The kids just moved into their new rooms in this house. We did buy some curtains, one new bed frame, and hung a few things on the walls, but that’s all the personalization we did! Fast forward a couple years. One kid is out on his own and another switched rooms. That left me with an empty space. Originally I thought I would use it as an office, but after customizing the basement for my business needs, I decided we should just use it as a bedroom. And after a hefty makeover it’s time to reveal the guest bedroom transformation!!
The Plan
I talk about this a lot, but I think it’s really important to live in your house before you start making expensive or labor intensive changes. I know when we first moved into the house I wasn’t really ready to commit to hanging things. A friend found this very surprising considering how I encourage my followers to try new things! Whether it’s with a DIY project or decorating, sometimes you don’t know until you do it.
But, I think part of my hesitation comes from the newness of our new home. I’ve always been the person who has a plan pop into her head and then I execute. But that plan for a space or a project doesn’t just pop to the surface at will. It’s more of a process for me. I look at the space. Then look at the space compared to other areas. Look at the how of making something happen. And consider how we move and use the space. Eventually my mind just says THIS is what you need to do and I do it!
So after my oldest moved out I started daydreaming about the look I wanted in this room. Navy, white, and mustard yellow came to mind. I already had a few pieces of art that I call my “black and white men” that I wanted to use in the space, but otherwise it was a blank canvas.
The only other thing I knew I wanted in the space was for the “headboard” to be board and batten with a ledge. So basically I would repeat the same process I used in the living room. However, since this would be my second experience hanging board and batten, I knew I wanted to make a few tweaks.
Board and Batten
I measured the height and spacing of the boards I used in the living room. I purchased the boards with the same spacing in mind, except I wanted a bigger ledge. So this time instead of getting a smaller board, I got the same sized board I purchased for the vertical pieces(5″). I quickly learned in the living room, that the 3″ board (which is more like 2 1/2″) was definitely not enough space to actually display anything!
I read a lot about board and batten installation when I did the living room, but I did additional reading this time too! The thing I was most frustrated with the first round was that the boards had a lot of texture. They weren’t as smooth as the baseboards and trim I had in the rest of the house. I didn’t really understand why, as I painted them with a roller and gave them a gazillion coats.
This time my research found that a lot of people will use MDF boards. So I went to the store to buy boards and look into it a little farther. Using the MDF was going to be about twice the price, but I was hoping it would give me a more professional look. So, even though I wanted to go the least expensive route, I opted for MDF. In addition to hoping for a smoother finish, I honestly just wanted to be able to compare the two boards on my own. That way if I want to do board and batten in the future, I would know if it was worth the investment! And guess what, it was! So note to self! Go with MDF for your projects, even though it may cost a little more!
Watch the Complete Makeover
As you see in the video hanging the board and batten should be super easy IF you have a plain wall. However, I had 3 outlets to work around and this caused A LOT of headache!! If I went around one oulet, then I would run into another outlet with the vertical boards. If I missed both outlets, then I had a vertical board basically in the corner of the wall. I didn’t like any of these options!! I played around with it for hours before settling on the spacing and placement of the vertical boards.
Did you like my final selection or did you agree with my hubby? (see all the details in the video)
Once I decided on my spacing things went really quickly. First, I cut all of my vertical boards to length. This means trimming the factory edge and then measuring and cutting to length. I did opt to cut multiple boards at the same time. I used my neighbors chop saw and some scrap 2×4’s to prop up the ends of the boards to keep them level.
Second, I cut the horizontal board. Then I took the sander to the bottom edge of each vertical board. I did this because my baseboard isn’t as thick as the boards I am using for the board and batten. If I hadn’t done something to the ends, they would have stuck out and looked odd. Sanding them at an angle is super quick and makes a more finished end result. They are definitely not all exactly the same or perfect, but no one will ever notice.
With the spacing figured out I hung the center vertical board. Because I was working by myself, having this vertical board in place made it easier to install the horizontal board. The vertical board helped hold the horizontal board in place while I got everything level. Then, I nailed it in with my neighbors nail gun and nails.
After the horizontal board was in place I used my tape measure and level to install the vertical boards. Because I had so many obstacles to work around I did not keep my spacing perfect across the wall. For the living room I cut a couple spacer boards to keep the vertical boards exactly the same width apart. On the bedroom, I knowingly have 1/4″ – 1/2″ difference in the sections because of the outlets. Again, in this space I don’t think anyone will notice!
Then it was time to install the ledge. At 4 1/2″ wide, the ledge was hitting the trim around the closet. I measured and traced out what needed to be cut. Then errored on the side of too big because I only wanted to cut once! I had to use a little hand saw for this part. In the end I opted not to fill it with caulking, but to just leave the gap.
Preparing for Paint
I caulked the board and batten in the living room, but that is the only time I have used caulking. Hubby is always the designated caulker😜. So, I sweet talked him into doing it again! You pipe it on and then wipe it of with your finger or they also make tools you can use to do this. Where wood meets the wall you add caulking for a smooth finish. However, where it’s just wood or wood to wood, you want to use wood filler. I apply wood filler with a putty knife, but sometimes it’s helpful to use your finger. Then, once it has completely dried you come back and sand off any excess to make a smooth finish.
Picking A Paint Color
Bedding
You may have noticed in the pictures I already have a navy comforter on the bed. That is because I decided to do this bedroom makeover a little bit differently than I have done in the past. For this makeover I decided to buy a comforter FIRST and then buy the paint. In the past, I’ve always painted first and then worked from there.
Typically I don’t have everything perfectly matching and all solid colors, so it works out fine. For this bedroom transformation I wanted a lot of solid navy and I needed everything to match! So, I switched it up and started with the duvet cover. Our comforters are well used, but still in good shape. So to me, it just makes sense to by a duvet cover.
I started with THIS duvet cover by Martha Stewart. While I loved it, I ultimately returned it. I had it on the bed for at least a week and just decided it was maybe a little too fancy for me? It just didn’t seem to match the rest of the house. And, depending on the light, it seemed to read a little more blue than I wanted. (See the photos below, they are unfiltered! The color fluculates depending on how much sun is shinning in!) I also really struggled with what paint color matched this duvet cover the best. So for those reasons I decided to order something else.
Pillows
One of the first things I ordered were these pillow covers in mustard yellow! I had picked up some down inserts at a garage sale and thought they would be perfect in the guest bedroom! I absolutely LOVE these pillow cases and I plan on buying some more for the other inserts in different colors!
Now, I will note that the pillow inserts were 20″ x 20″ and it is recommended by designers to buy a pillow cover a size smaller than your pillow. I am not going to lie, but I didn’t think these 18″ covers were going to fit! With a little finessing I got them to work and I LOVE how they look!
Paint
Now that I switched duvet covers to THIS, it was much easier to pick a paint color! This duvet cover was just a normal, solid, navy color. And the paint color I preferred, was also the best match to the duvet. This assured me that it was the right selection!
I ended up going with Sherwin Williams Anchors Aweigh. As you heard me talk about in the video, buying the paint was all about waiting for a sale!! So, if you aren’t on the Sherwin Williams email list, you should be! I don’t know about you, but I’m fine with waiting a few weeks if that means I’m going to save money on my paint!
Paint really does look differently depending on the lighting in your room and time of day. I kept my swatches out for days and would periodically walk in to see how they looked!
Painting
When I paint I typically use the same process. I shove everything that I don’t want to take out of the room to the center of the room if space allows. If it is a small room, like this one, then I will push things to one side. I then layout dropcloths that I picked up at a garage sale years ago. Sometimes I even use my old shower curtain liners!
Next, I use an angled brush to cut in. Now, I have a pretty steady hand, so I do not tape. To me taping takes a lot of time and doesn’t always improve the end result. Once I have cut in on a wall, then I come back and roll it. I work around the room in this method and repeat the process if a second coat is needed.
In this room I ended up using 2 gallons of paint. This has a primer built in, but it still took 3 or 4 coats of paint!
Patience
I gave the paint a few weeks before decorating! Don’t be too proud of me because I was gone most of that time!! But, I really was going to try to control myself BECAUSE…the old paint seemed tacky. If I leaned anything or hung anything than it instantly stuck to the wall and peeled off something. Leaving randomness behind whenever I decided to move things around. I’m really hoping this paint doesn’t do that!
But, I thought it might help if I waited and gave the paint a little time to cure! We will see!
Furniture and Decor
Facebook Marketplace
I look at Facebook Marketplace WAY to frequently! And honestly it just depends on my mood if I do or don’t buy something! I’ve found awesome pieces at a great price, yet I didn’t feel like driving and picking them up that day, so I let someone else get them! That’s what happened with this cabinet.
I saw the cabinet and instantly feel in love! I love the color and functionality of this piece. Remember how I thought I would use this room for my business initially? Well this piece would have allowed me to do that AND easily keep it a guest bedroom as well! The piece was a great price, $50 I think? It was also in Ankeny, so super close! After reading the dimensions of the piece however I wasn’t sure. I pulled out the tape measure, studied the measurements in the room and ultimately decided to pass.
The next day, I check and the listing was marked pending! I was so mad at myself for not jumping on it! I had been thinking about the piece since I saw it and I was having definite FOMO! Later that day or the next day I see that the listing is available again!! Say what!! I decided it was fate and I needed to get it.
At this point I hadn’t painted the room, so it sat in our bedroom waiting. Once I had painted and was ready for furniture, I brought it in and… Well, I wasn’t sure at this point. The height didn’t bother me as much as the depth of the piece. This is a small bedroom and this piece made it feel even smaller. Nope, couldn’t do it!
Hubby and I moved it to the basement and brought up a dresser. When we first moved into this house I had stripped this one down to bare wood. We originally bought it when we got married, 22 years ago! I ended up not using it in our bedroom and it’s been hanging out in the lower level. While I really wanted the rich tones of wood that the other piece had, the size of this was just better for the space. Yes, I could stain it, but I’m not ready for that. It was SO much work to strip it, that I’m just not ready to undo all of that hard work!
I almost had the entire space decorated when this little side table popped up on Facebook Marketplace! It was $10 and about a mile away. I didn’t even think about it, I just told the girl I wanted it. I didn’t look at measurements, I didn’t consider the color, I just bought it on impulse. For $10 I could flip it if it didn’t work out!
But, guess what! I like it there! It fit perfectly and while it’s a little longer/deeper than I imagined wanting, I love that it’ll give my guests space for their stuff, yet me space for decor!
It also allows easy access to the plug in! On the bed wall I did end up painting all of the outlets and outlet covers navy. Because I knew this outlet would get a lot of use and that ultimately the paint on the outlet would scratch off, I wanted to add a dark outlet option. THIS black one allows someone to plug in more things AND it will keep my paint job protected!
Using What I Have
Ultimately I only bought one piece of furniture for the room and for the rest I used what I had. The dresser, as I explained, I had. The dresser sits empty so that guests can put things in drawers if they would like. On top of the dresser are a couple suitcases stacked. I would like to put something on top of this stack, but I wasn’t liking anything I tried, so it will stay like this for awhile. Instead of hanging the mirror I opted to ean it instead. I placed the clock in front of the mirror along with a silver footed tray. On the tray I put a faux orchid in a little basket.
The chair sitting beside the dresser is from my great grandparents house. I thought this would be a good place for guests to place their bags and/or sit to put their shoes on. On the other side of the dresser I put a stack of money boxes. One, I wanted a place to put this stack. Two, it blocks the raw wood color and makes the space a little darker which I wanted.
On the other side of the room is the FB Marketplace table, a bed we had, and a small stool I took from my bedroom. On the stool I stacked a silver tray to make it a little more stable. Along with some bibles and a white bowl. In the bowl I put tissues!
Decorating
Just like with the furniture, I really tried to use things I had on hand. Most of this decor came from a bedroom cabinet or the lower level. My bedroom cabinet just seems to be a catch all for mirrors, bibles and ironstone that I don’t use on the living room built-ins. The lower level is mainly filled with things that are listed on the website or things that will get listed on the website. There are also a few things that I know I want to keep, yet haven’t quite found a spot for them!
Overall I tried to keep the room very muted and moody.
As I mentioned in the video, I always make my bed with the opening of the pillows facing out. Turns out some people do it the opposite way! Which I honestly would have never guessed! So I’m curious, what do you do? Do you put your pillowcase openings facing off the bed or in to the middle?
Curtains
This room already had blinds in it. When we moved in we bought an inexpensive curtain rod and some blackout curtains for the boys. Hubby and I still aren’t quite sure why we decided to hang the rod on the window trim! Even though I filled and painted the holes, the old holes are still very visible!!
This time I ordered long curtains. Once I had the curtains I hung the rod to match. I knew this time that I wanted the curtains to “live” on the side of the window when they weren’t being used. That meant that I wanted to come away from the window 10″-12″ with the rod. Luckily there were studs close to this location!
I measured the length of the curtains, minus where the rod would be placed. That gave me the height to hang the rod. I drilled a hole and then screwed in the curtain rod. You can’t even see the curtains, they blend in to the wall so well!!
Budget
Now in the video I miss spoke because I forgot to include the cost of the board and batten wall! So the grand total spent was about $300.
Wood for board and batten – $102.46
Nails, Nail Gun, Saw – Free, Thanks Neighbor John!
Caulking -$5.78
Wood Filler – Already Had
Paint including roller pads and a brush – $95.31
Duvet – $17.99
Pillows – $5 for 6 at a garage sale
Pillow Covers – $12.99
Bed Skirt – $10.59
Curtains – $29.97
Multi Plug – $9.99
Side Table – $10
Total Spent – $300.08
Links
Board & Batten Supplies
Paint Supplies
Paint – Sherwin Williams Anchors Aweigh
Bedding & Curtains
Decor
Heart Patterned Ironstone bowl
Other
Full Reveal
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