Be My Guest

Here's What Was I Thinking? at home on the bed. I thought I'd take a few minutes to tell about the guest room.

A few years ago, my friend Petunia and her colleague were starting up a new business, "staging" houses that were going up for sale. They had terrific talent and energy, but what they lacked was a portfolio. "What I need," she told me, "is someone who needs their house staged and would let us take before and after pictures. We'd charge them only for the materials and we'd give our time. Do you know anyone who has a house to sell?"

I didn't. But I had the guest room from hell, overcrowded with uncomfortable twin beds, hideous metallic wallpaper from when we bought the house, spare furniture that didn't go together, and generally an unwelcoming ambiance. I'd wanted to spiff it up but the time, money, and energy for such a project never came together all at the same time. Petunia's need matched my need perfectly!

Joe was suspicious at the beginning -- "What if we don't like what she does?" But Petunia's taste was impeccable, and we decided to give her free rein.

We bought a double bed mattress and springs, gave her $600, and turned her loose. The only specification we made was the color of the paint for the walls, Windham Cream.

Petunia knew right away that quilts were important in our house, and selected one to build the room around. She also decided to feature my angel collections, and she knew from the living room that we liked arts and crafts style decorating. She painted the walls the delicious cream we liked, and added a stripe of rose on the one wall so she didn't have to put money into a headboard. Bunches of huge pillows and a bedskirt completed the look over there. At Target, no less, she found a nightstand and dresser in exactly the right style. Joe, in fact, was so pleased that he decided we should go off to Target ourselves for another nightstand and a bookcase, and so we did.

Quite serendipitously, WWIT? blends perfectly with the color scheme Petunia came up with.

She found lovely, inexpensive draperies that I would not have thought to consider, and it turns out they are perfect.

I only took these few photos, but Petunia also found and hung a great picture of Cape May among other pictures we already had in the room. I found a William Morris calendar and added the lamp that goes with my Willie Raye angels. And just look at this fantastic shelf that Petunia picked out from the Target collection! I wouldn't have thought of that.

Since the room is mostly used by our sons and their wives, I bought a soft cotton robe so that the girls wouldn't have to pack one when they come. It hangs on the rack; Amy added a pair of slippers and we keep odds and ends of toiletries in the drawer of the nightstand.

So our guest room is complete, and we couldn't be more pleased.

Y'all come!