3 Bold Paint Colors Turned a Brown, Neglected Guest Bedroom into a Fairytale Space
The guest room in Mae Lutz’s home was always a bit of an ambiguous space. Originally, it was “builder basic with plain white walls, no trim, and nothing that made it feel special,” Mae says. “It was rarely used and honestly pretty neglected.” Mae painted it brown just to try it out, but didn’t think that felt like the right move. It wasn’t until her 4-year-old daughter Quinnie moved into the room that its true potential was revealed.
Mae says that Quinnie was super involved in the redesign of the room from the very beginning. “When I asked her what she wanted her room to look like, she said, ‘Yellow, because that’s my favorite color, and all the colors of the rainbow,’” Mae recalls. “That ended up being the perfect jumping-off point.”
Since Mae’s home already has a designated playroom, she wanted Quinnie’s space to be less about incorporating toys and games and more a spot that represents her while also supporting her throughout different stages of childhood.
“Instead of filling it with overly kid-specific furniture, I focused on pieces that feel timeless and layered, and then used things like bedding, lamps, and accessories to bring in the playful elements that can easily evolve as she gets older,” Mae explains.
Speaking of layered, under Quinnie’s direction, Mae combined several colors from the HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams’ 2026 Color Collection of the Year line, Honest Essentials, to create a happy palette. On the top half of the walls, she used “Lemon Chiffon,” and on the bottom, she painted “Reddened Earth.” Meanwhile, she applied “Corodovan” to the doors and frames.
Beyond the bold color combination, Mae added architectural elements, including crown molding, beaded trim around the doors, and scalloped trim on the walls. “Those touches really lean into the vintage, fairytale feeling I wanted the room to have,” she shares.
“Once the paint and trim were in place, the rest of the room came together pretty naturally. I started pulling in other colors from the collection through pieces like the blue bedding, the rug that mixes several of the colors together, green striped lampshades, and warm rattan accents,” Mae explains. “The goal was to layer in a lot of color while still keeping the room cozy and calm, so it feels joyful but not overstimulating for a bedroom.”
Mae reused furniture she already owned — combining items from Quinnie’s previous bedroom with some from the guest room — but the redesign inspired her to reconsider the room’s layout. She took a risk and put the bed in front of the window, something she admits she wouldn’t normally do, but it worked out.
“Moving it to the window made the space feel much more open and inviting when you walk in. The curtains now frame the bed nicely, and there’s still enough space behind it to access the windows if needed,” Mae says. “It ended up making the room flow much better.”
While the bed’s placement is much better, it still takes up a lot of space, so Mae decided to think vertically for the other furniture pieces, opting for a rotating vertical bookcase and a tall chest of drawers. Both take up less floor space while still giving Quinne a good amount of storage. It turns out that once the room was designated for Quinnie, it not only became so much more beautiful but also more functional, too.