A Twin Guest Bedroom with East Coast Charm

Continuing from the previous posts, I’m featuring some of the near completed spaces in a clients vacation home that I had the enormous job of furnishing and outfitting from top to bottom a few seasons ago - but never got around to posting. The new owners purchased the traditional shingle style house as a seasonal holiday home, located in a remote coastal setting on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. The project didn’t involve any renovation or remodelling design work on my part, not even paint colours (!) my job of furnishing and outfitting the home mandated working with the existing newly finished spaces as is, and to complete them as soon as possible so the home could be used without prolonged delay. I say these are near completed spaces because our photos were taken after all the main furniture pieces had been installed but not all the small accents or accessories were in place, the photos of this room were simply taken with a phone-cam during install days. This is a peak at one of the 6 guest bedrooms which was designed to be a single twin guest room.

The design intent like the rest of the house was to furnish the room with a mix of new and old pieces. Because there was an overall budget for furnishing the house we made the decision early on to prioritize the budget to the main living areas and the Master suite which meant the guest bedrooms were allocated the smallest piece of the budget pie, but also had the most flexibility. This is just kind of challenge that drives you to get really creative and resourceful - and there’s nothing I love more. A small budget doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice originality or style.

After reviewing all the requirements for the room with the client, I start the process of furnishing each room by creating a concept board. For this room it incorporates some vintage and antique pieces I had already accumulated for the project and a couple that I still hoped to find. Unlike concepts for construction projects which might illustrate all the exact fixtures and materials that’ll be used in a space, these furnishing concepts are loose and literally conceptual, this is what I’ll present to the clients to give them a visual of what kind of pieces we’ll have in mind when we’re out sourcing. With the logistics of being in a remote rural location, availability and budget effect a lot of decisions along the way. When we’re furnishing a room with one-of-a-kind finds the process requires a very trusting client designer relationship because its so organic you have to allow for lots of flexibility for unexpected finds to and spontaneous purchases be worked into your concept.

One of the key pieces I had envisioned for the room was a vintage spool bed that we could set up day-bed style. The upside of this was three fold, an old piece would be ‘in stock’, would add unique character, and would be super inexpensive. Not to mention, the solid wood quality - that’s four unbeatable reasons why this piece was my jumping off point. I frequently see vintage spool beds for sale around Nova Scotia and after a short search I was able to find one that was in good shape and in its natural stained wood finish, it only needed new slats which were quick and easy to add. The rest of the room came together fairly easily around that.

All of the new items for this room like the bedding and runner rug were in stock at local retailers or ordered online. Definitely the bulk of the budget for this room went to the bedding, ensuring sleeping comfort and quality were not overlooked. 100% Goose down duvet and 100% cotton sheets ( a combination of Ralph Lauren sheeting with an Ikea cotton plaid duvet cover) were completed with a white matalisse quilted coverlet and pillows for those warmer summer nights. A favourite unexpected find were the ticking stripe pillows with raffia trim, a rare Home Sense score (honestly that doesn’t happen to me too often!).

From the onset I had envisioned wall art that incorporated some type of sea life or nautical subject and set out to find something related to fish or ships. I quickly found a beautiful set of vintage fish prints on Etsy and selected 6 species that were native to our Atlantic coast - how perfect would these be for out of country guests (children or adults) to learn which fish are native to Nova Scotia! And how many people know what a halibut looks like?

Our European clients were beyond thrilled with these when they saw them and we chatted at length about all these fish and which ones they would commonly eat when they were here.

Aside from finding the spool bed, the next best find for this room were the frames for the fish prints. I had intended to find ready-made frames but I never imagined I’d find something as perfect as these simple wood frames I discovered at Walmart. Yes Walmart! One of the things about sourcing in rural areas is you have no choice but to look in every local store available, no matter how unlikely it might seem, and this was one of those instances. Not only were they the exact size needed, the unexpected detail of the galvanized metal mats couldn’t have been more perfect for these prints prints if I had had them custom made. The added bonus of them being in stock was almost too good to be true.

Like the bedroom in the previous post, the wall art has local relevance and so not only was it important to me that the pieces are pleasing to look at but also that they illustrate something of interest to learn about the local natural setting, culture or heritage - this theme is true of all the wall art we installed throughout the house, from the vintage plate collage in the kitchen to the black and white photos of Cape Breton in the Master to the line drawings of heritage Halifax buildings in the Twin-King guest bedroom, there’s a Nova Scotia story to all of it.

Because we didn’t have room for large bedside tables we placed a wall hung swing arm lamp on the wall for which creates a cozy reading nook when the overhead light is off. We also added an antique candle stick lamp to the dresser top so there’s multiple levels of light in the room.

Although I don’t have photos of the rest of the space, all of the other pieces you see in the concept board were placed in the room and you can image what a welcoming and charming room it is for a solo guest or two. There’s actually an adjoining nook with a large sky-lite window that a second child could sleep in or is perfect spot for yoga or meditation (which is exactly how we set it up).

This room always reminds me why my love for spool beds will never subside and so I continue to search them out wherever I can.