I absolutely love hosting people. It brings me so much joy to welcome friends and family into my home for dinner or an extended stay. When we lived in our one bedroom in Little Havana, I always felt I could not host as well as I wanted to; the layout was just poorly designed for guests. While a bathroom en suite is awesome for the home owner, if that is the only bathroom, then having guests makes things awkward. I have always kept my space clean and had no issues with people going into my bedroom, but I noticed that guests often didn’t feel comfortable entering into such a private space.
When we moved into our rental townhouse in the Mimo District, we were through the moon to have not only two bedrooms and a full bath upstairs, but also a full bath and den downstairs. The den is behind the kitchen, with a small full bathroom attached to it as well as sliders that exit to a small back porch. As soon as I saw this room, I knew it could be easily used as a guest room.
Before 
After
Before:
After:
I hardly ever get to start a room with a completely blank slate, so I had a lot of fun with this project. The style I was going for was a mix of Scandinavian, Boho and Modern. I knew I wanted some sort of day bed since the space was small and I wanted to be able to use it when I did not have guests. Ikea came to the rescue for me with providing something both affordable and beautiful. The Utaker beds could not be more perfect: minimal, beautiful, affordable and functional.
These frames are two twins that stack on top of one another. When they are unstacked, they can be connected to make one king size bed, or use them separately for two twins. I ended up purchases mattresses from Amazon since they seemed to have better reviews and a lower price point. While the frames require thin mattresses (5 inches or less), my husband and I have slept on these to test them out and I have been impressed by how comfortable they are for such a thin mattress.
In addition to the beds, I also purchased a pair of Ikea Brimnes bookcases to create a built-in sort of look. I do not love the pulls on the Brimnes bookcases, so I swapped them out for black metal pulls to add some contrast. Changing out the pulls was an easy and affordable way to give the bookcases a more sophisticated and custom look.
One of the mistakes I made in this process was purchasing linens for the beds before knowing what I was going to do for an area rug. The main colors I am using in this room are white, navy blue, blush pink and black. On impulse, I purchased navy blue bed linens while I was at Ikea. Days later, I found a 100% wool, navy and white stripe area rug at T.J. Maxx for only $99! What a steal! I some how managed to carry that rug to the car, thrown over one shoulder, while pushing my one year old in the stroller with the other hand. Once getting it in place, it was like a sea of navy blue had risen up from the void and overtook my senses. Thankfully you can return pretty much anything to Ikea with a receipt within 365 days. White linens on the bed are a much better choice for the look I was going for in this space.
The final touches really made the space come together: the black pendant lamp from Ikea, the plant stand holder from HomeGoods, the snake plant from a local nursery and framed poster of succulents that I purchased from a local art store for only $5. The final result is a peaceful place where I can sit on the floor and color with my toddler or host two guests for an extended stay.
HOP Design 