Guest room makeover: from vile violet to green goodness

It has come as quite the surprise to me that completely changing a room’s look in our home gives me such a great feeling. Living in a few rental houses as a kid meant that I never really got into decorating my bedroom and personalising it beyond putting a few band posters on the walls with blu-tak.

Now that BB and I are living in what we hope will be our home for more than a few years (at least until Stevie is old and grey), we're really loving taking the time to transform it into 'our place'. Now don't misunderstand, there's no renovating required, one of our provisos when we bought was that it could be comfortably lived in straight away; but there were definitely places where we could see that we'd need to add our own touches.

The guest bedroom was always going to be the first room we painted. (Let it be known that when I say 'we' in the context of painting, I invariably mean BB.) When we took our first spin through the house at an inspection, I got quite a shock when faced with a neon purple feature wall in one of the bedrooms, when the rest of the house was entirely beige and white.

The purple feature wall was such an eyesore, and didn't suit any of the other rooms or furnishings in our home.

The guest room is a great size, perfect for a decent queen bed and bedside tables, with a fantastic white plantation shutters like the rest of the house, and a large built-in wardrobe with heinous beige sliding doors (but they're a project for another day). We decided early on that we wanted to paint most of the house Dulux Natural White, which would keep the polished concrete floors from making our house feel too dark; but I knew that choosing a feature wall colour would drive me insane. I'm a naturally indecisive and anxious person, and decisions like choosing paint colours always make me very uncomfortable - even thought I know paint can be changed! Here is where BB was a champ: after three days of me trying to decide on a great green, he went to the paint store while I was at work, chose a colour, bought a tin, and came home to paint the wall! I arrived home that night expecting to go through more options with him, and he'd already done it. More reasons I love him... he chose Dulux Banana Palm, partly because the colour is fun and light and bright, and partly because he knew I'd love the name!

By changing the feature wall to the wall visible from the hallway, it gives this wing of a the house a really light Summery vibe instead of hiding the feature wall away.

The rest of the guest bedroom came together so easily, once I'd played around on Pinterest and Polyvore and decided on some styles I liked. I know we don't live in a giant mansion in the Hamptons, but I really love that fresh feeling that those sorts of home have - simple and summery all year round.

Polyvore was a great place to find and collate inspiration and start to 'see' the room come together.

The beautiful Summery 'This is the Life' print by local designer Hark Home is already a favourite, and looks great with the green wall, but I think I want to move it into my lounge room so I can see it more often!

I'm thrilled that we ended up able to find and use so many of the pieces that I was hoping would work in this room, especially the three Escape to Paradise cushions in teal watercolour and classic palmtree print. 

Hark Home print, Escape to Paradise cushions, Glasshouse Montego Bay candle, Dulux Banana Palm Wash & Wear 101 paint, Sheridan cotton waffle quilt cover

Walking past or into this room now is such a delight, and because we've made this effort and it looks gorgeous, it's less likely to be turned into an unused space or that old standard of guest rooms... the junk room! Next on my list for that room is to think about a few little comforts that guests might like handy - think a basket filled with phone chargers, spare toothbrushes, our WiFi password (I love this printable from Tomfo!), refreshing face wipes, local magazines, anything that makes them feel comfortable to lounge in there for as long as they like.

Do you have a specific guest room in your home, and how have you styled it? When you're a houseguest, what sort of little touches make you feel more comfortable?

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