I am very excited to share my coastal guest bedroom progress with you today, even though it isn’t fully finished!
As promised, today I’m sharing some of the progress I’ve made in our charming coastal guest bedroom. I really struggle with sharing a space before I feel it’s “finished”, but given that things are always a work in progress around here, I thought I’d share where we are as of today.
But first, a look at where we started. This was the bedroom shortly after we moved in. Pretty dark and beige and blah!
The room has undergone several updates/refreshes in the last five years that we’ve lived here. You can see the original makeover here. A few months back I shared this coastal bedroom design board to show how I wanted to update the space.
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The last time I shared the room was at Christmas and you can see the old paint color on the side walls (Behr Castle Path). The image below actually makes it look lighter than it felt in real life.
The biggest issue, which I mentioned before, is the IKEA EXPEDIT that had been moved to the room. We were needing a second desk area for when we’re both working at home. The EXPEDIT was like a junk magnet. It was too easy to store stuff in it and you’d be shocked at all the random crap I found in the bins. I donated a bunch of the craft items to our church’s preschool and VBS program, shredded old documents we no longer needed and really tried to deal with everything once and for all! We temporarily added the desk extension to the EXPEDIT to see if we could make it all work and it was way too tight in the room.
Here’s a shot of the contrast once I started painting. You can also see the Pottery Barn desk I found on a local Facebook group. I got it, along with the matching linear filing cabinet, for $200.
Here’s how the room looks now. I’m loving the new look of the Benjamin Moore Classic Gray paint. The board and batten and trim are still Behr Swiss Coffee, so I may take them a bit whiter to BM Simply White. The room is a bit barren at this point, but for now, I’m happy with the brighter and cleaner look! Funny story. Until I was editing the photo below, I honestly had never noticed that we totally didn’t get the rug centered under the bed. Like how did we mess it up that badly!?! The striped throw pillows are recent HomeGoods clearance finds.
I’m still debating on whether or not I leave the roman shades on the windows. They’re a five year old Restoration Hardware Baby & Child clearance find (similar style here) and when I took them down to paint, I couldn’t believe how much brighter the room got. The windows face the street so they definitely need full coverage at times. I’m contemplating doing drapes instead, but still deciding! The shades are currently hung about a foot above the window, but I can’t go any higher or the middle shade isn’t long enough.
Over on the side where we placed the desk it’s definitely still a work in progress! I moved my DIY inspiration board in here, but I’m still undecided if I’ll hang it in here or not. It makes it a bit challenging to style with the jog in the wall. I found that white ceramic bamboo lamp at HomeGoods a month or two back, and when I saw it online for nearly $400 I about fell out of my chair! I think I paid $40 for it! HomeGoods is definitely the place to go for lamps if you need them. I’m definitely loving how much more open this side feels though now that the EXPEDIT is gone! It’s amazing how much bigger the room feels in general now!
I’ll keep you posted on further progress. I may actually paint the adjoining bathroom soon. It’s one of the few spaces in our entire home that still have the original paint color. Keep in mind our home is ten years old and it’s flat paint, so it’s badly in need of a refresh! I’m still deciding if I need to hang something above the bed or if I keep in empty for now to really show the board and batten work.
Have a great weekend!
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Jerri says
I like the Roman shade style on these windows. Maybe hang them higher – closer to the ceiling to allow more light into the room.
Sarah says
I just updated the post because I forgot to mention this. But, the shades are already about a foot higher than the window and can’t be hung any higher or the middle shade isn’t long enough. I may just have to get new shades that are longer because I would prefer them hung much higher too!
Deb H says
Since your shades out outside mount, you could hang them at a higher point on the wall above the windows and that would give you the light you want.
Sarah says
I just updated the post because I forgot to mention this. But, the shades are already about a foot higher than the window and sadly can’t be hung any higher or the middle shade isn’t long enough. I basically hung them as high as I could to fully cover the window.
Marty Oravetz says
Wow, it is looking fabulous. I love it.
Sarah says
Thank you so much Marty! Have a great weekend!
Sharon says
Love the bed!
Sarah says
Thank you Sharon! We’re really happy with it!
Karin says
So pretty. I vote nothing above the bed. I like the clean lines of the grid and the headboard.
Sarah says
Thank you Karin! I like the clean look too – especially since you can see the board and batten better 🙂
Amy says
the room looks beautiful! You could exchange the shades for earthtone woven blinds available at Lowes or other stores. Hang them higher also. That would be easy to raise and lower. Some long drapes along with the blinds would be great!
Sarah says
I love woven shades so I definitely need to go see their current options. That’s actually what we have in our other guest room and we are really happy with them!
mere says
I bought levelor cellular shades at Lowes (cut to size) and love them. I think getting rid of the shades and having these that are inside mounted would really open up the room and how off the unique windows and the view that you have in that room. They are also cordless so they are cat friendly!
Example: (they come in multiple color)
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Levolor-Sand-Room-Darkening-Cordless-Polycotton-Cellular-Shade-Common-36-in-Actual-35-5-in-x-72-in/3036471
Sarah says
Love that these are cordless! I’ll definitely look into these too! They may also be a good option for our living room.
Norma Rolader says
Absolutely gorgeous
Carol says
I love it. Another idea for your window treatment, I just got the bottom up/ top down shades for my kitchen, love the choice of sunlight and privacy. If you made all the window blinds the same length and lowered the top for light. It would appear that the windows are the same size, not two shorter.
Sarah says
That’s a great idea too! I’ll have to look into those as I do like the bottom up functionality!