Goals
We want this space to be a true retreat for whoever stays with us. Whether it’s future guests or family, the goal is to create a space where bed rotting is desired – even if someone has to get up and get moving anyway. I wanted every space in this cottage, especially the bed and bath, to feel like home but at the same time like a special treat.
Like that feeling you get when you’re visiting a new city and stop into a chic coffee shop where you’re positive the person who designed it just knew what the heck they were doing. Every detail of every corner planned to a T, all the way down to the presentation of the coffee. No, I don’t want the bedroom of our air b&b to look like it serves a good latte – but if you know, you know. If you don’t know, how about some bedroom shots…
INSPIRATION
See the full cottage + bed inspo board or skip to the highlights…
Colors/Wallpaper
We’ll start with my most favorite thing about this room – other than all the windows and natural light – and that is the wallpaper. I have poured over samples for this room and questioned every step of the way why I want to spend so much time and money on the “guest house,” because, well… wallpaper is NOT cheap.
And to me, the answer is simple. As I’ve said before, this space is meant to be a retreat. I LOVE wallpaper and always have. It’s not just a trend to me, but a staple design element and a way for me to give our guests a next level experience.
That being said, paper design and quality can make or break a space. I knew I wanted to bring the outdoors in with a landscape or nature-inspired vibe, something that felt organic and almost hand-drawn.
I ordered many samples to weed through and after much deliberation (and crying over the lack of light due to window delays), I finally settled on something I am so in love with that if I could afford it, I’d wrap the inside of my car with it. Jokes… but I’d definitely wear it if it came in a fabric.
Said spectacularly amazing wallpaper is Bloom from Sandberg. This paper makes my heart go pitter-patter. It’s nostalgic and reminds me of my grandmother. I truly can’t say why, but it gives me Pauline vibes – and I’m here for it. And speaking of fabric, when you look closely, the entire design appears hand-stitched, as it was created from a 100-year-old embroidered Chinoiserie.
I was originally drawn to the green colorway, but considering the other colors throughout the cottage, I felt the gray was a better fit. Although it’s not really gray – more taupe. I digress. This paper is beautiful in every colorway.
I originally wanted the entire room wrapped in this paper, but because it is more of a mural printed to the size of your wall, the varying wall heights in the bedroom – along with three windows (one very large) and three doors – made it hard to imagine how the details would fall. Also, it was VERY expensive, and I have to pick my battles.
So as much as I dislike feature walls, this felt like a situation I could live with, since the alternative was not using the paper at all. Not a choice. 🙂 This beauty will go behind the bed, and the rest of the walls will be covered in Edward’s Paper Cream from Thibaut. Also not an easy choice.
I’m pretty sure I ordered 20 different grasscloth samples to land here. Although I ultimately settled on a paper I found online, I have to give major dibs to Meghan at Cooks Lighting and Flooring for letting us scour their paper books one afternoon. I found several papers there for the main house and will most definitely be back to hound her again. I can’t wait to show the sample she ordered for the main dining room. I die. And I’m off track again.
On to paint. With wallpaper on all the bedroom walls, I needed a ceiling and trim color. Maybe I already had it in my brain while choosing papers, but our kitchen trim and ceiling color matched perfectly. I knew I didn’t want standard white trim or ceilings anywhere in any of my spaces, so Loggia worked perfectly. Easy peasy.
floors
I am not a carpet girl, and if you saw what we pulled out of the main house – and what lived under it – you’d never, ever have carpet again either. So another easy choice was to go with the same wood floors we used in the living room.
Phillips Flooring made all of those choices incredibly easy. I literally went with the first sample they pulled because it was exactly what I asked for: warm, lived-in, 100-year-old cottage vibes, but still beautiful and elevated – without breaking the budget (like everything else has). 🙂
More on this in the Living in the Cottage post, but the name of our wood flooring is Elk Mountain Fontana. Hoping to see my floors wearing that elk mountain here in a few days.
Styling
Since we’re moving into the cottage temporarily while finishing the main house, finished styling won’t happen until we have access to all of our furniture and are out of the way. We’ll also use this time to test, learn, and plan all the things future guests may need in this space.
That being said, here are a few styling ideas I already have, knowing they may evolve.
Wardrobe: Okay, this is the worst photo ever – but the best I have at the moment – of the wardrobe we’ll be including in the bedroom. There is already a fairly good-sized closet, but for extra guest storage, we wanted to add an armoire as well.
I found this stunner at my local dealer and new friend George Preston Antiques, and he has graciously held it for me until the floors and wallpaper are done and we can move her in. I am dying though. She is so beautiful and has a cool story to boot. She was once used in Harrods Department Store in London and still has the stickers from her time there proudly inside. I love her!
Lighting: My goal is that every single light in the house and cottage is either original to the home or an antique find from the same era. So far, I’ve accomplished that – except for the bathroom sconces, which we’ll get to in another post.
In my hunt for antique lighting, I found these beautiful brass double sconces. Mr. George Preston to the rescue again. And again, I apologize for the worst photo ever. Antiquing is a sport to me. When I’m in the zone, I’m more focused than Cody Arnold on a Friday night during high school football season. The photos I take during the “game” are strictly for reference, not aesthetics. It’s not until I get home with my trophies that I go back and take new photos – as you can tell from my social media posts. These beauties are currently in the bullpen with my other cottage lights, so this is the best photo I’ll have until they’re on the wall. I believe they’re European, as most of Mr. Preston’s pieces are, but I can’t remember exactly. What I do know is that they are perfect next to the cottage bed.
I didn’t want to overcrowd the room with nightstands, so these will hang on either side of the bed with convenient switches for bedtime reading.
I’m still on the hunt for the perfect lamp for the bedroom desk, but I have a little time. Most importantly, I needed all the hardwired lights ready to go.
The final light in the room is the ceiling “chandelier.” I am 1,000,000,000% against ceiling fans everywhere, so bedroom chandeliers are a must. However, Mark (our trusty contractor) fears guests will swing from the chandelier, so we chose a more flush option. I won’t be as strict in the main house. 🙂 We aren’t that wild.
This light was original to the main house and found in storage. We cleaned it up and added new shades. I don’t yet have a photo with the shades, so you’ll have to wait for the reveal post.
I also want to mention that every antique light we’ve purchased or found has been rewired for safety. Summit LED Lighting has been amazing and has taken care of every single antique fixture in this space. I can’t recommend them enough if you’re local.
Bed/Bedding: This is very much a work in progress. I am a HUGE fan of all-white bedding – mostly because I love being able to throw everything in the wash with bleach or, if you’re crunchy (and I can be), vinegar. A thick, fluffy white comforter feels timeless and luxurious.
From a hospitality standpoint, it makes total sense for guests. But the “extra” in me wants to lean into our brand with monogrammed pillows and sheets. Here’s what lives in my brain…
The minimalist in me loves this idea. The maximalist in me is OBSESSED with Piglet in Bed and wants to play with pattern against the wallpaper like this…
Maybe I’ll do a little of all of the above. As mentioned – work in progress.
The bed itself will be a beautiful oak poster bed I found on Marketplace last summer. Only one problem: I didn’t do a great job storing it accessibly. We recently sold our entire bedroom suite, so we’re currently sleeping on a king mattress with clothes in tubs.
So until the main house is finished, the life of misplaced renovators continues. OR I may have to sweet-talk Cody into a “Storage Wars” weekend. To be continued.
Desk: The last – and very important – piece of the cottage bedroom is the desk. I wanted a place for guests to work if needed and creatively leave Airbnb reviews.
Years ago, while visiting a bookstore in Savannah, I saw this amazing idea…
Customers typed poems and messages on a typewriter and pinned them to the wall. I loved the idea of reviews being visible for everyone to see. Hopefully all good. 🙂
I have a sweet little desk, my uncle gifted me the most epic antique typewriter, and I’ll be creating a large upholstered pin board to hang above it – gotta protect that wallpaper. Here’s what this corner of my brain looks like…
Art: I may have mentioned this before, but I am obsessed with art of all types. Art makes my heart sing and can truly make or break a space. There will be plenty of it here – I just need to live in the room with that wallpaper to decide what works best. So this also goes in the to be continued category.
For now, here’s a visual of all my thoughts at once 🙂
Next up, we’ll move on to the last room in the cottage – our tiny but beautiful bathroom with my infamous pink bath tub.