Guest Bedroom Tour: HGTV Green Home 2009

At the very end of the hallway, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the kitchen, living and dining areas, is a get-away-from-it-all room, a bright and happy space that serves as home-away-from-home for guests who stop by for overnight or extended stays. “The rest of the house is a little more controlled,” adds interior designer Linda Woodrum, “and this is another room that’s a little less serious with the bright red and green.”

The focal point of the room, a reproduction of the first print in Ottolander's Conchology Studies series, serves as the first clue to a subtle shell theme and stands in for a more elaborate headboard. The bed, fashioned from reclaimed cypress wood by carpenter David Brown, is painted a bright shade of “gypsy red,” and dressed in eco-fabrics from head to foot: soft cotton bedding serves as the foundation for quilted cotton shams, solid silk handloomed pillows and a floral-print throw that was discovered just in the knick of time. “We did the bright red bed to find a way to play off the green in the lamps and plantings,” adds Woodrum. “With luck we found that perfect pillow to go in there.” On warm summer days a shell-white, Energy Star-rated ceiling fan keeps the cozy space cool, while on an evening when a chilly breeze blows, a zebra-print cashmere throw and a basketweave textured throw in citrus green are just an arm’s reach away.

The bedside tables create their own interesting vignettes. Another example of Brown’s handiwork, the tables are draped in box-pleated linen covers and topped with cactus-shaped papier-mache lamps by Stray Dog Designs, nature books, framed coral prints and potted succulents, including cactus and aloe vera. Other guest room essentials include a pocket-watch clock and a glass bedside carafe with matching tumbler. Additional reading material is displayed in a rattan try on the bed and green-living literature is stacked high on a metal and wood side table just under the picture window, itself dressed in a bamboo shade with lined linen curtains.

Artwork is toned down so as not to compete with the bright color palette. Black and white photos of Sandhill cranes greet guests as they walk through the entrance. “Kathy, who is house planner Jack Thomasson’s sister, took those,” adds Woodrum. “We were all in the yard and those birds landed in the yard. They were two feet in front of us. Kathy was there and she started snapping away.” More black-and-white photos of friends and family, framed in pretty seashell frames, face the bed. “I love those little shell frames,” says Woodrum. “The shell above the bed is very nice and graphic. And that’s why the shell frames are opposite. You create a reference to something in a small space like that.”

The guest room poses only one risk: the tucked-away space may well lure guests into overstaying their welcome. “We’ve added lots of fun color,” adds Woodrum, “so your guests get to feel the energy of Florida.”