New lights!

Hi again friends,

You might remember that I shared earlier this week that I was in Virginia last week visiting my mom with the kids. I left my husband at home to work and tackle his 'Honey Do List' that I left him. I wanted to share one of the many things that he tackled last week. He changed out the light in our living room. We had a simple Half Dome Ceiling Light that was pretty hum drum. He switched it out for this beautiful green and clear glass chandelier from Pottery Barn.

This room needed some sparkle and it got it!

The vibe that I am going for in this room is Coastal Cottage Chic:

I recently took this small starfish pillow from the family room and decided to let it stay in the living room for now. I think it looks good in here:

Notice the sweet watercolor that Steve brought back from his Camino Santiago walk in Spain:

Recently I was talking to a dear friend on the phone who lives in Ohio and is an awesome photographer. She shared with me that if you want to have bad light in a room, paint the ceiling a color other than white. It finally made sense to me why the pictures that I take on the first floor of our house are always so dark! The ceilings are painted a coffee color! The light will always be dark in these rooms until we paint the ceilings white. We might bite the bullet and hire a professional to paint the whole first floor eventually since it would involve painting the ceilings. We are waffling between a soft blue (which we always tend to gravitate towards) or maybe we'll spice it up a bit and go with a warmer, bolder medium shade of blue but definitely with white ceilings. We love the blue paint that Claire and Phil have in their hallway/entry way on the show Modern Family (you never know where you'll receive inspiration from!):

Our coffee colored ceilings which translate to poor pictures (no surface for the light to reflect on/ the warm coffee colors soaks up the light instead of reflecting it- hey, now I am glad that I learned something teaching that fifth grade science unit on light!):

What's left to do in the room:

1. Add a soft blue and green 5 X 8 rug.

2. Find something to place on the wall above the two gingham tan chairs.

3. Put the new chandelier on a dimmer switch. I am crazy about dimmer switches and think just about every room in your house should have this option to control the lighting.

Happy decorating & living to you-

Megan

megan@cottagebluedesigns.com

Your Guest Room Ideas

Wow! Thank you friends! You all gave me a ton of ideas on how to make a guest room the best! I also scoured the web for some inspirational guest room photos. I want to share some of the photos and tips with you today.

Here are some inspirational guest rooms that I KNOW I'd LOVE to stay in:

Here are some of the guest room tips that you shared with me (I want to come and stay with you!):

1. Vase of flowers

2. Water glass

3. Extra pillows

4. Accessible outlets for guests' chargers

5. Guest Journal

6. Pretty stationary and pens

7. Scented candles

8. Dish of candy

9. The bed is most important.  You want it to be like sleeping on a cloud. Add the cushiest mattress pad and a feather bed under the mattress pad.  The linens are soft and in winter...flannel.  Lots of pillows so guests have a choice on what to sleep on.  Lots of bed pillows.  And most important of all....down comforter at end of bed, light weight in warmer areas.  It just adds so much.

10. Make sure the room is immaculate and free of dust under bed etc. In case of allergies, kind of important.

11.  Luxury bed linens that are only, only used for guests!!!  Splurge on these...so important

12.  A good reading light to allow reading in bed.

13. The choice and availability of having a fresh towel daily.

14. Consider having an extra bed in the room ( like they do in Ireland).  This allows for a family with a child to all share the same room.  Also, a great place to have the suitcase off the floor.  Needed:  a place to put the suitcase.

15. Fix a basket of spa like toiletries for all my girl guests.  Soaps, shampoos, lotions and a scruffy scrub for bathroom use.  Put these in a pretty basket on table.  They always comment on how nice this is.

16. Reading materials: books, magazines, etc.


Wow! That is some list! Thanks everyone! Did we forget anything!
Happy decorating & living-
Megan
megan@cottagebluedesigns.com

What does a guest room need?

Hi friends,

I need your help. Now that we've recently moved from Virginia to North Carolina, we been blessed to have had many guest visitors of friends and family.  I want our visitors to keep coming back and for more to come! Here's how I need your help. What makes a perfect guest room? Think to a time that you've stayed in someone's guest room. What made the room comfortable? I would love to hear from you.

Here's our guest room.....

Honestly, I am so happy to have a guest room. In our last house, we had one tiny room in our basement that served as our guest room, my husband's office, and my home office. So, now to have one room dedicated in our home as a guest room is awesome! I also love that our guest room is located on the first floor by itself whereas the other bedrooms are upstairs.

I think it gives our guests their own space. I want to share some of the comforts of our guest room that I purposely added to hopefully make this space more comfortable for our guests. But I want to hear ideas on how to make the room better.

Here, a bench holds towels for the adjoining guest bath:

 

One of my decorating philosophies is that every bedroom has a chair in it. It might be used for reading or relaxing or just a place to sit and put on your shoes:

The art work in this room is very special to us because we bought it on our honeymoon in St. Thomas and St. John. I smile every time I see it and I hope that it sets a relaxing, fun mode in the room:

In the closet an extra blanket on the top shelf plus hangers......

A basket that holds reading materials (things to do in Raleigh brochures and magazines) as well as a hair dryer:

I put a laundry basket in the guest room's closet so our guest can have a place to put used towels and linens:

After being our first official visitor, I asked my mom to tell me what she thought the room needed. She had a couple of suggestions. My mom said a full length mirror would be helpful. She also suggested that I add a hook in the guest bathroom which I did. Another thing she mentioned was adding a floor lamp near the chair which I haven't done yet (well, actually I did buy a floor lamp for this room but then I put it in the living room and it looked really good in there! So it stayed in there!)

Things to do for this room:

1. Change wall paint to a cool green or blue.

2. Add a floor lamp by the chair in the corner.

3. Possibly add a small garden table/stool by the chair so our guests have a spot to place their books/glasses/phones, etc.


Friends, what do think makes a guest room cozy???? I'd love to hear any ideas you've having to make this space more comfortable.

Come and stay at Casa Brewer!
Happy decorating & living-
Megan
megan@cottagebluedesigns.com