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Small Space Before and After: Nicole's New Guest Room

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Nicole is so smart. Using a few design tricks, she was able to transform a small, dark space into a beautiful new guest room. If you've seen her AT House Tour or her blog, Making it Lovely, you know that she's always got something good going on. Click below to see her newest transformation...

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One of the reasons we love this room so much: it's a great illustration of a few things you can do to make a small, dark room seem larger. These are ideas we've blogged before, and Nicole puts them to good use here. For the window, she hung curtains beyond the edges of the frame to make the narrow opening appear more substantial.


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In this "before" shot, you can see how cramped this area really is. It's also got some weird architectural details, including sunken storage spaces on each end of the room.


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Other design tricks that lighten the room: a white rug on the floor, light walls with white trim, and white curtains to cover the storage space. Generally, light colors are better than dark for visually expanding a space.


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This is the other side of the room before the transformation. Painting the angled ceiling the same color as the walls minimizes the low ceiling.


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Another small space trick: using furniture with visual space underneath. The open bases of this table and chair make them appear less bulky. The Lubi Daybed also folds out to become a double guest bed.


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Nicole sources all the items she used for the room on her blog. See the full transformation here.

Comments (45)

amazing! she had me at "marimekko".

posted by selena on 2008-04-01 11:49:51
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What a great little space - love that Marimekko fabric...

posted by bepsf on 2008-04-01 11:50:38
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Wow - lovely. What a wonderful transformation. I love seeing people use daybeds like this...

posted by bostonkayla on 2008-04-01 11:51:06
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Lovely & inviting - am sure her guests feel truly welcomed.

posted by KarenH on 2008-04-01 11:55:17
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Nicole is always an inspiration. So lovely!

posted by kellylc on 2008-04-01 11:55:34
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Those curtains are to die for!

posted by me-n-dj on 2008-04-01 11:56:08
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what a really impressive transformation. gorgeousness!

i can't believe how nice it looks painted white...

posted by kdkaboom on 2008-04-01 12:03:48
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love love love with a sparkling heart.

posted by *heather leaf* on 2008-04-01 12:11:56
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I love it!

posted by Melissa82 on 2008-04-01 12:25:33
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can anyone tell me where that tray table/console is from? or where i can get something like it?

posted by saintmims on 2008-04-01 12:38:13
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How beautiful!!!!!! Truly inspiring.

posted by danze on 2008-04-01 12:41:04
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Simply Beautiful!

posted by Sleek on 2008-04-01 12:41:26
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Must have that fabric....does anyone know where you can purchase it?

posted by RKWB on 2008-04-01 12:46:42
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OK....I found it....http://www.marimekkowashingtondc.com/...rookie mistake!

posted by RKWB on 2008-04-01 12:49:12
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ah..mazing..

posted by Siddhu on 2008-04-01 12:56:06
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i already loved that fabric and now seeing it up as curtains has me swooning.

posted by undomestic on 2008-04-01 12:56:56
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its fantastic! i love the chosen colors. the lamp is beautiful!

posted by angxannette on 2008-04-01 13:09:25
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What a great job! You brought just the right amount of color into this small space.

posted by anne on 2008-04-01 13:16:24
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Absolutely beautiful.

Did anyone else have trouble with the first "before" picture? I couldn't get my bearings and thought it was posted upside-down at first!

posted by Molly Margarita on 2008-04-01 13:29:51
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Amazing! I can't believe it's the same room. It's gorgeous!!

posted by everydaycraftygoodness on 2008-04-01 13:39:10
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love the window treatment!

posted by Good is Green on 2008-04-01 13:41:09
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Really nice room - love the colour and just the right amount of furniture, objects etc.

posted by Gallivant on 2008-04-01 13:52:51
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Gorgeous. can I visit? :-)

posted by kimg924 on 2008-04-01 14:24:06
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That's awesome! What a nice little space. I really love this window treatment!

posted by OneWallKitchen on 2008-04-01 14:44:55
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gorgous. very calming.

posted by denverdigs on 2008-04-01 15:57:20
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Thank you so much, everyone! And Sarah, thank you for posting this!

Saintmims, that table is from IKEA. It was the first thing I ever bought from them, back when they first opened the Schaumburg store (maybe 10 years ago?).

posted by pinklovesbrown on 2008-04-01 16:47:18
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I love it.

I don't sew (not at all and I can't learn) but have been wanting to get to curtains made from marimekko fabric. Anyone know someone they can refer me to that won't charge as much as the fabric?

posted by MC on 2008-04-01 16:55:15
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What a completely fabulous transformation. The room seems enormous, full of light, and stunning. This goes right into my inspiration file!

posted by ee2485 on 2008-04-01 17:16:30
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Wonderful; done in great taste. And the proportions are perfect, too.

posted by martita on 2008-04-01 21:18:20
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GORGEOUS!

posted by clanalois on 2008-04-01 21:36:13
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great design of a small space, very well done

posted by LaDonnaNichole on 2008-04-01 21:41:06
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MC. if you want to ship it to Denver I could do it with measurements. Nothing fancy.

If you haven't noticed, I'm pretty frugal. Do high schools still teach sewing classes? That's where I learned. I'd check with a teacher and see if she could recruit a student to do it (curtains are REALLY simple) Or in NYC - a design school.


When I was in HS there was a kid in my sewing class who didn't have money for all the assigned sewing projects... so the teacher would buy patterns and fabrics and have the student make outfits for said teacher's niece and nephew.
so with that thought in mind, you could be helping someone out.

posted by clickchick on 2008-04-01 22:29:08
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Absolutely love this room! My ONLY nitpick would be that I might have hung one curtain over the weird little alcove from the ceiling instead of fitting separate ones into the odd openings...but that could just be my OCD talking ;-)

posted by AndreaU on 2008-04-02 10:26:31
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wonderful small space. looks perfect for an afternoon nap.

posted by TheoJ on 2008-04-02 11:18:59
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When I redo awkward little rooms, they come out looking better. When Nicole does it, they come out looking as if they were gorgeous from the getgo. How do you DO that, Nicole?

posted by Aulaire on 2008-04-02 11:37:19
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happy happy joy joy

posted by jkgalbny on 2008-04-02 13:51:19
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Lovely photos. Lovely transformation. Lovely little space.

posted by ADonuts on 2008-04-02 15:59:04
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OMG, I can't believe I had the same KNABY tray table from IKEA in beech finish, which I sold in my moving sale last year! Now, why didn't I think of painting it? Sigh...

That is a perfect, cozy guest bedroom - could actually make it a fantastic B&B room - any thoughts?

I loved the Oak Park house tour and again, love how she is continuously transforming her home to make it better and refreshing! Such an inspiration!

posted by sysuh on 2008-04-04 08:34:00
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Paint the dresser.

posted by Doris loves art! on 2008-04-06 19:51:44
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Yes, I'm planning on painting the dresser.

posted by pinklovesbrown on 2008-04-06 20:19:19
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Not a big fan of this look.

posted by toy on 2008-05-23 21:20:19
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Love looking at small space ideas!! I have a blog -- www.smallspaceresources.blogspot.com -- which also has a lot of ideas for small spaces.

posted by ldmortensen on 2008-06-08 09:28:56
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I am in shock. That is amazing. Great!!!

posted by jenzoe on 2008-07-03 14:52:10
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Love it! The room looks so light and airy! Thanks for sharing.

posted by echo333 on 2008-07-04 22:48:40
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The transformation is fantastic. Great photos.

posted by pungster on 2008-07-13 11:01:38
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