Better After

6 In Ugly Lamp Contest

Ugly Lamp Contest, get ready!

Ooooh boy. It’s a-coming. Do you hear it? Can you smell it? Can you feeeel it? (It feels like fear and smells like a tuna-burp, if you are wondering).

It’s Better After’s 5th annual Ugly Lamp Contest, and it’s headed this way!

Get EXCIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITED!!!!

Do you have what it takes to enter?

All you need is access to an ugly lamp.

But let me tell you something, it has to be REALLY ugly.

Nightmare-inducing.

Unbelievable.

Dry-heave-able.

Let’s take a walk through our past winners to see if your ugly lamp has what it takes to compete.

2010, our inaugural champion: Alien Matador.

2011 brought us this winner, who kicked all the other competition to the curb: Broken Leg Lamp.

2012: the reign of terror of Demon Skull.

2013 blessed us with this queasy crowd-pleaser: Bacon Barf.

What will 2014 bring?! Oh, I can hardly wait to find out.

Here are the rules:

To enter, simply send a photo of your ugly lamp to me at betterafter(at)live.com, subject line: Ugly Lamp. Deadline is August 15th.

The photo must be original! You don’t need to own the lamp yourself, but you must own the picture.

The entries will be reviewed by myself and a panel of judges, who will select a total of 18 of the worst of the worst to compete.

During the week of the Ugly Lamp Contest, six entrants will compete each day, with the top two vote-getters moving on to the finals.

The grand high champion will be announced, and the winner will receive a $100 gift card of their choice!

((IMPORTANT! Every year it seems there are a few people who get a little confused and think this a lamp-makeover contest, and send me before and after pictures of lamp projects. Not so. I just want your pure, unadulterated fuggo lamps, in all their unglory)).

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

I have my box of saltines and 7-Up at the ready, so start sending those entries in!!!!

If you’re new here, you might want to go back and check out a few past contests. Raccoon of Utter Despair should not be condemned to oblivion. Here are the final rounds, my favorite part. 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010.

July 25, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

35 In kitchen/dining

Who wore it best?

The other day I got a comment that I *think* was supposed to be mean. Something about how Better After is the place where painting something white makes it “pretty.” Say that aloud and make finger quotations when you say ‘pretty.’ It seemed snarky, is what I’m saying.

Listen here jack. Pretty much 98% of the time painting something white does, in fact, make it prettier. That’s just a truth of the universe. I bring to your attention exhibit A: this kitchen makeover from Stephanie. Sure, those fake and outdated cabinets, peach countertops and sherbert-flavored walls might appeal to some people. But take these two pictures to Times Square, poll 100 people, and I’d bet my LIFE that the white one would be the winner hands down. The universe doesn’t lie.

More details to see at Simply Swider.

July 24, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In miscellaneous/ tables/dressers

I’m no quilter.

A few months ago, I won an auction at church for a hand-made baby quilt. Woo! The sweet woman sewing it said I could pick my pattern and colors, and me, knowing zero things about quilting, chose what I thought was a simple enough pattern. Turns out it required something like 157 triangles to be individually cut out of six different fabrics then stitched together, one at a time. Woah. She was super sweet during the whole thing, but I bet deep down she wanted to choke me. It’s a fantastic quilt though!

But quilts aren’t reserved for just babies and bedrooms. You can get that quilty look you love just about anywhere! Sarah at Backwoods Babies ‘quilted’ these IKEA dressers with scrapbook paper!

Lisa at Sweet Parsley Home made use of her fabric scraps and quilted over this formerly uggtastic ottoman. Wow, it was so bad.

Now all you have to do is win an auction for someone else to do these projects for you, and you’re in business!

July 23, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

9 In bedroom

Plank Challenge

Do you like planking? You should, it’s like, the best exercise ever for your core . So they tell me. Planking is also an awesome endeavor for adding punch and pizzazz to any drab wall in your home! And it’s not hard. Melissa planked it up hardcore in her bedroom, simply by cutting sheets of plywood into 5″ wide strips in random lengths, staining them a complementary assortment of colors and finish-nailing them straight to the wall.

Strengthen your core! Beef up your wall! Planking can do anything. See more from Melissa at Cornbread and Beans Quilting.

July 23, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

8 In lighting

Lampicillin

The Ugly Lamp Contest is coming soon! Start training your eyeballs now so they will to be able to withstand the soul-crushing hideousness that is coming their way. I will have more info soon, but I am starting to accept submissions now, so send those original ugly lamp pics my way! (Betterafter(at)live.com, subject line: Ugly Lamp).

And in NON ugly lamp news, Christina at The Frugal Homemaker took this sickly set of brass lamps and healed them with a dosage of white paint.

(Truly, they weren’t that bad). I’m a fan of brass and think it can look awesome in the right room, but white will always and forever be a classic favorite!

July 22, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In bathroom

Expect More

Every room should have an unexpected element. But that unexpected element shouldn’t be something like: “Gee, I didn’t expect your powder room to be so … brown.” That’s not what we’re going for. I’m talking more like, “Oh wow, a live edge countertop in your powder room!? I never would have thought of that!”

But that’s what Gina dreamed up when she banished all beige and brown from her powder room. Truly looks and feels like an entirely different space! Well done. See more on her blog What Gina Says.

July 22, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

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