At Home

Bella is enjoying the bed in "The Blue Room."  I haven't blogged about this room, but maybe soon.

The Guest Bedroom

It is a real luxury to have guest bedrooms.  We've never had one before, so family and friends slept on the couch.  This year, we have family from Japan and Fargo staying for three weeks, so I'm delighted to give them a comfortable place to stay.

But, just because a house has bedrooms, doesn't mean that they are furnished!  Before we moved into this house, we lived in a condo that was less that half the size.  And before that, in my "bachelorette" days, I lived in a studio apartment.  This means that many of the rooms in the new house sit pretty empty.

To make a guest bedroom without spending a lot, I have had to call upon some resources.  Thank you to my parents for their donation of a decades-old mattress, which we revived with a foam topper.  And thank you to friends who moved and left me with a little dresser, striped pillowcases, and a quilt.  And finally, thank you to thrift stores, which supplied paisley pillowcases ($2) and retro lamps ($10 for the set).

Now, I am working on guestroom number two!

Will this bedding work?

What do we have here?  

Some (wrinkly) bedding.

I have never had a guest room before, and now I have two!  I am trying to furnish them on the cheap.  Here's a preview of what I'm working with.  Come back to see what I pull together!

The Bedroom Dresser

This dresser came from the Goodwill store.  Twenty dollars.  I kind of went nuts when I saw it.

It is solid oak--really heavy.  I sanded off the honey-colored stain to reveal the natural wood underneath.  Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera at the time, so I don't have any before shots.  Oh, well.  

The best part of this dresser is the faceting on the drawers.  When I sanded, I was careful not to round these edges.  

Epic closeups!  At first, I actually considered changing the drawer pulls, but I'm glad I didn't!

Linked up to Funky Junk, Saved by Suzy, and Miss Mustard Seed