I’m so excited to start writing about our guest room transformation from a utilitarian space to a cozy, inviting room, inspired by one of my favorite Disney movies, Mary Poppins. I hope you’ll follow along as I design and create a room inspired by Mary Poppins room decor. I plan to break up the whole process into several articles as the project progresses.
Mary Poppins inspired guest room
In January of 2020 the last of our oldest kids moved out of the house. I finally had an empty bedroom to turn into a guest room. I had taken my time getting started on the project because I was still working full time.
Then of course the pandemic hit and the guest room was quickly dubbed the COVID room. It was thrown together quite quickly without a lot of thought. Did we need it for COVID quarantine purposes? Yes. Thank goodness we had that room.
As time has gone on, whenever I go into the room I just feel a chill from all the gray. So this year, I’m finally going to do something about turning this cold, uninspired looking room into a space where people might actually want to stay.
Here is the before picture:
BEFORE PIC
While there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the room, being a north facing room, it gets very little natural light until late in the day. The gray walls (my daughter’s choice before gray was even a thing) and gray floors and gray bedding (floors and bedding are on me) in such a poorly lit room just make it seem SO dreary.
What’s a Disney girl to do?
With no Disney trip planned for the foreseeable future, and the last trip over 6 months ago, I’m in need a fix. This time, rather than buying a Mickey sweatshirt, I had the bright idea to cheer things up a bit in this guest room by using the Mary Poppins movie as an inspiration.
I don’t have a huge budget for this project, so the carpet, white nightstand and bed will all stay. The ceiling fan will be replaced with a new light fixture, and I found the perfect small dresser at a low price point. It’s actually meant for a nursery but perfect for a guest room too, so bye-bye shelves, hello dresser.
Then I plan to use paint, new moldings, and some pretty decor to transform this lifeless room into something right as a morning in May. 😉
Creating the design plan: Mary Poppins guest room
So where to start?
Well there a couple of ways to could go…like trying to replicate the nursery of the Banks kids. That means period furniture, mini floral wallpapers, ornate lighting, heavy draperies and lots of chintz. There are also the fantasy elements of the animated part of the film, filled with cute animals, bright colors, and carousel horses for inspiration.
Sounds good, but what will work in my house?
After some research and playing around with a few ideas, I’ve decided to create an English country inspired bedroom. This design style is actually having a bit of a renaissance right now – that or I’m watching too much Britbox!
New paint and bedding will help warm up the room. By adding whimsical touches that nod to themes of the movie, the vision is a cozy room that looks like Mary Poppins once stayed here. Maybe on a Jolly Holiday?
I plan to decorate around the movie’s themes of the city of London, Cherry Tree Lane, feeding the birds, flying a kite, etc. Overall our home is more traditional in design style, so this direction helps keep the room more in harmony with the rest of the house.
Creating mood boards, AKA fail on paper first (it’s much easier)
I created several mood boards with decor I found online to pull the concepts together into a cohesive design plan. This let me see whether the different pieces of my vision were likely to work together in the room. I’m glad I took the time to do this, because a few of my original ideas did not pan out once I saw them on a mood board.
It’s always helpful if you can find an inspiration piece to use as a jumping off point for a design. I found an art print on Etsy to inspire the color palette for the room: warm white, blush pink, green and maybe even some blue. Blue will be a game time decision, I’m thinking it may be a bit too much. So with my color palette defined, I went looking for decor to transform the room.
INSERT PICTURE OF ART PRINT
Creating a focal point
When possible, a room should have a focal point – that first thing that grabs your attention visually when you walk in the room. Things like a fireplace, a piece of art, feature walls, or large furniture can all be focal points. A focal points helps establish a room’s design and also guide it’s furniture arrangement.
While the art print I found was perfect for inspiring the color palette, it’s not really large enough to be a focal point. In the case of a bedroom, the bed is often the focal point. Often its not just the bed, but the combination of the bedding, headboard and either art or windows above/behind that create that focal point.
For the new guest room, I really wanted a feature wall behind the bed, with a mural of London. Most murals I found were photographs, not quite in keeping with an English country vibe. Eventually I found a great option on Etsy (Etsy is SO great for custom decor). It looks like a pen and ink sketch with a blush pink background that is created to your size specifications.
But after mocking it up on a mood board, while it’s a really cool idea, it just didn’t jibe with the room’s overall traditional design. Plus I worried that the drawing was just too much black in the room.
INSERT MOOD BOARD 1
Fine art, anyone?
Once I saw that wasn’t going to work, I decided to use picture frame molding to create 2-3 panels on the feature wall. Inside those panels I would install art prints or wallpaper to create some interest and reinforce the room’s theme. Still trying to get London on that wall, I found several prints from Claude Monet of London’s Big Ben and Parlaiment. I was really excited by this find, thinking it would work in beautifully.
No, I know nothing about art. My friend Google told me all about this one!
Back to the mood board I went with the new find, but rats, again a not so supercalifragilistic result. The orange and yellow just overpower everything and look out of place with the color palette. And the print itself doesn’t scream fresh and inviting.
Ugh, now what? Change the color palette? No. I’m not much of a fan of orange and I really liked the blush pink and green color scheme.
INSERT MOOD BOARD 2
Wallpaper it is!
Looking at the inspiration print again, I then decided to look for a cherry blossom wallpaper that I could use inside the picture frame moldings. Well chim-chiminey I think we’re finally onto something! Now we’re getting somewhere.
I have a few more décor tricks up my sleeve that I’ll share as the renovation moves along, but this is the definite direction I’m going to take.
INSERT MOOD BOARD 3
Settling on a color palette
While not all of these colors will be in the form of paint, here are the colors that will make up the key elements of the room, based on Sherwin Williams paint colors.
Pure White
Clary Sage
Bella Pink
Rain (maybe)
Pure White typically has a high Light Reflectance Value (LRV), signifying a bright and light color. With low depth, being a pure white, it is considered a neutral and clean option. Designed to be a neutral white without strong undertones, Pure White proves to be a versatile choice for various spaces.
Clary Sage, with a potential medium to dark LRV, depends on the specific formula. This color is likely to exhibit moderate to high depth, providing a rich and saturated look. With green undertones, as suggested by its name, Ryegrass offers a warm and earthy green tone.
Bella Pink has a moderate to high LRV, contingent on its formulation, and is likely to possess low to moderate depth, creating a soft and subtle appearance. The color is anticipated to have pink undertones, providing a delicate and feminine touch to spaces.
Rain may feature a moderate to high LRV, indicating a light to medium color. Expecting low to moderate depth, Rain gives off a refreshing and calming feel. With cool blue undertones, it evokes a sense of tranquility and openness, making it a suitable choice for a serene atmosphere.
A few words about sampling paint colors
Whether you’re shopping for decor or deciding on wall color, you should always use color samples so you can make the best decisions. Even if you’re not using a color for the wall, a color sample is super useful to get the colors just right. It’s easy enough to grab free paint chips from your local paint store. But if you’re considering painting the walls, then you definitely need larger samples that you can see in your room with your specific lighting.
Sampling paint on the walls used to mean buying not so cheap sample pots from the paint store. Then you had to paint swatches in several areas of your home. And THEN, you had to wait for it to dry to get it just right.
These days, all you need to do is head to Samplize.com. You can order your color, and in most cases, have it on your doorstep the next day. The samples are made from real paint and are peel and stick. That means you can move them around your room and up against furniture, décor, etc as needed. I have to admit, after renovating our entire first floor last year, I’m a bit of a Samplize junkie!
Order your Samplize Peel & Stick Paint Samples Here
Coming soon…installing the picture frame moldings, crown molding and painting the room!
