Caylee's B&B

We moved into our new town home last November and for the first time ever, I had a nice large guest room to decorate.  On an unlimited budget this would be a breeze. However on my strictly limited budget it was still fun, but a much slower process.  I'm by no means a skilled decorator, so when I approach a room I usually start with the color I want to use in the room, and then try to build around that.  I know some people use themes in their decor, but that would involve a lot of theme-related purchases, and that just won't do for me. 

I love the color combination of red and white, so I decided to use this in my guest room.  I found a great Better Homes & Gardens striped red and off-white comforter for sale at K-Mart, and that was my jumping off point for the room.  I also picked up some really cute mirrored lamps on clearance for $15 each.

 I used the iron scroll headboard and bed that was mine all through high school and into my twenties, and also a dresser that has been in my room since I was about 8 years old.  The only problem was that the dresser was a deep honey colored wood, and that didn't go well at all with the red and white look I was going for.  So we had the dresser painted a nice white semi-gloss, and changed out the dated early-nineties hardware for pretty glass pulls and knobs that we got at Lowe's.  I really like the overall look now.

The room still needed another shot of red, and some help with the bare wall that the bed is on.  I looked every where and couldn't find anything big enough to fill up that wall that I really liked.  Right around this time a new line of fabric from French General for Moda called Lumiere de Noel was about to be released.  These fabrics were inspired by 19th century french textiles, and I just love them.  The red and white go really well with the creams and taupes.  I was lucky enough to find an online seller who had some early release layer cakes from this line and I knew that this was what I needed to fill up the blank wall.

I decided to pick my favorite 10 prints and frame them in white distressed frames and hang them on the wall over the bed.  Sounds easy, right?  Turns out white distressed frames are not so easy to find at a reasonable price.  The best price I could find was $18 per frame from an eBay seller and there's NO WAY I was paying $180 for my little project.  My mom suggested I try Dollar Tree, and while they didn't have white distressed frames, they did have plain wooden frames for just $1 each.  I bought these and with my dad's help stained them a dark rich walnut, sprayed them with a white spray paint, and then distressed them with a sanding sponge.  After that I cut and framed the selected fabrics, recruited my masterful dad again to hang them on the wall evenly, and VOILA!  This project cost me around $40 and most of that was the fabric, of which I only used a few pieces and will be able to use the rest later on other projects.

So now my guest room is complete and ready for guests. It even has its own en suite bathroom which is also decked out in red and white.  At least I'm consistent if nothing else.  So far only my mother-in-law has come to stay with us for a few days, but I'm hoping that more family will make it our way soon and the room will be put to good use. When the time comes, this room will be converted into a nursery, and then we'll need an entirely new game plan!

If you enjoy transformations with paint, then you should definitely stop by Life In the Fun Lane and check out some of the amazing things Holly does.  I check her blog daily, and I'm always inspired to hop on craigslist and buy the first banged up old piece of furniture I see and try my hand at revamping it with paint.  If I ever get around to actually doing it, you'll be the first to know.

Hasta la vista, baby