BEHOLD! The refreshed middle bedroom at the beach house is finished, and I’m still delighted by how the board & batten pairs with the peel-and-stick wallpaper, especially next to the original heart pine floors and doors. Those floors are about 115 years old, and while the wallpaper photographs brighter than it looks in person, it reads softer and more muted live—so I’ll take the in-person win every time.
For the last two and a half years this room sat mostly unused because a queen bed dominated the floorplan while only one person ever used it at a time. It looked nice, but it was basically a ghost room—perfectly pretty but rarely lived in. That changed when we swapped the bulky bed for a smaller daybed and reclaimed the space for activities, crafts, and casual lounging.
With the daybed in place, the room immediately felt more open and flexible. The new layout supports a desk for drawing and writing, soft seating, and an area where kids and guests actually want to hang out. It’s amazing how removing one large object can change the whole room’s function.
We also added architectural interest affordably: board & batten gave the room height and texture for about $194, and the peel-and-stick wallpaper added color and pattern for roughly $85. The rattan daybed was a fall sale find and the twin mattress was a family hand-me-down—small decisions that added up to a big improvement in how the room performs.
The desk solved a specific household problem: art and craft clutter that used to take over our kitchen table now has a proper home upstairs. The kids use the desk for drawing, friends gather to make flipbooks and crafts, and the daybed becomes a cozy spot for reading or snuggling a pet. The room finally gets regular use—multiple people go in, sit down, and stay a while.
We kept and reused a lot of pieces that already belonged to the house—framed art, a rug, curtains and rods, and blinds—so the refresh didn’t require replacing everything. I swapped the desk hardware to tie it into the brass accents in the room, which helped the desk feel more intentional and cohesive with the rest of the decor.
Flexible pieces like pouf ottomans are a huge win here: they work as casual seats for kids at craft time, double as side tables for the daybed, and tuck under the desk when we need the floor clear for an extra sleeping bag. Choosing stools and poufs instead of full-backed chairs kept the space feeling relaxed and adaptable for different uses.
The vertical emphasis created by the board & batten plus the wallpaper band near the ceiling makes the small room feel taller and airier. Molding and wall treatments don’t have to shrink a space—they can actually add perceived height and visual interest when placed thoughtfully.
Small sentimental touches make the room feel like home, too—like the gold starfish towel hook I hung on the door years ago right after the renovation was finished. Those little details help connect the room to the rest of the house and to memories of the renovation process.
If you’re tackling a similar refresh, consider these takeaways: replace oversized furniture with versatile pieces, add a modest architectural detail to create height, reuse what you already own when it fits, and carve out a clear function—whether that’s a craft zone, a reading nook, or an overflow guest spot. These small, budget-friendly moves turned a rarely used bedroom into one of our favorite rooms in the house.
For practical how-tos, we documented the board & batten installation and a simple peel-and-stick wallpaper tutorial elsewhere on the site—both approachable weekend projects if you want to try them yourself. Bottom line: a few focused updates can dramatically improve how a room looks and how it’s used.
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