Oyster Haven: The Little Cherubs Room

Yesterday when I blogged about Oyster Haven, the lakeside house we're setting up as a VRBO rental, I told you all about the largest upstairs bedroom.  (If you haven't seen that post about "the Norman Rockwell Room," complete with before and after pics, click on over and take a peek.)

Today, I'm going to show you the smallest upstairs bedroom, which we have dubbed "the Little Cherubs Room."  In the online real estate listing, it was shown as a nursery.

As you can see in the before picture, there's not a whole lot of square footage in this room, so the challenge for us was to figure out how to make it sleep as many as possible without being claustrophobic.

We decided to paint this room with the same light gray ("Lunar Surface") shade we used in the Norman Rockwell Room.  And I decorated the walls with ceramic angels, gifts from my late mother-in-law that I'd used as part of my home décor for many years--items that I love, but knew I wouldn't miss too much.  (In my "real" home, I'm trying to reclaim wall space to make room for portraits of my earthly angels: my grandchildren!)  I also hung several pieces of artwork portraying cherubic little children, including a favorite of mine titled "Taps," by Besse Pease Gutmann.  It used to hang in my living room, but it seems to be right at home here in this Oyster Haven guest room.

To adorn the main bed in the room, I brought an angel-themed tapestry throw pillow that had been languishing in our attic at home, and then made a coordinating bed scarf with--what else?--fabric from my mother-in-law's attic!  (Attics are the best places to find treasures!)  The floral velveteen just happened to match the colors in the pillow beautifully.  I've felt Mom's help so often on this journey, and know how tickled she would have been about this lake house we've bought just a stone's throw from the beloved home where she raised her eight kids.

Again, we went with a minimalist approach for the furnishings: new metal platform beds (a full and a twin) and new mattresses, and pristine all-white bedding with pops of color.  Since the room is so small, I kept the window treatments very simple.  The previous owners left the shades and curtain rods, and I found a pair of sheer white valances at Walmart, for next to nothing.  The bedside tables were secondhand furniture store bargains.

Okay, then.  Enough chit-chat.  Without further ado, here are the after pictures.

It's pretty cozy in here--not much room for a dance party or anything.  But with two windows, there's plenty of natural light (which you would see if I'd thought to take these photos in the daytime!).  Overall, we think it works.

Then the icing on the cake is the sign on the door that tells you you're about to enter this heavenly little space.

As a little girl, the Little Cherubs Room might have been my favorite bedroom out of the four in the house: a snug little haven to curl up with a good book.  And even as a big girl, I find it utterly charming.

Now if only vacation-goers find it (and the rest of the house) as charming as I do...

To be continued!  There's plenty more to show you.