Guest Bedroom Redecoration

I thought I'd share with you a few photos of our guest bedroom that we've finally finished redecorating. I've not shared them with anyone else and it seems a shame to take before and after photos just for my own reference, though it may not be of much interest to others either! :-)

We're lucky that both bedrooms in our mid-terrace are a very decent size. Both bedrooms were in need of some TLC (I'm a dab-hand at poly-filling holes and cracks now) and some updating. We decided to decorate the second bedroom first seeing as we'd been inundated with family and friends wanting to come and visit.

How the guest bedroom started; at this stage we had taken up the laminate flooring, ripped off the polystyrene coving and removed the old skirting board.

We changed the faces on the plug sockets and light switches - cost a few £s from Screwfix to do so but made the room look so much cleaner by doing such a simple thing. Jack's Dad also fitted new light pendants too. The windows at the back of our house (upstairs and downstairs) were original wood-framed, single-glazed windows and it was extremely chilly when we moved in. I didn't mind the chill but it was more the wind whistling through at night that kept me awake. The front had been double-glazed at some point (though they're looking quite old now too), but the back had been neglected (not that I'm blaming previous occupants, new windows are not cheap!). We knew that fitting new windows was a priority and thankfully the deposit we got back on our rented flat covered almost all 3 back windows (both bedroom windows upstairs and the living room window downstairs). The back windows are abnormally large (therefore costly), but I love that as it means we get to make the most of the view over the countryside.

New double-glazed windows fitted

 

Next job was painting the walls now that I'd finished filling the holes/dents/cracks and sanded them. Jack is more than happy for me to choose colours etc. but I always ask for his opinion (he's grateful that I'm not a pink-fanatic). We decided to go with 'Taupe' in the guest bedroom, a nice warm neutral colour, my thinking being that I could accessorise in the room for a fairly low cost and it would fit in with our old bedroom furniture that would be staying in this room.

 

Walls painted with Dulux matt in 'Taupe', new skirting board fitted by Jack (caulked and glossed by me), windowsill sanded back and then glossed, finally the radiator is no longer a horrible greyish colour and I painted it white once more with Ronseal radiator paint.

 

I think the skirting board looks lovely and the main reason for us replacing it was that the rest of the house already has this skirting, but for some reason the two bedrooms had been left. Coving wasn't as easy job (it's so fiddly and more arm-aching above your head), but Jack and I remained on speaking terms despite how annoying it was at times to get someone to hold the coving while the other sands a smidgen more in order to get the corners flush. We're now experts and I'm hoping the master bedroom will be quicker to do coving-wise, though there are a lot more corners in there...

We had decided we wanted carpet upstairs (I like the feel of carpet between my toes in the morning when getting out of bed) and after getting many quotes done we went with Luke Johnson Flooring, based in Newbury. They were fantastic and we're really pleased with the carpets. We had the second bedroom and landing carpet done at the same time in the same colour, this is a Cormar Saxony carpet called 'Primo Delight' in the shade 'Almond', it has a nice deep pile and a slight fleck in the carpet so helps not to show up grubby marks too quickly. We're undecided whether to have the same colour fitted in the master bedroom (I'll update on that soon when we reach that stage).

 

Coving fitted, door and door frame glossed (we are yet to replace the door handles - every room in the house has a different one!), finally the carpet has been fitted.

 

We decided that for the meantime we would move into the guest bedroom now that it was finished, in order to help empty up the master bedroom so we could get started on the decorating in there. We moved the furniture into the guest bedroom (this furniture is staying permanently in there) and here's a photo of the finished room - only thing missing is some wall art which I just haven't got around to yet.

 

 

Glass bottle table lamps - Ikea

Beside tables & chest of drawers (not in photo) - Malm, Ikea

Duvet cover - Dunelm

Curtains - Dunelm

Ceiling Lampshade (larger version of table lampshades) - Ikea

 

Thanks to our old furniture, we managed to save a lot of money on this room. We intend on buying new furniture for our room but I think our family and friends will be more than happy with our old furniture in here. I'm pleased with how the room looks, pretty plain but that's what I wanted. I hope to get one of my nice landscape photos I took in nearby Micheldever Woods (Hampshire) blown up and framed for the wall above the bed. We've also installed a small desk (not in the photo) in here for me to do my sewing and crafting. The sewing machine now has its own permanent home! I managed to find some vintage wooden reels of thread in a local antique shop that I plan on displaying in a large mason jar/glass bottle on the chest of drawers to give the room a bit more décor, along with another nice box filled with some of my knitting wool and needles. In total, all décor, paint, DIY materials came to just under £350, well under the £500 decorating budget we set for this room. This doesn't include the cost of the new window or carpet which came to £950 (ouch!). It gives us a bit more spending money for the master bedroom which is good as we need all new bedroom furniture for that room which won't be cheap.

 

So this is the guest bedroom just about fully complete. We always give up the room when we have visitors (Jack and I are more than happy on the air bed for a night in the "building room" aka our master bedroom) and they all compliment the room so that's nice. For our very first house and our very first go at some things like fitting skirting board, sanding doors and windowsills I'm quite pleased with how well we've done. It's all a learning experience after all and I've discovered I have an extra talent for painting and glossing (Jack's least favourite jobs). We wanted a bit of a project house and this house has just the right amount, allowing us to put our own stamp on it while hopefully adding a little bit of value to the property. Here's to more exciting decorating projects! :-)