70 square feet - A guest room !

Most people have closets larger than that - I whined
A lot of people have bathrooms bigger than that - I muttered
But it was all I had to work with - so as soon as I was finished whining and muttering I went to work on
making this impossibly tiny space into a second guest room.
You can see the first one HERE ( which has at the very least 80 square feet - HUGE lol )

These 2 tiny rooms used to be one large one - the previous owners split them into 2 for their 2 daughters.
The jury is still out on whether I should have reverted back to one larger one - not sure if that has any resale impact or not...............I just have to hope a future owner will see charm in them and overlook their size.

A quick coat of black spray paint on the dresser handles to make it fit in the room's decor.

7 feet X 10 feet ( and even a little under that because the wall juts out a little in one section )
That's a little under 70 square feet for those of you that are not as highly skilled with algebra as I am

Anyway -the only way this was ever going to work was by creating a bed nook..  There was simply no other solution.
BUT - that little section of the wall that jutted out?
Well that allowed for a nook to fit a double bed perfectly - and I DO mean perfectly - 1/2 an inch larger and the whole plan would have to have been scrapped.
The bed frame was a craig's list find - and though it really wasn't my first choice - I'm so glad it was the one that ended up being available -

Since I have to look for positives wherever I can find them in this room - I WILL say that I love the fact that the " nook " has it's own window - when you're laying in the bed all you can see are the tree tops - it's quite pretty.

I took this little console table out of our bedroom and put it in here - it's narrow enough in depth not to take up desperately needed inches ( it's pretty sad when every inch - not foot - but inch - counts ) but it's a place to put a glass of water - jewellery - etc.
And again I totally lucked out - since the width of this is exactly the width of the wall which it rests against !

John says - WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH THAT?
Suzan says - It's going in the guest room
John says - HERE WE GO - EVERY TIME YOU WORK ON ONE ROOM - EVERY OTHER ROOM GETS DISMANTLED.

But what he doesn't know is this:
I'm dismantling that right our of our bedroom - because in it's place I want him to build me a faux mantel !!!
( UPDATE - you can see the fireplace and mantel HERE and HERE )
Besides it fits the hobbit's guest room better I think.

Drapes made from a duvet on the other end ( which can close off the bed completely ) finished that section off.
I also took the Parisien Armoire out of the other little guest room to bring in here LOL

I didn't dare ask John to help me with this one - so as I was struggling to get it from one room to the next I banged it into the doorway accidentally and up he hops from where he was watching t.v.

John says - What the hell?
John says - It's an insane asylum here -
John says - Can't you leave anything alone at all?
Suzan says - NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BUG ME JOHN -
Suzan says - Feel free to give me a hand if you'd like -
( as the armoire is precariously tilted to one side - ready to crush me like a bug )
John says - Would you like to bring the dining room table in here too - you might as well
I've learned to block him out - but it's really getting annoying now - he has a comment on every single thing I do - every single step of the way.

One of my daughters gave me this " dress " dummy a couple of Christmas' ago - I brought it out into the landing so I could work on her - and then I needed to drape some dark curtains so you could actually see her.
Again hawkeye appeared out of nowhere

John says - Dressing the dummy now?
John says - What's with the velvet drapes hanging off the dresser?
Suzan says - So you can see it in the photos
John says - It looks
Suzan says - OMG - LEAVE ME ALONE JOHN -
ISN'T THERE A HOCKEY GAME ON?

I just threaded gauze strips around the body - and crisscrossed a ribbon on the top

and then tucked her into a corner of the room - the " art work " is a piece of an antique chair that fell apart on me - I'm clinging to the memory of it ...................

And now I'm going to show you the most perfect artwork for this little room.
Tina from WHAT WE KEEP sent me this -
There's sort of an inside joke here - she once told me a bear got in her back yard and she had to dive into her pool to escape it - AND I BELIEVED HER
I'm not blonde for no reason you know !!!
She had this silouette made for me and I framed it - I LOVE it ( thank you so much Amigo of mine )
I'll show you what another amigo sent me later this week -

Check this out - first of all it's black and white - perfect -
And secondly, it's 2 bears living inside an acorn " nook "  ( and the bear reference was totally lost on me - blonder and blonder - she actually had to explain it to me )
Too cute for words -
It sits on the end table - along with magazines to browse through

Once it was all finished John gave his approval
John says - I have to hand it to you Suzan - you somehow always manage to pull off the impossible
He doesn't see the irony in that.
He's impossible -

TOTAL COST FOR THIS MAKEOVER 100.00 DOLLARS

BED FRAME - 80.00
WALL READING LAMPS - 8.99 EACH

Everything else were items I had on hand ( including the paint )
We won't count John and I's labor - because that would bring it up to 25,000 dollars I'm sure
Tiny rooms require a lot more resourcefulness - but anything is possible, right?
And if you HAVE to - you can fit a bed - an end table - a dresser - an armoire and a " dress " dummy
into 70 square feet -
But only if you HAVE to......................
Otherwise - if you can - I'd highly recommend at the very least - 100 square feet.

But you work with what you've got, right?

and this is how it looked when we came to see the house

You all have a wonderful Tuesday !
Much love,
Me

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Vanity is thy name ( or determination, whichever applies )

No words necessary ?

Well actually - yes - there are some words that are necessary ( you wouldn't expect one of my posts not to have far too many words, would you? )

As in :" I love this more than words can express "

John says - We won't get that upstairs
Suzan says - Of course we will -  we we just have to remove the mirror.............

Until that proved to be impossible - 

John says - I guess it's been glued down to the bottom piece - 

Suzan says - Why on earth would they do that?
Suzan says - Let's keep trying

All screws were removed and it wouldn't budge - not an inch -  
We've tapped it with a mallet - then with a board and hammer - as my heart sank lower and lower.

John says - I'M TELLING YOU, SOME IDIOT HAS GLUED IT DOWN - you'll destroy all the veneer trying to pull it off

I've worked on furniture long enough to imagine this could be true - very strange things were done back in the day ( as opposed to the very strange things that we do today )
But still - something told me he was wrong about this

John says - Just sell it 

Suzan says - I can't 

John says - What do you mean " you can't "  of course you can 

John says - Do your magic on it - and sell it 

Suzan says - It's not the kind of magic it needs 

Suzan says - It needs to magically come undone so that it can go upstairs

Johns ays - Well it's not going to go upstairs

Which makes me even more determined.

I mean if he'd just sympathize with me - be as broken hearted as I am - then maybe ( but just maybe ) I could let it go.

But to make me get rid of it without even a drop of remorse?

I think people have gotten divorced for less.

I could just hear the divorce lawyer now in fact

Judge - What exactly are the grounds for divorce M'am

Suzan - My vanity, your honor.

John - Her vanity, your honor

And then I'd show  it to him - and he'd grant us one immediately - not understanding how anybody could refuse me such a beautiful item.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this but I felt all 7 deadly sins at once at the thought of it leaving my clutches

Suzan says - I've been wanting a piece like this all my life

John says - Oh come off it - you say that about every piece you do

Suzan says - I DO NOT !!!

John says - I've heard that sentence before Suzan - plenty of times

Suzan says - You're as cold as ice, you know that?

I mean it but he just laughs out loud..................

He went out a little later and I decided to attack this piece on my own -
And lo and behold I see these 2 strange things on the back

Never saw this before - and I've worked on a LOT of furntiure - had no idea even what to do with it - so I kind of hooked the flat head screwdriver into those gaps and twisted it a bit and OMG OMG OMG it started to turn and release 2 two screws that were holding it firmly in place.
The mirror is off -
The vanity can be moved upstairs.
And once again we've dodged a bullet with the divorce courts !!!

When he came back home he walked right by it - and me - in fact - sitting on the stairs looking like the Cheshire Cat

Suzan says - Well?  Can you help me carry the vanity upstairs?
John ( doing a double take ) says - How the hell did you manage that?
Suzan says - It's called " Determination " John  -  you know, that gene that Men seem to be sorely lacking unless it comes to golf ?

Want to see it one more time?

It'll be a little while before I can work on it ( although it's been primed ) because I picked up a couple of other items that I'll show you another time :)

Oh and I've been singing this song since yesterday - a little louder when John happens to walk by me but he doesn't get the connection at all lol..................

You're as cold as ice

You're willing to sacrifice our love

You never take advice

Someday you'll pay the price

I know.................

HE IS A " FOREIGNER " AFTER ALL  ( although he has claimed - he really has - that Brits are NEVER foreigner's - no matter where they live ) 

But his thinking is completely foreign to me..............just saying.

Have a wonderful day everyone

Much love,
Me

Looking for inspiration?
Join me at these fabulous parties !

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