French Country Cottage Guest Room/Office: (A Decorating Makeover Story)

Grab your coffee or tea and get comfortable because this post is a long one.

My only “baby bird” (aka Daughter) left the nest a couple years ago.  Because I had absolutely no direction whatsoever on how I wanted to redecorate Daughter’s vacated bedroom, the room sat untouched for about 1 1/2 years.

Uhhh…and just between me and you…I was also kind of waiting to see how she would adjust, financially,  to living on her own.  It’s a cold, cruel, and very expensive world out there these days, ya know?

I know it’s customary to show “before” photos of the project for “Metamorphosis Monday” but this makeover occurred about 8 months ago…before I became a blogger.  If you had/have kids, you can probably imagine what it looked like anyway…messy.  Then, to make matters worse, it became my temporary “dumping ground” for anything and everything  I didn’t know what to do with while I was redecorating all the other rooms in my house.

Anyway, once I made the decision to start redecorating, I had two primary goals:

1. move the computer out of  the dining room into Daughter’s old room and …

2. get the treadmill out of the storage shed and set it up in there.

Beyond that, I was stumped.  I had absolutely no ideas about  how I wanted the room to look as far as style, decor or colors.

Then, one day while browsing through a Ballard Designs catalog, I saw this desk/hutch combo and fell in love.

                                      Photo source:  Ballard Designs

Since I’ve gotten into Cottage Style, I’m preferring the lighter, brighter look of white painted furniture over dark woods but there was something about this desk and hutch that spoke to me.

Oh, can’t you just hear all that shelf space calling out to be decorated?!  Yeah, I thought so!  Me too.  And NOT with ugly, functional  “office stuff”!

With the desk decision made, I needed to focus on some of the other elements of the room, like wall color and bedding.

I’ll be honest…yellow is not my  favorite color…at least when it comes to using it in my house.  I always love it in other people’s homes, but not mine.  So guess what color I decided to paint the walls in this room?  Yep, yellow!  A pale, buttery yellow.  Go figure! 

And once I decided on yellow walls, it seemed only natural to use blue and white bedding. Toile maybe?   It was then that a French Country Cottage look was beginning to come together in my head and finally emerge as my decorating direction.

Next, I started hunting for a chest of drawers and a nightstand.  A two-tone finish was my goal…wood on the top (to coordinate with the desk)  and white painted  bottom (to keep the small room from becoming too dark with a lot of dark furniture).

The photo below  was my inspiration for the finish but not so much for the style.  I was hoping to find something less boxy and more curvy.

                                        Photo source:  Unknown

I found almost exactly what I wanted advertised for sale on my local Craigslist…a matching French Provincial chest and nightstand…only $95.00 for the two pieces but, as you can see, they were not two-tone.

                              Photo source:  previous owner

Ahhhh…but no worries.  I knew that was easy enough to remedy with paint.

Nightstand before…

                    Photo source:  previous owner

 

Nightstand after painting, distressing and adding new iron hardware…

 

So here are the final results with close ups and purchase info on some of the little details in the room.

All photos (above and below) should enlarge when clicked on. Maybe.  Hopefully.  If I did this right.

 

Paint color:  Waverly Collection “Soft Cream”  (Lowes)

Yellow matelasse shams, square pillow & coverlet:  J.C. Penney’s catalog

Blue & yellow floral sheet set:  Goodwill

“Brighton Toile” blue & white matelasse floral/stripe coverlet:  Linen Source

“Brighton Toile” blue & white stripe dust ruffle:  Linen Source

 

Blue & white candle lamp:  LampStore.com  $70.00

 

Yellow rose & lilac picture:  Goodwill  $20.00 

Set of 7 hanging plates with ribbons:  eBay  $22.00

White iron queen headboard:  Craigslist  $125.00

 

Framed prints:  Goodwill  $2.00 each

Yellow & blue floral/stripe valances (2):  J.C. Penney’s  $48.00   (buy 1/get 1 for 1 cent minus $10.00 off coupon!)

 

Sunflower arrangement:  HomeGoods   (?? $18-20.00 maybe)

Forget-me-not teacup & saucer:   eBay  (?? less than $10.00)

 

Jar candle and ribbon (sold separately):  Michael’s Crafts

 

Blue & white covered butter dish:  Goodwill  $4.00

 

French Provincial chest & nightstand:  Craigslist  $95.00

Blue & white ceramic basket:  Goodwill  $6.00

 

Framed oil painting:  local antique store  $50.00

 

Blue pitcher:  Goodwill  $2.00

Daisies:  Hobby Lobby  ($ ??…but cheap)

Schaub Select Rustica Collection Matte Black Bail Pulls:  MyKnobs.com  $9.19 each

 

Blue & white oblong tray:  I first saw one of these on somebody’s blog and then found one for myself on eBay.  $10.50

Blue & white creamer:  Goodwill   76 cents  

 

Desk & hutch:  Ballard Designs  $$ an arm & a leg $$

 

Blue & white plate:  TJ Maxx  $3.00

Set of 4 French Country prints:   eBay  $12.99 

 

Floral print mounted on wood:  Goodwill $5.00 

Blue & white pitcher:  Goodwill  $3.00

 

Yellow clock:  HomeGoods  $19.99  

Blue & white candlesticks:  Goodwill  $2.00 each

Yellow flower arrangement:  Michael’s Crafts  ?? $4.99??

 

Now that the room has come together and I see it as a whole, there is really only one thing I would have done differently.  I wish I had bought a black iron headboard instead of a white one. I think black would have coordinated better with the black iron hardware on the dresser and nightstand, and looked more French Country.  I may change that at some later date if I happen to come across a good deal on another headboard. 

I’m also still looking for a cute desk chair to replace the basic office task chair.

And I guess I should add that when the room was finished, I wasn’t able to accomplish my goal of setting the treadmill up in here.   I didn’t have room for it. 

Oh darn!  ;)

 

If you want to see more transformations head over to Between Naps on the Porch and check out all the  Metamorphosis Monday links.

8/17/10  I’m also joining Layla @ The Lettered Cottage for her guest bedroom re-do party.