Happy Place

When I say Florida, what comes to mind? Do you think of color, palm trees, and lots of blue and teal water? Usually, when I am asked to help with a guest room, the request is to make the space feel like Florida. But what if you don’t like blue? What if your happy place lies in bright orange based colors or yellows or pinks? Can you make a guest feel like they are in Florida and create a comfortable relaxing guest room without the use of cool and sedate blue? Yes! Let’s take peek into an Iris model guest bedroom to see how the space can be bright, inviting, and Floridian somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

• Complete overhaul
Usually I try to use things that we can re-use but we got rid of everything in this space. The style of the room before was eclectic antiques with a nod to country, but the homeowner wanted a completely different look. We used the picture above the bed for inspiration and everything ties into the colors on the canvas.

• Paint
The room was a country blue and had been for many years. The homeowner revealed that she did not really like the blue and did not want that anymore. We chose my personal paint mixture that is a peachy, tan, gold mixture. This paint offers a light color that brightens any space and makes the room look bigger.

• New furniture
The homeowner had previously owned oak side tables and an oak dresser. We could have painted some of it but it still would not be quite right for the look she was trying to achieve, so we bought all new. She wanted a Tommy Bahama shutter furniture look and she wanted it to be all white. We purchased two side tables, one headboard, and one media cabinet for the wall opposing the bed. Total investment on the furniture was less than $1,500. Also, we attached the headboard to the wall which creates stability and allows the bed to be moved for cleaning!

• Bedding
We used a white bed skirt, and a white coverlet as the neutral base look for the bedding. Since this is guest room we wanted the bedding to be washable. In order to pop the coral, we purchased three coral Euros which look amazing, and placed them along the back of the headboard. This pops the coral off the white headboard. We placed two white queen shams in front of the coral Euros and for the final layer, a striped coral and white pillow for the finish. The little green pillow adds a touch that ties into the picture the lamps and the bench. Finally, we purchased another queen coverlet in coral and folded it up at the base of the bed. This provides a band of color that really looks nice and adds a dash more of the coral color.

• Lamps
The lamps are blown glass and gorgeous! The color at the base of the glass is green and moves into shades of purple. We found that having depth of color on each side of the bed makes the space look richer. The purple and green can both be found in the picture and we love seeing that color out to the side.

• Windows
The homeowner decided that she would like side panels instead of new privacy treatments. This window is perfect for side panels in white. We hung the rod the entire length of the wall. This filled the niche perfectly and when you can hang the rod wall to wall no finials are needed. The white panels graze the outside edge of the window and give the space a soft finish.

• Bench
The bench came from an online retailer and it looks stunning! The green leather of the bench looks perfect with green in the lamps and the art above the bed.
This bench comes in handy in a guest room because the guest can place their luggage on it as well as sit.

• No TV for these guest
We did purchase a media chest but will not likely use it as a media chest. Instead we hung a picture titled, “Afternoon with the Girls”. This is a photo graph made to look like an oil painting is a picture of West Martello tower in Key West! The frame is custom made by the artist and is very unusual. We loved all the coral that the frame provided; it allowed us to deposit the coral color on the other side of the room.