From Boys' Room to Guest Room

Now that the older boys are on their own, we decided to give their room a complete overhaul. We sold their beds, we sold their desk, we moved the wall shelves up to the attic. Before long we had an empty room. It was a clean slate, a blank canvas, and we set to work. 

And we could not be more pleased with the results. 

After painting the walls a light gray (Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore), we decided to use twin beds for this room. We had two queens and a king in other bedrooms, so using twin beds (but in an XL length) would give us more sleeping options for guests. Simplicity and clean lines were my inspiration, and I found exactly what I was looking for at (of all places) Home Depot. 

I scoured antique stores for furniture, ultimately finding a beautiful nightstand/dresser combination. Eventually we will add a small dresser and a fabric chair along one wall, but for now this will be fine. 

For the walls, I wanted to do something that reflected the history of this room, so I hung up a collection of black and white "sneaky mom" photos. If you don't know, "sneaky mom" photos are those I take of my guys from behind to avoid them complaining about having to take another photo. I found the watercolor in an antique store, and although I'm not sure it is Rome, it could be so it came home with me. 

Here's a list of where I purchased everything:

Iron Beds (Home Depot)

Comfort Tech Mattress (Costco)

Mattress foundation (Amazon)

Mattress topper (Amazon)

Duvet Cover (Amazon)

Window Panels (not photographed) (Bed Bath & Beyond)

Gallery Frames (Target)

Decorative throw pillows (Hearth & Hand with Magnolia)

Ceramic lamp (Target)

Nightstand/Dresser (Saavy Shopper) 

Watercolor (Saavy Shopper)

If these walls could talk! When we moved into our house 22 years ago, the boys shared a room. They each slept in a car bed made by Papa, beautifully crafted with headlights that reflected light. I handpainted an old dresser in fun primary colors and used decorative drawer pulls. The boys had plenty of floor space for Thomas trains, Hot Wheels race tracks, and Playmobile castles. 

Fast forward a few years and we considered giving them each their own room, but they wanted to continue sharing. So I purchased a pair of antique beds, Nonno built a wall-to-wall shelving unit, and the little boy room of yesterday became a room they could grow into. The shelves provided space for sports books, trophies, cd's, and book collections (Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, C. S. Lewis). A desk along one wall was perfect for homework, and if one was using the desk, the other was sprawled on the bed reading. The room was rearranged a few times, but basically stayed the same until Nicholas graduated from high school.

Once Nicholas was gone, we converted the twin beds into a king bed, using this opportunity to upgrade for our Masters guests. It was Jonathan's room up until he graduated from college. (This is the only photo I could find; it is not a good one, but you get the idea.)

And now we come back full circle. Stay tuned, because the kitchen is next ...