Second Guest Room Progress

Because we had several overnight guests last week and weekend, and needed to use all sleeping spaces available, I really wanted to get our second guest bedroom in better shape.  Here it is with the previous owners' things:

As I discussed in the last post, for most of the time we've been living in the house, it has been used basically as a storage area for random items.  I cleaned it out and found homes for all of the stuff being stored in there, and as of the beginning of last week it looked like this:

So the first thing it needed was some paint.  Not only to cover up that sample swatch on the wall (I hated that color, good thing I got a sample first) but also because the paint was very scuffed and dirty.  Because it was a flat finish painted over wood paneling, it seemed to absorb dirt and was impossible to clean.  I wanted a light tan/beige color and admired the color that YHL's living room and a few other rooms were painted in their first house.  According to their source list, it was Glidden's Sand White, which is no longer available in a swatch.  I went to Home Depot to see if they could find the color formula in their computer.  Long story short, they found something called Sand White but it was not by Glidden but I decided to just go for it and buy a gallon and a quart without getting a sample or even having a paint swatch card!  (I know, I live dangerously).  After several hours of scrubbing the walls and baseboards and vacuuming so that dirt, dust, and dog hair weren't permanently sealed into the walls, I was ready to paint.  The verdict: I really like it! It's hard to tell in the pictures, but its a sort of gray-ish light tan, very neutral, which was what I was going for. 

In real life the color looks better, but this picture shows the change from old to new, before the walls and doors and trim were all the same color:

I removed the old, cheap, and ugly blinds and the valances the previous owners left us and replaced them with new curtains:

I put the bed on a plain metal bed frame (before the mattress was on the floor) and got a new duvet cover and throw pillows:

I want to get some matching nightstands and new lamps, hang pictures on the walls, and add in a few other decorative accessories.  I also want to paint and change the hardware on this dresser, which is actually my dresser/changing table from when I was a baby:

So basically the room still has a long way to go, but in my opinion anyway its already a huge improvement!  We don't spend much time in here, but the room is highly visible whenever we walk by and its a much more pleasant view now.  I am excited to work on all of the rest of these projects and complete the room!