This room started out stinky, and quickly morphed to messy…
We stained the floor that dark brown color after we ripped out the carpet, but we did a bad job, and craved a lighter look, so we sanded it back again and just used clear Varathane to seal them the second time around…
Around that same time, we discovered wood planks inside the closet, and decided to go Tasmanian Devil on the drywall…
Ah, the memories.
Now here we are, five years and LOTS of elbow grease later, and the room is finally DONE!
Ok, maybe not completely done. We still want to swap out the door and doorknob on the right in the photo above with something more cottage-y.
(PS- That’s the reading room back there in the distance, and this is the only place in our house that you can stand and see one completely finished room from another- ha!) #FixerUpper
Like the title of this blog post says, it’ll function as both Kevin’s office and our guest bedroom, so we basically just split the room in half and created separate areas for each “room”.
We tucked Kev’s work area in the most hidden corner of the room, that way, if when he makes a mess, it’s not the first thing folks see when they stroll past the door.
(Especially the folks who have offices on the other side of the hall from this one. #HeeHee)
Brian the Carpenter custom built Kev’s desk- A) because it was much less expensive to build it than it would’ve been to buy one this size, and B) because we could decide the exact dimensions.
His musical gear fits nice and neat inside the shelves, and he looks forward to finding a keyboard to use on the (currently empty) desktop on the left in the photo above.
It was pretty simple construction, and Brian and I just kind of dreamed it up as we went along. The front and top are wood, and everything else is MDF.
My favorite part are the cord channels smarty pants Brian added to the inside/back walls.
He drilled holes everywhere Kev thought he might use a piece of equipment with a cord attached to it, and instead of having to look at hang-y, messy cords everywhere, they’ll all lay inside the channels! #LoveThat
Kev hung his “vision board” on the wall straight in front of his chair, and placed a wooden desk organizer to the right of his computer. It came from a local flea market a few years back, and I picked up the Lettered Cottage-y notebook at Walmart the other day…
My favorite part of this side of the room is a teeny tiny accessory, mounted to the closet door next to his desk…
Shortly after I met Kevin, I told him about a story I had heard about how John Lennon met Yoko Ono. It was at one of her art shows. She had set up a ladder that led to a painting, which was hanging on the ceiling. It was a white canvas, suspended by chains, and there was a magnifying glass hanging on the end of it. Lennon said, “I climbed the ladder, looked through the spyglass, and in tiny little letters it said, YES. It so was positive.”
I love passing that kind of positivity onto him, and I hope it helps to remind him that he can do it whenever he needs a little reminder.
He keeps his guitar picks in an old Bingo tin, and because he’s a greenery guy, we also popped an easy-to-take-care-of plant on his desk.
The pencils came from Pottery Barn ions ago, and because he’s also a pencil guy, we plopped a bunch of those and a pencil sharpener (that looks like a camera!) on his desktop, too.
I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see him in there, surrounded by all his gear and guitars…
Music is his passion and I’m beyond thrilled that all of his favorite things are finally out of storage, dusted off, and alive and crankin’ in his room!
We pulled in a little flea market stool (that was previously in the kitchen) so that when I go in to listen to what he’s working on, or need to run something by him, etc. – I’ve got a sweet little spot to sit for a spell.
Over on the other side of the room, I had fun pulling together a camp-y/cottage-y sleeping space for our guests…
I went with a bunch of different patterns and colors that appealed to both me and my mister’s sensibilities.
We haven’t had an overnight visitor yet, but Kit-Cat l-o-v-e, loves it…
…and that makes us smile every time we see it!
And speaking of smile-makers…I’m cuckoo for the fronts and backs of the euro pillows Kev got me for my birthday last month…
Cable knit on the front, plaid on the back? Yes, please! Canvas on the front, navy blue corduroy on the back? Yes, yes, yes! #Scrumpdillyicious
I’ve already blogged about the closet doors and bedside tables, and we’re still pleased as punch with how those turned out, too…
Brian the Carpenter did such a great job bringing our vision to life.
(Brian: We can’t thank you enough for being so much fun to work with on this project. We’ve enjoyed getting to know you and your son, and we feel blessed to call y’all our friends!)
And since this post is all about the finishing touches, I thought I’d include photos of some things in the room I’ve already blogged about, too. The ceiling light:
The wall sconces:
The window treatments:
(I cut the tabs off and used curtain rings instead!)
Last but not least, here’s a quick little video we put together last night…just for fun…
Clearly it was way past my bedtime.
Here’s a resource list of everything we used in the room:
wall paint: Roycroft Mist Gray (Sherwin Williams)
ceiling and trim paint: Moonlight White (Benjamin Moore)
closet door paint: We had the red paint matched at Home Depot from Para Paints, “Orchard” paint sample card. (Orchard paint is only available in Canada.) Here’s the formula we used:
We brushed on (and immediately wiped off) some Mocha-colored translucent color glaze (from Lowes) after the red paint had dried to tone it down a bit and to bring out the imperfections in the doors.
floor stain: clear, satin Varathane (Lowes)
desk paint: “Graphite” (Annie Sloan)
ceiling and closet planks: Lowes
closet doors and doorknobs: Southern Accents (Cullman, Alabama)
curtains: Lenda (Ikea)
curtain rods: Walmart
curtain rings: Walmart
blinds: Home Depot
wall sconces: Schoolhouse Electric
ceiling light: Barn Light Electric
bedside corbels: Junk Bonanza (Shakopee, Minnesota)
carpet tiles: “Soft Spoken” in Linen (Flor)
bed: used to belong to Kevin’s parents
white quilt: Pottery Barn (Pick-Stitch)
blue and white striped blanket: Schoolhouse Electric
brown and white, buffalo check blanket: Schoolhouse Electric
euro pillow #1: Schoolhouse Electric
euro pillow #2: Schoolhouse Electric
bolster pillow: Schoolhouse Electric
burlap pillow: The Nest on Etsy
ticking stripe pillow case: Pottery Barn (discontinued)
stool: J&G Flea Market (Prattville, Alabama)
desk lamp: Target
“Oh How I Love Thee” burlap art: Burlap Art by Elizabeth on Etsy
bingo tin: Etsy
glass pencil container: Pottery Barn (discontinued)
pencils: Pottery Barn (discontinued)
blue “I love you” pen: ?
camera pencil sharpener: My Funky Camera
wood desk organizer: J&G Flea Market (Prattville, Alabama)
“yes” plaque: Casa.com
desk chair: Office Depot
desk baskets: ? (we’ve had them forever!)
baskets above closet doors: Pottery Barn (discontinued)
dog art: Shop Ten 25
guitar mounts: Sam Ash
It’s been a fun room to re-do, and we look forward to tackling another one soon. In the meantime, visit the Our House tab at the top of our blog for more makeover madness!
Wanna read about our home office/guest bedroom redo from the beginning? Here are links to all the posts we published along the way!
5/8/12- Wall Color
5/21/12- Closet Doors
5/23/12- Closet Construction
5/25/12- Closet Construction (2)
5/28/12- Closet Update And Ceiling Construction
5/30/12- Cottage Style Trim
6/20/12- Time To Paint
7/ 16/12- Schoolhouse Electric Wall Sconces
7/18/12- Barn Light Electric Sky Chief Ceiling Light
It is absolutely wonderful, just as I knew it would be!
We are in the process of trying to sell our home and downsize. If all goes well, we will be moving to a much smaller home than we have now. I love how you finished this room. Will put it away in my great ideas file for our next home!
Happy Weekend!
It turned out great!
Layla, I have watched with fascination as you’ve brought this room to life. Hadn’t realized it took five years! (Now I don’t feel so bad about my house, lol!!) The best thing for me — the window treatments. That’s my weakest area – I have the hardest time envisioning how to enhance the windows. Thanks for the inspiration. Onto my three newly refurbished rooms … 2 down, 1 to go. (Before the other projects… sigh…)
It looks great! I love the channels for the cords, what a great idea. 🙂
I love it!!! Amazing job y’all did. I especially love the guitars on the wall, gives it such a nice personal touch. Everything about that room looks so wonderful. You can defintaly tell y’all put a lot of thought into it.
Of course everything looks stellar! You two are a perfect team.
Funny story… My older brother went to his then girlfriend now wife’s for college break . It was time to meet her parents . They arrived very late and didn’t want to disturb the rest of the family. Her mom pointed my brother to the guest room where he promptly fell asleep without turning on a light. The next morning he awoke to properly meet her parents… Face the size of a large watermelon. Their guest room was their cat’s fav spot . My brother was Very allergic to cats and apparently slept face down in the cat’s spot;)
So. Awesome.
It’s Kit Cat’s room though, just ask him!
Well done you guys. LOVE IT!!!
love the room but love the bed side more. cute cat.
Love your website and love the makeover! It looks AMAZING. I do have a question though… Is there any way you could possibly do a post or comment with the formula for the Sara Richardson door color? It’s such a beautiful red. Thank you for the inspiration! <3
Oops! I meant to include that in this post! :-O I’ll dig it out of storage and post it asap! Thanks for reminding me, Bethany!
Layla,
It’s supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Your Friend,
Deborah
“Masculottage” just made my entire day!
Ha! I love it! 🙂
Wow! It came out great. I love everything. I actually like the take two of the floors better. The desk looks great in graphite. Love the little stool. Love the Yoko Ono story. It all looks fantastic. The red doors and cool knobs are fun too!
Love the room! It has given me a couple of ideas for a third bedroom/office in my house = )
May I ask, where did you find the dog art?
~ Liliana
I feel silly. I came back to check on the post and realized you had the Dog Art info there all along! Sorry!
~ L.
I just added it, Liliana! 😉
Oh that looks amazing!!!
Love the colors and this beautiful desk!
You`ve done a really good job!
Lovely greetings from Germany…
I Love IT! You guys did an amazing job! My boyfriend also has tons of music equipment (guitars, amps, CORDS). This room is a huge inspiration for keeping us both happy. 🙂
Oh I love everything, Layla!
Great great job – I am sure Kevin will just love having this new space.
Thank you for sharing all the details with us – I love that.
And the YES story is so great.
Enjoy enjoy enjoy!!!
OooooooHHH!! It look’s so awesome & cozy at night!…Loveit! btw- where is that pillow that you originally blogged about…it was an reddish, flag …maybe wool pillow i believe???…didn’t see it on the bed 😛
I have to admit…I still miss that blue ticking comforter you used to have on that bed. The room is a wonderful transformation! The light fixtures make the room and of course those planked walls!!!!! I can’t wait to see what’s next!!!! You are THE original!!!!
Thanks, Stacy! That’s what’s great about mix and match bedding though- I still have that quilt and I can swap things out as often as the bedding addict in me likes, and it’ll all live happily ever after together! 😀
GASP!! I L-O-V-E, love it!!! make one for me too please! pretty please! 🙂
ahh, the room looks awesome. I love the mix and match with the bedding. it feels so cozy, just like a weekend at the cabin!
where’s you fave place to shop for bedding?
Hi Andrea!
I love Schoolhouse Electric and Pottery Barn for bedding. I’ve found some of my favorite discontinued pieces on eBay throughout the years! 🙂
oops! it was an army blanket, w/a red stripe….did it not make the cut??…lol….also- where on earth did kevin find those pillows?–LOVE!…and that dog picture???…where is that from- LOVE< LOVE!
Hey Kathy! I’ve still got the blanket, but the brown was a little “purple-y” and it was actually really stinky (musty), so we decided not to use it. Check out the resource list at the end of the post for links to everything we used in the room. Thank you for the comment love today! 😀
What a lovely, functional, and thoughtful space. 🙂
Ah-mazing! Love it!
Looks amazing guys! I love all of the little touches. 🙂
How fantastic! It looks great!
Love, love, love the greenish grey with the red doors. I’ve always loved grey/green with red accents and people think I’m crazy!
Hey Vicki!
It’s actually a brownish-gray (guess it depends on your computer monitor?), but I’m a big fan or greenish-gray with red, too! 😀
It’s gorgeous!!! I love, love, love how it turned out!! You guys did an amazing job as always!!!
Thank you, Tonya! 😀
It looks so awesome! Love it!
It’s beautiful and I think the two spaces work well together. I love that the red in the doors wasn’t repeated everywhere. It really helps them stand on their own and compliments the bedding well.
P.S.- I love the video… it so much better than just reading your words in type. It’s fun to get to see in action and little snippets of your personality. It was also funny to see Kit-Cat making his exit by walking across the desk. Congratulations on completing the room.
Completely love it! It’s so cozy, welcoming, and unique. I love the little closets and how they kind of hug the bed and make it feel “built in”. I’m sure you won’t have trouble finding guests to stay there!
I have to say, maybe it’s because I’m adoptive mom, but I couldn’t help but notice the little child’s photo hung on the cork board. Looks like a referral picture!
WoW! My favorite room ever…and I always thought I liked contemporary design. This is just so well planned and thoughtful! Love, Love, Love!
This room is perfection! Completely inspiring. Thank you for sharing your talents and creativity with us!
GORGEOUS!!!
I love the room, but I’m confused, wasnt that where the room for your adoptive child was going to live?
Thanks, Stephanie. 🙂 You’re correct. With the recent launch of his online business (http://shootflyshoot.com) and because he wants to release an acoustic album next year, we decided to make it into an office for Kev right now. (He was previously working on a tray table in the living room- ha!) If we ever need to use it as a bedroom, we’ll just move his desk out and it’ll be good to go! 🙂
It’s beautiful! My heart skipped when I saw the blue blanket, full on danced when I saw you’d provided the link, and then crumpled like the Wicked Witch in water when I saw the price! I could have cried!!!
Thanks, Julie. 🙂 We saved our pennies and took advantage of a great discount back in June, and we’ve really been loving that pop of blue. I’m always on the lookout for those kinds of blankets though, so I’ll start hunting for a less expensive version of it and I’ll let you know if I find one! 🙂
Okay, can I just move in?? Those are my colors. I need a much bigger desk,, and that one looks perfecto. And I can work on singing and learning to play a new instrument! Please, pretty please?
It’s gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m a space planning nerd too, the first thing I do after measuring up a clients space is the floor plan and space plan, not the fabrics… they come later after I know the scale of the furniture I will be working with and the size of rug I can get into the room…
Loving the Sarah Richardson red doors…way to copy a good thing and make it greater, just for you…way to go! Her paint colors are amazing…
It is just so warm and charming Layla. Y’all did an awesome room. (Thanks for bringing this sunshine this morning, when the news from Colorado is so sad)
I really love the way your guest bedroom – Kev’s office turned out. Can’t wait to come up and see it in person. Love the guitars on the wall.
Love Mom.
Thanks, Mom Palmer! Can’t wait to see you next week! 😀
You guys did an AMAZING job! I adore the colour scheme and little architectural details that make it so much more than a box of a bedroom.
I love it! It looks so comfortable and beautiful. You had plenty of room in there to get everything in you wanted to.
Super-duper cute!! I love the closets…I might borrow that idea for my storage-challenged-1971-townhouse. Looks like Kit-Cat loves his new room too!
Love every bit of it! You guys have such an eye for details. Can you come do my house???
oh wow!!! it looks amazing!!! great job!!!!
i am so happy to hear that someone else has been in there house five years & still has projects going on. i just feel like the projects will never end as i have a fixer upper too. but, it is loads of fun along the way! i am loving that light fixture in the room. really, the whole room came out so nice!
Love the room. Love you guys. What an amazing, creative space. Great job you two!
PS – I never heard that story about John & Yoko. Love the positive message behind it : )
oxox
Jennifer
I love the layout for this room. We also have a guest/office room, and I have been trying to find the right layout for. I think I will have to steal this plan. 🙂 Beautiful room.
Steal away, Nem! Happy decorating! 😀
Beautiful, beautiful! Any guest would be blessed to nestle in there.
The room is finally done!! And with all the custom work, I believe it might REALLY BE DONE. You know I’ve been peeking in there forever…waiting…patiently…knowing all along it would be AMAZING! P.S.
I found the ‘yes’ story especially wonderful 🙂
Thanks, Mom! 😀 My heart always does a little dance when I see a comment from you here, and I can’t wait to show you the room in person…the next time you come visit…hint hint. 🙂
My husband and I exchange “yes” items for the very same reason you have your yes. I’m a huge Lennon fan, so the “yes” thing has always been very special for us. Glad to see it is for you too!