It’s a new year!
Since the last time I wrote so much has happened. Because of early deadlines in December, I penned my last articles in mid-December and then took off my writing hat for a few weeks.
After a hectic and emotion filled holiday season, it feels wonderful to sit down at my laptop again and to punch out a few phrases for you the readers. I hope you have had a wonderful holiday and are going into 2017 with fresh optimism and a heart full of wonder.
The holidays put us into full renovation mode as we hastily painted and installed new flooring in a guest bedroom. Realizing we had two sets of overnight guests for Christmas put us into fast forward mode on a bedroom that has been sitting empty for months.
It is amazing what you can accomplish in a short period of time. We painted into the wee hours and installed a new vinyl plank glueless flooring which was a simple pleasure to install. A few hours and we had a fresh new flooring which gave the room a hip barn wood feel which strolled hand in hand with my bordello/barn theme.
Frenzied and last minute renovations are common for people seeing the holidays or a large life event creeping up on them and I am now amongst the lot of you who have renovated with a deadline looming – we completed the room on Dec. 21st! This gave me just enough time to scramble around and find items to dress the room up. When Christmas Eve came, all was calm and bright as we welcomed our kids home and showed them to their rooms.
What a delight to see their reactions to the changes in the bedroom, especially my sweeties’ youngest son who used to occupy this space!
While the renovation was satisfying, it was even more enjoyable to see our adult children and our guests at New Year’s crawl into the inviting space.
It felt wonderful to have enough beds for everyone who wanted to camp overnight and I was overjoyed to have all guests wake up and exclaim that they had slept soundly and had thoroughly enjoyed the room. This is the result of care and attention that goes into a home renovation project; whether it is drawn out and expensive or quick and dirty (cheap), the reward is in the reaction from friends and family as they view and use the space for the first time.
The reward of having guests in your home is worth the effort it may take to create an accommodating space. It may not be a full renovation but the addition of cozy sheets and comfortable pillows will make your guests feel like royalty as they spend a few nights in your home. Add an inexpensive down mattress topper to make an older mattress feel more inviting and be sure to include soft lighting and alluring scents (like lavender) to help all have a good night’s rest.
Pictures of this dramatic and fast room makeover are up on my facebook page called Ask a Designer/Ask a Realtor.
Please visit and see what you think of our hasty yet rewarding guest room re-do! A hearty and happy New Year to everyone, may this year be filled with new starts and exciting experiences!
Kim Wyse is a Central Alberta freelance designer. Find her on facebook at ‘Ask a Realtor/Ask a Designer’.
