The girl cave

Some homes have a man cave. Ours has a girl cave. Ok, really it's a tiny back bedroom that we're not sure what to do with for the time being. One day it could be a kid's bedroom or a play room, but for now it's going to function as our 2nd guest bedroom/girl cave.

It was the very first room we tackled in this home renovation and it still isn't completely finished ( that's beside the point), but we've got all the elements in place for completion one day (or month) very soon. We had hoped to incorporate a couple of key elements into making it a guest room/ girl cave, namely a work/craft area and a sleeper sofa and now they are in place. Since it's a small room with 2 large windows, deciding on the furniture arrangement was a bit tricky. In the end we deiced to take the door off the small closet, install some shelving and a desk top and make it my very own sewing station! If we ever decide to change things back it's a easy fix, but for now it's perfect. I found a cute little stool (that needs to be painted) at the ReStore and it slides out of the way, under the desk in a pinch.


The sleeper sofa was the more difficult part. I knew in my mind what I wanted - something that sleeps 2, slipcovered (white if possible) & comfy - you know, Pottery Barn style.

Isn't this space inviting?

Geez, those babies are expensive though (even with my discount!). So I shopped around for a while, in cheap furniture stores and Craigslist, but couldn't find anything nice at a good price. We thought about the Ikea Ektorp, but I don't love the rounded arms and the price is still fairly high for questionable quality. We also have a bit of a space issue with traditional pull-out style sleepers. We had hoped to put a narrow console across from the sofa, limiting the space even more. In walks Karl. The Ikea Karlstad sleeper. The perfect solution! It requires a lot less pull out space and I like the square style. So off to Ikea we went......and went.....and went, each trip not finding it anywhere on the showroom floor. Finally we tracked down an associate and got the the bottom of things. It seems that the Karlstad Sleeper has been temporarily pulled from the showroom inventory due to quality control issues. One associate explained to us, that it's not that there are issues with Karl itself, it's that they are having issues with the manufacturer's quality when constructing Karl and no one knows when it is expected to return to stores. Just our luck!

I had just about given up until we stumbled upon exactly what I had hoped for in the Pottery Barn Outlet - a PB Basic square arm sleeper. Various times before, I had looked but this was the first time I saw a sleeper sofa there. Not only was it exactly what we wanted, but it was also a great price! Yipee! Ok so it didn't come with a slipcover, but that just means that we get to order whatever color we want! So in the end we're giving up that console space (or moving it when we pull out the bed), but we know it will last us a long time. Now we just have to save up for the slipcover (which are a bit more pricey than one would think!).

So now onto the decor.

I've been looking to work some of our gorgeous Guatemalan textiles into our home without feeling overly themey, and I think this room is a good place to start. I picked up a pretty kilim rug & some matching pillow covers at a sweet price with my discount and I'm thinking it will work well with one of the fabulous faldas (woven skirt) fabrics I brought back from Guatemala.
I also scored some very real looking Bugambilia flowers that are just like the ones that grow all over Antigua.

I would love the do a white twill (or linen) slipcover but we're also going to entertain some gray swatches since white......well, you know........dog, red clay dirt.......white.......not so white. But in white's defense, it won't be the most used sofa in the house........

Back to the decor. We're also planning to put up some overhead shelving for display, similar to this. Back to Ikea I went....and went....and went. Gosh this store has a problem with keeping things in stock! Finally last night I found what I had been searching for. Now all that's left to do is paint & install. And find a spot to work in this guy......

(The antique door that we used as a headboard in Guatemala).

What do you think? Are you packing your bags for a stay yet? I better hurry up and get things done if you are!