A few details

When we built this house 16 years ago, we had to cut many of the extras that were included in the plans. One of those was a finished bonus room over the garage. Over time Mitch put sheet rock up and had it wired, but for all those years it was just an overflow from the attic. Particle board floors, bare bulb lights, untrimmed window... bare bones.

The only access to the room was by pull down attic stairs in the garage.

I won't go into the details of how Alyssa's marriage ended, it's not my story to tell. But as a mom, I didn't want my child to stay in an unhappy situation because she felt she had nowhere else to go, no other options. Without thought as to how we would make it work, I told her we would turn the bonus room into an apartment for her and Bayleigh. A little to my surprise and much to my relief she accepted the offer.

We began work last summer. It was slow going as we did most of the work ourselves. We hired a carpenter to build the stairs and frame in a bathroom and a friend of Mitch's helped him with the electrical work. My nephews helped with some of the painting and a friend of Alyssa's did some sheet rock work. 

We didn't have a very big budget to work with. The biggest chunk went to getting the stairs built. Alyssa chipped in on much of the expense, but ultimately, finishing the room will add to the value of our home, so we covered the structural stuff.

Mitch built this book shelf that serves as a divider between the room and the stairway.

And now

He also did the plumbing on  a small powder room that is at the base of the stairs and this little kitchen area. We found the cabinets at the Habitat Re-Store for 15 bucks each. We saved our old counters when we installed butcher-block and one section fit perfectly on the cabinets. Alyssa purchased a sink and faucet from O.com, and a friend gave her a fridge. A couple of shelves and some pretty dishes and they have a little kitchen. 

Alyssa purchased the Hemnes daybed from IKEA because it has three huge drawers for storage, can serve as seating during the day and also pulls out to become a king-size bed. Yes, I said a king-size.

Here it is during the day,

and at night.

Surprisingly , the room doesn't feel claustrophobic, even with the bed pulled out.

The "built-ins" on either side of the bed started out as this

Two laminate cabinets from Lowes.

I added some trim and beadboard wallpaper.

Left over stair treads were used for the tops.

A little more trim to bridge the gap between the cabinet and the wall, and a little white paint to finish it off.

They provide quite a bit of storage and don't take up much floor space.

The dandelion wall art was made from leftover wall planks, painted by Mitch. It was inspired by Bayleigh's love for dandelions and the design on our matching tattoos.  I knew we needed something large for that wall and I wanted it to tie in with the plank wall opposite. When I came across this on pinterest, by DIY Diva I knew that's what I wanted.

You can read about the wood plank wall here.

Lighting is from Lowes.

Flooring is Allure vinyl planks in hickory from Home Depot.

There you have it, our journey from an unfinished bonus room to a little attic apartment.   

If you see anything I didn't cover, just ask. I'll be glad to answer any questions.

 

I'll be linking to some of these parties.

 

Comments

[Maryann]

Great makeover, Love the plank wall and nightstands

[Autum]

Thank you Maryann!

xo Autum

[the cape on the corner]

whoa-that's amazing! love the built in, love the convertable bed. love the wood wall. yeah...it's that good a space!

[Lori]

This is simply gorgeous! It looks so peaceful and relaxing! Thanks for stopping by my blog and reassuring me about the oil based paint! :)

[Sarah]

This is such an amazing transformation. I know your daughter will love it!

[cassie]

wow! i just had to come over and tell you how beautiful and amazing your space is!

[Joni]

This is REALLY awesome. The pallet wall is amazing. Your selection and technique on colors is great. I was wondering if you might list the exact Rustoleum stain colors that you used. Also, would you mind posting more pictures of your dandelion wall hanging? I saw the similar one on diydiva, but I'm interested in doing one like yours (for the price of a $10 package of paneling!). thanks so much for sharing,

[Becc]

Loved it and pinned it! Thanks for sharing!!

[Jae]

Great idea and great use of space. It looks wonderful.

[Beth @ Free Stylin']

This entire space turned out SO well. It's both pretty and functional...and full of great ideas! I absolutely love the daybed. I've been trying to figure something out for our home office that is also a guest room, and I think I may now have the solution. Thank you! You all did an amazing job! :)

[Jay @ Wilbur Road]

That room is brilliant on so many levels.
Bookcase divider? Yes.
The little open shelves for dishes are precious. Love the pops of pink.
Adding the bead-board paper and trim to those stock cabinets? Holy cow, smart!
The plank wall is serious eye candy, but the function-ality trumps it!

But I loved that you shared a little bit about your family, what your daughter is going through. You are blessed to have each other to love.

[Carol-Anne]

This is just amazing! I love how you've used so many inexpensive items and turned them into 'custom' pieces and 'built-ins'!

(definitely gonna copy your use of beadboard wallpaper!)

[Meg]

I can't even function right now. I'm so overwhelmed with all of this mind-blowingly amazing information on a single post. The wall, the pallet art, the IKEA bed, the cheapy looking lowes cabinet turned Southern Living. I bow to you and thank you for the lifetime supply of pins to pinterest.

[Amanda]

I love this room. It is stripped down and essential. There is nothing extra. You managed to include just what was needed for living life, but to make every piece soulful meaningful and useful. I also know how much goes in to editing... everything decision you make to leave something out is as important in the end as those things that were put in. As I am decorating a house with some very awkward rooms I find it such a joy overcoming the challenges of size shape and space. It forces you to be creative and think out of the box. It makes you rethink what is important. Out of these things beauty is painstakingly born. The feeling of being in a space designed especially for you with all of the things you need to live life with comfort and joy is like no other. Simple, clean, perfect! Congratulations on a beautiful space and for being the kind of mother every girl should have!

[Amber L Peters]

It looks awesome! i bet she loves it!!

[Autum]

Thank you Amber. We all love it. My husband is jealous and says if it is ever vacant he's claiming it for his man cave.

Have a wonderful day!

xo Autum

[Autum]

Hello Amanda. Thank you for your comment. You are so right, a lot of thought has to go into what is really important when dealing with space limitations. That space from top to bottom was designed with them in mind. The only thing she could use more of is clothes storage. We're working on that.

Have a wonderful day!
xo Autum

[Autum]

Hi Joni. I am so sorry I am just now replying to your comment. I missed your question before. The gray stain I used is rustoleum sun bleached. I LOVE this stain. For some of the boards I just used the sun bleached. For others I stained them with either dark walnut of kona before using the sun bleached.

The dandelion wall hanging was made with leftover boards from the wall. I cut them all 18 inches and joined five boards for each section. I put a little wood glue between each where the tongue and groove join. Not much, because it will seep out. Just enough to tighten the joint. I'll have to get a photo and show you the back. I glued a 2 small pieces of 1x2 board vertically across the back for extra security and also to give me a place to attach screws and a piece of wire for hanging.
My husband painted the dandelion graphic on with a brush and automotive striping paint. It's what he had. It had a sheen to it that I didn't like, so I sanded over it lightly, then went around some of the lines with gray craft paint. Just to make it look more aged and less perfect.
Again, I'm sorry to be so long in getting back to you.

xo Autum

[Autum]

Thank you Beth. We are thrilled with the bed. She had a futon a friend gave her, but this provides so much storage and is actually a bed when pulled out. IKEA recommends using two of their mattresses and stacking them for day and when the bed is pulled out you pull one of the mattresses down. We had a thick memory foam king sized mattress that she uses. It is flexible enough to fold in half for daytime and then easily unfold it when she pulls the bed out to sleep. When we bought the bed, I thought it was a trundle, but that isn't how it works.
I think it would be a great solution for a home office/guest room.

Have a great day!
xo Autum

[Autum]

Thank you Jay. We are thrilled with how it all came together, and even more thrilled to have them here for as long as they need to be here.

Have a wonderful day!

xo Autum

[Autum]

Thank you Carol-Anne.
I do love me some beadboard wallpaper. I worry that I may overuse it. It is so easy and effective. I have it all over the house.

Have a lovely day!

xo Autum

[Autum]

Meg, your comment made me laugh : ) I love your enthusiasm and by all means, pin away!

xo Autum

[Autum]

Thank you Jae!

xo Autum

[gina]

absolutely beautiful! I have the same daybed that my daughter no longer uses, so we've re-purposed it as our sofa (for now) in master bedroom's sitting area. It's a beautiful and practical piece of furniture. wonderful job on the room! You've provided me with an abundance of inspiration!! xoxo

[Autum]

Thank you so much Gina! I was really pleased with the quality of the bed. I think it is something she will be able to use for years to come. I wish we lived closer to IKEA. It's about a four hour trip one way, so we don't go very often. On second thought, that's probably a good thing ; )

xo Autum