Wishing For A Charming Guest Room

     I've been inspired by quite a few people who know how to make guests feel at home. We have stayed in nice hotels we never wanted to leave. I understand the importance of a decent pillow and comfy sheets. But what does it really take, besides a bed in a separate room, to make a really nice guest room?

     I've been reading articles and looking at pictures at Houzz.com for inspiration. I know to have a bedside table with a lamp, a clock, something to drink, and a little catch-all for jewelry. Fresh flowers are nice, a robe and slippers are really nice, and a little basket of toiletries is lovely. It also keeps you from rummaging through your linen closet while your guests stands there waiting - awkward.

     I think I'm going for 'Charming' in the guest room. I already have an old bed, a hand-me-down quilt, sheer window treatments, an old typewriter, and an antique bedside table in the room. While I sit here, really thinking about it, it's a hearts and flowers room. Heart shaped sheet music garland drapes a mirror. A floral fabric pennant hangs in one window, while some floral fabric acts as a sort of valance in the other. I guess I'll go with the hearts and flowers in there, since it's already on the way. I already have plenty I can add to the room if I keep that motif.

     I have a little vintage desk in there, with the old typewriter and a matching style mirror on it. It can act as a writing desk or dressing table. There is a pretty carafe on the bedside table - a gift from my friend Lindsay. A vintage alarm clock is on the table as well, which tick-tocks rather loudly, but has a reliable bell for an alarm. 

     For me, standing in the space doesn't work as well as taking pictures to see what's right and wrong with the room. Anyone know why that is? I'm sharing a few pictures I just took of the work-in-progress and I'm taking any/all hints, tips and suggestions. Don't worry about being kind, I don't expect you to have the sentimental attachment I do to any of the pieces.

The guest room at the top of the stairs

The bed faces the desk, which can also do dressing table duty.

From the desk you can see the closet.

From the bed you see the windows and desk.

     My hands were shaking like crazy so the pictures are bad, but I can't do it any better right now. This is a 'you get the idea' type of thing, okay?

     So tell me... what are you doing in your guest room? What ideas do you have to share with me?

When Odd Things Happen To Okay People

     People who know me can hardly believe I was at "The Mall" yesterday because, well, I loathe shopping malls. They're so disappointing. What happened to malls where you could roam freely? Instead, I feel like I am at a carnival full of seedy drifters, all of them calling out to me from their booths, aggressively trying to pull me in to their assorted livelihoods. It's really anything but charming, and I resent it. I have no need for knock-off sunglasses, brittle iPhone covers, things my boys could fly about the house, or $300 flattening irons. If I do want to buy giant character slippers or sea salt scrub, I'm sure I can find these things through conventional shopping methods.

    Shopping in a mall just isn't what it used to be. There are no more gift shops, no more record stores, no more baked potato bar. It makes me sigh - and miss the 80's. Remember when the whole walkway in the mall was empty space to take up with a gaggle of your girlfriends and giggle about what boys you just saw? When you could rock your new raspberry scented Swatch watch and you wouldn't wave your arm and hit someone trying to coerce you into letting them 'thread' your brows because there was no such thing as threading your brows? Yeah, me too.

     So I went to the mall yesterday because I needed my makeup, and Lancome is in gift time at Macys. When all the planets align in this way, I go to the mall. It happens once, maybe twice a year. Honest to God, I can not remember the last time I went to the mall - I think it was September, and I had to make a run to Aeropostale for jeans for #5. I almost made it to June, people. One more day and I would have made it to June.

     The mall offered a back-to-the future type surprise for me, because Taco Bell was reinstated in the food court, after quite a few years of banishment. Makes me wonder if McDonalds will be next. There was also a Burger joint where the fish joint used to be. A bunch of stores were moved around and I saw the place with the ugly cupcakes, which had taken over the spot where they used to sell the not-so-great cookies, which before that was a Godiva I am still grieving - was replaced by an Aveda! We now have about 19 places in the mall to purchase beauty products. More if you count the little carnival booths in the walkways.


     My point, if I ever had one, was this: The mall was chock full of surprises for me yesterday. The best one was at a place called Yankee Candles. If you don't have one, it's a place where they sell overpriced candles and lots of people buy them because they can. Well guess what your house can smell like now, thanks to the geniuses who obviously ran over from the genius bar at the Apple store across the hall? Now, and I can't even type this without chuckling to myself, they sell "Man Candles."

Here, for your pleasure, is a preview of the Man Candles:

Man Candles: Man Town, 2x4, Riding Mower & First Down

Man Candles, In case the scent names aren't enough, you see a remote and masking tape and a clipboard with kisses and hugs drawn on it. 

     A person couldn't make this stuff up, it's just that good. Now, who wants to know what "Man Town" smells like? I was a little afraid. But if I hear news it's a combo of wet dog, dial soap, and chips and salsa with a tinge of bacon I will not be all that surprised.

Monday Fun-day

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a crazy dog.

Happy Memorial Day. Enjoy!

*He doesn't usually look like this.
He just got his face all wet and rolled around on the floor in some sort of celebration.

Coming Attractions

     I've been planning on doing built in bookcases in the office since we were in pre-construction. We love books! I wanted to use hardwoods and build them 'from scratch', but oh boy- are those expensive and labor intensive or what? I do not want to spend a large portion of my life sanding raw boards. So I'm thinking about the Billy bookcases from Ikea. I measure the wall, and figured out what it would accommodate. I figured out how I could get the most out of the space. After the bookcases it would take a bit of trim, a couple pieces of plywood and caulk, paint, etc to get it finished and pretty.

     Did you know Ikea has a page on their website where you can build your own bookcase system and see exactly what it will look like, the exact total measurements, and the total price as you build? Did you know they charge considerably more per bookcase for colors other than white? Crazy when it's all laminate. Paint is a beautiful thing. Especially paints you can use on any  surface without priming, like Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint. And, coming in June, Miss Mustard Seed will have her own line of Milk Paint as well. I can't wait! She's a great lady.

    I think Centsational Girl, did a great job with hers. I'm no Sgt. Rich, so I will not be growing my own trees and telling them to jump into bookshelf formation. This is sorta DIY, right? 

     Stay tuned.

One Little Thing

     I have been on a quest to do at least one little thing a day to enhance our home. It can be anything at all, really. I started a guest room makeover one day, fixed up the mantle with books another day, did touch up painting, brought in a new piece of furniture, painted a piece I already had, etc. Anything, really, to add another speck of love to the house.

     After yesterday's failure to cut triangles I hung up an old pajama top on the other guest room window. Things don't have to match, right?

*There's nothing like a photograph to show you when something just isn't right. I for sure need to fix up that left side to make it nicer. But it's a start. And in person the light doesn't seem to show through as brightly and show how crazy-folded it is in the back. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

     The other thing we did today was bring the new-old sideboard into the dining room. A family friend gave this to me (!!!!!) this weekend. It had been in her family for four generations, but nobody had a place for it now. It's a beautiful piece. It needs some love, and I'm not sure yet how to go about it, so for now I'm going to leave it as is. I'll clean it up a bit and let myself get to know it before I do anything drastic.

New-old Sideboard

      Isn't she gorgeous!?

Beautiful side of the New-old Sideboard

     So even though some things feel like slow-going, and I can't cut triangles, I have managed to make the house a bit more loved. In a few days when we can bring vehicles on our new driveway I will be bringing something else great in the house. Right now it is in extended immigration in the van, patiently waiting to move into my front room.

     What are you doing?

Failure In Action

     The reason some girls I do not do crafty things more often is this: I get about twenty minutes into it and I feel like I am failing kindergarten. Take today, for example. (Trust me, it's a perfect example.) I have these beautiful pennants I won from a blog giveaway.

      Since these are lovely I decided I would like to make some more. I have saved some favorite pajamas for years waiting for inspiration and they will be perfect for this project. I will admit I was feeling pleased with myself. A little giddy, even. I dug out the sets of pajamas, wrangled up some straight pins, and even found my sewing scissors. I brought the paper cutter into my room for a good hard surface. This, my friends, is going to be great!

     I took down the pennant and decided to use it as a template. It is cumbersome, since it's a whole pennant, so I thought to myself "Self, what you should do is get some greeting card paper and make a template from it. This way you wont cut the pennant you already have." At that point I began to feel a little smug. I was doing everything right!

     I should never, ever, never be smug about anything crafty. I should know enough to just thank God when I don't manage to accidentally cut my sheets, hair, or the clothing I am wearing.

     I decided to use the paper cutter to cut the paper so I wont have a bunch of jaggy "Tammi cut this" looking spots on the card stock I am going to use as a template for my triangles. I am so smarrrrrrrt!!! I am proud of myself.  My husband came in the room as things were just beginning to take a turn for the worst. He asked a question about immigration and I answered him. Then I started to tell him my plan. He got that look you give a person when you know it's hopeless and said he wouldn't bother me any more. That man got out of the room and downstairs as quick as he could! Once he was gone I managed to cut this 'triangle':

Triangle of Failure

     This is why every art teacher I ever knew hated me. By the way, looking around the room for a good photo op for failure is even more frustrating. Wave hello to my cute little guest room clock. I love it  - probably because I didn't make it. Probably even more because whoever did make it could probably cut a triangle with or without a paper cutter. 

   

     I should have opened a can of paint. I can rescue a piece of furniture and love it.  Cutting triangles is just not in my skill set.

Just Ignore Me

Color Inspiration

     This photo has been an inspiration to me for a long time, but I also lost it for a long time. Here it is now, on my very own blog, so I can find it when I want to look at it again. I think it is a photo of a guest room in the Ritz Hotel, Paris. I plan to paint my armoire with these colors. I hope it turns out as loveable!

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

     Things have been super busy for me for a while now. Every time I think I am about to hit a lull, something new comes around the bend. This week has been no exception. I found time for a major project I did all on my own. The guest room had been limping along, bit by bit. It isn't done yet, but it looks very welcoming now. Every time I walk by the guest room door now, I see this:

I need to get pillows and bedside tables. I hope to find some tables I can make over. I also want to do something with the little old desk. It has it's charm, but it could use some love to go from nice to something lovely. The bed itself may have some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint or Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint. (She just found out she's getting her own line of Milk Paint!)

     In the future I will get a picture to share all the goodies on the desk. There are treasures there, to be sure.

      Friday my son and I went to a town full of garage sales and found a few little things. I'll get pictures and share some soon.  Saturday the sky was giving us freezing rain/sleet/snow/rain, but an antique store produced a magical little find for me. I was thrilled, to put it mildly. My mother gasped when she saw it. I want to get it put in place and pictures of it are sure to follow. It's a great compliment to my antique wooden ironing board.

     Sunday my mother came over and ran "Garage Cleaning Boot Camp" According to my back I overdid it, but the results were worth it. I have things started for the garage sale the first weekend in June. After giving away what was easily half of our stuff when we moved in February, I managed to find more stuff to be excess. I will be glad to get even more stuff out of this house.

     They brought a giant machine to take away the stones from our driveway so the concrete could be poured. The machine's hydraulics line broke in our driveway. We were left overnight with a pile of rocks a few feet high in front of our garage. Our van was inside. The next day it was after 3:00 until he showed up again. Not stressful at all.

     Yesterday they finally actually poured our concrete! Yay!

     Today we are allowed to walk on it. I might go dance on it. The grading of our yard can not be far behind. After the final grading and inspection we will have a lawn! I bought my trees and lots of burning  bushes, rose bushes, and berry bushes already, so I am chomping at the bit to get them in the ground.

     There was a lot going on yesterday morning. We had concrete guys prepping the drive and sidewalks while we were getting deliveries. It ordered two couches exactly three and a half eternities ago. They are here and more beautiful than I expected.

     Yes, I realize today's photos are even worse than usual. I tried, I really did. You Sort of get the idea, though: Look! Sofas!

     I don't know about you, but I am happily exhausted.

More Adventures With Annie - Bench

      So I got busy a couple of mornings ago with Annie Sloan chalk paint (color: old white) and this old bench. I met a lady named Cindy who had a lot of stuff she wanted to get rid of in her three story house. I actually met her a couple years ago. Now I wish I had taken even more of her stuff off her hands. At that time, however, my husband had declared no more desks/tables were allowed to come home with me. You can see the 'before' here sitting atop another little bench I got from Cindy. Except for the tiny bit of after peeking out from the back- I forgot to take the picture until I already had her upside down on her counterpart, being painted.

After much paining, sanding, and waxing,  I have this shabby little lovely:

  

     She's not done yet. I think I am going to have to stop at Funky Junk Boutique in Seville to get a can of Annie Sloan's dark wax to finish the job.  I really loved working with the paint on this project. When I sanded with 320 grit sandpaper the paint was smooth like a baby's bottom. As sort of a bonus the Annie Sloan soft wax had a really faint smell of babies mixed with sugar cookies. Hey, I don't make the news, I just report it!

 A little close-up of the sheen added by the lovely wax:

I know, I know... someone needs to teach me how to take pictures. 
    

While Wandering Around, We Found...

     We took an accidental trip to Amish Country last week. We do lots of accidental things! This time we found ourselves at Heini's Cheese Chalet. We took the tour and learned lots of interesting things about how they do it at Heini's. We loved our tour guide, who was willing to answer all of our questions. Great hospitality!

We also met these guys:

We think if we ever have to move again they can help.

     This week I went to a barn sale and met a really nice lady. I didn't get a great photo of Beth, but here is the barn floor: 

They had an awesome old tool bench for sale. It was big and sturdy and had holes for some dangly tools. I had an unreasonable desire to buy it and bring it home with me. I managed to control myself. Mostly.

Photo on the left was as my lovely iPhone camera captured it. On the right edited for clarity and HDR. Do not ask me what HDR is. You will hear crickets because I have no idea. 

   




I picked up a stranger from the side of the road last night. I can't wait to show you those pictures!