Better After

5 In kiddie/ tables/dressers

Taking the edge off.

I don’t know what is going on here. It would appear that someone once spent about 45 seconds lining all the edges of this before dresser in gold spray paint and called ‘er done. Interesting technique. Perhaps they wanted to paint the entire dresser gold and ran out of time or paint (or motivation). Or maybe this look was … intentional. *judgy eyebrow raise*

Who’s to know. But I know I would have never invisioned it as a perfect piece for a little boy’s room, only that’s exactly what it became thanks to Elaine and her foresight. So cute! Once again we learn never to judge a dresser by it’s badly painted cover. See more at Visual Meringue.

July 1, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

13 In bathroom

Hot n’ Ready For a Change

You know what one of the best inventions of my life is? The Hot n’ Ready pizza from Little Caesar’s. I can go from having zero plans for dinner to triumphantly wielding a steaming pizza in literally 30 seconds. It’s the best. I’m just now noticing that the name “Hot n’ Ready’ sounds a little dirty though. I mean, right?

You know what else was hot n’ ready and a little dirty? This bathroom. It was a painful shade of sunburn and ready for a change. Nina classed it up big-time with fresh white paint, a board and batten treatment on the walls, which she jazzified even further with tile.

She also recycled the granite countertop and built that new Pottery Barn inspired vanity herself! Color me impressed! See all the details on her blog Everyday Enchanting.

July 1, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

4 In chairs/ottomans/seating

Former Benchwarmers

Do you want to entertain, but never do, because you fear you don’t have enough seating? Here’s a secret: no one cares! I have a friend who loves to gather people in her home, and if she doesn’t have enough seats, well, here’s a couple buckets and a camel saddle. I don’t know why she has a camel saddle, but that’s probably one of the reasons she’s so fun.

Another idea for easy seating is a bench. Easy to tuck away when you don’t need it, easy to pull out when you do, and functional decor all of the time. Here’s a rescue from Shelly at 100 Things 2 Do. Before it was probably not allowed in the house, but now it’s surely dining room worthy.

I love this one from Michelle at 4 Men 1 Lady. She emphasized the cool shape of the legs with a reverse-dipped method. I don’t know if that is a real name of a real method, but let’s say it is.

Heyo, there’s a giveaway going on now! Win a custom box of Arrow Fastener tools! Right here.

June 30, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

21 In chairs/ottomans/seating/ My House

Custom Box of Arrow Fastener Tools Giveaway!

Earlier today, I told you the saga of my stolen staple gun. Turns out some of you have ‘accidentally forgotten to return’ a few items yourselves, and have things like a stolen VHS of She’s All That on your consciences too. Ha! So glad I’m not alone.

But to recap, Arrow Fastener recently sent me some new staple guns to try out, and so I thought this little thrift-store chair would be the perfect piece to play with. It had some cool lines and a straightforward design that seemed easy enough to recover. And I wasn’t at all sad to see that original crusty fabric go.

Oooh la la! Do you like that snakeskin embossed leather? So glam! It’s from the Leather Hide Store, and I’ll be sharing more about it next week.

But back to the chair. I was browsing the thrift-store one day when this little guy caught my eye. Peeking through the usual motley line-up of chairs, it was halfway hidden behind a broken folding chair and a wheelchair. I wrangled it out of the mix and was dismayed to discover it cost $39.99! Woah woah woah. Back it up. That was crazy overpriced! Looking closer, the tag showed that the price was for a set of two. I looked and looked, but the other chair was nowhere to be found. I asked a worker if they could reprice it since there was only one, but they would only cut the price in half. So, it was $20, which STILL seems way overpriced to me. Don’t you think? Humbug.

But I bought it anyway, obviously, and it looks pretty cute in its new home, which is next to this old record player that I got to keep from my Grandma’s house after we moved her into an assisted living home. I have so many fond memories of dancing around in front of it when I was little, listening to my grandma’s old records, which definitely explains my affinity for Roger Whitaker and Marty Robbins. Yes, I am an 80-year-old woman at heart. It still sounds awesome too! They really don’t make them like they used to.

Unfortunately, during this project I discovered another thing they don’t make like they used to, which is STAPLES. If you read my last post, you’ll know that the staple gun Arrow Fastener sent me is a model that I’ve used and loved for years. However, the staples I used for this project gave me all kinds of trouble.

I chalked it up to the fact that I was trying to go through two layers of fabric, one being leather, and also because the board beneath them was some sort of super hard material too. I tried several different sizes of staples, and had the same results. They weren’t entirely useless though, they basically got the job done, but it sure isn’t pretty under there. Truthfully, that doesn’t bother me, but if you were recovering furniture to sell or something, I can understand why it would be a problem.

Would I recommend Arrow Fastener tools? Absolutely yes. I’ve been loyal to the brand for years now.

Would I recommend Arrow Fastener staples? Hmmm. I had a frustrating experience this time, and I’ve received some comments from people with the same feelings. I’m sure they’d be fine on a job less intensive than this, as I said, I was giving them quite a workout on this project.

Would I recover a chair with leather again? Yes, because I love the look! But it’s certainly not the easiest material to work with. This particular leather was very thick, so getting around those corners was a bear, but it also has a surprising amount of stretch, which helped hide some of my mistakes.

Would you like to win a custom box of tools from Arrow Fastener? A big box of free tools?! Let me answer that for you. YES! Entering is easy! Simply use the Rafflecopter widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

All in all, I’m so happy with the way this little chair turned out. I thought of re-staining the wood, but it happened to match the record player perfectly already, so that worked out nicely. Oh yeah, and it has a surprise too! I didn’t find this out until I had brought it home from the thrift-store:

Fun, huh? I think it was an old sewing chair. Still not sure how it was originally part of a set in that case.

Anway, happy weekend friend! Good luck on the giveaway, I hope you win! Giveaway ends and winners will be announced next Thursday, July 3rd.

<<<This post is in collaboration with Arrow Fastener, all opinions are, as always 100% my own.

June 27, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

13 In Uncategorized

Arrow Fastener and my guilty conscience

I have a confession to make. Something that has been weighing on my soul for a long time. Almost thirteen years, to be exact.

A long long time ago, when I was in college, I lived in a house with four girls. We didn’t have much money to furnish our creaky old house, but that didn’t stop me. I went to the thrift-store (this was waaaaay before it was considered ‘cool,’ at least among my friends) and brought home all kinds of random furniture that I recovered myself, in fabrics like pink fur, sparkly blue velvet, and my favorite, a black cheetah print. It was the best house on the block.

Of course, I had no idea how to recover furniture. I just made it up as I went along. I also didn’t have the proper tools. Or any tools, really. But my roommate had a brother who was a carpenter, so I borrowed a staple gun from him. It worked great! I loved it. So much that I kinda sorta on purpose forgot to return it to him. And then I moved away. With the staple gun in my trunk. Maybe other girls do adorable things like steal boy’s t-shirts and wear them around, how cute, but watch out for me, I will steal your tools.

And for the last thirteen years, every single time I pull the trusty old thing out, I think of Nate Buhr – the staple-gun-less carpenter – and I feel shame in my heart.

So when Arrow Fastener recently asked if I would be interested in trying out a few of their tools, imagine my surprise to see that they sent me the twin brother to my stolen staple gun!

It felt like … redemption? I don’t know. But I do know if I ever run into Nate Buhr, I will happily give his staple gun back now.

So, you can probably guess how I’d review this product. This is the T50 Heavy Duty, and it’s a workhorse. It has obviously stood the test of time, taken all the abuse I could dish out over the last thirteen years, and has never failed me yet. I’m positive my shiny new model will do the same. It doesn’t have any fluffy stuff like a padded grip or extra levers and buttons, and it does take a bit of power to get that handle down, but if you’re looking for a staple gun that will last you forever, this is it.

Need a lighter-use model? Try the TacMate. Smaller and easier, it’s perfect for household stapling jobs. (Just don’t follow my example and steal one please. I’ve repented!)

Check back later today to see my makeover of a (wildly overpriced) thrift-store chair and a chance to win a custom box of Arrow Fastener tools for yourself! UPDATE: You can see that right here!

<<This post was in collaboration with Arrow Fasteners, all opinions are as always 100% my own.

June 27, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

14 In bedroom/ kiddie

Aye Aye Captain!

Friends, I am up to something secret today. A little surprise that I’m working on. It’s close to completion, and I can’t wait to share it with you! In due time … in due time … But, right now I have to dash out the door because today is the final day I have to work on it.

So I will leave you now with this amazing vintage boy nursery makeover from Adri at Dream Book Design. Luckily, the pictures speak for themselves. (They say “WOWZA,” in case you were wondering).