Better After

6 In office

Tape Player

Do you have a home office? I’m curious to know. Let’s have a quick poll and find out:

Hmmmm, interesting results. (I’m just saying that, of course. I don’t actually know any results, because how could I? I haven’t even finished writing this yet! I guess I can count my own vote, which is yes!) I do know one thing though. Whether you have a fancy-shmanz home office or just a little computer nook carved out of a corner, it can and should have style!

Here’s a quick office fresheroo from Amy at Homey Oh My! She added a few luxe details which took it from merely functional to muy fabulouso!

Like that striped wall? Guess what? It’s just black tape! Well played Amy. Well played.

June 17, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

7 In tables/dressers

I’m Melting … I’m MELLLTING!

Here’s a handy tip if you plan to strip some furniture in the future: go ahead and make sure that it is 100% wood first. Otherwise, you might end up melting decorative elements that only look like wood and are in fact, plastic. That’s exactly what happened to the cute little inserts on Christina’s dresser. Sadly, they are no more.

This also happened to me once loooong ago, when I was a poor poor college student trying to spruce up our apartment. I found an oval mirror at a secondhand store with a nice frame, barfy color. It was $25, which was a HUGE splurge! For some reason, the thought to spray paint right over that ugly color never even occurred to me, and I decided that paint stripper was duh, obviously the way to go. I laid a shower curtain over the floor of my tiny balcony, slathered the frame up with paint stripper, then watched in horror as it dissolved before my eyes. I might as well have taken my $25 and started it on fire. It was traumatic.

Luckily, Christina’s whole project didn’t disappear after her stripper mishap, she still had an entire dresser left to work with. She decided to frame out that space and use it to show off a set of gorgeous gold knobs instead. So pretty against that coral! Take a closer look on her blog Phoenix Restoration.

June 16, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

10 In laundry rooms

Laundry Disguise for Wandering Eyes

One thing I miss about my old house is that the laundry room was upstairs, near the bedrooms. Doesn’t that make sense? In our new house, the laundry room is a tiny little room you have to walk through to get in or out of the garage. It’s nowhere near the bedrooms, which is where the closets are, which is where our clothes live. I often think I would like to have my washer and dryer IN my closet. That makes the most sense of all.

But I’m not in charge of such things, and so rooms like Tanya’s exist, which is not only a laundry room, but also a direct path to the guest bathroom and adjacent to the kitchen. Probability of guests catching a glimpse of your dirty laundrythings: HIGH. But not now! She has masterfully averted unwanted attention with a set of stylish curtains attached to the ceiling for maximum hideyness. Plus they are just really darn good looking.

A fresh coat of white paint brightened up the space too, and you can see all the details on her blog Dans le Townhouse.

June 16, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

10 In decor/ kiddie/ miscellaneous

All the small things.

Hey party people, happy Friday! Or FRYday, if you could get a good look at my shoulders and back. I am a terrifying shade of hot pink, thanks to my day-o-fun at the waterpark yesterday. And I put sunscreen on four times! FOUR TIMES! 80 SPF! What brand, you ask? It was Bullfrog. More like Bullcrap.

Anyway, if the blistering rays of summer have kept you indoors lately, here is a little roundup of simple projects you can do in the comfort of your own shady and air-conditioned home. How about making a coat rack out of an old oar? Enjoy the idea of summer without, you know, going outside. Isn’t it charming? From Caitlin at The Picket Fence Projects.

Ronda wanted a fancy box to hang her keys, but found that they were selling online for up to $100. No thankies. She fixed up this $2 thrift store box with paper and a new door she made herself out of scrap trim. (I’m kind of dying to know what the “mini me” key goes to). See it at Batchelors Way.

Beck liked everything about this chalkboard/mail holder, other than it’s aggressive orange stain and that funky-and-not-in-a-good-way decorative cut-out on top. She hacked it off and replaced it with simple trim and a soft yellow, and it looks brand new. Check it out on her blog Beckwith’s Treasures.

“Wait a minute,” you say. “You said these were going to be small projects Lindsey. I can’t redo a dresser inside my house!” Hey now. I wouldn’t lead you astray. Of course you can. That’s because this dresser is actually a jewelry box! I think. Beck calls it a tabletop dresser? Who knows. Anyway, it’s handy for holding small items, and it looks a heckuvalot better than it used to. See it also at Beckwith’s Treasures.

Are your wall hangings … wimpy? Need something beefier to fill up your walls? Don’t chuck them and buy something bigger! Embiggen them yourself like Christy at Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer did with this formerly miniscule mirror. She simply painted it black, then mounted it on a large piece of plywood she had painted and framed. Love!

And finally, if you have some random boxes lying around, give them a unified look like these from Jennifer at Dimples and Tangles. She wanted the look of stacked lacquered boxes without the crazy price tag, so she sprayed hers a high gloss green and added a couple decorative pieces (one is a Christmas ornament!) to finish them off in style.

Happy weekend friend!

June 13, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

5 In tables/dressers

Won’t you gray a while?

Earlier today I featured a gray and white kitchen makeover with some gray and white kitchen chairs, so why stop the train now? Here comes some more!

This before cabinet was so unspecial, I literally forgot what it looked like the instant I scrolled past it. I had to scroll back up to refresh my (two-seconds old) memory. It’s worth remembering now though! Another stellar job from Shanna at Restoration Redoux.

Christina also rescued this cabinet that had overstayed it’s rust-colored rice-papered welcome. Nothing a little bit of white paint can’t fix. (Make that a lot of white paint, it took at least three coats to cover it!) She also added new hardware and replaced the rice-paper with some groovy cool fabric, and you can see more on her blog Operation Home.

June 12, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In kitchen/dining

Waterparks, and Hearts and …

Heaven help me, I am taking four kids to a waterpark by myself today. These types of things stress me to the max. If you happen to be at a waterpark in Mesa and see someone huddled over a bag of damp towels, squirting sunscreen on random passersby and weeping, it’s probably me. Say hi!

In makeover news, I have a lovely kitchen to share from Dena, who is a makeover-machine. I’ve featured her several times now; you can see those here and here. I love her fresh style, and I love the fact that she’s a little bit off-kilter. Anyone who names their blog Hearts and Sharts has to be, right?

Anyway, this is such a great change! Everything looks so cohesive and calm now. Plus, take a look at those gray and white kitchen chairs back there. Want to see what they used to look like? Of course you do.