Room of the Day: Guest Bedroom Makeover Addresses All the Angles

In search of more room to raise their young daughter, a professional couple left New York City for the “Gold Coast” of Long Island, where they purchased a two-story neoclassical home. They then spent two years updating the house, eventually turning their attention to an upstairs guest bedroom for visiting family and friends.

The rectangular bedroom was roomy enough but rather plain, with angled walls and an angled ceiling that posed a major challenge for the couple. Working with designer Lisa Hershman, they came up with a plan that addressed the angled walls and ceiling while incorporating furniture pieces the couple already had. The new room is an inviting and soothing hotel-like space where lucky guests can rest and relax.

Room at a Glance
What happens here: Visiting family and friends rest and relax
Location: Long Island, New York
Size: About 185 square feet (17.1 square meters)

BEFORE: The upstairs guest bedroom was very basic. A dark oak floor provided contrast for the bedroom’s angled white walls and ceiling, and just a queen bed and a dresser (with flat-screen TV) provided a place to rest and to store clothes.

Meanwhile, the angled walls made the space difficult to navigate.


“After” photos by Raquel Langworthy

AFTER: Warm neutrals and a mostly gray color palette create a soothing environment, making the updated bedroom with reading nook feel cozy. “We wanted it to have a cabin-hideaway kind of feel,” says Hershman, of Abaca Interiors.

To create depth and visual interest and use the angled walls to their advantage, Hershman used a striking wood-grain wallpaper for the wall behind the bed and the room-facing side of the angled wall to the left of the window.

“We looked at a number of wallpapers in the gray and white families,” Hershman says. “This darker charcoal and ivory wood-grain paper works with the wood pieces in the room. It has a bit of interest to it, but it’s quiet and soothing and not showy.”

The other side of the angled wall and the window wall feature a custom-mixed light charcoal paint that creates depth and provides a backdrop for the bedroom’s reading nook. The remaining walls and ceiling were painted in Benjamin Moore’s Chantily Lace, a clean white that pairs well with the gray and cooler colors in the room. Trim in a white semigloss offers definition and a crisp, finished look.

Wood-grain wallpaper: Cole & Son from Kravet; trim paint: Simply White in semigloss, Benjamin Moore; interior angled wall and window wall charcoal paint: custom mix, Benjamin Moore; rustic basket: vintage



Since the angled wall above the bed wasn’t large enough for a statement piece of art, the patterned wallpaper was left unadorned.

The couple’s existing queen bed from their former master bedroom in New York City was dressed up with new cotton and linen bedding. They wanted the bed to look crisp and clean and almost hotel-like but also casual, inviting and not too done, Hershman says.

The bedside table lamps with dark charcoal and irregular white stripes were chosen for their height and shape.

Bedding: sheets, duvet and shams: Restoration Hardware; bedside lamps: Bunny Williams Home; bedside tables: Room & Board; area rugs: Saddlemans



BEFORE: The bedroom’s walnut veneer dresser with brushed metal knobs was home to a large flat-screen TV with unsightly wires that stood out in the sparse room.


AFTER: Since the dresser was still in good condition, it was incorporated into the bedroom’s new design. New walnut knobs have freshened it up, and the flat-screen TV was removed and replaced with a silver-leafed framed mirror that once sat vertically on another wall.

The mirror was placed horizontally over the dresser and finished off with contemporary-style glass hurricane light sconces with mesh chrome inserts; these items ground the dresser and give it a presence.

The wall sconces, overhead recessed lighting, two bedside table lamps and floor lamp in the reading nook create layers of light that can be adjusted for different activities.

Zylinder wall sconces: YLighting; mirror: existing


Hershman placed a tall vase with branches the couple already had with two new decorative stools in a tight corner of the room. “The height right there of 2½ feet limited what we could do,” she says. “This gives the eye somewhere to land. It’s a quiet corner that adds to the feeling that the reading nook is a space to itself.”

Stools: Serena & Lily


The reading nook was created by repurposing a white wing chair and floor lamp the couple had in their den.

A new side table with a metal sphere Hershman found during her travels creates a stylish spot for guests to rest a cup of coffee or glass of wine while reading. The custom white linen Roman shades were existing and help to darken the room and provide privacy.

Side table: Manhattan Home Design


Assorted decorative accessories and a stack of books add height to the top of the dresser. “Since the sconces draw the eye up, we needed something there for a bit of height,” says Hershman.

Now the couple has a guest bedroom that feels like a retreat, tucked away from the busier spaces in the home.

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