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!

Just Put a Slipcover over It

This chair belonged to my uncle, and to my great-grandfather before him.  It was in my house as I was growing up, and now it is mine.

But it didn't always look like that.

Here it is when I took it home: 

You are looking at my mother's slipcovers, circa 1986.  That's when my father sanded and refinished the maple wood frame.  (It's been scratched a bit since then.)

It's time for a new look.  I had yards of white upholstery-weight fabric from curtains I was planning to make.  But I never used the fabric.  So, for now, I'm  just wrapping it around the cushions.   

Underneath my mother's slipcovers, I found some previous slipcovers of "unknown vintage."  Midcentury, maybe?  Check out the mustard color:

 

I left everything in place.  I didn't want to deal with peeling off old fabric.  Maybe someday, I will actually sew some covers.  And so, I continue the cycle of "just putting a slipcover over it."

New paint for the living room

After

I just painted the living room.  And I like it so much better than before:

Before

The living room and kitchen were painted brown.  It looked like an Ace bandage, with a tinge of pink, unfortunately.  I really didn't like it, especially because everything I have in the living room is gray.

Namely, the couches are gray.  I love them.  When we moved into our last place, I bought the two couches.  I had a few specific requirements I was looking for in a couch:  I wanted them to be slipcovered, fairly affordable, and responsibly made.  As far as this last condition goes, what a quagmire.  It is nearly impossible to find a responsibly-made...well, anything.  Most furniture seems to be made outside of the USA, where the materials may be unethically sourced, as may be the labor.  Even if it is made domestically, that's no guarantee of anything.  However, for this purchase, I wanted to support the domestic industry.  After doing some internet searching, I found a couch through Club Furniture. 

I can't vouch for the whole company, but the couches I ordered are both sturdy and comfortable.  Also, I am nearly certain that Club Furniture and Rowe Furniture use the same manufacturer in North Carolina, because they use the same photos on their website.  Just in case you care.

But to make a long story short...

clubfurniture.com

 and

acebrand.com

just don't match.  So, we painted.  Well, and added more of our furniture and artwork.  Much better!  Here is the before-and-after again:

Before

After

PS--See the dent on the left cushion of the couch?  That's the cat's spot!

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