A slinky and an escalator - endless fun.

It's been weeks since I wrote that we were remodeling the guest room and would have before and after pics. As you'll see, we still have a few details to wrap up, but here's the basics. First, the "before." Note: I've made these pics small to make the page layout better, but you can click to enlarge any of them.

The "before" bedroom set was just this side of hideous. But we got it free, so it worked. That headboard is plastic, the night stands press board. The walls and trim were all the same shade of off-white. Bland!
The dresser that went with the set was just as lovely. That drawer is on the chair because it was broken and wouldn't stay in place. The chair set us back $10 from a Sun City garage sale. Again, it filled the bill until we could do better.
One of the problems with a room that starts out ugly is that it becomes a catch-all zone for stuff that doesn't have its own place. No motivation to keep the room nice.
OK, now some "after":
I took off all of the trim - baseboards and door casings - and replaced it with a more contemporary profile. I also painted it semi-gloss absolute white.

Here's the new bed. We put it up on the bed lifts available at places like Target so that it's 32" tall. The headboard is made from two plastic shutters from the Home Depot web site ($34) that I painted our accent color. The sun above the headboard came home from Puerto Vallarta with us - $10. Pam made the accent pillows. The two night stands are 30" tall ceramic pots that I found at a local shop. I filled the bottom with a 50 lb. bag of sand and got an 18" glass top that I attached using 3 spots of latex adhesive caulk that dries clear.

As this picture shows (better than some of the others) the front wall is a pale celery green and the other three walls are a pale butter yellow.

Back to the pots: I used foam board to create a false bottom above the sand and then put a layer of glass beads over that.
But wait! There's more!Buried in the glass beads is a 2' length of rope light with the cord running through the foam board, around the sand and out the bottom of the pot.
Night lights! (it's a soft glow when the room is dark)
Over in one corner hangs Polly (?), a ceramic parrot we also picked up while we were in Mexico - $12.
And to the left is the IKEA dresser and mirror, which will get hung on the wall.
To the right of the dresser, under the parrot will go a floor plant of some sort (palm?). It'll be fake because we want it to last more than a month.

OK, that's the basics. Like I said, a few details to wrap up, and I didn't include the antique secretary (No, not Marybeth) over on the other wall. That's an antique we bought 30 years ago and can't bring ourselves to get rid of, even if it doesn't strictly fit the decor of the room.

Now all we need is the guests to stay in the room!
So, when are you coming??