Guest Room Update & An Oil Painting

“Dwell in Possibility.” – Emily Dickenson

When I spend some time in our guest room I’m reminded of this quote.  To create a space you truly love, where you feel that anything is possible, is truly a gift.  We finished our guest room back in November of 2014 and we were in a flurry to get it done. Since some time has passed I thought I’d share a guest room update & an oil painting.

The boys have had sleepovers together in this room, but the one who truly loves this room is our dog, Poppy.

Before we finished the room she used to sleep under the bed in this room.  You remember when it was a vibrant blue….

Well, now she sleeps on the bed (please don’t mind the black dog hairs)!  Perhaps it is the white bedding she likes (her paw prints look lovely against it) or perhaps it is the soft lace stencil on the wall.  I told you when I shared the reveal that if I had a girl, she would have a room like this.  I guess my four legged girl likes shabby chic too.

Oh, and while we were out for a walk the other week, I found an oil painting.  Poppy and I were walking back from First Cliff and a painting in the Goodies II window caught my eye.  It was an oil in a gilded frame.

I pressed my face up against the glass, and squinted to see the fine petals painted on the canvas.  Hmmm.  It wasn’t a pretty lady as I had hoped for this room.  But a pretty lady oil painting is hard to find.  I’ve been looking for one for six months.  I didn’t want an ugly lady for my pretty room.

There was just something about this painting and these lilacs.

On the walk back up the hill, I couldn’t get these beautiful lilacs out of my mind.  My grandmother, Maas, had beautiful lilac bushes down the back of her yard.  In whites and deep purples, just like this painting.

They reminded me of her and her home and all the wonderful afternoons I spent sipping root beer floats at her kitchen table.

The painting isn’t signed and it isn’t perfect.

The frame is gorgeous, but the picture, is actually too large for the frame.  Someone nailed the picture to the outside of the frame.  I thought about trying to take the frame apart and putting it in properly.  But I’m impatient and wanted to get it hung up.

But you wanna know what?  I kind of think this mounting adds to this painting’s character.  It is perfectly imperfect.  Just like so many things in this house I love so much.

The closet door doesn’t shut, the walls are not level, but yet it is perfect just the way it is.

Poppy and I love it just the way it is.

I’m sharing more about the guest room over on Domino.  Click on the link below to read more:

before-and-after: inviting guest room makeover

Tips for designing (and redoing) this space.

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