Our Guest Room Renovation | Before & After
When we first moved into the house back in November, we were using the spare room more as a dumping ground for things we didn't know what to do with, Christmas decorations and for drying washing.
It wasn't really doing much and the space just wasn't usable. But when my brother and his girlfriend asked if they could come and stay with us, we had a sudden realisation that, although we have a guest bedroom, it can't actually be used as that.
So we pulled our fingers out and gave it a complete overhaul. I know how much these before and after renovation or decorating blog posts interest me, so it got me wondering that, maybe, other people would love them just as much as I do, hence this blog post today :) Let me take you through the process from start, to finish, complete with some pictures that, of course, will tell the full story, so I don't have to, haha. Let's begin with showing you what the room looked like before we started work on it...
Ripping out the old floor & laying modern laminate, installing new skirting boards & fitting matching architrave
We first started off by taking the floor up, because it was cheap and nasty, as well as the skirting board, which was also cheap and nasty, and we also ripped the old architrave off because it matched neither the horrible plastic skirting or the new one, so it had to go. Ripping the floor up was the fun part for me and it was even more fun taking it to the tip and throwing each board in one by one. It was truly satisfying!
Because of the configuration of the floorboards underneath the old laminate, we had to lay our new floor underneath the skirting boards, so that was the next job. If you've ever laid laminate floor before, you'll know how much of a pain it can, especially if you're planning a pattern, which we did. But once we got going, it was pretty quick and straightforward from there, aside from cutting around radiator pipes.
We then used a mitre saw to cut the skirting board and screwed those to the wall. We have gone for pine skirting and it matches the one we installed in the living room, which is also finished (look out for that blog post coming soon).
The skirting boards throughout the house are all old and very badly painted. Some are damaged and have cracked over the years, so we're very keen to replace all of them for brand new pine skirting boards with a more attractive profile. The architrave would, obviously, have to match the profile of the new skirting board, so we made sure we got a few pieces of that and we then pinned it into the wall.
Taking out the old window sill
The window sill that came with the house when we bought it was plastic and that was fitted over the top of the old, rotting wooden window sill. So because we hated the plastic one so much, but couldn't actually save the wooden one underneath, we had to rip the whole lot out.
This wasn't a simple process and it actually tore some of the plaster off the wall, but that was easily rectifiable. Of course, this left us with a gaping hole and a lot of mess so we knew we had to fit a new window sill and ASAP.
The wooden window sills are actually quite difficult to find and, when you do find them, they're quite expensive to buy. So we opted for a pre-primed MDF window sill instead. Granted, they're a little more difficult to work with, but the results are good and it looks just as good as a solid wood alternative.
Filling in all the hairline cracks
This room was FULL, and I mean full, of hairline cracks. It was an incredibly annoying because just as you filled one crack, another one would appear. They'd also come out of the wood work the long you looked at it and the harder you looked for them. It was important because the cracks need to be filled and where, granted, one or two have come back, we'll just make it a job for the next time we come and redecorate.
Glossing the skirting board, window sill and architrave
Of course, when you're installing pine skirting boards and architraves, you can't just leave the wood exposed and the same goes for the MDF window sill we bought. All of it needed to be primed with the right paint (we like Dulux) and then, once that's "gone off" so to speak, you can start to gloss everything. We like the glossy finish as opposed to the satin finish, but everyone is different.
We actually went round that room and glossed it all three times because that's just how many coats it took to make it look fresh and completely opaque. I don't like being able to see the wood or the knots under the paint, so it needed to give full coverage and a solid colour, likewise with the window sill. The architrave was also the same, but we lumped that in with the skirting boards to keep it consistent.
Sanding, sanding & more sanding
The previous owners painted the room really badly. It was full of brush strokes that needed taking out, there were paint drips everywhere and hard bits all over the ceiling where they obviously used old rollers and brushes that had dried out from the time before. So all of those issues needed sorting so that the paint we were putting on went on without a problem and looked immaculate, almost as if painting onto a newly-plastered surface.
Of course, we also had to sand where we'd used PolyFilla to fill in all of the hairline cracks and we also had to sand under the window sill where the plaster had come off. We replaced it with fresh plaster that we mixed and slapped on ourselves, so the process was actually really quick and simple. I hate sanding because it creates such a mess and it's hard to clean up completely. So I'm glad this step didn't last for too long because we just wanted to get it done.
Getting some colour on the walls and fresh coat on the ceiling
We wanted to give the ceiling a fresh coat of white because the previous owners used horrible trade white paint and that stuff was chalky, felt horrible to touch and looked almost yellow and dingy, so we sanded the ceiling down and gave it a coat of Dulux paint in Brilliant White to give it a fresh look and feel.
We then slapped on the colour paint, giving it two coats of Dulux paint in Natural Hessian and we absolutely love it. It's so warm and cosy - perfect for a bedroom because we want our guests to feel comfortable and relaxed when they're in their own private space in our home.
We now have another room that's done
Our guest room is now complete and ready for someone to stay in whenever they need it. Whether it be a short stay for our families or somewhere to hit the hay after a curry and some pints with friends, it's now a room that's functional, fresh and modern - a complete contrast to how the entire house was before.
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I hope you enjoyed this blog post? Have you completed a renovation or decorated a room in your house recently? How did it go? Let me know in the comments below and I'll see you again very soon with a brand new blog post :)
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