Furniture Layout – Continuing the Guest Bedroom Redesign
In my last post about redesigning the guest bedroom to be more unisex we got the room painted out and ready for furniture. This room has some real problems when it comes to being a bedroom. What makes it unique is also what makes the layout so challenging. There is no wall to put the bed on. Every single wall has a window. Every time I’ve moved furniture around in here I get annoyed. My OCD goes crazy because nothing balances!
I spent hours in my architecture program moving the furniture around over and over and over again. I even put the bed in the closet at one point! It fit perfect and even had room for the end table tucked in beside it lol. The two only real workable designs are the two you see above.
I maintain the right to either stick with this layout you see here which I CURRENTLY really feel is the right one or, ya know, end up moving everything around again lol… *facepalm* … What I don’t like about this layout is how all the white furniture is bunched together… I like the other layout to break it up… Yeah so, obviously, the layout in this room with always drive me totally crazy!
This is the smaller of the two extra bedrooms so there isn’t a lot of space to work with. Both rooms have serious hangups one way or the other.
My decision to make the larger of the two rooms my workshop is NOT something I’m willing to go back on now.
There’s a reason I decided this room was the more ideal choice as a guest bedroom.
For one thing this room is in the South East corner of the home, which is more in the “back” while the other room may be bigger but its literally on the driveway. As far as privacy goes, this is the better of the two choices AT LEAST IN THAT RESPECT.
However, as far as privacy goes, its also not so great because of the gorgeous stained glass window it shares with the living room. Its really weird for a guest bedroom to look INTO the living room. Blackout curtains are going to be the only solution but that doesn’t mean anyone staying here isn’t going to feel at least a little bit like they’re sleeping in the living room if the TV is on.
Furniture Layout Planning – Bummer
On the other hand having a 100 year old stained glass window in my workshop with power tools running and Miss-Clumsy-ME was just not something I could do!
I know I made the right decision but this room’s layout will always give me a headache.
I don’t like beds pushed into corners but this made the space go from tight to feeling like it could breathe again. (With the bed centered on the wall it felt like there was literally no floor space.) Not to mention the shelves I had covering one wall previously also made it feel claustrophobic before I tackled the redesign so most of them being gone also helped a lot.
Firstly I took my Grandma’s rocker that used to be here up to the master (where it really always belonged and I have no idea why it took me so long to do that) and brought the black rocker I picked up at an estate sale down here.
To me the black rocker has always felt masculine and going for a unisex design here meant I really had to focus on balancing out my frilly bed skirt and girly furniture.
I picked up the rocker a few years back from an estate and it is BIG (a real adult rocker) and it was UGLY, see how I gave it a makeover here.
I put two shelves back up above where the desk would be. (See how I made them here.)
The little lamp that was in here I replaced with one of Lodi’s lamps but I replaced its shade with a burlap shade so it would tie in to the look of the bed skirt.
With the new color scheme and look of the room the old curtains I was using to cover the closet that were LITERALLY my childhood curtains would not be returning. I chose not to replace them with anything though because I painted the inside of the closet out and it being open definitely brings a feeling of more space in the layout.
The dresser I brought back to the closet comes with a great little story because I found it out here and then refinished it after it had sat out on the old screened in porch for DECADES.
It literally came back to not five feet from where it sat forever!
One more thing I added to the room: I had a beautiful cedar chest my grandparents’ made for me up in the master that we didn’t really need for storage up there.
It fit under the stained glass window, adding another spot to sit and it’ll be perfect for blanket storage!
I’m getting pretty excited about the new layout and space – time to dress it up and finish it!
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I’m Tarah!
It’s been a hell of a ride since I started this blog and renovated and moved into this old farm house back in 2015. I got married, divorced, lost my doggo soul mate, spent two years as a single gal, remodeled everything, threw my back out countless times and was even found by an amazing guy in my own backyard! (The story behind Storyhardt Farm.)
Around here we’re totally fearless when it comes to bettering our home. We love to refinish old furniture, re-purpose old pieces, build it from scratch and totally renovate anything that needs it! If we can do it – so can you. We’ve got some serious plans for this old farm and, for first time ever, I have a real partner!
This is gonna be so much fun!
You can also find out more about the amazing Grandma behind this blog who moved in to this old farmhouse with my Grandpa nearly 70 years ago!
I definitely like the bed in the corner. It looks cosy and makes the space seem larger.
Thank you Beth!
I definitely like the bed in the corner. It looks cosy and makes the space seem larger. I do wish the rocking chair was white so it would show up more but that’s just me
Thank you Beth!
I have the same problem in my bedroom – windows or doors in the middle of every wall. I once tried angling the bed in the corner for a while. After that I just ignored a rule and placed the bed in front of a window. I used to hang a cutain that covered the window and acted as a’headboard’ of sorts. Now I just celebrate our 100+ years old home that didn’t plan for 21st century rules of decorating. And it works better. Bed in front of the window with upper part of window letting in light. I think in your room, I would have placed the bed under the beautiful stained glass window. As a guest room, one doesn’t need to have extra floor space and it’s SO MUCH easier to make a bed that’s not up against the wall. Just sayin’.
Hi Marilyn, that’s a good point! Thanks so much for checking it out and coming by!
I’m not sure you really want input about your guest room but I’m itching to share suggestions for it. Sooo, here goes. I love decorating rooms. Have you thought of putting the bed on an angle between the 2 windows on the blue walls? Also, how about switching the white desk into the closet and bringing that gorgeous chest out under your shelves? One of the problems with the bed now is its undressed and appears as a big white blob. When you pick your accent colors for your soft goods, that will change. You seem to favor the color of the bed skirt & you have the gold color in the stained glass, or the color of burlap. Any of these would work. You also show a tan rug. That could go part way under the 2 legs of the foot board using the longer side to allow it to show on either side and end of the bed.
If you stack a simple pillow arrangement against the headboard ( using the same colors, patterns, etc. as the quilt you use on the bed) that will minimize the white. Putting a placemat in the same accent color on the white end table will soften the white finish and blend with the lamp & its new shade. Some sort of pillow arrangement on the rocker with white as one of them brings those colors to the corner.
How about a mirror on the wall above the desk? With a simple white frame it would bring more of the white color into that closet area and brighten it. Guests usually appreciate a mirror in their space. You mentioned a small lamp you had. Could it work on the desk? ( Looks like an outlet on the wall.) Finally have you considered using matching matchstick-type shades on the 2 windows. Or a pair of draperies/curtains could be split mounting one on the outer side of each window. Remember you won’t be using the room daily so it doesn’t have to be a big space. It needs to be welcoming and useful.
I know I am really taking a chance butting in and just erase it all or use whatever you like. I loved writing this. It gave me great joy to envision your new room and for that I thank you. You made my day. I’ll still look forward to your blog every Sunday and promise not to write another comment for a LONG TIME.
Carolyn K.
Carolyn, thank you so much for all of your suggestions! I never considered putting the bed in a corner at an angle I will totally have to try that and see what it feels like!
Don’t sweat the small stuff…..it looks clean and refreshing and if a man is exhausted, it won’t matter to him what linens you have on the bed….relax and enjoy
Thanks Suzanne!
That is kind of odd having a stained glass window on a bedroom and living room wall that maybe it was never used as a guest room? Anyway you could move the window to another location in the house and then sheetrock in the hole? I don’t know if an old piece of stained glass would be viable if moved anyway because it might all crack. You could always put a curtain over it I guess in the bedroom and then you’d still be able to see it in the living room? That’s definitely an odd challenging space!
Thanks Nancy yep it is definitely a challenge! I will be curtaining at least one if not both sides of the window for guests. This used to be an outside wall and then this room used to be a screened in porch so lots of history here.
Love the color choice of the guest room. What ever choice for the bed covering, maybe a pretty 36″ curtain or custom length from the bottom of the beautiful stain glass window (push rod could be used) to the bottom windowsill or wood shutters for that same are might help with the privacy for the guest when changing or sleeping. It would still have that gorgeous stained glass exposed from both side to enjoy. Really enjoy your blog and how far you have come on everything.
Thank you so much Jane!