Modern Nautical Guest Room: The Big Reveal!
Yay! It’s always so fun to start a week with a big new room reveal: our modern nautical guest room. It’s finally here and, even better, it’s finally DONE! We’ve been working on our new guest room for months, starting with sanding and painting the floors a fresh white, painting the walls a gorgeous deep blue, and then finally adding the bed on one side and craft storage/work station on the other. We stuck with a modern nautical theme throughout, and in our humble opinions, it turned out pretty freaking awesome.
Here’s what this room used to look like:
So embarrassing.
This room has been through a lot of transitions over the years, from guest room to office and now back to guest room, but no matter what, it was always the room where things went to get lost. It was where we put all the junk that we had nowhere else to put and were maybe too lazy to take all the way to the attic, or we thought maybe we might need it again soon. (In our defense, a lot of the stuff you see above was temporary, while other rooms were in progress… but just temporary for a LONG time). Finally we got fed up and started selling things, donating things, throwing things away, and, yes, moving things to the attic, to start from scratch — with intention and a plan (these are key!) — to create a dedicated guest room and craft storage space.
You may remember our guest room mood board from way back in November. This painting of a sailor by local artist Gray Cardigan was our jumping off point for the design of the whole room. We went with a slightly-steampunk-turned-mostly-mod nautical theme, but nothing too kitschy or too preppy.
We started by painting the walls and floor. We did the ceiling in a soft, warm, slightly off-white called Swiss Coffee by Valspar (the same color we painted our office) to warm up the room, and the trim in a bright white. It took us a while to find a shade of dark blue that worked well in this room. It’s north facing, so it doesn’t get a ton of light, which makes a lot of colors look flat, and most dark blues were either too green or too purple. As soon as we put a sample of Valspar’s Mystified on the wall, we knew it was “the one.” We chose a satin finish to reflect a lot of light. I know it’s a controversial decision because the walls in here are crazy old and wobbly, which a satin finish emphasizes, but I think that’s part of the charm of a 125-year-old house and there’s no point in pretending the walls are perfect. The dark blue with the white trim also brings attention to the interesting details of the room, like the picture rail trim and the funny little nook. The blue goes from bright to almost black depending on the light.
The little whale tray on the nightstand was a gift from Andy for Christmas and I think it’s adorable. The super cute French nautical postcards were a gift from a friend. My dad took that photograph of the ship in high school and entered it into a photography contest. It still has his handwritten entry form taped to the back! I kind of love that it’s a little beaten up. The whale is something I’ve had for a long time, just a cheap-o wooden sign from maybe JoAnn’s that said “off to the beach” or something. I covered it in gold leaf to give it a new, shinier life. The round mirror is from a recent trip to Target.
On the other side of the room is my craft storage/workspace. The vintage 1950s table is one of my prized possessions. I found it at an antique store in Stockbridge, Mich. over 10 years ago, and it was the first “big” furniture purchase I ever made … I paid $90. Ha. The chair is from Target (I have a set of 4), but I actually bought 2 of them at a consignment shop, oddly enough. The brown cabinet holds my mom’s sewing machine. The top flips open to create a work surface and the sewing machine pops out. It’s kind of amazing. If only I sewed!!
My craft storage makes me so happy. For the last few months while we’ve worked on this room, I’ve had every craft/sewing supply dumped into one huge plastic bin shoved into the corner of our bedroom. It’s been almost impossible to find anything when I need it and my stuff was getting smooshed and ruined. Now for the first time in a long, long time, everything has a place. I spent all day Saturday organizing, dividing into categories and putting into baskets and small bins, and I can honestly say, at this moment, I know where everything is! Most of my craft/sewing supplies are in the closet, but it’s nice to have some of the prettier things on display like paints, washi tapes and a pretty wire basket of yarns and ribbons.
One of the things I love most about this room is that we only had to buy a handful of things, like paint, a shelf, and a ceiling fan/light fixture (the windows don’t open, so a ceiling fan will be great in summer). Oh, and I bought that ridiculous amazing little merman. Every other thing, from the bedding to the furniture to the art, we already had and could just repurpose for this room. We kept the original roman blinds that have been here since we moved in. Gotta love a (mostly) free makeover!
Andy and I kinda sorta seriously thought for a minute about making this our master bedroom!
So what do you think of our modern nautical guest room?!
Sources:
- Walls — Valspar “Mystified” 4011-8, satin
- Ceiling — Valspar “Swiss Coffee” 7002-16, flat
- Trim — Behr “Ultra Pure White” 1850, semi-gloss
- Floor — Benjamin Moore Floor & Patio Latex Enamel in “White,” low sheen
- Bedframe — West Elm, no longer available
- All bedding/throw pillows — Target, no longer available
- Giant clock — Home Decorators Collection
- Metal nightstand: Urban Outfitters, no longer available
- Whale tray — J Crew, no longer available
- Blue and white striped vase — Crate & Barrel, no longer available
- Sailor print — “Inked” by Cleveland artist Gray Cardigan
- Set of French nautical postcards — WAY Custom
- Merman — from Scout in Royal Oak, Mich. (I love this store, if you’re ever in the area!)
- Gold whale — DIY project
- Ship photograph — by my dad
- Round mirror — Target, no longer available
- Desk/table — antique
- Chair — Target, no longer available
- Sewing machine cabinet — hand-me-down
- Shelf — Ikea
- Wire basket — Target
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