Better After: January 2010

Miss Mustard

Jan 29, 2010

Let's check in on Miss Mustard Seed and see what she's been up to lately ... Just the usual, being awesome!

I love how she takes each makeover an extra step further, like the embellishments around the chalkboard on the desk, or the sheet music that gives that side table a whole new identity rather than just a new paint job. Thanks Miss Mustard Seed! You never cease to amaze! See both projects HERE and HERE.

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Jen's Hutch

Jen of Sanctuary Arts at Home was tired of her blah hutch, so she set out to give it a distressed cream paint job. But, after painting the black base coat, she loved how it looked and stopped there. I love how sleek this looks with the doors removed, and how it still has a bit of the country charm from before, only with more sophistication. Thanks Jen! See more HERE.

Knack Dresser

Oh Barb. You simply leave me speechless! See more of this beauty over at Knack.

Victorian Victory

Jan 27, 2010

This might possibly be the most expensive Better After I've ever featured! Actually, coming in at a cost of $140,000, it is definitely the most expensive.

After purchasing this house, Dorian W discovered that the 1896 Victorian home was a rare design by architect George Franklin Barber. An unfortunate "remodel" decades later had compromised the artistic quality of the home. However, he was able to find the plans and restore this home to it's original glory. Amazing!

Featured on This Old House.

Sweet Sofa

This old sofa went from stuffy to stunning thanks to some love from Joi at Nuestra Vida Dulce. She found it for $45 on Craigslist and knew she wanted it recovered in white. And, good idea alert: she used indoor/outdoor fabric for superb stain resistance and durability!

Check out her blog for the details, AND check out her super cool feature "What's good in your hood," where she trolls the Craiglist postings in different cities and shares her funky finds. Great work Joi!

Buffet to Bookcase

Erin sent me this great bookcase redo, and I had to laugh at her description of how it came to be: "I picked up a buffet that had seen better days through Freecycle about three or four years ago. I parked it in the garage and then proceeded to accidentally ram it with my car from time to time."

She finally decided to drag it out and fix it up. After gluing it back together, she removed the doors to make it into a bookcase and painted it a lovely turquoise. Check out the full story on her blog

The Impatient Gardener. Thanks Erin!

I want my two dollars!

Jan 26, 2010

Molly of Toile in the Family went to an auction and scored this buffet for a measly two dollars! No, not a typo. Two bucks. What?! I really need to start going to some auctions, geez.

So, with literally nothing to lose, she went bold and painted it red, replaced the handles and named her Scarlett. And frankly, my darling, I think it's divine.

Jessica's House

Jessica's house was lacking in the "eye-catching" department. If I drove past this house, the first and last thing I'd notice would have been that luscious lawn and not much else. It really reminds me of the neighborhood in Napoleon Dynamite, and sho nuff, Jessica lives near-abouts where that movie was made.

But the after is a different story. With new shutters, siding and stonework, her home has not only been brought up-to-date but given a focal point as well. It even looks bigger. And the lawn continues to look great! Thanks Jessica!

Dresser n Desk

Here are a few more I loved by Bethany at Dwellings by Devore. First up a vintage dresser redo (Is it really vintage? I don't know, but I do know that my grandma has a dresser almost exactly like this, and if grandma has it, it's vintage, honey). I love how she mixed it up with the black and white, and I think the drawer pulls are so unique!

This was Bethany's husband's beat-up old desk. It needed some TLC, and for the cost of paint and $5 for a recovered thriftstore chair, she's got herself a brand new desk. I like how she added the cork tiles in the middle, to break up all that white. Thanks Bethany! Check both projects out HERE.

Happy Seat

Jan 25, 2010

When you're busy getting your craft on, there's no reason your bottom should be left out! Veronica wanted a chair for her new scrapbooking room, so she got busy with this Salvation Army cast off. Now, after some white paint and happy fabric, both she and her seat have a colorful new chair to enjoy! Check out her blog Everyday Kings for more!

Sonja's Drawing Room

This Better After comes to us from overseas! Sonja live in Ireland, in a home that is 200 years old! How cool. I can't imagine all the history and memories that have taken place there.

One memory Sonja would like to forget was painting her drawing room walls burgundy. So she and her husband did a little make-under and stripped the walls back to their original state with a sugar soap wash. (Don't have a clue what that means ... must be an Ireland thing?)

With the now neutral background, all of the character of this room was able to stand out on its own: the tall ceilings, two beautiful windows looking into a park, and original wood floors refinished to a deep brown.

Check out her blog Craft-Werk to see more of this room, and the light fixture she made out of paper! Thanks Sonja!

Cookin & Cleanin

Here are a few more redos from Jamie, who you may recall had previously fixed up the exterior of her house that was being eaten alive by junipers.

This before kitchen had some unique features, like that lone fluorescent bulb pretending to be a light fixture and a floor tiled in brown and more brown.

She fixed it up with some creamy paint and new pulls for the cabinets, new flooring, lighting, countertop and backsplash. Looks great!

And here was her spooky laundry room before, a room I probably wouldn't set foot in without wearing rainboots and carrying a hammer to smash spiders. (Although her before washer and dryer are way cooler than my current set, and her after set is even better! No fair!)

De-spookified and looking good! Thanks Jamie!

Smarter.com

Jan 23, 2010

Hey there!

Just inturrupting your weekend to let you know about Smarter.com, Better After's first official sponser! Check them out over there on my sidebar. Now, I wouldn't go sticking just any old thing on my blog that I wasn't a fan of, so you can trust that this site is cool, yo.

It's a comparison shopping site that finds and compares whatever you're looking for, from any and every online merchant that sells it. For example, when I wanted to buy my husband some cologne, I typed in Claiborne Sport for Men and it pulled up every store online that sold it from Ebay to The Scented Monkey (I did NOT make that up) AND how much it cost. I ended up getting a smoking deal that was $20 less than the mall would have been, plus hair gel, body wash and a shaving bag! Woot!

So, anyhoo, it's a smart way to shop for all your wants and needs, from home decor to electronics and whatnot, so check it out! And if you are interested in advertising on Better After, just drop me an email and we can chat!

And now, back to your regularly scheduled weekend.

ReDu

Jan 22, 2010

Michelle found nothing appealing at all about bland, expensive furniture that every other person on the block had. So she took to redoing old pieces in her own unique style, and created a little business in the process. Check her out blog out at Redu Home Furnishings, and also her etsy site Boheme Trouve where some of these items are for sale!

I like how she mixes it up here with both flower and crystal knobs.

And here comes my favorite. The colors, the knobs, perfection! Thanks Michelle!

Stephanie's Powder Room

Jan 21, 2010

What's killing me about this before bathroom is not the wallpaper (which I actually think is kind of cute in its own cheerful way) but that pitiful excuse for a bathroom mirror! I hope no one actually had to get ready in this bathroom, because they could probably only see 1/4 of their face at a time!

I love the after, just adding that bigger mirror made it seem much roomier in comparison. And I love the accessories. And it really is way better without that wallpaper too. See more on Stephanie's blog Under the Table and Dreaming.

Altar'd Furniture

Mandie has turned her hobby of flipping furniture into a new business called Altar'd. Here is one of her recent pieces, a vintage dresser given new life with a fresh coat of blue and an antiquing treatment. She has a gallery on her site of her upcoming projects, and I'm practically foaming at the mouth to see how they will turn out! Check her out HERE. Thanks Mandie!

Joyce's Kitchen

Wowsers, this kitchen was bad. Every early-90's kitchen cliche you could ask for! Red walls, mauve countertops, brass fixtures, florescent block lighting, and, wait, is that a heart-motif wallpaper border circling the ceiling? Yes. Yes, I believe it is.

Well, the after more than makes up for the before. They don't even look like distant relatives! Thanks to Katie, who shares more pictures of her friend Joyce's kitchen remodel on her blog Yoga Gal!

Kat's Kitchen

Jan 20, 2010

Trish from The Old Post Road alerted me to the fact that her friend Kat had a kitchen redo I needed to see. When someone is excited about someone else's redo, then you know it's gonna be good! And was it ever. See the whole process and a ton more pictures on Kat's blog Low Tide High Style.

One Nightstand

I love this little nightstand redo. The before looks to be that outdated wood treated to look speckled, like it was burned with sparks from a fire or something. Why was that ever a trend? Who knows. But it does make me wonder what we'll be rolling our eyes about in a few years. (I'm guessing vinyl and chalkboards!)

Anyway, the after is simply lovely, painted white with a little glaze to bring out the details. Check it out on Andrea's blog Try This! Thanks Andrea!

And will someone please point me in the direction of a good glaze tutorial? I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit this, but I have no idea what glaze even is or what it looks like. But I do know it gets pretty results!

Jamie's House

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that horrible bush overtaking this cute little home is called a juniper, yes? Oh man, I hate those things. They are the ugliest bush of all time ever. I don't mean to insult you if you have juniper bushes, but if you do, seriously consider replacing them with something else. Anything else. They look like overgrown eyebrows. Or a bushy mustache. Maybe those things were sexy several decades ago, but not today my friends!

Consider taking a chainsaw to your junipers and let your house breathe free! Free from the confines of ugly bush suffocation just like Jamie did here. Ahhh! So much better!

Blue & White Alright Alright!

Jan 19, 2010

I kind of liked this table in its before state. But Sarah did not, and hey, it's her table! She can do what she wants! And what she wanted was a table to complement her funky blue and white dining room. So with some paint and tape, that's what she did. And I have to say, it does look much more at home in the room now. Great job Sarah! Check out the entire story on her blog Hennessy House.