Better After: March 2010

Turned to Stone

Mar 31, 2010

Looking for some garden decor? Look no further than ... the Goodwill lamp section? That's where Becky from Nine is Fine put her Mrs. CreativePants hat on and saw the potential in an old brass lamp. She disassembled it, added a drapery-rod finial and some stone effect spray paint, and wow! Quite a nifty transformation, I'd say. See the whole process {HERE}. Thanks Becky!

Mills on Wheels

Ok, I admit, when I saw this before ... thing, I was pretty skeptical. When Suzanne from Pieced Pastimes brought it home from an antique shop, her husband was pretty skeptical too. We saw junk, but she saw a new coffee table. When she found that this old mill cart had once belonged to the Harry Stoller Company, she even stenciled the name on the side to add more history.

And guess what? Her husband likes it now, and I have to say I love it, even though I guarantee I would be whacking my knee on those metal end pieces every time I walked by. Thanks Suzanne! See more {HERE}.

Miracle Tile

As Anthony from Project Runway would say, this before bathroom was pay-ul as hay-ul. (Pale as hell, for those of you who can't read my southern accent). So Emily and her husband dressed it up with a lot of tile and a lot of personality. See more of the beautiful tile job on her blog Denson Duet. I also love all the new moulding that really makes the windows (that I didn't even notice existing in the before pictures), pop!

Retro Rocker

Mar 30, 2010

This rocker rocks! I apologize if I've made that joke before. But it does. It makes me want to go raid my grandma's basement, where I'm pretty sure there are a few of these lying around. I love the new smooth back. It really shows of that beautiful fabric, and besides, the deep tufting was doing this chair no favors, as all I could think about when I looked at it was peanut butter cracker sandwiches.

Check out more from Sarah on her blog a little of this, a little of that, where she shows step by step how she conquered this chair.

Headboard to Sideboard

Oh, how I love a repurposed redo! I've seen many headboards go from ugly headboards to pretty headboards, but not many go from ugly headboards to pretty entry tables. And all it took was two things: black paint and creativity! And also, a headboard. So three things. Plus paintbrushes and stuff. But you get the gist.

Check out more from Sharyl at her blog The Little Brown House. Thanks Sharyl!

Brooke's Look

When my husband and I were newlyweds and living in cheapity cheap student housing, our cabinets looked exactly like this. Had I known how chic they could have looked with a simple, streamlined paint job, I would have painted them on the spot, landlords be darned!

Of course, a new backsplash, countertops, faucet and hardwood floor would have helped too. Brooke from Hire to Inspire made over this rental property of her parents, and I bet they had no problem finding tenants! Thanks Brooke!

Night 2 Day

Mar 29, 2010

It's tricky to show off a great bathroom redo. Unless you show a ton of pictures at various angles, you get stuck with a picture of half the toilet and a wall. So check out Melissa's blog Day 2 Day Living to see more of her bathroom's transformation. Bid a heartfelt farewell to those ultra glam "shell shelves" in the shower and that sink that looked like petrified hurl. How much do you love the new sink? I love it quite a lot. Thanks Melissa!

k.iller f.unky d.esk

Here's a little something to spice up your Monday, quite possibly one of my favorite desk redos ever! Head on over to Kristen's blog, k.f.d. designs to see more, like how she hand painted the flower design on the drawers!

Cute Cabinet

Marianne from Songbird had had her eye on this cabinet for decades! She had always loved it when it belonged to her sister, and made her promise to give it to her if she ever got rid of it. Her sister gave it to her as she moved into her first apartment, and it's been with her ever since. She recently gave it fresh new look, and now she says "I think it is good for another twenty years!" Thanks Marianne

Pillow-topped

Mar 26, 2010

This was a cool chair, but obviously needed some work. When Tanya from Percolating Projects tore the fabric off to recover it, it disintegrated in her hands. Ew!

The final result looks great. Do you notice how much fuller the seat cushion is than before? It's a piece of foam with a pillow on top! Just a regular $3 bed pillow! That cracks me up for some reason.

Check out the whole process on her blog {HERE}. Thanks Tanya!

Lucille's Cabinet

JoAnn tells the touching story of how this china hutch came to be on her blog Piecful Afternoon. When an older neighbor named Lucille could no longer take care of herself, she was moved into a home. Rather than sell the house, her niece decided to rent it, fully furnished, giving Lucille the hope that someday she might be able to return to her beloved home and things.

JoAnn had asked if she might purchase the small china cabinet, but the niece declined, saying she was planning to leave all of the furniture for the renters.

Soon after, Lucille's niece came and offered the cabinet to JoAnn for free. And here's why:

Trying to save money, the renters had been using the radiator to dry their clothes and caused a fire. The cabinet was burned, wet, with broken glass and smoke and fire damage. JoAnn thought she could save it, so she sanded and scraped for weeks. Eventually it was salvaged into a the lovely white cabinet it is today.

JoAnn says, "For several years bits of fine ash would sift down - from nooks and crannies that could not be reached to clean - it has finally stopped - 20 years later."

See more of the story on her blog, Piecful Afternoon. Thanks for sharing JoAnn!

Ali-cadabra!

Mar 25, 2010

I've seen a lot of kitchens go from oaky blah cabinets to purty white, but I can never get enough! Love the simplicity of this kitchen redo from Ali at Little Bits of Bliss. Well, it only looks simple, because the final result is so cohesive and clean. It's never that easy, is it?

Ali and her husband said adios to the boxy light, brass chandelier and maroon blinds and hola! to a whole new kitchen.

My favorite part: putting IN a soffit (don't see that much of that these days!) and dressing it up to extend the cabinets all the way up to the ceiling. I also love how much bigger the room seems just by matching the flooring throughout the room instead of chopping it in half. More to see {HERE}. Thanks Ali!

Changed Table

Changing tables are kind of like bridesmaids dresses. You can't really use them again once they've served their purpose. No matter how you try to disguise it, you won't be able to cover up the fact that it's still a changing table. They should call them never changing tables.

Not so with this changing table by Cristi. Cristi is an interior designer helping put together a nursery for her friend's soon to be arriving baby! She got creative and fixed up this cabinet that will easily make the transition from changing table into regular, adorable table. Check more out on her blog Charm Home.

Happy Chair

Happy Thursday! Who doesn't love Thursday? It's far away from Monday, and right there next to Friday. Thursday is a good day.

Here's some sunshine to brighten up your Thursday from Erin at Sutton Grace. Check out her blog, she gives a full tutorial on exactly how she recovered this $5 chair, a formerly skeevy remnant from the Los Angeles County General Hospital.

I super love the fabric, from IKEA. Thanks Erin!

Timeless Treasures

Mar 24, 2010

Y'know, I spend a LOT of time on this here blog. So, it's so exciting to me to be able to welcome some new sponsors aboard to help justify (to my husband!) all the time and work that goes on behind the scenes of Better After.

So please give it up for the newest Better After sponsor, Timeless Treasures!

Amber is the creative genius behind Timeless Treasures, which specializes in customizable jewelry and charms. I've seen similar items out there like this, but let me tell you, my head almost fell off when I checked out their prices!

Not so with Timeless Treasures. Not only is everything completely customizable, it's also affordable! Simple charms start at $12!

This lovely photo charm is only $25, and you get to select the text, charm shape, and two photos!

Is this not perfect for Mother's Day?

*cough hint cough*

If you can dream it, Amber is more than happy to create it: earrings, pendants, mother's charms, religious sayings, sports teams, even cute dog tags!

My favorite custom order was a pair of cufflinks a bride ordered for her groom, with their special date secretly stamped on the underside. Truly a treasure!

Check out Timeless Treasures on Etsy {HERE}

AND, there is also more awesome (and vintagey scandalous-ness!) stuff to see on her blog {HERE}.

Enthralled with Toile

If you feel like OD-ing on vintage furniture yumminess, then head on over to Gracefully Vintage and say hi to KarryAnn who makes it her business to give old things new life. Like for instance, this sofa, which was the unofficial sofa of Boring McBoringtown in its previous life.

But not anymore! Now it's all dressed up in toile and looking super chic. KarryAnn has such a knack for creating whimsical pieces, like this dog bed found {HERE}. Ack! Cuteness overload!

Thanks KarryAnn!

Treasure Chest

For some reason, a lot great submissions come in from people named Denise. You Denise's are a creative bunch!

This Denise in particular is from The Painted Home. She literally (don't you just hate it when people use the word 'literally' wrong? Like Simon Cowell does all the time. If I was on American Idol, and he said to me something like, "You were literally petrified on that stage," I'd be all, "Oh, you mean figuratively? Because I'm not made of stone, stupid!" and then I'd probably get kicked off because I don't sing well). Anyway, what the heck was I talking about...

Denise found this old chest on the side of the road, and quite literally turned it from trash to treasure. Isn't it great? Love it in white. Check it out on her blog {HERE}. Thanks Denise!

I Heart Chandeliers

Mar 23, 2010

I don't know why, but chandelier redos are some of my favorites! Jamielyn at I Heart Naptime (hey, me too!) got this old brassy fixture at Goodwill for $4! She glammed it up with white paint and a little bit of Christmas garland for sparkle. And see the shutters in the background and the turquoise mirror? All thriftstore finds! Such a bargain shark you are Jamielyn! Looks great. See more on her blog {HERE}.

Cami's Lil' Table

One day Cami decided to repaint her kitchen cabinets white. So she did! But they just weren't looking quite right. So she repainted her kitchen cabinets black. But THAT wasn't looking right either, because of the white paint underneath. So her husband stripped off both coats of paint, so they could start AGAIN!

In the meantime, she made this cute table with scrapbook paper and modge-podge, because she was about to lose her ever loving mind if she had to look at another drop of paint.

See the more on her blog HERE. Thanks Cami!

Crocker Chair

Patrice had this chair for about 15 years. It had belonged to her dad who passed away in 1994. She says "It’s been sitting in my garage all that time, waiting for my inspiration. When my mom found out I was painting it she flipped, but I know that my dad would have wanted me to make it exactly the way I envisioned it could be, something that was ‘my style’ and would make me smile every time I looked at it. I had to take a ton of pics beforehand because I had to disassemble it. It is very old, made by the Crocker Chair Co. from Sheboygan, WI. I did some research online and found a catalog dated 1930 with a picture of the chair. The Crocker Chair Co. ended up closing during the depression. These chairs are valuable online, but since I’m keeping this forever, its value to me is much greater."

Thanks Patrice! How special to be able to preserve something so precious and be able to use it everyday. I'm sure your dad would be proud!

Altar'd

Mar 22, 2010

Please welcome Better After's: newest sponsor: Altar'd!

If you live in or around Houston, TX (specifically League City), consider yourself lucky, because you are in the neighborhood of Mandie and Colby, the owner's of Altar'd! (And if you aren't, don't you worry, they are about to start shipping all over the US!)

They are doing what I'd love to be doing if I had time, talent and organizational skills: redoing ugly, outdated, or unfinished furniture into beautiful, unique pieces.

Mandie says, "We chose the name "Altar'd" because it reminds us that God has given us "beauty for ashes" (Isaiah 61:3). We cannot compare what we do to as great a gift as that. But, what we do is take the old forgotten furniture and give it new beauty."

One of my favorite things about Altar'd is the "upcoming" section of their website. You can see some of the unfinished furniture they have on hand and decide exactly how you would customize it, rather than finding say, that the dresser you've always dreamed of in blue has already been refinished in black.

Mandie starts each job with a personal consultation, to make sure each and every piece is exactly what the customer wants. And despite the fact that she uses only the highest quality paints and products, her prices are ridiculously affordable!

And if that's not proof enough of Altar'd's awesomeness, you can see that I already featured them once on this very blog, back in January!

Speaking of blogs, (and we were, weren't we?), in addition to the website, Altar'd now has a blog too! It's right here! So please check them out and show them some love, won't you?