Our Guest Bedroom Makeover Reveal
A boring guest bedroom gets a luxe, vintage chic makeover using thrifty projects, budget finds, and simple decorating tricks to maximize style and space.
The idea for this guest bedroom makeover all started in February back when we had a big family reunion at our house and about 10 cousins ended up crashing on our living room floor as an impromptu slumber party.
Walking through our downstairs the next morning I thought to myself, “We desperately need a guest room.” 8 months later, we officially have one! Ha!

If you want to follow this makeover journey from the beginning, you can see it all here:
- 3 Furniture Layouts for a Small Bedroom
- Guest Bedroom Makeover Mood Board Plan
- The Best Paint Colors for Gray Trim
- Gray Trim Paint Update
- Vintage Writing Desk Makeover
- The Best Budget Luxury-Feel Mattress
- DIY Pressed Flower Art
- How to Restore Worn Cane Furniture
Originally, Robert had this spare bedroom set up as a makeshift home office, but considering he hardly ever used it, it made sense to make real use of this space.
Now it looks like this!!!

(Some affiliate links are provided in this post. Full disclosure here.)
Our first inclination was to haul a bed in here and call it done for now until we could rip up the old carpet to refinish the hardwood floors underneath like we did in the nursery.
(We’re holding off since that fumey/dusty project requires that we vacate the house for several days, plus that isn’t in the budget juuuust yet.)

Then, somehow that just-haul-a-bed-in-here plan turned into… well… an actual plan… like it always does. The usual domino effect of if-you-give-a-decorator-an-empty-room. ๐

I can’t get over how much bigger it looks and feels in here! Seriously, I never would have guessed a queen bed would actually fit in here, let alone that it would actually make the room feel larger. Win/win.
Once I saw this massive piece of art, I instantly knew I wanted this entire space to revolve around it.

And somehow the deep green tones in the art led me to these deep green velvet curtains.

It seems totally appropriate that the curtains remind me of Scarlett O’Hara (or Carol Burnette… whichever way you want to look at them).
Since my mother-in-law sometimes works from our house, we found this secondhand desk and $17 Goodwill chair to fix up in this corner.


And we got this area rug from Unique Loom to tie in the art and help cover up the old carpet.

We’re fans of fans in bedrooms, so it was important to us to incorporate the Hepburn fan from Hunter Fan Co so that our guests could have some climate control.

We researched lots and lots of mattresses to account for the comfort factor too and ended up with this super budget-friendly mattress as the winner. We slept on it overnight to make sure it would pass the test, and it is SO comfy that it rivals our high-end luxury one in our master bedroom.


We ended up moving this full-length mirror from our master bedroom into here as well to help bounce some light around in making the space feel even larger and have a convenient dressing spot for guests.

As some inexpensive art, I put a few leaves in these frames. Yay more green!

And I pulled in all of the bedding from good ol’ Walmart.

Honestly, I love this room more than our own master bedroom right now.
It’s making me eager to refresh the master next. Or maybe we’ll just sleep in here and make our guests sleep in our room because this one is way fancy.

If you want to know about any of the colors or sources we used, you can find them all here:
- Wall color: Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee
- Trim color: Benjamin Moore Winter Gates
- Vintage Style Art
- Cane Bed (secondhand – this one is similar)
- Rug
- Ceiling Fan
- Secretary Desk (secondhand – this one is similar)
- Rattan Desk Chair (secondhand – this one is similar)
- Green Velvet Curtains
- White Bedside Tables
- Brass Lamps
- Full Length Mirror
- Square Black Matted Frames
- White Skirted Bedding Set
- White Knit Throw Pillows
- White Lumber Pillow
- Gray Throw Blanket
- Large Gray Vase (similar)
- Faux Flower Stems
- Brass Leaf Tray
Now that everything is set up, I plan to add in a few amenities to have ready for when guests drop in. Or ya know… 10 cousins. That’s usually how it goes at our house. ๐
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Love your guest room!!!! Elegant! I went on a cane furniture headboard as well! Mine was woven with cane frame!!! My husband painted it and put it in his grand daughterโs room! I love the look!!!
Bought a second hand desk as well!!!
Great minds!!!
Enjoy family reunions!!!!
Carrie
Inspiring, Lauren, as always! I hope to be half the blogger you are! I need to pick your brain on a few things!
isn’t it amazing what new pieces can do to a room! nice, cozy look. Personally, don’t like the dark, heavy green velvet, but it works well for your overall look & looks pretty.
I’m curious about your experience with putting rugs on top of carpet. I’ve done this myself, but then once I put the furniture on top..it creates “divots” and ripples aka tripping hazards with the whole rug! Perhaps not walking in there often is what keeps it fairly flat, but I did this in a bedroom we use, and within a couple of days, I had to pull it out. I tried it in the living room, and just setting the coffee table on it made it kinda buckle. I first thought it was cuz the rug was too thin – so ordered a plusher one – same thing..ugh! Disappointed cuz I spent a lot on the darn rug! I, too, will wait until we take the carpet outta that room and redo the floors. Just wondered if you experience this, and what you do about it?
You made a terrific job on this bedroom. To be honest, I’m envy your eye for details, you chose the perfect elements for the room. I think any guest would love to visit this home for a day or two!
Love your room makeover! Could you post the dimensions? Thanks