Better After: September 2010

Pop goes my heart!

Sep 30, 2010

You know that phrase "butter face?" Guys use it to describe a girl who has a nice body ... but then ... there's her face...? It's horrible, true, but kind of describes this old hutch. There's the lovely lower half, and then that clunky, junky upper half that I'm convinced came from a separate entity altogether, because they don't jibe at all.

So Lisa simply removed the offending half and refinished the top, painting the rest white, and I'd say she's a perfect 10 now! Check it out on her blog Popcorn Served Daily.

Tammy Time

You hear of people wanting to create "spa-like" bathrooms and "retreat-like" bedrooms, so why not kitchens too?

That's what Better After reader Tammy decided when she finally had enough of her busy, cluttered kitchen. It definitely wasn't lacking color or character before, but it wasn't super cohesive or easy on the ol' eyeballs either. I just want to take a moment to say hi to the old formica "wood" countertops, totally had those in the house I grew up in!

I love the new serene feel! It looks so high-end, but she let me in on a little secret... it's an IKEA kitchen with a few Craigslist finds mixed in! Amazing. I also love the two toned cabinets, it keeps it open a light and grounded at the same time, which is something it was lacking before. Nice job Tammy!

Orange Bloodbath

Could this before dresser BE any more terrifying?

It looks like Garfield met a tragic end at this scene. Or Snooki.

Nicole had to do something, anything, to make this dresser an item she could live with. She also didn't want to spend much, so she used supplies she had on hand and transformed it from nightmare to sweet dream. All for free.99! (That sounds funnier when you say it out loud...)

Check it out on her blog Home for Hire. Thanks Nicole!

You've heard the saying ...

Sep 29, 2010

Denise's entryway — with its hardwood floors and unique corbels — would have looked good even if it was dressed in a burlap sack. And wouldn't you know, it is!

Denise wanted to add even more oomph to her entryway, so she used burlap fabric for a unique wall treatment, along with board and batten that she rigged herself. I also love the new black door! See more on her blog The Painted Home.

Redo Redo

HGTV (and probably this very blog!) would have you believe that before and afters are as easy as frozen pie. Step one: Find ugly thing. Step two: Paint. Step three: Enjoy beautiful new thing!

Sometimes it is as easy as that and sometimes it takes a lot of work. And sometimes you may not like the results of your makeover! But don't fret! A post-makeover makeover is all that's in order.

That's what Carla did when she first redid this coffee table in blue and discovered that it was too... well... blue. So, she lightened it up, distressed it a bit and added stenciled detailing across the top. Perfecto. Don't be afraid to redo your redo! Check it out on her blog Creative & Happy.

And dude! Check out what she did with her rarely-used bathtub! Love this idea. {HERE}.

If I could turn back time

Do you have a granny chandy lurking in your home? Does it plague you with its shiny brass, overwrought crystal and ruffly glass shades? Does it embarrass you at parties? You don't have to live with it you know. You too can enjoy a chic, sleek, modern light fixture for the price of a new lampshade. Don't believe me? C'mon, you should know better than that!

Sarah shows us how its done on her blog Dash of Sass. Thanks Sarah, she looks great!

Hello yellow

Sep 28, 2010

You may have already seen this one, but I can' t help myself, it's so darn cute! From Billie at Billie Monster. (A great blog read, by the way!)

Beth's Blue Beauty

Before: A vanity that no one could love. Well, maybe a hoarder. Or a blind person who needed the storage. But besides that, no one.

After: A 'blue ocean breeze' beauty. Beth from Sawdust and Embryos knew this former hunk o junk had potential, and she deserves an award for being able to judge that from this original before photo from Craigslist.

{Rambling side note: WHY oh WHY do people post such crappy pictures on Craigslist? Is the technology that baffling? Do they figure that a blurry picture taken from 80 feet away on a rainy day with their kid's Fisher Price Digi-Cam, uploaded to the size of half a postage stamp is really going to entice buyers? Is it that hard to kick the mounds of crap and clutter out of the background or dust at off at least the top layer of dust before taking the picture? I'll never understand. But hey, I guess low expectations mean low prices, right?}

Anyways, it's just gorgeous now. I love all the little scroll-y details. Thanks Beth!

Book end

Erica's bookcase got his feelings hurt when she left him out in the garage for a while. So, like any attention starved child, he threw a tantrum and flung himself to the ground. Unfortunately, he broke into several pieces. Erica, who never intended to leave him out there in the first place, decided to give him all the attention he deserved and then some, and she fixed up his broken parts into some unique wall decor. Check it out on her blog Retropolitan.

But wait! There's even more from Erica! Check out her hokey-oaky kitchen that got a major style update with a fresh coat of white and new hardware. I'm having a small crush on the tile backsplash too. See it and more on her blog {HERE}.

It's Golden

In all my thrifting travails, I have honestly never come across the Hexagon Pedestal End-Table Thing of Madness. If I had, I'm pretty sure it would have been the recipient of much pointing and giggling and not the newest member of my furniture family. Silly me.

Ashley had a vision when she adopted this one, and decided to give it a lovely golden glaze. Now it looks right at home perched next to her vintage sofa. Love the accents too. Check it out on her blog Blush & Bashful. Great job Ashley!

Turquoise Tea

Sep 27, 2010

Now, don't you go freaking out, describing how many times your great-great-grandma is spinning in her grave, aghast that someone would dream of painting silver. Because you can find these silver tea sets anywhere. For around $10. So, if you feel particularly guilty, you can buy two. Keep one for grandma and paint the other one turquoise like Chrissie did {HERE}, because gosh dang, how cute!

Chrissie also brings to us the Tale of Tiffany, her dated sofa that was destined for a dramatic end until Chrissie and her friend saved the day with a Sunbrella slipcover. See it here: Chrissie's Collections.

What's that? You want to see another sofa? Well ok! This sofa is from Kyra (who I actually used to babysit when I was younger, yikes! I feel old! Well, I don't know that I actually babysat her, being that she has like 12 sisters, {slight exaggeration} but I hung out over at her house a lot).

I never knew Kyra possessed renegade upholstery skills, but lo and behold, she does! She bought this grungeosaurus couch for $16, inherited some fabric from her sister, so with nothing to lose she worked her magic and voila! Looks great. And lovely colors for fall, I must say. Thanks for sharing Kyra!

Hi Bathroom!

Cassi from Hi Sugarplum! has some sort of Midas touch thing going on, because everything she touches goes from bland to grand! Before her bathroom was a rainbow of colors, and those colors were white and beige. (It was a small rainbow).

So she jazzed it up with stripes, contrast and real colors! Take a look over on her blog to see all the many changes she made, like framing the mirror and spray painting the toilet handle. True!

Freeze!

Stop! Riddle time!

What is big, cold and red all over?

Elisa's formerly ugly and old freezer that she jazzed up with red paint and some fun retro detailing, that's what!

Since this freezer lives in the garage, she knew she could get away with a bold color, especially since it really is an old retro freezer with a turquoise interior. I'm still planning to paint my washer and dryer hot pink one of these days... See more from Elisa on her blog Re-Designing Real Life.

Chantelle Nicole

Sep 24, 2010

A little birdie told me about a sweet new sponsor, Chantelle Nicole Designs!

Chantelle creates truly beautiful, one-of-a-kind, customizable pieces that are perfect for everyday or special occasions. Because everyday IS a special occasion, right?

Her hand-stamped jewelry can commemorate any meaningful moment, whether it's your anniversary date or just a day at the beach.

Chantelle Nicole Designs caters to the woman who wears her heart on her sleeve.

...or wrist, or around her neck, or even on her finger!

Yo, she drew the frames for these stamps herself! No istockphoto stuff here!

Check out her Melancholy Finch collection for some uniquely vintage pieces like this lovely locket.

How cute is this little nest with freshwater pearl "eggs?" An adorable, subtle tribute to motherhood without screaming MOMMY!!!

Is it too early to start thinking about Christmas presents? I say no!

And I love the "lucky penny" ring. Chantelle will even customize the year!

And, like that wasn't enough to keep her busy, she and her husband recently bought a 100 year old home and started a blog chronicling their renovation process. That is right up my alley, and yours too! See it here: Three11.Main

Click the button above to hop on over and check out Chantelle Nicole Designs!

Or I guess you could just click the link I put at the end of that sentence too. Sometimes I just like to link stuff, you know how it is.

Are you interested in sponsoring Better After? What the heck are you waiting for? Email me today! BetterAfter@live.com

that's plum awesome

I didn't know I needed a plum chandelier, until today. Also, I didn't know I needed to get divorced so I could get remarried so I could have a plum-colored wedding reception to hang my new plum chandelier at. I'd better get busy. From Victoria at The City Cradle, via design sponge.

Chairs and more chairs!

Who's in the mood for a few chair makeovers? I am! I didn't mean to, but they kind of segue from wickery weave upholstered chairs to revamped rockers, with one vinyl (holy crap, it just took me like seven tries to spell vinyl) monstrosity in the middle. So enjoy the ride!

LOVE this paisley fabric with the white. It reminds me of ice cream for some reason, or maybe that's because Team Umizoomi is singing about ice cream on the TV right now. From Cindy @ Cameras & Chaos

From Ryan @ Modern Pop, who definitely added a modern pop of color to this formerly destined-for-dumpster chair.

An amazing do-it-yourselfer upholstery job from Amanda @ Heart Tree Home. Check out her blog for the full tutorial!

One of these days I'm going to get brave enough to try upholstering myself, I swear. It's just that there are so many steps involved! Like, first, find a perfect piece of furniture, then find fabric that I like, cough up enough cash to purchase said fabric, gather supplies, try not to get discouraged and give up when I realize my staple gun is out of staples, store it in the garage temporarily, pull it out 2 years later only to realize that I now HATE the fabric I bought and have no place to put the chair. Sigh.

See what I mean about vinyl monstrosity? Yikes. Sarah @ Hillbilly Frocks saw potential there though, and it turned out super cute. Love those sexy legs. Now I'm going to get weirdo "sexy legs" spam.

I realize there are only a finite amount of times I can say the words "from drab to fab" but man, that was drab. Looks super fab now. I especially love the glossy white. From Sherylee @ Cherry in the City

An oldie but goodie from Autum @ Creative Little Daisy. I had this identical rocker when I had my second child, and let me tell you, the thought of dolling it up never even crossed my mind. Pretty sure I sold it at a yardsale for like, $15. Why! Why didn't someone tell me I didn't have to live with a humdrum rocker, WHY?!

And here's another far-from-frumpy rocker, from Lou @ Happy Serendipity who dolled up a plain-jane IKEA rocker with a bold color and snappy fabric. Looks like a work of art!