The guest room: casual luxe for a little

Disclaimer: everything in my house is a work-in-progress.  Since I've been unemployed for several months, my budget is TIGHT... but I have the time and skills to give inexpensive finds the love they may need. Oh, and the pix are phonecam photos I hastily snapped while I was doing something else!

I have a friend who crashes in my guest room rather frequently. He RAVES about my guest room to anyone who will listen. Recently a friend we have in common in Texas requested pics. Upon seeing them she exclaimed "We'll be there tomorrow!"

...except the room had already been reserved by some friends from Arizona for a long weekend visit.

Having friends visit and hearing them coo over thoughtful details, or tell me what a good night's sleep they got in the comfy bed makes me happy.  And I didn't have to break the bank to do it! The furniture items, mainly the bed and the chifferobe were $40 or less each. Granted, they didn't look like they do *now* when I bought them...

The room is filled with odds and ends that have found their way home with me over the last two decades.

The pine sleigh bed was a display bed in the textile department from my first job in Birmingham, purchased at a prop sale.  I picked up the orange lamp and sorta scary sunshine needlework art at thrift stores while I lived there as well- for next to nothing. The shade was a recent freecycle score.The clip-on gooseneck lamp was some 1980-something Spiegel catalog purchase I just can't seem to give up.

The mattress and box springs were a gift from friends who, compliments of Katrina,  evacuated to my little house from New Orleans.  The textiles were bargains from a former employer's liquidation sale at closing.  I have both feather/down and man-made pillows and comforters for the bed that were acquired all over.  In the event I need to accommodate a guest with feather allergies, I am able to dress the bed accordingly.

That power strip probably cost more than the desk ($10) and chair (freebie from another job site) combined. The sad little kidney desk was covered (quite poorly) in craptastical brown paint and riddled with bite marks.  It took me years to get around to it... but it's finally much spiffier with layers of walnut and cherry stain and a few coats of satin polyurethane.  Bath towels, shower poufs and wool/cotton rug ($4) from Target.

The window panels are canvas drop cloths from the paint department at the DIY, after taking a ride in the washer with Rit dye. They're hung with inexpensive closet rod, thrifted wooden curtain rings (.10 for... a whole bunch of 'em), simple nickel finish rod brackets and clip-on rings from Ikea. They're merely a short term solution (reused from a former dwelling and a bit too short or too long), but I love the warm glow they cast into the room in the morning enough to not be in a rush.

The $30 chifferobe. When I bought it the mirrors and drawer pulls were broken/missing, the finish was awful and the trim was missing from the top. Mom didn't understand "why are you wasting your money on this thing?" until she saw the finished product... then she wanted to take it home with her.

It's due for a little more love: it needs some repairs and I've grown tired of the paint job. It'll do for a while longer- I've got several more projects on the horizon!  AND it's finally spring in the south!  I want to get the porch prettification project underway!

The last few rounds of entertaining friends in my home have served as nice reminders that I am indeed making progress. Everyone loves the fact that almost every item in the house has a story, and they enjoy hearing them.

Which reminds me... I need to post about the sideboard that found its way to my house while I was looking for bedroom storage.  It reminded me all the things I'd forgotten over the last few years about furniture refinishing. Reamalgamation, anyone?

I have yet to score fantastic storage furniture for my room, though... but I'm working on it.