Guest Room Revitalization (Part 1)

Part 1: Introduction and Goals

We moved into our two bedroom apartment in the Spring of last year (2011). Every Summer we have my future step-son come stay with us for 8 weeks. We had previously been living in a small 1 bedroom, 1 bath apartment and had finally got a nice two bedroom apartment with the intention that he would have his own room. Well, last year my fiance's sister graduated from high school and we decided to treat her with a ticket to Seattle. This killed many birds with one stone. It required one less ticket purchase, seeing that my fiance had previously flown out and picked his son up which required 3 tickets total. His sister lives in the same town as his son, so this made things less expensive ticket wise. It also meant that we would get to see her for 8 weeks, which was just awesome. It was also a pleasure having another female in the house and a back up care taker for him. We had just one problem. We only had a month and a half to set up the guestroom, which was currently being used as a storage room. We had told the movers to just put all our boxes into the guestroom. After emptying it all out, we needed to acquire furniture fast and did not want to spend a ton of money.

I had originally intended to pick up a twin size mattress and frame, however the cost difference between the full and twin was insignificant.  We also wanted this room to dual as an adult room.  What if we have his sister and brother-in-law or my brother and sister-in-law stay with us?  We decided the full size bed would be more functional.  So first things first was picking up a cheapo mattress and box spring. We thought about buying from craigslist, but we just didn't have the time or patience to sift through the good mattresses and the junk people are trying to get rid of.  So we hopped on over to the Sleep Country surplus store and passed up on an used "smoke scented" mattress for almost $800.  We went around the corner to Mattress Depot and bought a brand new mattress and box spring for around $250.  We could have probably gotten something better for less through Craigslist, but like I said, time was of the essence.

Next up, we ended up picking out several Ikea pieces.  The old Ikea couch was our old one from the living room, which I wanted to throw out but my fiance thought it would be cool to keep it in the guestroom.  We purchased the Rykene Ikea bed frame, natural, through Craig's list for $20 or $40, I can't remember which it was.  It is normally listed for $100.  The frame was an easy buy versus the mattress, as you don't have to check for water/pee stains, strange smells and renting a van to haul it off. Since we had an Ikea couch and Ikea bed frame, we decided to complete the set with the Rast 3 drawer chest for $35 and the Lack side table on casters for $35 for a media console.

Rykene Bed Frame - which we purchased through craigslist.com for $20 or $40. (image courtesy of ikea.com)

Rast 3 Drawer Chest - purchased from Ikea for $35 (image courtesy of ikea.com)

Lack Side Table on casters - purchased from Ikea for $35 (image courtesy of ikea.com)

It worked great for that Summer, but after almost 10 months of being unoccupied, it has quickly become our storage room again.

Guest Room = Storage Room

We have a month before my step son flies in. My goal is to completely transform the guestroom into a place I would want to sleep in. I've seen several great ideas on Pinterest (click and follow me!) and love the Ana White blog. I've taken some inspiration and think I'm ready to pursue my goals.

Goals

My goals for this room are the following:

1. Clean up and make some goodwill trips - I have one trash bag full of clothes that needs to go to goodwill.  My fiance brought his unused clothes into this room and laid them out on the couch.  I also have several items in the closet and strewn across the floor that needs to either go to goodwill or be put up in the closet.  Obviously, the first step is to clean it up.
2. Upgrade the bed - The bed frame is good, just not pleasing to the eye, so my goal is to dress it up.  I plan on making my own headboard and painting the frame.  I also need to get a less girly comforter.  This room is going to be predominately used by my 11-year-old step son.
3. Upgrade the dresser - I plan on adding some trim, replacing the knobs and painting the dresser.  It is a small dresser, but I think it is the perfect size for the guestroom.  Not only does it save space, but it is a good size for 8 weeks worth of clothing.
4. Get rid of the couch! - I've brought up the desire to get rid of this couch several times to my fiance.  He insists that it works well in this room.  The arm is broken, the cushions are broken and droopy and the fabric is worn and stained.  It was an Ikea purchase that only lasted 2 years before it started going downhill.  It was the main piece in my living room for 4 years and saw some good use.  I hate it and I want to get rid of it.  It also is too big for this room.  I am planning on replacing it with a chair so that I can put a night stand between it and the bed. His argument is that there may be times where multiple people are watching the TV in the guestroom or my step son will want to lounge on the couch... well the extra people can sit, and my step son can lounge, on the bed!  The couch just doesn't work here.
5. Decorations - I have several ideas in mind for decorations.

I plan on a blue color theme. I will have some adult decorations in mind, but for now I'll set up the kid stuff.  He has a twin size Star Wars bed sheet set. I plan on still using the pillow case and use the fleece cover as a throw blanket.  These will then be put into storage after he is gone.  My fiance plans on digging through his posters for some thing to hang up on the walls.  I want to get a corkboard and pin up some pictures from the past two summers that he has come and stayed with us.  I also have a drawing that he made last year hanging on the fridge that I plan on cutting up and pinning to the corkboard. Well, those are my goals. Let's see how I do.

First up, cleaning and a goodwill run. I did one run to Value Village with donations and cleaned up and tidied up the room and closet. WOW! Can't believe how much space the closet has now.  Click on one of the pictures below to see more pictures.

Guest Room ***Before ***

Guest Bedroom *** After Clean Up ***

Have any suggestions for me?  What have you done with your guestroom or bedroom?