What Ana Does

I've always thought this house deserves a lot of green. And dark blue. It's that center hall colonial vibe I love so much. So when it came time to paint the guest room, I wanted to use one of those colors. And after painting the back hallway blue, green just seemed to be the right direction.  The guest room gets a ton of light, since it faces east. So it can handle a moody color. I picked Peale Green from Benjamin Moore and got it from the TrueValue near the house -- it's the closest hardware store. The walls were painted in a blue/grey flat paint with lots of nicks and a few spots where the old paint was showing -- not in great shape. I knew an eggshell finish would pick up some sunlight and give the room a little shine. (I will never understand using flat on these walls. SO weird.)  Here's one of the walls before:   And after the coat of Peale Green later ...  Of all the lovely colors in this house, this might be a favorite! It's a great true-green with a lit...

Well, the guest room is done and I think my goal has been reached. *High five*  I really wanted a little accent wall that acts as a headboard for this bed and to lighten up this really sun-filled room. And the lighter curtains and more cohesive art on the walls sure helps make it clean.  We like the room so much that David moved his office up here. You can see his table/desk and office chair in this room.  Check this room off the list. 

 It's been a few months since I updated you on the guestroom refresh project ... and with good reason. The shiplap I wanted to finish out the "feature wall" and be the solution to the bed's headboard was out of stock at my local Home Depot.  In fact, it was out of stock at most Home Depots near me except for the one in Wisconsin. And this Fall, the COVID virus was on a major spike in that state, so I was avoiding going there. Mostly because I had a few doctor appointments and the first thing they ask you is if you'd left the state and wasn't willing to forgo my mammogram just for building supplies. 2020, y'all!  Anyway, last week after waiting two month I just decide to make the drive, since Illinois was also spiking new cases and, well, I have no where to go for the next two weeks anyway.  Here's the progression. Starting with the blank wall and moving all the way up to the caulking/wood filler step:  It was late Sunday night when I push the room back...

 I'm way too excited about this light to wait to show you ..  Ok. Now that you've Ooohs and Awwwed, here's some context: this is the guestroom and it's the room I'm currently working on redecorating. I didn't install a ceiling light when I did the other bedrooms a few years ago and I very-much regret it to this day. But, it did allow me the opportunity to buy a fun wicker hanging light that I've been eyeing for a while.  (Link to this fixture on World Market .) I'm so happy with its location and the peeks of bamboo. I'm using a 3M contact hook right now, but I'll install a real hook in the next day or two, now that I know the position is right. And once that curtain is back in place, it will hide the cord hanging down the wall.  In other guestroom news, I ordered the new curtains. They are light-blocking, pretty creamy linen curtains I found on Amazon. And I painted the first coat of the white trim color. It's making me like the taupe color o...

Oh, our poor guest room. It's time to give this often-overlooked room some attention.  Here's the thing ... this room is currently used as the "GIRL DEN" for art projects, youtube watching and "sister sleepovers." And we spruce it up a bit for when my Mom visits and it turns into a true guestroom.   But it's a total disaster. The wall color is wrong. The curtains are all wrong (color and location). The closet is a cluttered mess. The furniture is just the rejects from all over the house. The girls do their best to make it a "cool hangout spot" but it's just a mess.  Here's the REAL, unfiltered BEFORE picture:  But I've got BIG PLANS.  ACCENT WALL: Oh baby. It's going to be so sweet to create an accent wall on the far wall which is really what you focus on in the room. Shiplap is currently pricing out to be somewhat affordable. I also found a cool peel and stick real-wood option, but it was incredibly pricey. I'm hunting othe...

We've got the guest room all outfitted, but we wanted to find other ways to get additional sleeping spaces for kids, too. I saw this daybed platform and mattresses in a catalog here and fell madly in love. I've never seen anything like it in the States, and it's so multi-purpose! You know I love a piece of furniture that can adapt and change as needed. Guest Daybed and Additional Seating We set it up as additional seating in the living room, but we'll likely move the mattresses to the floors in bedrooms for sleepover parties and the whole platform to another room for additional guest sleeping spots. Related posts: See more Guest Room posts 

Our first guests are here for the week and our guest room is ready to receive them. So exciting! Here's the BEFORE picture of our guest room. I was using it as an office and dumping ground for things I didn't know what to do with. BEFORE: Guest Room And here is the triumphant AFTER photo, with the new bed and grey linens from Ikea. I tried to keep to the grey and yellow color scheme, since those were the colors already in there or readily available.  Remember the other bed options I found? See them here . Unfortunately, the leafy trees now obstruct the view of the Eiffel Tower. But a fresh set of towels and a little sunshine coming through the windows... Welcome to Paris!  Related posts: See the progress on the Paris apartment Guest Room

Finally the wayward mattress was delivered this week, so all the big things in the guest room have been set-up. Hooray. And, guys, this is THE LAST thing I will order to be delivered while in France. Seriously. It's terrible and awkward communicating with the delivery men in a language I don't yet understand. Ugh. They call on their way, they call when they're downstairs. I have no idea what to say. I fumble over words. It's, ugh, challenging. BUT, had to be done. Almost Ready! It's pretty comfy, too! Just need a few accessories to finish it all up, and we'll be ready for our first guests. Stay tuned for the final "after" picture of this lovely room. Hooray! Related posts: Read more about our Paris Apartment

Our first guests will be here in just a few weeks, so I'm focused on getting our guest room up and running . Did you guess which bed we picked ? I had fun looking through all the options, but went with the upholstered grey and white bed. It's neutral enough but has a little pizzaz. It's nice to give a guest room a little personality. And the walls are grey, so it all ties in well. It's Sorta Houndstooth, But Not It was easy to assemble and felt sturdy. It's cute!  Now, the mattress is another story. I ordered it from the same store at the same time, but the delivery man didn't have it on his truck when he dropped off the bed. So .... as of today, it's MIA. (Gah!) And it's been challenging to find a customer service person who speaks English.  View from the Door. The Rower Will Need a New Temporary Home, Too The rug looks pretty cushy, they could sleep on that, right?! Just kidding! I still have time to get it here. I also need to pi...

Shopping for beds in a foreign land, when the only store I know is Ikea, has been a challenge. But the guest room needs a bed, so I've jumped in with both feet. Just for fun, here are a few of my options. Shop Name: La Redoute  They're currently having a big flash sale on mattresses, so the prices are not bad. I really like this mod-looking upholstered bed called Semeon, see it here . It's Not Chevron or Houndstooth -- Sorta Between Shop Name: Maisons Du Monde Then there's this pine bed that's also has a mod-feel with those great paperclip legs. And you gotta love the extra storage beneath. It's called the Cody, see it here. Eve Last, there's this British startup that sells a mattress-in-a-box, similar to those we have in America (Casper, I think is one) and all the ads I see for them -- I've always been very curious about them. I'm terribly drawn to the bright yellow color, especially with the grey bed frame you can add on, ...

We are SOOO fortunate to have a fourth bedroom in this apartment, which we'll use as a guest room. And an office. And a video game room. Here's the space just after we moved in when it acted solely as an office. See my calendar made from shipping paper on the wall? BEFORE: The Guest Room As Office Before we moved, I had a plan for all of the rooms, except this one. I was pretty sure it would be a guest room, but I didn't pack any furniture specifically for it. In hindsight, I wish I did, but there just wasn't time to consider it before the movers arrived. It took a few weeks to put together the right strategy. At first, there was talk of getting a daybed or a convertible sofa. But ultimately, we decided to make it as comfortable for guest use as possible and put a nice full-size bed in the corner. But also buy some light-weight chairs for when we don't have guests and want to use it to watch TV or play wii. Dave went to Ikea and got some Poang (iconic and...

My sisters are coming for Christmas, so I've been spending a lot of time getting the house ready for the onslaught of family -- adult and toddler. One of my tasks is to freshen up the paint color in the guest room. It's the LAST room in the house that is the horrible beige color. I struggled with the paint color for weeks! There's hand-me-down furniture in here. And red curtains I bought quickly when a baby needed to use this room for day-time naps a few years ago. I just wasn't ready to commit to any color scheme or design plan. With my timeline counting down, I had to make my decision and paint this weekend. I pulled color samples, including putting up color swatches on the wall. Blue? Coral? Teal? Peacock blue? Green? Then, on Saturday morning, I had a revelation! My living room in the New Jersey house was a Benjamin Moore color called " shenandoah taupe ," and it was my favorite color in all the house. And guests would compliment the shade, too. It h...