Our guest room is probably the room that most reflects my changing taste in interiors over the last few years and as a result, it’s gone through the most iterations of any room in our house since we moved in. When we first moved in, I envisioned a neutral room with dark furniture. We already had a black metal bed frame that I loved and some secondhand IKEA nightstands from the guest room of our condo, so I used that as my starting point. I added my favorite Loloi rug and our old IKEA dresser from the main bedroom of our condo (we upgraded to a larger one for our main bedroom of this house).
Over the next couple of years I added some decorative accents, but the guest room stayed like that for the most part for about two years as I focused on furnishing other rooms in the house. I brought in our old main bedroom nightstands, which are heirlooms from my grandmother and a much better fit for a guest room than a main bedroom (we quickly realized we definitely needed drawers for storage in our most-used nightstands).
The guest room after Phase 1
When I started working remotely last spring, I had the idea of creating a “cloffice” in the guest room and that spurred the second iteration of the room. We removed the closet doors and Darian built me a floating desk in the closet. At this point, I’d started leaning toward moody interiors so I decided it was also the perfect time to go dark in the guest room, especially since I’d now be spending a significant amount of time in there every day. I grabbed a plethora of paint samples from Home Depot and spent a few weeks mulling over the choices. Eventually I narrowed it down to two and proceeded to paint samples on every wall of the guest room. A lot of hemming and hawing and an Instagram poll later, I landed on Conifer Green by Behr and painted both the walls and trim in an eggshell sheen. I couldn’t love the color more!
The current iteration of the guest room after Phase 2
The Inspiration
When I decided to go for a moody paint color in the guest room, I started saving any and all inspiration photos that matched the vision I had for the space. I took inspiration from some moody bedrooms, but also found inspiration in other rooms that had a similar color scheme and matched the vibe I’m going for. Once I chose the perfect shade of green, the rest of my vision quickly fell into place. In addition to deep green walls, many of my inspiration photos had similar themes like lots of texture, brass fixtures and hardware, and vintage accent furniture.
Photo: Elizabeth Street Post
The design that really made me decide to go for it was Alaina Kaz’s guest room in her Chicago home – I just loved the look of the upholstered headboard and basket light against the deep green. The before version of this room was a very similar color to our original guest room color and it’s amazing how much more complete the room looks with just the addition of a coat of moody green paint.
Photo: Kandice Breinholt
My only hesitation with going dark was that the room might start to feel like a cave – but when I saw this gorgeous bedroom by Kandice Breinholt, my fears disappeared. I just love how cozy the dark green color makes this room feel! We don’t have any overhead lighting in the guest room, and this photo makes me want to keep it that way.
I’ve written before about what a big fan I am of Light and Dwell designs, and this image of their Nebraska Lakehouse project gave me some major inspiration for the guest room. I love how their designs are simple but have so much depth – and that oil painting on the wall is a stunner!
Photo: Mrs. Jessica Darling
Ok, I know this isn’t a bedroom, but I still had to save Mrs. Jessica Darling’s gorgeous parlor to my inspiration folder for the guest room. I love her use of color and texture here and the rug really ties it all together. The mirror over the mantle is stunning and I’m so tempted to get the same one for the guest room dresser!
Photo: Oho Interiors
Another inspiration photo that isn’t of a bedroom, but I couldn’t not include this stunner from Oho Interiors. All of her designs are incredible, but my favorite of her projects is her own former home! I’m obsessed with every single room in her house, but this room is one of my favorites. I’ve been wanting to install some vertical shiplap on the back wall of the guest room and the moody shiplap in this photo certainly supports my case. The brass sconces against the deep green give the room so much character and I want to move in immediately!
The Design Plan
The current iteration of the guest room is *almost* a reflection of what I want the final design to look like, but there are a few tweaks I want to make before I’ll call it done. Even though this room has already gone through a phase 1 and a phase 2, I wanted to pull together a mood board to reflect the final look I’m going for. I love mood boards because they make it so much easier to visualize how everything will look together. I’m excited to share my final design for the guest room below!
This design ties in some of our existing furniture but features a beautiful upholstered bed, which I think will really make the space feel finished and elevated. The brass sconces will add to the cozy factor, and the woven throw and dried florals will add texture and color. Eventually I’d love to find a vintage dresser to take the space up a notch, but for now some heavy brass knobs will make our existing IKEA dresser feel a little more special. The finishing touch will be some heavy linen blackout drapes to lighten the space up a bit while still keeping things cozy.
So there you have it! We’re SO close to the finish line with this room, and I can’t wait to see it all come together over the next few weeks. I’ll be sure to share some final photos of the space once it’s complete.
[…] discussed some of our plans for the room in a previous post, but with three weeks left to reach my goal of finishing the room by the end of August, I figured […]