be our guest! (guest room reveal. sort of.)

"be our guest! be our guest!
our command is your request
it's been years since we've had anybody here
and we're obsessed
with your meal, with your ease
yes, indeed, we aim to please..."

with gina moved out and the holidays upon us, it was time to do a bit of "sprucing" in the guest bedroom. and, while it's not completely finished (there are more furniture pieces to find and acquire), it's done enough for guests and, thus, for this unveiling.

if you recall, this is what i started with. yes, the entire house was this color, including the ceilings in many places (and this room was one of them). *ugh*

and, you may also recall, by a stroke of luck (or, as i prefer to refer to it, GENIUS), i made a game time decision and chose to paint the room in a lovely shade of greeny-blue - "beach water" by ralph lauren. it looks like a pistachio ice cream milkshake and it's SO lovely.

from there it took some time to develop the look and feel of the room. i had lots of conflicting thoughts on everything except for the bed.

the bed was to be white-on-white-on-white-on-white. something that guests could sink into like a cloud and really feel at home in. luckily, ikea has a lovely vintage-feeling wrought iron scrollwork bed, the "leirvik", and at $80 (on sale) for a full it's a steal.

bedding is a mix of whites as well. jacquard dot sheets from both martha stewart and target (theirs are sold out online, but you can still find them in-store) for a mix of textures and sheens, paired with a big fluffy down comforter from pacific coast down (a DEAL at costco), and a coverlet from target for warmer nights (or nights that require extra warmth) - all of these make for a nice hotel-like bed to burrow into.

the room was still missing some ZING though and i was lacking in inspiration. so, a couple of days ago, while mourning the loss of my favorite candy store in the city (the AMAZING miette on hayes), i decided to go for a vintage candy shop feel.

as luck would have it, i was returning some gifts at anthropologie that day and a shower curtain that i'd been flirting with for months caught my eye. our windows are 70" tall (HUGE) so a shower curtain is actually the perfect height for them. (and i don't think there should be any rules in a house about what goes where, so why not a shower curtain in a bedroom?).












as you can see, this curtain adds so much punch to the room, both color-wise and in terms of texture. in the daytime, with the sun streaming in behind it, it literally lights up the room with all of those lovely colors. and it provides a much-needed palate for the remaining furniture and accessories purchases. (note also the switch plates and outlet covers that i agonized over.)

i also had to choose a color for the closet interior, to continue my "project doorway". it was a tough choice - i wanted something cheerful but not distracting. i ended up choosing a blueish-emerald to bring out the tones in the wall. it's behr's "precious emerald" in high gloss. i love it.

and, finally, to make the room habitable, i added just a couple of temporary touches. a small rattan bench seat that i have had since i was a little girl. a potted plant for freshening the air. and some GORGEOUS lollipops in blue and green as a nod to my initial inspiration (they will eventually end up upright on a desk - i have one just like this, it was my dad's homework desk when he was a boy - or table).

hope you all like it! please let me know if you have any fab ideas for accessories or furniture - i'm hoping to poke around the local antiques fair next month!

oh - and start booking now! san francisco is super this time of year!

jen x


p.s. i know i am SUPER behind on posts, so i'll plan on two next week: "best holiday pie ever" (bookmark it for next year) and my master bedroom reveal because *YAY* i've finally received my chandelier!

lights out - nap time!