Before and After: A Guest Bedroom Filled with DIYs and One Fab IKEA Hack

Often, guest bedrooms get the short end of the stick, becoming storage spaces or spare rooms more soothing welcoming retreats ready to welcome actual guests. And Lindsey Boehmke’s guest bedroom looked a lot like many guest bedrooms: plain, painted white, and outfitted with old furniture. Not exactly a hotel-worthy escape!

“When I decided to participate in my very first One Room Challenge, I knew that this room would be perfect,” Lindsey says. “I had the vision in my mind of a modern take on a bedroom at a bed-and-breakfast—something very cozy and intimate but with an unexpected and fun color and lots of DIY touches.”

Over seven weeks (the six-week challenge was extended a week due to weather), Lindsey DIYed the entire room and its furniture. That included redoing the floors, adding the trim to create a board-and-batten look, painting, and even creating a faux fireplace. (Love a faux fireplace!)

The beautiful sage-y green wall color is Halcyon Green by Sherwin-Williams.

“Amazingly, I didn’t run into any major setbacks,” says Lindsey, “but the thing that took me the longest was figuring out a way to hide the TV above the fireplace.” Yes, you read that right—there’s a TV above the fireplace. Lindsey ended up masking it with a clever IKEA hack: Large framed IKEA prints hang on plumbing pipe that’s fastened to the wall, and slide apart to reveal the TV (or hide it when not in use).

In total, Lindsey estimates that she spent about $2,000, including all materials and furniture.

“Every time I venture into this room I get an overwhelming feeling of calmness that I just love,” Lindsey says—a big departure from the room’s old days as a cluttered storage space!

Inspired? Submit your own project here.