Real Room: Cape House Guest Room

Time for another Real Room...and while I'm at it, thought I'd try linking something up to Metamorphosis Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch for the first time:) Go check it out for lots of before and after posts.

Here's another look at a room in my parent's summer house on Cape Cod. Read all about its recent renovation here or check out other real rooms from the house like the "Porch" and the Girls' Room. Before they redid the whole place, this room was my mom and dad's master bedroom. Now that they have a new master suite at the back of the house, this has become a guest room. Square footage didn't change in here, but to keep up to speed with the rest of the redone house, the builders took down the wallpaper, painted, installed new windows and refinished the hardwood floors.

Here are a couple of before/during reno shots (after paint but before restained floors).




Now for the in progress afters...furniture and some wall art:)

My favorite thing about this room is that my mom included several heirloom family pieces which really make it extra special. Check out these twin headboard and footboards! They are antique pineapple beds from the early 1900s (mom had to order custom mattresses for them since they weren't standard size back then). My grandpa slept in one when he was a kid (and then they were used in the house my mom grew up in as well)!! I love the intricate carving. Their dark, almost espresso, stain keeps them contemporary so I don't think they feel out of place in this light and airy redone room. My grandpa has been gone for awhile now, but my grandmother comes and stays with my mom alot in the summer, so isn't it sweet that she can sleep in a bed her husband used to have when he was a child?! The even cooler thing is that I've told my mom I really like the beds, so when she is done with them, I get them (and they will stay in the family)!!

{paint color is Iceberg by Benjamin Moore}

Mom already had this twin set of blue and yellow bedding. I like the mix of pattern...floral with plaid and windowpane. I think the yellow is light and subtle enough to not scream french country and I like how there's not much contrast between it and the pale blue walls...the dark bed frames really pop.

The other heirlooms my mom included in the room were 3 watercolor paintings done by my great-grand uncle (or grand-grand uncle, something of that sort) in 1954. They are all sea-side landscapes of scenes around the Cape. She had them still in their original mats, which were all yellow and crusty from wear and tear over the years. Last weekend I helped her extract them carefully from the old mats, reframe and hang them (we made sure to keep the part where he had signed and dated them in pencil..so cool!). We chose thick white molding and fresh white mats. Not having a lot of contrast between the frames and the wall helps your eye go right to the art. Plus white helps bring a bit more of cottage/beach feel to the room.

This chair was a find of my mom's at the Christmas Tree Shop a lot of years ago. It's new home is sitting in the corner next to the closet. I like the rush seat and the idea of a hand-painted pattern but I'm not crazy about this particular combo...maybe she'll let me repaint it? (Maybe I should prove to her first that I'm actually going to paint the 6 other things I said I would at the beginning of the summer....oops).

So, there's the in progress Cape house's new/old guest room! What do you think? Any ideas or suggestions? I think it's a pretty good start for working with what we had. I love that is has an eclectic feel...a bit traditional, a bit cottage, a bit contemporary. After all, no 2 guests are alike!!! (PS. Hopefully this bedding isn't too girly....we realized that 90% of the guests we have are female - my grandmother and aunt, my mom's female friends. Do you guys try to keep your guest rooms gender neutral?)