Why don't you post pictures of the furniture so we can see. It's hard to make suggestions if we can't see anything.

I definitely think the colors can work. My mom has the most scrunptious pair of vintage Alvar Aalto chairs in (nicely aged) blonde wood, and she re-upholstered them in a warm, slightly orange red.

I'm guessing your furniture is a golden blonde at this point, right, since it's 1950's and the finish must have yellowed some. Not a pale ashy blonde any more :)

I'll see if I can find some pics.

I can see the room maybe having a vaguely Asian flair....

Lukkiirish--Right now the furniture is scattered throughout our house! The cedar chest is at the foot of the master bedroom bed; one dresser is in DS's room; the other in the attic, and the bed is in pieces in the basement. I'm afraid none of those spaces are ready to have their pics taken for GW.

Staceyneil--Thanks for posting those beautiful pics! You hit the nail on the head about the furniture color having aged to more of a golden blonde. The autumn russet color is closest to your third pic, just a bit more brownish-orange. Let me think more about the Asian vibe. It's calm and restful, good qualities for a guest room.

How fun! This project has all of the qualities that most of mine have...cast-off furniture, second hand stuff, and a small budget!! Who wants to go thrift shopping?!
I can see those colors with green, as well. Botanical prints, vintage fabrics, a green pottery lamp with a linen or burlap shade...

What about linen or drop cloth curtains? Something textural and organic. If you sew, take a look at the fabric store selection of linen and linen-look fabrics, too. There's often really pretty embroidered or printed styles that are much cheaper than what's in the home dec fabrics.

I would take this room one step at a time; otherwise, it could end up looking like a mishmash of items. I'm having trouble envisioning your antique rocker and secretary working with your bedroom furniture, if it looks as I imagine it to look.

I love the pictures stacyneil posted. It certainly shows how nicely your furniture can work with the color you chose. I especially like picture #2, with its spare look, and you could easily pull it off with minimal investment. You could even paint or stencil a decorative cherry blossom branch on some cheap white sheets.
Dee

My office is sort of that color. Not quite that dark. Colors that look really good with it are lighter oranges, light blue, cobalt blue, bold dark yellow and turquoise. It goes with almost anything. So you have a lot of options for your bedding and accent pieces.

Can you show us the furniture? Is it Heywood Wakefield-type (rounded) or more squared-off?

I could see any of those looking pretty fab with your color and a slightly Asian/bohemian/artsy vibe.

Heywood Wakefield:

Drexel blonde... squarer:

Thomasville (I looooove this style! Very Asian-inspired...):
{{!gwi}}

I love the color combination already but if possible I'd go with a cinnamon or deep tone on the bed as well. A sisel would be lovely and I'd keep the floor light given the deep walls.

I would caution you on using two dressers as the room isn't huge and a guest does not need that much storage. I'd use the chest as a bed side table perhaps if the shape is right in top and do a padded bench (easy to make from inexpensive legs, foam, fabric etc) for the end of the bed. I would do at least one comfy chair verses that other dresser as guests often like to have a sit diwn on occasion and it's nice to offer more than just the bed.

I like to offer more than one bedding option as people tend to like different night time scenarios. My guest beds all have a light weight comforter and a down filled heavy comforter or in the summer a down blanket. You can watch fir them on sale quite often especially during the summer months. Lamps on both sides of the bed are a must for happy guests so think if what those will sit on. To keep the vintage furniture feeling fresh I wouldn't use a matching bedside table but instead do say that trunk and on he other side go with a round table with fabric as you will need more softness with all of the wood. I'd also so simple panels for the drapes which you can find at the goodwill etc or cheap silk from target. But again something soft to break away from the wood.

And share your progress lol.

Thanks so much for all of your suggestions. I promise to post pics of the furniture once the floor is refinished, and we set the furniture up in the room.

Staceyneil--the furniture is squared off, not rounded.
Also, I love the second inspiration pic you included and keep going back to it. We adopted a child from China and decorating the room with an Asian vibe would be meaningful for us and for friends/family who would use the guest room--how nice to be able to include that with my grandparents' furniture in the same space!

Franksmom--I don't sew but could probably manage to hem up a piece of fabric for pretty curtains, when we get that far. I'm with you on the second-hand shopping. I enjoy it for the hunt, budget issues aside.

Deeinohio--excellent point about taking it a step at a time. We'll set up the furniture in the room, stop and post pics, and then continue. :)

jeanne_gallo--Your office sounds beautiful. We used the color in the office of our last home, a 1916 bungalow, and enjoyed it very much. It will be interesting to use the same color but for an entirely different space and style here.

Igloochic--great to read your reply! I recognize your name from my lurking here. I appreciate your taking the time to address so many aspects of this project with practical suggestions. Good point about using just one of the dressers. I'll try the cedar chest next to the bed and see how that looks and functions. Yes, I'm seeing lamp and comfy chair shopping in my future. Do you think duvet-type bedding might work? I've been admiring those and also European-type feather beds--are they actually the same thing?

I'm enjoying a project that has some starting perimeters (furniture and paint color) but is also somewhat of a blank slate.

This is such a fun project and it is my favorite way to design. I just finished my guest room and used two MCM pieces left to us by MIL. Unfortunately they were painted gloppy white. I sanded them down and painted them dark brown. I couldn't believe how great they looked.

Once you have the bed and other MCM pieces in there, you might be surprised that many other things look good with them. Because the lines are so clean, you can mix other styles very well. I put a fancy wood arm chair in with mine and it look perfect. The cushion fabric has the dark brown in it. I just drag in stuff from other parts of the house and try them out in the room; something delightfully unexpected always happens.

The asian design idea has wonderful possibilities. I hope you post pictures along the way.
Diane

Gardeningmusician (I just love your name), maybe some of the Home Tours here would help?

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/

Not necessarily for you to copy the design (cause no one should ever copy their home from a picture or a store display, IMO), but just for some ideas (MCM is used in a lot of these) for mixing and matching and to maybe get an idea for a certain vibe or feeling you want to follow. An advantage is that most of the people on AT don't have a lot of money, so you see some unconventional/creative solutions that just might spark your own inspiration.

IME, a room comes together a lot easier when I follow how something feels rather than how I think I want it to look. It's almost always better, in fact, than my original "vision." Maybe for you, too.

P.S. I'm really sorry about your husband and what you're going through. Hope you're both able to find something hopeful in this situation, remember that it's not the job that makes us who we are, and that he finds something more fulfilling than what he lost.

Oh this will be fun. I like the idea of the 50's blonde furniture with the russet paint. The Asian accents will be great, too. Be sure to incorporate some black touches into the room. Green goes well with that palette, too. I like the sisal rug and textured drapes and can also see doing some geometric panels for drapes maybe in a tan/cream/black. I'd do cream bedding and jazz it up with accent pillows. Keep it clean lined and serene. Once you start looking I bet you find some great things at bargain prices. I'd go to Goodwill and consignment stores/thrift stores to find unique items. You can mix it up with import store type of items but don't get it all from one place. Be selective. Apartment Therapy is a perfect inspiration site for your bedroom. Good luck and post pictures, please.

Sounds like such a fun project...maybe drop cloth drapes too?