We just found out our first overnight guests are arriving at the end of the month, and our guest room currently looks like this:
Not acceptable — especially since our guests are my in-laws.
Sherry’s mom and stepdad are flying from New York to Richmond to spend time with Clara, so we now have a hard deadline to make the guest room ready. We don’t expect to finish every project in two weeks, but we have a set of basic goals to make the room functional and welcoming:
- Clear out the clutter (confirm the Habitat for Humanity ReStore pickup and move remaining items to the playroom)
- Buy a mattress and box spring plus an inexpensive bed frame to use for now
- Use existing bedding to dress the bed
- Add a shower curtain and basic bathroom supplies (towels, a new toilet seat cover, etc.)
Getting these essentials done will at least make the space livable. My nightmare scenario is asking Sherry’s sweet Italian mom and stepdad to sleep on the office’s fold-out couch — imagine Giacomo LaPadula and Diana DeCesare LaPadula on a sofa bed next to our laptops in a room with no door. Not a great first impression.
Since we sometimes enjoy a challenge (and occasionally crumble under pressure), here’s our “extra credit” list:
- Paint the room
- Hang curtains
- Add a nightstand and a table lamp
We don’t expect to complete all of these extras, but they’re goals to aim for. It would be lovely for the room to feel polished when they arrive, though realistically the space currently looks like a bifold door convention and Nona and PopPop will probably be more focused on Clara than the décor. Either way, wish us luck in our race to get the guest bedroom ready!
P.S. We announced this week’s giveaway winners.