Cottage Carport

Lindy from Cottage Hill has done it again! Check out her amazing carport redo! If loving a carport is wrong, I don't want to be right, because I seriously love it. She turned this sad space from a room to dash quickly through to a total extension of her house. Who knew a carport could look so homey?! I love the way she used what she had, from the left over door to building a welcoming little staircase over the existing concrete steps. Amazing job, thanks Lindy!

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A Tale of Two Kitchens

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Actually it was just the worst, any way you looked at it. These two old kitchens have never met, but they were very similar in layout and funkiness. And not the good kind of funk, I'm talkin' bout nasty funk. 

Both got redos, one went dark, one went white and they both quickly exited the funky-town express. 

This first kitchen comes from Jenny at Envy My Cooking. And now we can envy her kitchen too, because it looks great. I love the distressed black, although wouldn't it have gone nicely with the harvest gold appliances? Why ever didn't she keep those? Ok, not really. Head on over there for a closer look!

And this gorgeous kitchen comes from Melissa at Veranda Interiors. She says, 

"Our cabin was built in 1977 and when we took possession of it we discovered that essentially nothing has been done to it, including cleaning."

Yikes! So she decided nothing less than spotless white would do, and she lightened, brightened and de-germed that place in a hurry. Way more details to see on her blog. Thanks ladies!

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Caitlyn's Chairs

Cute cane chairs courtesy of Caitlyn! I do love to alliterate. But I don't think that is a verb. 

 She did a great job on these chairs, and she shares my view of tufting: (also not a verb?) keep it! I'm always saddened when people decide to not keep tufts in chair redos, I just like the look.

 Get an up close and personal look on her blog CreativeMrsK. Thanks Caitlyn!

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Yay, I Want It!

Maria wanted a new look in her bedroom. However, she knew she needed to get creative, because new furniture wasn't in the budget. But heck, the furniture she had was already super sexy! I'd give my left arm for that bed alone! Well, maybe not my left arm, as I am left-handed. 

 But seriously, it's hot. It looks amazing in white, and just jumps off the wall. Check it out on her blog Yay, I Made It! which might be my most favorite name of a blog yet. Thanks Maria!

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Saturday Mornings

 
 Hi friends! Hope you had a great weekend! I wanted to introduce you to Dana who is spreading the word about her fresh new blog Saturday Mornings. She's a newlywed and going to school, so the budget is tight! Even though she doesn't have a lot of cash to spend, she has devoted her day off to crafting on the cheap, and she shares her projects and tips on Saturday Mornings for us to enjoy! Here are a few of her recent projects:
 



Simple canvases and scrapbook paper turn into artful wall hangings with just a little effort,
see it HERE.

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She updated this more-than-boring dresser with fabric and paint, (see it HERE) in even less time than it took to redo the following familiar friend...





Revamped Rocker!


There's a lot more to see over on Saturday Mornings, plus a cool feature called "Man-Craft Mondays" because hey, men should be included in the fun too!
Hop on over and welcome the newest crafty friend into the blogosphere, won't ya?

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Friday Funny

We know by now that white paint is a sure-fire way to improve anything. 

 However ...

However ... 

 I think my friend Laraine may have gotten a little carried away.

I'm not sure if Joey here needed any "freshening up" but hey, at least he's a good sport!

Too freaking funny.

Check out her blog, you won't be sorry: Larainy Days

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Nokando This Sunroom

Nodakademic had a sunroom, or as it could more accurately be described, a "hustle people through here and hope they wont look down. Or up. Or side to side" room. Not only was the room a barf-inducing color, it was so poorly slapped on, the previous owners must have been both drunk and blindfolded when they painted it. 

 Check out what she did with a few (or many) hours of manual labor and a budget of only $210! Aaah-mazing. I really love that soothing color she chose. See more on her blog HERE.

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Summer Lovin

If the store display inside Hobby Lobby was any indicator of season, we would all be drinking eggnog and singing Auld Lang Syne by tomorrow. But guess what homies? Despite the festive carols blaring forth from the "Christmas Zone," we still have a month of summer left. 

 So, here are some fabulous, fresh redos in fun summery colors that make me want to hang out in a hammock and drink lemonade on the beach. 

 First up, Darci created this totally unique coffee table from what looked to be a completely unsalvageable old pallet and painted it a happy apple green. See more on her blog HERE.

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Alison eradicated the juvenile circle pattern that was painted poorly on this little shelf, and instead painted it with a cute little stencil she created herself with her Cricut! And I'm now convinced I need a Cricut! See it on her blog A Glimpse Inside.

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What a find! Cassie got this great campaign dresser for a mere $60 at a thriftstore! She wanted a light, fun color for her bedroom so she went with a lovely aqua. I'd have to say my favorite thing about it is the inside of the drawers. Check it out on her blog Cassie and Co.

Hey, have you ever wondered WHY they call it campaign furniture?

I did, so I consulted my smartest friend (Wikipedia) and learned that:

Campaign furniture is a type of furniture that was made for travel. Much of it was made for military campaigns and includes folding chairs and chests that could be easily unscrewed and packed. Campaign furniture has been used by travelling armies since the time of Julius Caesar, and even earlier. With the rise and expansion of the British Empire in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as British gentlemen came to dominate the army, the finest British furniture makers produced for this new class of traveller some of the most stylish pieces of portable furniture ever made. British officers of high social position took it for granted that when they set out on a military campaign in Africa or India they could enjoy the same standard of living as they did at home.

Now you can impress your friends and family with your newfound knowledge!

*insert shooting star graphic and "The More You Know" jingle here*

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Mirror Mirror

Saara fell in love with these mirrors when she found them at a garage sale for $10 each! She took them home, gave them a quick primer coat, then applied another coat of yellow-green gloss. She decided to let the primer peek out here and there for a multi-layered look, and finally went over it one more time with sandpaper to distress the edges. Check out her blog GEORGE Interior Design to see the effect up close, it's quite lovely! 

 And, after that was all said and done, she hung them in her bedroom! I've heard mirrors in the bedroom is bad feng shui, but how can that be true when the look so great? It can't, I call. Love the placement of them here. Thanks Saara!

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Venti Dresser

Wake up! It's Thursday morning! We aren't quite to the weekend yet, so in case you are having trouble getting going, in case you are in need of some visual caffeine, here is a jolt to the senses courtesy of Better After reader Susan! 

 This shabby, drabby old dresser had been left behind in her college apartment and didn't exactly scream "hey, look at me!" But it certainly does now! Thanks Susan!

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Kitschy Kitschy

This dresser you're about to see had a little southwestern flava going on. This particular "style" is not really my cup of tea. It can be done well, sure, but most of the time it leans heavily on the kitschy side. I've seen way to many things like this:

and this:

to be much of a fan.

(PS: If you have that clock ... head ... thing hanging on your wall, I sincerely apologize). 

 (To the cow).

 Anyhoodle, Maggie from Sweetwater Baby felt the same way. Her southwestern dresser wasn't a flagrant style offender — I mean, it wasn't pastel pink with dreamcatchers dangling from it, but still had the tell-tale zig-zags on the hardware and around the bottom. So she sawed those right off, edged it with trim, replaced the knobs, painted the whole darn thing and now has a classic, kitsch-free dresser to show for it. Looks amazing!

and here's a glimpse of the only kitsch that's ok in my book:
 
Taylor Kitsch, aka, TIM RIGGINS!
Swoooo-hoooooon!

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Fluttering Fireplace

Within minutes of moving into this home, Micha had grabbed a fireplace poker and pried up that funky fake blue marble. Then it sat, unfinished, for 3 years. Then one night, on another crazy whim, she decided she'd had enough and painted it black and adorned it with butterflies. 

"What was I thinking?" she asks. "Um, I'm not really sure..." I have to reply. 

 So, eventually, right before she and her husband moved out, they decided to fix it up for real this time, and now their renters get to enjoy the respectable looking fireplace it was always meant to be! 

 Check out more on her blog do it mesh.

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Stylin Stain

Is today opposite day? Is the universe playing a trick on me? Because someone redid their kitchen, and they didn't do it in white! I know, I know. Pick yourself up off the floor.

 That someone in particular is Rachel from Redpunzel, who like most, was tired and a half of her "foak" kitchen cabinets. Unlike most redos I've seen recently, however, she went with stain over paint, and made those cabinets deep, dark and dramatic. I likes it! Check out her blog for more. Thanks Rachel!

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