Mini Spare Room Makeover

A few weeks ago, I had a long weekend off work, in order to use up some of my annual leave. I decided to put the time to good use, by organising and improving my spare room, which I had been meaning to do for months, but never got around to.

My spare room is also my office, wardrobe (as I have too many clothes and shoes) guest room, and general dumping ground. I wanted somewhere to be able to work, blog and somewhere I would be happy for guests to stay in.

So here is the before:-



So yeah, one almighty mess right? 

But here are the after shots:-

I started off by just giving it a general tidy up and actually putting my washing away etc. I washed all the spare bedding and the sofa bed cover, and stored the bedding in vacuum packs underneath the bed, so it can be made up at a moment's notice. The big throw adds extra warmth and colour to the room. The colour scheme isn't particularly 'now', but this was the colour scheme in my room in my old house, and the bedding and accessories were still useable, so it seemed a waste of money to buy all new, so I recycled them.

I also made the noticeboard (tutorial coming soon) and hung some picture frames I'd had floating around for ages.

My desk was pine, so I decided to brighten it up by painting it white with kitchen cupboard paint. This worked quite well, but I now wish I had put a varnish on as well (although the tin says this isn't necessary) as it does seem to scratch easily. I re-arranged my desk set up and added a blanket and cushion for extra cosiness. I will show my desk set up in a future post.

One of the biggest problems with my spare room is damp, so I can't really have doors on my wardrobes as it prevents the air getting around them, but I didn't want to keep looking at my clothes all the time. Instead I bought a retractable net pole and some voils, which keeps the air flowing but looks prettier. I also painted this pine chest of drawers with which emulsion, after some sanding. I had intended to get some new drawer knobs but I actually like the effect of the original ones against the white.

This white frame was pine - I got carried away with painting things white I think - and I cut up an old  birthday card that my Mum gave me, to go inside as I liked the picture and the sentiment. The large photograph is genuine vintage, I think early 1900's. - It's my great-great grandmother Rosa, who I'm told I got my auburn hair from when I was younger, (wish it was now, but it's a mousy colour when my roots show!) The frame she was in was no good anymore, and I'm still looking for one that's suitable so I can hang the picture above the drawers.

So that's my mini room makeover in a weekend. Most of it was just tidying and re-arranging, but I really enjoy spending time in there now, and I have had guests since too!

I intend to do a few more home decor posts - is there anything you would particularly like to see?