Better After

A kitchen tour, a question for you, and a NatureBox giveaway!

<<this post is in collaboration with NatureBox, all opinions are 100% my own

As you may know, we moved to a new house a few weeks ago. We are slooooowly getting things put in order. There are pockets of done-ness amidst the shambles. My oldest son’s room is perfectly put together, the other bedrooms currently look uninhabitable to human life.

But today I’m going to share a little tour of my favorite room in the house, the kitchen. It’s not 100% done (is anything ever?) but it’s unpacked and clean, so you’re gettin’ a tour!

It’s very white and bright. I’ve been craving white cabinets for so long. Our old house had the most unfortunate combination of fake cherry cabinets, orangey tile floors and maroon/orange laminate countertops. It felt like a cave, a very ugly cave, and I disliked it immensely. Now I finally feel genuine affection toward my kitchen!

I’m planning to hang some super awesome lighting above the island and table, and install a backsplash. Still undecided on exactly what the backsplash should be.

The faucet is standard; I’ll maybe probably upgrade it someday, but the single basin sink was a special order. I love that it’s so deep. Didn’t anticipate how hard it would be to clean a sink of this size, but I’m pretty sure my love is strong enough to overcome that flaw. (Me+Sink=LuvForeva)

Here is a mishmash of furniture that won’t be staying in this space. I’m on the hunt for a round table that can seat six that doesn’t cost triple the mortgage. This is proving very impossible to find. Also, the teal curtains were an experiment, and not likely to be hanging around much longer. (Heh heh, see what I did there?)

Now.

I have to show you the problem area of my kitchen.

It is this big blank wall of weirdness:

What the heck am I supposed to do with that? It’s just a big weird wall. I don’t think I can really put any shelving or anything there – it’s only recessed about four inches and too close to the island. I have a few ideas I’m kicking around, but I would LOVE to hear your suggestions.

Currently, you can see I’ve hung a couple of frames there which are obviously too small for the space …

… but if we are Instagram friends, you may recognize them as the handwritten recipes I framed from my grandma’s old recipe book. I will for sure be hanging them elsewhere in the kitchen, as soon as I figure out that wall.

They’re recipes for peanut brittle and caramels. Now I know where I get my sweet tooth!

And speaking of tasty treats, that brings me to the giveaway portion of this post!

By now you’ve surely heard of NatureBox, the subscription-based snack services that delivers wholesome high-quality snacks to your doorstep each month. Let me tell you how fan-flipping-tastic it was to have a box of healthy snacks arrive while we were in the throes of moving and surviving on instant oatmeal and $5 pizza.

It was like getting a box of sunshine in the mail!

I’m a big fan of NatureBox, and excited that I get to give away TWO six-month snack subscriptions today! That’s a passport to Yumerica for two lucky Better After readers!

Here are my favorite things about NatureBox:

Their snacks have absolutely no high fructose corn syrup, no partially hydrogenated oils, no trans fats, and no artificial sweeteners, flavors or colors.
They have a HUGE assortment of snacks, and I’ve never once had a non-delicious one. But if you don’t like something, you can get a replacement, no problemo.
You can choose what you want in your box every time, or not! (I like to pick out three myself, then get a couple of surprises!)
Shipping is always free (in the US).

These are SO. GOOD.

And THIS! Big Island Pineapple. I can’t even describe how flavorful this is. My mouth is going to Hawaii this summer even if I’m not.

Would you like to enter to win a NatureBox subscription! Of course you would!

***

Entering is easy!

Simply leave a comment telling me which snack from the NatureBox snack page you’d like to try most.

That’s it!

***

If you are planning to subscribe to NatureBox, don’t forget to use the code BETTERAFTER to save 50% off your first box!

Open to US readers only, must have a US shipping address. Promotion is good for 50% off your first month’s Deluxe box or $10 off the first box in your first prepaid subscription, new customers only, not valid on gift subscriptions and my not be combined with any other offer. Two winners will each win a free 6-month Deluxe Snacker subscription.

June 20, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

5 In bedroom/ kiddie

What Bedroom Style Are YOU?

I don’t really have an answer to that question for you. I just thought that title might grab your attention, much like all those ridiculous quizzes on Facebook. They are getting out of control. What color is your aura? What Seinfeld character are you? What ’80s movie are you? What is your spirit animal? What criminal mastermind from are you? Which US state should you live in? Blah blah blah. (So maybe I took the spirit animal quiz. Ok, I did. My spirit animal is a butterfly, which is totally lame. I was hoping it would be like a wolverine or something a little cooler).

Anyway, let’s talk about what bedroom style you are. Do you like rooms with baby blue walls, cheesy wallpaper borders and a high concentration of built-in shelves that seem to have been borrowed from a grocery store? If so, this before bedroom is for you! But if not, take a peek at what Meg did in here. It is SOO much better. Are those even the same built-ins? If so, she did an amazing job of updating them. Way to go Meg!

See more on her blog meg & the martin men.

June 19, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

9 In innovative idea/ miscellaneous/ outdoors

Cribbing My Style

Have an old crib lying around? Who doesn’t, am I right? Ok, I don’t. I don’t even have a new crib for my sweet baby boy. He is creeping up on 5 months now, and still sleeping in his bassinet, which he is way too chunky for. But I love having him close to me at night, and I think he feels nice and snug in there. He conks out as soon as we lay him down. Ok, ok, here is a pic, twist my arm.

(He does actually have more room in there than this picture is making it seem!)

But at some point those babies outgrow the bassinet, then they outgrow the crib, then you just have a crib hanging out. If you aren’t planning on using it again, here are a couple ideas!

Better After reader (and fellow Lindsey with an E) Lindsey combined a set of Craigslisted mailboxes with the end of her daughter’s old crib, and got a happy little space for outdoor storage. She reports that “The kids have LOVED being able to put their own gardening tools/gloves/random “treasures” inside! Next weekend it is time to plant some flowers around there and just sit and stare at it because it makes me very happy!”

Cute!

And here’s another. Better After reader Becky has recently began selling made-over furniture. A client came to her looking to make over this cradle into something practical for her home. But it wasn’t just any old cradle, this was the one she had used as a child. Her children grew up playing with it too, so it held a lot of special memories. With her children grown and the recent passing of her mother, she decided it was time to turn it into something lovely that she could use everyday. When Becky delivered the cradle-turned-bench she created, her client was close to tears. But don’t worry! They were the happy kind!

What a sweet, meaningful piece. It’s giving me the warm fuzzies!

June 19, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

23 In outdoors

Zip-a-dee-ooh-ahh!

When someone is sad, we say they have ‘the blues.’ But I think we should change that phrase, because take a long hard look at the paint job Better After reader Chelsey did on her home and try to tell me that the blue is anywhere approaching sadness. My oh my, it most certainly is not! It’s a big bluebird of happiness sitting on the shoulder (of the street).

What we should really say when someone is sad is that they have ‘the browns.’ Actually, you know what, nevermind on that.

June 18, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In tables/dressers

You really did a number on that one.

One! Two! Three! Four! C’mon baby, say you love me! Five, six, seven ti-imes!

That’s the only song with numbers in it that I can think of. Wait, just thought of another:

ABC! Easy as 1 2 3! So simple as do re mi, ABC, 1 2 3, baby you and me girl!

Hold up, here comes one more:

You’re once, twice … three times a lady … and I luh-ooh-ove youuuuuu.

If you could only see how hearfeltedly I am lip-syncing these to myself right now. As you have probably guessed, (or probably not) today’s makeovers are brought to you by numbers! Let’s get to it!

Rayana at FiReFinish dressed up some lumber with numbers, giving her Ikea console an entirely new look.

And Faye thought this yard-sale find could benefit from some digital designs. Looks great, and the new handles make it look a little bit like a card catalog. A card catalog of COOL. See it on her blog MacGIRLver.

June 18, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

10 In kiddie/ tables/dressers

Lego Storage and Dresser Restore-age

Do you have kids? Do you know kids? Do you know someone who has or knows kids? Then these makeovers are for YOU! Here are a couple of fun ideas for the kids in your life, (or the kids-at-heart) that are sure to make you smile, and might possibly even save the world.

Ok, this hopeless table-turned-Lego-storage-station might not ‘save the world,’ but it could potentially save your feet from stray Legos (which magically become razor-sharp in the dark), so close enough.

From Shelly at 100 Things 2 Do

How many auto aficionados would love this sweet dresser? I know my boys would go nuts for it. Better After reader Megan found it abandoned on the curb, and after painstakingly putting it back together, decided it needed more fun in the form of a VW theme! (Do you also pronounce it Vee DAAUUUUUUUGHB whenever you say it, just like that guy in their commercials, you know, that one guy that was also on the show Prison Break and I think he had a fake hand, but the show got canceled, so he started doing VW commercials, I think mostly because he has a good German accent, and that’s how he always said it? No? Just me then? Carry on.)