One of my favorite rooms in our home is one of our spare bedrooms. It has black, white, and a rainbow of colors. All my favorites things! The bedroom design started with these two fabulous antique twin beds and our precious Albanian “bonus” daughters as my inspiration.

Last Christmas, our girls from Kosovo were coming to stay with us over their Christmas break and I wanted to surprise them by decorating the guest room they would be staying in. Let me tell you a quick back story on our Kosovo girls.

While living in Atlanta, Georgia we were blessed with some of our “bonus” daughters. The church we were attending was asking for host families for a one month exchange program for teenagers from Kosovo. Caleb immediately turned to me and said that is right by Bosnia where I was deployed when I was in the Army. Let’s do it!!!! 

We decided we would host a girl and we ended up with 3 girls...Sara, Aurora and Ujeza. We had the best time over the 1 month they stayed with us. In such a short amount of time we tried to show all we could of America. After the month was over, we were all in tears when it was time for them to leave and go back to Kosovo. They are forever a part of our family and we love them dearly. We still keep in touch with them and they keep us updated on their busy college lives.

After we did the one month exchange, we were asked if we wanted to do more of a long term exchange for the girls that were going to college here in the states on a four year program. We said YES! We then got 2 more girls added to our family, Flaka and Agreta. We had the time of our lives with them. They instantly fit right into our family. Caleb was way outnumbered! It was him against all of us females!!!

The day I found out we were moving back to Texas was bittersweet. I was so happy to be finally moving back to Texas closer to family, BUT we were going to have to leave our precious Albanian girls behind in Atlanta. Y’all that was one of the hardest goodbyes. It was absolutely terrible. We cried a lot that night!

Since we moved, they live with another host family and they are finishing their degrees. They still come and visit when they are not in school or back home in Kosovo. We also make trips to Atlanta to see them since they are so busy with school. 

With my “bonus” daughters in mind, I created our guest room. They were my inspiration! They were coming for Christmas and I wanted the room to be perfect for them. 

I had some silhouettes photos of them we did while in Atlanta one night when we were bored when the electricity was out one stormy night. I cut the silhouette out using my Silhouette Cameo. I then got the oval frames at Walmart. 

The ball garland came from the dollar bins at Target, while some of the pictures and bedding also came from Target. 

The antique twin beds were a purchase I made in Monroe, Georgia at one of my favorite antique stores. I have always wanted a room with 2 twin beds. Don’t ask me why...I just love 2 twin beds in a room. Maybe it’s because I shared a room with my sister my entire childhood. 

When I bought the beds they were so dirty and had stains on them. They had been in storage for many years and when you hit the fabric, a huge dust cloud would come out of them. I had originally thought I would reupholster them because they were dirty.

When I was going to redo the bedroom for the girls, I wanted to use the beds but I knew I didn’t have time to get them reupholstered. My sister said, “Just clean them up!” I really didn’t even think of that to be honest. I thought they were too dirty to even get them clean enough to use. So I decided to just do it! I knew I had to really clean them good or the person that slept in the bed might have their lungs clogged with dust before they woke up the next morning.

It was a chore, but I cleaned them with a solution I found and then vacuumed them a million times till I couldn’t get anymore dirt out. They turned out beautiful! I was happy that most of the stains on them all came out.

The photo below is the before. You can see all the black on the footboard. I really didn’t think it would come clean but it did!

The flat file stores all of our family’s artwork, crafting paper, and art paper supplies. It usually ends up in a closet or garage because it’s soooo big and hard to fit appropriately in a room. 

Well in this house, I didn’t have a place for it. It didn’t fit in any closet and I really didn’t want it in the garage long term as I was afraid the temperature fluctuations would affect the artwork. So, it’s now the centerpiece for the guest room. 

The lamps and book set came from HomeGoods, while the David statue came from an estate sale. 

If you have ever entertained the thought about hosting an exchange student, do it! Y’all I was so nervous at first. I really was scared to think of having my girls with two teenage girls...would it be good or bad or awesome or absolutely terrible!?! All those hormones in one place can be scary. 

I laugh now, because it was nothing but a blessing. It was nothing short of awesome! Why was I ever scared?!?! God put us in their lives and them in our lives. I’m so glad our paths crossed with all five of these girls and they will forever be a part of this momma’s heart. 

I hope you enjoy my guest room, which was designed with my Albanian daughters in mind....Flaka, Agreta, Ujeza, Sara, and Aurora! All of my Albanian daughters always have a home here in America. Our door is always open. We love you girls so much! 

As for the redeemed twin beds, I am so happy with how they turned out. All of the other perfect details were so fun and make me smile every time I enter the room. I am going with the thoughts of the sign hanging in the room - CHOOSE TO SHINE!

Keep redeeming!

Photo below by Emily Loving Photography