Guest Bedroom Paintover

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It may not look like much, but just before the carpet install, I was able to run a quick coat of primer along the baseboards in the guest room.

I chose a soft, pale gray that reminded me of cloudy days at the beach: BM’s Seapearl… matched to my tried-and-true Behr Flat Enamel, of course! Seapearl is just another addition to my sea-inspired wall colors (Sandy Shell, driftwood gray, seaglass, etc). I chose this color because it is just a shade or two away from pure white. With a nearly white room, I think I am going to enjoy the flexibility of putting different pops of color in here throughout the year. As different flowers bloom in our front and back yards, the room will likely change to match the color of the moment – fresh from the garden!

… Well, that’s the idea, at least. Our yards are pitiful now, but I see hope blooming every now and again. The yards may be neglected for the time being, but that’s where throw pillows come in to help decorate this nearly white room. I often get tired of throw pillows, so I plan to take a couple of standard inserts and make various covers to change the color scheme. A tutorial on no-sew pillow covers is in the works!


The guest bedroom was surprisingly troublesome. I should say though, it was mostly only one wall. When Scott and I first moved in, my grandmother helped us tear down the wallpaper and border that used to reside in the room.

The room’s not large – she’s just tiny!

We tore down the wallpaper using fabric softener and hot water (I heard stain remover also works well to break down the proteins in the glue – thanks, Genevieve!), and then removed the pesky wallpaper border around the rest of the room. At some point, it seems that green was really someone’s color, because we uncovered an art deco green under the border… blech. This mystery person liked the color so much, the old mini blinds were also green. Removing the border caused a texturing issue along the length of the wall. There was an obvious ridge between the painted section versus the bordered section. Not to mention, the color difference had me worried that the new, light paint color would not hide it completely.

I had to scrape some joint compound along the length of each wall to hide the ridge, then sand it (with my new fave tool, of course). The newly un-papered wall on the far side of the room also needed patching since there were quite a few spots where top paint layer was peeling away from the drywall (you can see this very well in the first pic in this post). After sanding all of these areas, I assumed I was done. Dust was everywhere (my poor new carpeted floors)!

Unfortunately, the wet paint caused new areas to begin peeling. Frick. So I had to do some sanding again. With a few more patch and paint combos, the troublesome wall was my biotch defeated. I was left with a freshly painted guest bedroom, ready for tired travelers! I have to admit that I may even like this color more than the gray in our own primary bedroom. (Sorry the pic isn’t so great; this room is by far the hardest to get a sharp picture in!)

I wasn’t too fond of the red that was in here before (to me, red can be a stressful color – apparently I’m not to far off on actual color psychology for feeling this way), but I think the addition of some white bedding really brings out the beauty in the wood of Scott’s sleigh bed and matching dresser.

This room is currrently doing double duty as both a guest bedroom and Scott’s office, which can sometimes cause a decorating dilemma. I need to give him a workspace, but would it be easier to share my craft room, or do we both need a “sanctuary” for our own spaces? I have a few plans for the wall area surrounding the desk – which is really an old dining room table Scott helped his grandfather refinish – and I will keep you posted as I work on these for him.


What do you think of the pale gray we chose? In the pictures, I’ll admit that there doesn’t seem to be too much of a before and after. I’m looking forward to being able to show off how this color changes when it sits next to pink, purple, blue or gold! I think I may also play with black and white at some point in here. Obviously, this room is our blank canvas, which can be reinvented anytime we want. I love having a “trial” space to experiment with, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!