My Sister’s Beach Bungalow Bedroom Makeover!

Before & After, DIY PROJECT

We just completed a 3-day family road trip to Fort Myers, Florida with our toddler and pup! The Yolo Family is going to be here for the month, helping my older Sister renovate & decorate her bungalow. Lucky for us, that means a lot of thrifting & antiquing! To kick things off, Mr. Yolo and I decorated their guest room. I have been consulting from afar so I have been getting regular updates on the renovation work my sister and husband did in this room. Let’s take a look at the amazing transformation!

This was the unfinished room when they bought the house. Can you see why it was just being used for storage?! They had the vision to turn this into a beautiful guest suite. A few things they did before we arrived: replaced the window with a larger one, opened a wall to connect the room to the main house, shiplapped all the walls, installed Lifeproof flooring, and painted the walls a powder blue. A lot of work! We came in to decorate… the easy work!

How it looks now! A guest room for visitors (ie a sister;))

The Process

Before we dive into the design, let’s talk a little about my process for decorating this room from afar. First, my Sister sent iPhone pictures of the room, a bunch of different angles. Then, I created a mock-up in Photoshop. I started with the large furniture pieces: the writing desk, faux leather chair, and headboard, then added in all the decor. I partnered with Better Homes & Gardens on this makeover, so all the images in the mockup are from their decor line sold exclusively at Walmart.

Once I was happy with the mockup, I sent it to my Sister for final approval. I ordered everything online and had it sent to her house. You should really get measurements to make sure it all fits… which I didn’t do because I like to live on the edge, ha! I think my eyeballing skills have gotten pretty good (Mr. Yolo would disagree). Everything fit!

The Design

I wanted the room to have a beach-y vibe without feeling cheesy, you know what I mean? The powder blue walls were such a pretty backdrop! I initially was going to do a wall of framed birds, but the design evolved a bit as I did some thrifting to fill out the room. I found these baskets in the most beautiful colors and this straw hat, so decided to switch out the frames for a basket/hat wall. It felt more Floridian and I love the color it brought to this corner. I also wanted the room to feel open and airy, so did not want to overwhelm it with furniture. Just create an area to sleep and a desk work area. I love adding little nods to Florida with items like the brass “sun” mirror.

I was really happy with how the rug and baskets worked SO WELL together. Blue is always a great choice for a house by the water, but I love bringing in some other unexpected colors like orange and red. Initially the framed birds were going to tie together the space, and I am glad I still got to use three by the bed, but these baskets I found thrifting where an absolute score!

It’s funny, orange is not usually my go-to color, but I happen to be wearing a hat with an orange ribbon, had a new set of orange paint brushes, and an orange design book to read on the roadtrip, so they all made it into the styling of the desk area.

My Sister’s husband has actually been using this Swivel Office Chair, and Writing Desk for work since it arrived a couple weeks ago, and he said they are both awesome! The chair is super comfortable, and the faux leather looks great. I am going to buy this desk for my workspace back home, because it’s a great size for a smaller room, looks really good, has a built-in power station, and I love a couple drawers to store (ahem, hide) office stuff.

I will share more about the bedding and sleep area in another post, stay tuned!

Shopping

Better Homes & Gardens Swivel Office Chair, Faux Leather Upholstery, Brown
Wheaton Farmhouse 47″ Writing Desk with Storage and Built-in Power Station
Bryant Rustic Brown Wood Headboard 
Teal Tan Round Resin Planter & Stand Set
Persian Border Indigo Area Rug
Hygro Cotton Bed Sheet Set, Standard/Queen Pillowcase, Vanilla Dream
Acacia Bed Tray
Throw Pillow
Waffle Blanket in Gray
Medallion Serve Bowl
Round Metal Decorative Wall Mirror 24″