ve got plans for this map and wall space…

Whew! You made it! Let’s wrap this post up with a few “afters” and call it a day…

With that, I’m outta here! Have a GREAT day and, as always, enjoy “the fun of it”!

See you tomorrow for the unveiling of the Room of Requirement: Bedroom Edition!

-Leslie

Update: To see further progress on this room, click here!