Play-Guest-Room Inspiration

We're taking a bit of a rest from our staycation activities today to just loaf around the house. Meaning, the kids are getting their regular naps at their normal times and in their own beds--and me, well, I'm back to work on my transformation project!

In case you missed my first post about this room, here is what I'm working with. And, the goal is to turn it into a dual-function room: playroom and guest room.

Thank you to everyone who left comments there! It really helped me get my wheels turning to get that feedback. Now I've got a solid plan in my head and I'm excited to share some of it with you.

The May Pottery Barn catalog arrived the other day and it only took me a few minutes to zero in on a photo that I loved. I really helped me solidify some ideas for our play-guest-room:

photo by Pottery Barn

Isn't it cute? This picture has a lot of the elements already present in my room--dark woods, navy blue, and several neutral shades on the wall, floor, couch, and accessories. I love the distressed shutters in the corner. And the navy stripes are kind of reminiscent of the bedding that will be used when we're in guest room mode.

The bedding, and the inspiration photo, are both subtly nautical. And while we're not really "beachy" or "nautical" people, I think that will really work in this room. We have a few boat-themed knick-knacks around that will probably make their way into this room before I'm finished. Now they will have a place to belong.

Seeing the Pottery Barn picture also convinced me (and my husband, who has been a little skeptical) that I absolutely must paint the room. I'm going to go with Benjamin Moore's Manchaster Tan from my fall 2010 PB paint palette. Here's a sneak peek:

You might wonder why I'm going to the trouble of painting to turn one nuetral into a slightly lighter one--but I think the difference will be amazing. There is almost no natural light in my room (which is one reason that PB's pics always look so good--there are more windows than walls in those vignettes!).  This should lighten things up significantly! I even thought about going lighter--but the trim is one thing this room has going for it, so I wanted to preserve a little bit of contrast between the walls and the trim.

And that's not all that Pottery Barn has given me! Just a few pages later in the catalogue, I saw this. Isn't it gorgeous?

image from Pottery Barn

Now obviously  I am not going to have an outdoor space, but I love the punches of lime on that couch. I think lime will make it into the room! But none of these actual PB wares will make it into my room--my $150 budget isn't going to allow for that. I'll either sew some up of keep my eyes open at other places.

We're headed out to Home Depot today for me to gather a few materials! I'm really excited to get into this room! I've got a few other exciting plans for this room stewing in my head that I can't wait to share as they come to fruition. Stay tuned!