Our Blue and White Guest Bedroom - The “Before” and “After”

Measurements come first here, because a good-looking piece in the wrong spot still fails. Sharing the “before” and “after” makeover of our blue and white guest bedroom!

Our new home in NC is our third fixer upper house where we'll be doing a lot of redecorating and redo work – Jeff and I aren't phased by living in homes in the “in between” stage of disaster but I try not to have my guests sleeping on mattresses on the floor like the household has often done for months at a time:). Jeff's dad is going to be our first official house guest and at 82 years old, “Papa” has certainly earned a restful room to stay. Ready to see what the household has done to our guest room where he'll be staying with us?! (post includes affiliate links – full disclosure statement available {here})

Let's actually start with what our guest room looked like when we bought the house:

The first thing I did was take down the drapes and cornice boards – our entire house has wood blinds on all of the windows so we're going to just go with the “naked” look for a while! We also had the carpet cleaned and we lightened up the walls and trim, painting everything Benjamin Moore Simply White – that alone made a HUGE difference in making this small room feel larger. I also think white walls give the coastal feel I was looking for in this blue and white bedroom.

After furnishing the room with a combination of pieces I bought, some that were gifted by Serena & Lily, and some that were swiped from our house in Connecticut and my mom & dad's house, here's how things this blue and white bedroom is looking now:

It's been so fun to see it come together! This house is going to have a more coastal vibe than our Connecticut home so I went with my much-loved blue and whites for this space. I admittedly own a pretty obscene number of decorative pillows so was able to shop my own stash for most of the pillows on the bed including the blue and white quilted shams (they're no longer available but {these shams} are almost identical) and {this 24″ pair of blue tasseled edge pillows}:

The new addition is {this gorgeously embroidered dark blue lumbar pillow} in front that ties everything in this blue and white bedroom together – love it!:

Serena & Lily truly has best in class bedding – it washes and wears beautifully and makes you feel like you're staying at a five star resort! For our guest room bedding, I chose {this Soho duvet cover in Navy} which has enough of a pattern to make it interesting but at the same time it's simple enough that it will go with anything. It will allow me to keep the same duvet for years but still change up the look of my bedding with some pillow swaps. I also love that when it's folded down from the top of the bed, the border matches up to create a little frame.

Underneath the duvet I have a set of Serena & Lily sheets that has a similar design and {this super soft Augustine quilt in White}. One of the preferred pointers for how to make the perfect bed is to put your sheets on the bed upside down and then fold down the top edge over the quilt so you can see the pretty design:

In warmer weather, I'll store the duvet away and just use the sheets and quilt. For above the bed, I chose {this Topeka mirror} that couldn't be a more perfect fit for the space. A strong choice is round mirrors as above bed decor:

Along with nice bedding two of my must-haves for guest rooms are (1) a spot for guests to put their suitcase and (2) a chair to sit. But… our guest room is pretty small so there's definitely no room for a chair and a luggage rack would be tough to work around too. My solution was to place {this long backless bench} at the foot of the bed which does double duty as a spot to sit and a place for a guest suitcase. I chose the deep navy and white pattern but it also comes in a natural color that's equally finished.

It's also a great spot to leave towels for your guest or a tray with water and snacks! You can see all of the preferred end of bed benches {here}.

The bed is {this beadboard bed} in weathered white which was my very first purchase for this blue and white bedroom. I also bought {this cute new white nightstand} that has the prettiest shaped legs:

I only bought one because I wanted to make sure I liked it – it's a win so The household has now got a second one on order for the other side of the bed. I took {this bedside lamp} on loan from the entryway of my mom and dad's house – it's actually the same one that we have in our guest room in Connecticut (it has a USB port built into the base which is nice for guests). A few little bottlebrush trees and a framed wifi code and I think we're officially ready for Papa's visit!

I'll eventually add some fabric shades to the windows, get a new fan or light fixture, and hang some art on the walls so it's not white overkill but The plan is to switch gears to working on the other two bedrooms first.

Update! Since writing this post there've been a few new additions to the room including {this finished acrylic blade ceiling fan}:

Next step is wallpaper – I'll be sharing my plan for that soon!

XO,