My aqua Guest room

It’s amazing how nice it is to go on vacation, and how nice it is to come home.  Home sweet home!  Several kind blog writers have written such nice posts on some of my Marmalade Interior designs the last couple of months, and many have included this aqua and pink bed room.  Since it’s the guest room in my house I thought I would share with you how it evolved.

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I love when my friends and family visit, and always want to have a fun space for them to stay.  When I moved in this room had white walls and the former owner left heavy, beige floral Ralph Lauren draperies and a mattress, since I moved in with only a few things.  I took me a L-O-N-G time to get around to doing something with it. It has been evolving for a long time and I’ve been layering and layering until satisfied.

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The wall color was the first thing I wanted to do something about.  Life’s to short for white walls.  I wanted a strong, fun Mediterranean color since this was a Mediterranean style house.  I chose Appalachian Trail 633 by Benjamin Moore a really beautiful aqua color.  My old place was done with more muted European colors and I wanted this house to feel more modern.  I think I looked through a book by John Stefanidis and found an aqua and yellow room that seemed so different from what I had used to like, so I decided after my divorce  to go different, and try something vibrant. Now of course I’m hooked on bold hues.

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My brother and I did several trips to the flea market for some quick inexpensive fixes. Found this chest of drawers for maybe $ 150. Been meaning to upgrade it or paint it forever.  Probably will end up white I think. But it has not been bothering me too much, so I end up leaving it as is.

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The room already had a sisal carpet when I moved in.  I used to throw a kilim carpet on top, but  I added the brown zebra printed cowhide last year.  Sorry, I belong to the team that still has not tired of the zebra print. I don’t know for how long but I still love zebra print rugs!!

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I had two Bergere chairs from before that were really nice, but felt old fashioned so I threw them in this room thinking they would be out of the way.  They were pretty, but looked subdued in a pale yellow material.   I bought two geometric pillows from Ballard Design to make them bolder.  But I thought the room needed just the right punch of color, so in came — PINK!

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I picked a fun pink velvet from Robert Allen and had them recovered. When the chairs were done I was so thrilled I wanted them everywhere in the house!  So they actually do move around quite a bit.

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I love being greeted by one in the foyer!  (And yes…another zebra there, but this one black.)

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The curtains in the guest room are a from a friend/client. Since she didn’t want to use them, I use them in here for now.  They are a little too long and don’t close all the way, but I don’t care.  Hopefully your eyes are drawn to something else, so you don’t notice.  I love how things get a second life somewhere else.

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This was another flea market steal. $ 50 I love it.

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The second purchase was a yellow headboard made by Calico Corner. The chest is a Gustavian style chest I have from Sweden since..forever.

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The bedside lamps are one of my favorite finds. Sweet daisy lamps from a second hand store.

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I love the daisy details all around.

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Small side chair, again a flea market find from a couple of years ago. It lives in here, or sometimes the bathroom.

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Some paintings I bought in the weekly Weschler’s wednesday auction a few years ago. Weekdays they have the regular stuff and and you can literally steal stuff.  You just need the time to go, which I haven’t had lately…

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This naive chow painting my friend Sheila has been wanting forever. Maybe one of these days I will give it to her. It reminds her of the dog she had as a kid. It used to hang in Luke’s room.

Jill Sorensen

Photographer: Geoffrey Hodgdon

The bedding came at a later date from Anthropologie, and then I added  a more streamlined hotel bedding from Pottery Barn. In the far corner is a broken wicker table covered with a yellow fabric.

But you can’t tell if I don’t tell….I think cheating is totally okay.  Don’t you?

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24 thoughts on “My aqua Guest room

  1. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog! LOVE your guest room, and your blog! Gorgeous! That aqua color is fabulous, and in my opinion you couldn't have picked a better fabric for those chairs. That Robert Allen pink is BEAUTIFUL! This is simply stunning. My friend Elena had the Anthropologie bedding that you have (like your bedskirt) in a brown room, and it was by far my favorite bedding EVER! But I guess Anthro. has stopped carrying the pattern, so I'm out of luck. 🙁

  2. I have to tell you, I really like the dresser as is. I'm a fan of painting dressers to update them but there is something totally stylish about the one you have as is – and it seems to be in good shape. What I really love was your chair transformation. Great color choice! Such a pretty room! Marija

  3. i too like the dresser as is… and i usually like to paint stuff. oh and thanks for sharing about the weekly auctions. i checked their site and am going to stop by next week.

  4. Hi Jill! I LOVE this room!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

    and i have to say too that i agree that you should keep the dresser as-is. it's so beautiful!! The room is fun & pretty & collected and it really is perfection.
    xoxo,
    lauren

    hope your trip was amazing!!

  5. Hej
    Ja du vet att få ihop det! Kanske är det så att det inte är alldelses perfekt som gör det mysigt och stiligt samtidigt. Min favorit lampan med blommorna på <3

  6. Oh wow what fun to see the steps you took to make that room pop! I'm in love with it. Will be packing my bags promptly to stay in it. 🙂

  7. Your guest room is beautiful and I love all the color you used. The wall color is beautiful and the pink on the chairs is the perfect choice. I actually like the dresser dark. It adds elegance.

  8. Love your guest room! The colors are gorgeous together. Also, although I am a huge fan of painting wood, I really love your dresser as is– the wood is beautiful and was such a steal! Great find!

  9. I am in agreement…the dresser is gorgeous as is. That wood is just too stunning to paint! I love the paint color on the wall and it all goes together so beautifully!

  10. I love how you did this room. I would never have used pink on chairs but I absolutely love it. The colors are so stylish and attractive in this bedroom. So much inspiration here!

    Thank you for visiting my blog and your sweet comments! I am going to keep following for more!

    ~jamilyn

  11. I just saved almost every picture from this post!!! I googled 'aqua hot pink' room and found your blog…yay me!!! I'm so excited to have found you and can't wait to read through your archives.

    I just re-did my son's room, and my daughter is relentless about doing hers next. Problem was I was out of inspiration. I just found it again in your blog!! Thank you so much.

    xoxo, cassie

  12. Jill, I'm going to do it, I'm going to try these colors for my bedroom! Since, you let me stay in this room, I haven't stopped thinking about it and have gone through a gazillion pages on your blog to find the pictures! I JUST FELL IN LOVE WITH THE COLOR COMBO. SO, please help me, here! It's one of my all-time favorite rooms, ever! OK, I'm excited! PLEEEZE, can you tell me- the color of the paint for the walls, the pink velvet fabric on the chairs, the yellow and white striped curtain fabric? I haven't done a thing to my bedroom because I hadn't gotten excited about any ideas yet, THEN I remembered this room!
    Let me know! Thanks Love! Julie

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