Better After: April 2011

Sponsor Alert: Garage Sales Tracker!

Apr 29, 2011

I don't know about your part of the world, but it is prime yard sale weather in my part! So, if you are headed out this weekend to scour some sales, let me offer a few tips: First: buy some junk, take pictures of it, give it a makeover, take more pics and send them to me! Second: save yourself some time and check out GarageSalesTracker.com before you go! (Actually, logistically speaking, this should be step one).

If you haven't used Garage Sales Tracker before, it is ... well, just what it sounds like it is. It tells you where the sales are, and it is super handy. I put in my zip code and in mere seconds I had four pages of addresses to nearby garage sales!

If that wasn't enough, they also have a free iphone app, a bookmark feature to save locations of your frequent haunts, and my favorite, the trip planner feature, which that automatically plans out the most efficient garage sale routes for you! That will save you gas, my friend, which equals more money to spend at said yard sales!

And don't forget, you can gain maximum exposure for your sale by posting it on Garage Sales Tracker too! Check them out, this shizness is legit.

Cane You Handle It?

Cane chairs! Did you know you can actually cane a chair yourself? Yes, "cane" is a verb, which makes me think they should really be called caned chairs, but enough about me.

This chair and sofa were looking quite drab and dated, but the caning was in great shape. So just a little paint and reupholstery was in order and now they look fantastic! Like, really fantastic. I might try to find some cane chairs myself! Or teach myself how to cane, like that's ever going to happen.

First from Ruth at Not So Cookie Cutter. I LOVE that fabric, and I don't even like yellow!

And a sofa makeover from Emily at Crisp Interiors. It almost looks like it could be an indoor/outdoor piece with the open back, but it's too beautiful to risk it. I'd keep that baby indoors! Thank you ladies!

As seen on TV

Read this to yourself in a melodramatic infomercial announcer voice:

"Do you like the look of lacy doilies, but hate the MESS?" Picture an easily confused woman struggling to keep a doily on her table. It bunches up, it falls off. She just can't keep the darn thing straight. She rolls her eyes to the heavens and blows hair out of her face in exasperation. Picture this in black and white for full dramatic effect.

"Well, what if I told you you could enjoy the beauty and extravagance of a doily covered table without all the WORRY?"

Woman nods enthusiastically. "All you have to do is visit Vicky at Rescued and Rehabbed to make your lace-covered table dreams a reality! This offer is only available for a limited time, hurry now!"

Big Wheel Keep on Strolling

Apr 28, 2011

Umbrella strollers are great. Cheap, light, and easy to keep a spare in your trunk. Hey, just like a real umbrella! Maybe that's why they call them that. Downside: umbrella strollers are not that cute.

Well guess what homie? You don't have to live with that pastel print of two chubby teddy bears holding hands, or in this case, a mutant fish/chicken hybrid mama and her baby fish things. Because Lauren from House of Chic and Penoche will show you how to DIY it into fabulosity. After all, as she says: "Strollers are for the moms just as much (if not more so) than babies." This is truth.

A Lil’ Iffy

Tiffany needed a desk for her little girl. After a long and fruitless search, she finally decided to just order one online. Then, when it was almost too late, as her cursor was hovering over the “add to cart” button on the Walmart website, this little beauty was found at a yard sale for $5.

Five bucks! It would cost that much just to drive to Walmart, and you can bet your bottom that the desk in question wouldn’t be nearly as sturdy OR as perfectly pink. Turned out great, don’t you think? See it on her blog Iffy Scraps.

Take five. Or ten.

You guys, I'm tired. I've been running around like a maniac all week, and I can't foresee a chance to sit down and catch my breath until sometime late next week. If you have emailed me recently... I'm sorry! I'm working on replying to you as best as I can!

So, in the interest of time, I am happy to show this chair makeover by Better After reader Nick, who saved me an entire extra step by sending in this side-by-side before and after pic! It will even save your finger time from scrolling up and down. How efficient!

Nick reports: "My wife found these pepto-bismalesque chairs at a re-sale shop and immediately fell in love with them. After removing thousands of staples (there at 10 of these suckers!) and suffering through the entire project for weeks - we've finally finished them! Total cost for 10 chairs: $450. $300 for the chairs from the store, $50 for fabric from Ikea, $40 in paint and $60 for nailhead trim."

Ten chairs?! Dang! I'm impressed.

Spiffy!

Apr 27, 2011

The last time I was whining about Blogger being annoying, Dakota Transplant (aka Christa) suggested I use Windows Live Writer, so here goes, I’m giving it a try! If the blog looks funky, blame her. Ha ha, I kid!

Anyhoodle, check out this idea from Wendy at Designed to Dwell, I think it’s so neat! (I’m an 80 year-old-woman at heart, I’m allowed to say words like ‘neat!’ see also: ‘keen!’) She and her husband took a pair of these old bookcases, matched them up with a pre-fab bathroom vanity of all things, added some trim and moulding to unify the whole shamdangle, and boom! New entertainment center. Bet you didn’t see that coming, huh? Swell!

Formal or Abnormal?

Raise your hand if you use your formal dining room more than five times a year. If so, congratulations to you and your fabulous life full of gourmet dinner parties and sparkling conversation with your interesting and fashionable friends. The rest of us use it for folding laundry.

Christy decided to reclaim her formal dining room into a space that would get a little more daily action. After all, what is the point of even having all that square footage if you literally spend more time in the garage? So she went against the norm and made it into her own private craftopia! I'm jealous. See more on her blog Beach Brights. Thanks Christy!

Weather or Not

Chances are you or your mom or someone you know has this set of Basset furniture. I see them all the time on Craigslist. You can't swing a dead cat around a thrift store without knocking into one. You also can't swing a dead cat around a thrift store, period. You will probably get arrested.

Megan decided to give hers an old-world provincial feel with a paint, stain and glaze technique. I would love someone to come to my house and teach me how to do that. I still haven't figured out how to make things look cool and old instead of dirty and weird. You can see more on her blog Never a Dull Day. Thanks Megan!

From French to Bench

Apr 26, 2011

So, maybe you've seen this before, this post from Lexi at Paper Flower Drive is a little old. (Only in the blog world can something from 8 months ago be considered "old." (Well, maybe in the food service world.)

In any case, it is still fantastic and gives me faith that there really is hope for the hopeless, the hopeless in this case being this beaten, battered and flop-sweat stained sofa. Now it is a beautiful and breezy bench. I still can't believe the difference, I've scrolled back and forth about 20 times!

found via Shelly, thanks Shelly!

Stairy Tale

Most staircase redos consist of these steps:

#1 Rip up disgusting carpet,

#2 Pull out staples,

#3 Swear profusely,

#4 Paint and stain risers and steps,

#5 Enjoy fabulous new stairs,

#6 Vow to never to that again.

Well, what if you don't have disgusting carpet on your stairs? Can you still enjoy the satisfaction of an annoying job well-done and the outcome of fabulous stairs? Of course you can. Check these out from Better After reader Miranda. Her all-wood stairs went from worn and weathered and slightly pinkish to deep and dark with high-contrast white. Love it.

Dressers at Tiffany's

This regal little chest of drawers had been disgraced by years of wear and tear and a sad little patch of Lisa Frank stickers. (This is why I refuse to allow stickers in my house. Call me a mean mom, I don't care. I'm still trying to remove a giant snowman sticker on my bathroom vanity from the previous owners, and we've been here over 2 years).

Mallory discovered the chest by the side of the road, heaved it into the back of her truck while wearing her church shoes, and took it home to give it a coat of the classiest of all colors, Tiffany Blue (actually Ocean Breeze by Krylon, next best thing) Don't you love the metallic pearl distressing peeking through? I do! Check it out on her blog Classy Clutter.

Drooooooling

Apr 25, 2011

And here is the final before and after of today, a fantasmic redo from Better After reader Jillian. Her former kitchen had all the thrill and personality of a WNBA game (ohnoIdidn't) but the after is legitimately jaw-dropping. She and her husband did most all the work themselves and I love it so much I'm legitimately drooling. Thanks so much Jillian, great job!

Get Carded

My computer is giving me issues today, I think it's haunted. Also, why is blogger insisting on sticking ten thousand returns in between my paragraphs? It's driving me bonkers. I wish I knew how to fix it, but my grandparents are here visiting and I can't admit defeat in front of them. They think I'm a mega genius because I can scan photos AND use Microsoft Word, and I want to keep it that way.

So let's look at this throwback to the way things were done in the good old days, the days of Dewey Decimal. Cece redid this card catalog with some modge podge and printed tissue from Seven Gypsies. Prettty! I like that it now looks even older than before. Check it out on her blog N Your Dreams.

PS: Universe, I still want a card catalog, just so you know.

Chairs with Flair

Well, hi there! Welcome to Monday! Are you all sugared up from Easter? I am still full of jelly beans and ham, which sounds pretty gross now that I think about it. So, how about some candy colored chairs for your viewing pleasure? Sure to delight without raising your blood sugar.

First from Better After reader Riley who salvaged this chair that had apparently served several faithful years as a cat scratching post and covered it in a cheerful floral.

Next, a fun and flowery redo of a country kitchen chair. I seriously don't know how they managed to squeeze so much country into one chair. There's a heart cut-out, knotty pine and sage gingham! I wouldn't be surprised if it was wearing cowboys boots and there was a banjo painted on the back. Looks so cute now though! See it on her blog Centsibly Chic Sisters.

And finally a drab rocker (and I do mean DRAB. Just looking at that cushion might require Prozac) gets an update from Manjari who traded in the gilded fruit decals for a fresh coat of paint and colorful stencils. It looks brand spanking new! Thanks ladies!

Everyday Lettering GIVEAWAY (now closed)

Apr 22, 2011

*** GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED ***

Holy smokes, is it Friday already? I guess it is! And that means a terrific giveaway is in store!

I am so excited to announce that Heather from Everyday Lettering is giving one of you guys one of

these guys:

Don't you love it? One catch though, your name has to be Allen. Sorry. Just kidding, silly! One winner will get to choose the name/word of their choice!

Everyday Lettering was born when Heather, a stay-at-home mom and photographer saw photo letters in a store and fell in love. She says, "But at over $150 for my little last name (Jones), I knew I couldn’t afford it and there must be others who couldn’t too. So I searched for a way to make it more affordable. Then I spent over a year collecting pictures of everyday objects and editing them to make them beautiful."

Not only are these beautiful, they are affordable and would make fabulous gifts too.
Along with several photos of each letter of the alphabet to choose from, she also offers the option of the "The Board" as seen above, or "The Block" as seen below!

Or, if you are the crafty type and would like a little more creative freedom with your letters, you can simply order only the photos! Just ask for "The Single."

My grandma just saw mine for the first time, and she called it "exquisite!" So there you have it. You will love it and so will your grandma, and pretty much everyone else you know.

To enter once: simply leave a comment here! What word or name would you choose?

To enter twice: like Everyday Lettering on facebook, or follow the Everyday Lettering blog! (come back and tell me please!)

To enter thrice: share the giveaway on your twitter, facebook, blog, myspace or whatever other media available. Text your mom, whatever. (also come back and tell me please!)

*****

Winner chosen Monday! Good luck, I hope it's you!
Also, check out Heather's photography sites: Joy Photography Blog Joy Photography on Facebook-

Also, HAPPY EASTER!

It's a Sunshine Day

Can you guess what these three makeovers have in common? I'll tell you.

It's yellow! Happy, bright, sunshiny, springy! Yellow is the official color of spring, did you know that?

No you didn't, because I just made that up. So here are three makeovers ranging in size and amount of effort required, all starring Yellow Paint.

First up: Crystal redid this little magazine rack that was made by her grandfather. Looks totally cute, and probably a quick and easy project, even though I suspect sewing is involved, which is never quick and easy for me.

Next, if you've got a little more time on your hands, you can conquer a giant dresser ala Lindsay from Southern Lovely. I'd estimate that a project of this magnitude would take a couple of days, especially if you are going to be a stickler and sand and prime and all that junk. I wouldn't know, I never do that stuff, even though I always live to regret it. Looks great, especially with the crystal knobs and pink accents!

And, if you are really feeling up to the challenge, why not redo your entire dining room, complete with hand-stenciled yellow curtains? That's what Heather from {twenty}something did, and she was kind enough to include a step-by-step tutorial that makes it look so easy! Hooray for yellow!