Tiny guest bedroom refresh ⋒ make the most of your small spaces!

Ahh, small spaces will always have a special place in my heart. Our first home when Derek and I got married was a quaint 720 square feet. Yep. Basically a storage unit with a toilet. Big memories + milestones were made in that little bungalow (it’s where “sweet bungalow” came to be)! I‘ve found that the more challenges a space presents, the more rewarding it is when it it all comes together! I’m happy to say I’ve proved that to be true again with this tiny guest bedroom project. A couple cheap + easy DIY’s and a few coats of paint work wonders! I’m going to share those projects and a few tips I have for working with a small space!

I’m a big fan of a floating shelf. Like, BIG fan. I think I have some sort of floating shelf in every room now that I think about it. They are so versatile, fun to style, and a great use of space. I added this 6ft Askel Maple Floating Shelf by Shelfology because there wasn’t enough room for a dresser, but I wanted our guests to have a personal space to work, get ready and set their things. When you’re looking for a floating shelf, make sure it’s quality + heavy duty and can withhold some weight! Shelfology has endless ways to customize a shelf system to perfectly fit your space, I highly recommend! Exact measurements for my custom shelf: Shelf Thickness: 1.75″, Shelf Length: 60″, Shelf Depth: 12″, Shelf Finish: Clear Satin.

When it came to styling the shelf, I tried to be practical and include items a guest might need! I have a container including small items like matches, Q-Tips and pens. I made sure to include a nice candle, table lamp and a closable carafe for water and a couple glasses (not pictured because H&M Home takes forever to ship hehe). And just like that, you have a luxury hotel vibe for your guests!

This room is a 10×10 square. The full size bed takes up most of the room and the only place to set the bed was in front of the window. Normally, I try to place a bed across from a window so that you wake up to a nice view and a feeling of open space rather than a wall. Because the window was my only option, I decided to add a mirror across from the bed so that the reflection of the window gave the same effect. My advice for any small space is ADD. A. MIRROR. They make such a huge difference! And they’re cute and practical. So win, win, win.

Okay, on to the feature wall!

OOOOH, SHE’S GORGEOUS!! I got a lot of questions on this feature wall and I feel like this is the perfect project to describe me: I found some old MDF trim in the garage that I just painted and nailed to the wall to create the board + batten look. Legit board and batten walls have a flat sheet underneath the boards to hide the wall texture and create a more seamless look, but your girl was on a budget, and I feel like this is just as cute! I used the color Loft Light by Behr and it’s the perfect tan with pink undertones. It seems to change hues depending on where the sun is at and I dig it. I threw up some affordable wall sconces from Amazon and added remote puck lights inside the light so that we didn’t have to hardwire. These sconces also come with the option to plug in, but this wall has one socket and I didn’t want to take the only socket for a phone charger. Plus, now we have remote-control lighting which is very boujee in my opinion.

Last thing I made sure to include was a little hook action for towels + personal items. I had a wooden wall rack lying around so I spray painted it white and added a fun piece of art from a small Etsy shop to complete this little guest room! Are you ready to be my guest or what?!

I hope this inspired you to look at your small spaces you’ve been avoiding because you don’t know how to approach them. They can be daunting, and I know this because I avoided this room for the entire first year we’ve lived here. You don’t have to break the bank to create a little haven! If you have any questions I didn’t answer in this post, hit me up on my Instagram @sweetbungalow and I’d be happy to answer them!