CONVERTIBLE GUEST ROOM DESIGN REVEAL

Blue and green guest room design with folding screen on Thou Swell

Reveal day is here, and I couldn’t be happier with how my guest room design turned out! I was a little nervous that it wouldn’t come together just how I imagined, but the details worked themselves out and the final result is something I’m super proud of. As you might remember from the original design board, I was really going for a soothing blue and green look that would inspire rest and relaxation for anyone lounging or sleeping in the space. I wanted to take full use of the daybed and make it a convertible piece that could easily transition between sofa and bed, and the lack of accent furniture in the before pictures below will also show how the room needed some help being a living room as well. Since the room was originally a movie room, the orientation of the room worked for watching movies, but wasn’t necessarily the most efficient or well-designed use of space. By placing the daybed by the stairs (my mom’s brilliant idea), it gave me much more room to expand the seating area. All improvements aside, the biggest impact of this project might be simply bringing a cohesive color palette to the room through a mix of blue and green hues and patterns. I couldn’t have done it without my mom for receiving all of the large packages and picking up pieces while I was studying away in Ithaca, and the amazing sponsors for this project. At Home for accent furniture, Dash & Albert for the area rug, DecoratorsBest for wallpaper and fabric, Home Depot for blinds, plants, and planters, Minted for art and pillows, Shelby Dillon Studio for pillows, and World Market for the daybed cover and… more pillows! Click through to see how the space came out.

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CONVERTIBLE GUEST ROOM DESIGN REVEAL 1


Convertible guest room design before pictures on Thou Swell

When we first moved into this house we had new cushions made for the daybed, since it used to be on a porch and has absorbed a lot of moisture from Atlanta’s humid summer air. We also had two armchairs down here, and it was a great movie room for a while, but after my older sister went to college we could all fit on my mom’s bed to watch movies and opted for that instead of setting them up downstairs. The room quickly became a sort of storage room – you can see our old dining table in the corner of the first before picture. We sold the armchairs, threw away the heavily worn leopard print rug, and started fresh with this new design with the goal of being able to use the room as a guest bedroom when needed. To balance the yellow tint of the floor tiles, and because they’re my favorite colors, I pulled from a verdant blue and green palette to refresh the room.

Vintage blue patterned ottoman on Thou Swell
Bohemian daybed with blue and green throw pillows on Thou Swell
Journey art print from Minted on Thou Swell

When I looked through Minted’s huge collection of art prints, it was at the very beginning of the design process, and when I found this art print I knew it would make a great starting point for the project. It has the sandy color of the tiles at the bottom of the piece, but the blue tint to the sky, and the spacious, serene quality to the piece was the perfect inspiration for the room design.

Blue green guest room with fern, palm, and Moroccan side tables on Thou Swell
Grey accent chair and palm with floor lamp and brass lampshade on Thou Swell

The DIY folding screen was key to redefining the room. The room is partly below ground level, and the placement of the staircase landing next to the left window just accentuates this fact. Also, since the daybed backed this landing, a screen was also key to creating a more private enclave. I easily covered three hollow-core doorsCONVERTIBLE GUEST ROOM DESIGN REVEAL 2 with York’s Sure Strip wallpaper from DecoratorsBest, which just takes a spritz of water to apply. It hides the stairs and it’s metallic pattern creates quite a statement behind the layers of throw pillows.

White Moroccan style side tables on Thou Swell

For much-needed accent furniture to fill in the room, I turned to At Home because I knew I would be sure to find the pieces I needed in their huge selection. I love the grey accent chair, white Moroccan nesting tables, and blue side chair I found, and the variety of styles they bring to the room.

CONVERTIBLE GUEST ROOM DESIGN REVEAL 3
Blue and green guest room design with folding screen on Thou Swell
Bohemian daybed with blue and green throw pillows on Thou Swell

Converting the daybed from more of a sofa to a true daybed took some ingenuity and lots and lots of throw pillows. For the seat cushions, I simply covered the three cushions with a twin-size mattress topper and mattress cover, to create a makeshift mattress, then covered it with a daybed cover. When it’s needed to accomodate a guest, the daybed cover can come off and a fitted sheet can go on, easily converting to a bed. Since daybeds are much deeper than sofas, they need at least 20″ square pillows to provide a comfortable back to the piece. I used solid grey pillows at the back of the daybed, then a mix of patterned throw pillows in front to bring that modern-bohemian vibe that works so well on a daybed. I found all of the throw pillows on the daybed from World Market, except for the palm pillows that bring a pop of bright green to this side of the room – these are from a Shelby Dillon Studio in South Carolina. They provided the perfect dose of variety to the other pillows, plus I love finding great Southern designers to work with!

Blue and green throw pillows on bohemian daybed on Thou Swell
Green print from Larkspur Art on Thou Swell

I’m so happy to include one of my older sister’s prints in the room – a piece that ended up perfectly encapsulating the lush, tropical aesthetic of the room. Framebridge did a spectacular job framing the piece in their Beverly frame, with a brushed silver edge that suits the piece well. You can find some more of my sister’s artwork in her Etsy shop!

Blue green guest room with fern, palm, and Moroccan side tables on Thou Swell

The plants brought a breath of fresh air to this room, especially since it’s partly a basement room. The PALMCONVERTIBLE GUEST ROOM DESIGN REVEAL 2, FERNCONVERTIBLE GUEST ROOM DESIGN REVEAL 5, and their pretty slate PLANTERsCONVERTIBLE GUEST ROOM DESIGN REVEAL 6 were from Home Depot, where I also found the bamboo blinds that completely changed the windows. They bring the perfect amount of warm wood to the room without throwing off the cool palette. By the way – doesn’t our Hippolyta floor lamp look amazing with a brass lampshade?

Robert Allen High Lo Moss Stripe fabric curtains on Thou Swell

The Robert Allen fabric from DecoratorsBest is just so perfect for this room. Its raised-velvet stripes have the lovely hues that inspired the room’s color palette, and they instantly upgraded the French doors behind them when they were installed.

Blue green guest room with fern, palm, and Moroccan side tables on Thou Swell

And finally – the honeycomb wool area rug from Dash & Albert provided a small-scale pattern that makes a fabulous foundation for the room. It’s light but durable, and the fine print prevents it from competing with the other patterns in the room – rather it complements them perfectly!

I’m so excited with how the room came out. What’s your favorite change in the space?

CONVERTIBLE GUEST ROOM DESIGN REVEAL 7

Product for this room was sponsored by the following brands: At Home, Dash & Albert, DecoratorsBest, Framebridge, Home Depot, Minted, Shelby Dillon Studio, and World Market. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Thou Swell running!

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6 Comments

  1. Kathleen Conery wrote:

    Very nice! It’s bright, comfortable feeling, with a lovely color palette. I particularly like the addition of interesting or unexpected pieces such as your Hippolyta lamp, the folding screen, and the curved shapes of the nesting tables. And I always feel like plants bring any space to life!

    Posted 12.18.16 Reply
    • The plants really brought things to life! I also love the floor lamp – it’s such an unexpected piece.

      Posted 12.19.16 Reply