Before + After Pictures: The Historic House By The Water: Guest Bedroom

Before + After is a series highlighting some of the places that I've lived in and renovated throughout the years.

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Remember our booger green Guest Bedroom, on the left? It's been reborn, right.

We painted it Behr Cotton Whisper in Satin on the walls. Behr Moon Rise in Semi-gloss is on the trim.

Linens are from Horchow, Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Potterybarn and Target. The rug was a (never used!) score from an estate sale. The planter, vintage checkerboard, and antique books are from various shops in Fort Lauderdale.

The bed is from Zen Living, a boutique in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea that specializes in foreign antiques. The lighting is a Sharpie special (bonus points if you remember my little secret).

The frames are either old ones that weren't being used or were purchased from Walmart. They're filled with vintage Fort Lauderdale postcards (used as seating cards at our wedding), historic photos of Florida, our letterpress wedding invitation, and a (reproduction) map of Florida and Cuba from 1591.

The framed sketch on the right is from Tina Steele Lindsey, an artist I admire. She was gracious enough to send me that beautiful drawing after I inquired about her work, writing that it was "only an example of white on black..." I haven't been able to stop looking at it. It inspires me. Andrew and I are saving our pennies so that we can purchase a piece from her. If you buy one first, I'll hate you. But send me pictures.

The antique typewriter (which actually works!) was a gift from Frecklehead. He spotted me lusting after it when we visited a local dealer and surprised me with it for Christmas. He even wrapped it himself in a moving box. With blue painter's tape. I looove it. Last year he got me a how-to knitting book when I was going through my whole oh-sh$&-I-resigned-from-my-job-what's-this-thing-called-relaxing phase. Which was awesome. So he's pretty much 2 for 2 in the Santa department.

So now that you've seen a few photos, you're probably thinking, That room is really small, aren't you? Well, yes, it is. So small, in fact, that Andrew and The Bestie laughed at me when I told them that I was going to fit a queen size bed and a desk into it. They didn't argue with me. They just laughed.

Once the dust settled, though, they saw the method to my madness. Or maybe just my madness.

"Wow, it looks so much bigger..."

Here's another shot of that scary ceiling and crown moulding before they were scraped and removed.

And speaking of scary, why in the world would you paint a closet door like that? Why?!

There is no excuse for that sort of insanity.



And speaking of excuses, I'd love to tell you that the Before photos, like the one below left, were taken pre-Wood-arrival, but that would be a big, fat lie. We've lived like this for nearly 2 whole months. Embarrassing, I know.

So what do you think? Good enough for a guest?



And just in case you're not completely sick of this space yet, I whipped up a little collage of the rest of the room, below.