This morning I got my last and final piece to finish our guest bedroom and I couldn’t be happier to show it to you guys. This room started off so simple and we were calling it our “black & white room”. Well, now it’s got a ton of color and character and I’m so happy with the way it turned out. It slowly became my favorite room (I really have to stop saying this because every room is becoming my favorite room). But I must say I absolutely love walking past it in the hallway- it makes me smile.

My vision all started with the bed frame. My priority for the guest bedroom was finding a sturdy bed at a great price point (not the easiest task). I first checked out all the typical sites I’m on these days for good value furniture (Wayfair, Target, etc) but then I remembered the old, trusty IKEA! Is it terrible that I kind of forgot about them?? Well, I went to their site and saw this one immediately and knew it was exactly what I wanted.

I bought the Sagstua bed in Queen size and a slatted bed frame. It was incredibly easy to put together. Some of you might have seen my story where DK and I built it. It really was simple- all the reviews on this bed are totally right!

The next piece I brought in was this antique nightstand we’ve had forever. It was in our bedroom in our apartment in Brooklyn. It’s another sturdy piece, with a little touch of femininity and shabby chicness- exactly the look I was going for! It fit perfectly.

Once the two main pieces of furniture were in the room I had to start designing. I knew I wanted a statement rug, with rich colors, and most likely florals (have we met?). Back in March, I partnered with my friends at Rifle Paper Co on an amazing giveback initiative for teachers who were struggling during the quarantine.

I’ve always loved Rifle Paper Co, but I had no clue they made home decor. I freaked! I saw this rug and honestly, I may have died. It’s so incredibly beautiful. I love the deep emerald velvet with the soft colors of the flowers. It was exactly what I envisioned. They were so kind as to send this rug to me as a house warming gift and I could not be more grateful for them!

Once the rug was down I really felt like the room was coming together, but it still felt like it was missing something. The wall to the left of the bed felt very bare. I had an antique mirror I wanted to hang, but it needed something to go with it. This room has a big closet- so it really didn’t need a dresser. But I wanted a place where my guests could leave their jewelry, or do their makeup in the morning. So the idea of a low bookshelf came to mind! I wanted to find one that wasn’t bulky- this room is pretty tiny and it can’t handle too much furniture. I googled “black short bookshelf” and this one popped right up! I think it goes well with the bed and I like the style of the circles.

I’ve toyed with moving the bedside table to the right side of the bed to space it out a little, but for now, this works!

I decorated this bookshelf with a lot of little pieces we already had in our home.

On the first shelf there’s a magnifying mirror for guests, a vintage perfume tray that was my grandmother’s (she had it in her guest bedroom, the room I stayed in as a kid), and this beautiful pewter oil lamp DK and I bought on a trip to Vermont.

The second shelf has a stack of photography books that were given to us as a gift by a close friend and next to that is probably one of the quirkiest things we own. It’s a statue Daniel bought his late grandmother for a past birthday. It looks like a big puff ball, he said it reminded him of his grandma’s hair. It’s a special treasure to say the least.

The third shelf has a painting my college roommate, Kim, made me and two more antiques from our family; a silver potpourri holder, and a cake topper. I wanted this room to be filled with family memories (because for the most part my family will be the ones enjoying this room).

The bedding for this room was gifted to me by Allwells, as long as the mattress. It’s a very comfortable organic cotton. I haven’t tested it yet, besides a couple of quick pregnancy naps, but I’m very pleased so far! I topped the bed with a couple of throw pillows. Do throw pillows make anyone else feel super adult?

I grabbed two blush pink velvet pillows from West Elm and this gorgeous green pillow from HM.

One thing I really loved about this house was the quality of the closets and the amount of storage. Each bedroom has a big closet with built-ins. Sorry, I didn’t capture a pic, but it’s totally empty besides our suitcases.

Once the room was all together- the last detail was the curtains and hanging up some art. I love the beautiful natural light each room gets in our house and I’m not a huge fan of blackout curtains. I went for these gorgeous sheer grey curtains. I figured nobody is going to be staying at my house because they’re trying to sleep in. Hi, I’m pregnant. Baby will be here in December haha. I added another faux plant and a couple of art pieces which I’ll dive into later. Another fun thing we did in our house was to use black outlet and light switch covers. It’s an intentional design element for sure! Our whole house is painted white, with natural wood trim, and black detailing.

Alright, let’s dive into the art we chose!

This is a print of a photo Daniel took. Last summer we took a trip to my famili’s cottage in Quebec. I used to spend every summer of my childhood going to this cottage and hadn’t been there since I was maybe 10. My brother, his fiance, DK, myself and my cousin all went up for a couple of days last summer and it was the most magical & nostalgic experience. I knew I wanted to print this photo because anyone who has been there would instantly be taken back looking at this photo.
The print above the bed is this gorgeous shot Daniel took of Icelandic horses years ago. We had it hanging in our bedroom in Brooklyn and it’s by far one of my favorites in our home. We used to have a different piece here, but DK made the executive decision to switch it out for the horses- and I got to let him have at least a little say. right?
The last piece which is across from the bed is a gorgeous find from the artist Andrew Milner that Daniel purchased at an auction a few years ago.

Time for a little trip down memory lane! Here is the picture of the guest room when we first came to look at the house. When we moved in we stripped all the bedrooms of the carpeting and replaced it with hardwoods to match the rest of the home and we also painted all the walls white. That’s pretty much it!