Better After

10 In My House

Moooooooving

Hello! Sorry to get your hopes up if you were looking for some better afters here. I’m in the throes of moving today, which is the WORST. THE WORST!! It gives me such major anxiety. Anyway. I have no desk, no Internet, and I don’t know where anything is. I ate leftover enchiladas for breakfast using a spoon from Yogurtini, to give you an idea of the situation.

Right now I’m blogging from my phone on the floor. Mostly to avoid the act of moving. Shhh, don’t tell my husband.

I plan to be back to normal next week and here’s hoping that I can get my house put together enough to share a little tour soon, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Come visit me on Instagram in the meantime! You know, if you’re into that kind of thing. Happy weekend friend!

May 30, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

7 In living room

It’s all about the Hamilton’s baby.

Have you ever brought something new and fun into your house, and then sadly realized that its wonderful newness gives everything else The Blahs? Like, say you buy a snazzy new rug. But as soon as you roll it out, you discover that now you hate the way your big heavy coffee table hides most of it. And your frumpy old loveseat can’t even deal with all that snazz. It’s not even the right color anyway. And come to think of it, neither is your entertainment center.

What’s a girl (or guy) to do?

Well. You could just buy different stuff.

That’s one solution.

“Hey, that’s not very doable,” you say.

And I say, Poppycock! Elaine did exactly that, and spent a whopping $10 on this entire room refresh. TEN DOLLARS! One more time. TEN DOLLARS!!

Go see how she did it on her blog Visual Meringue.

May 29, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

9 In outdoors

Grills Just Want to Have Fun

It’s that time of year! Time to dust of the grill, hose down the patio furniture, and get outside and enjoy that beautiful weather! (Or, in my case, time to hunker down next to the AC in your underwear for the next four months). But if your patio season is just beginning, take some inspiration from Elisa at Emodel Your Home.

She turned this formerly dingy patio into a outdoor kitchen, nay, a backyard oasis! She’s got a bar, a built-in grill, plenty of seating, and she warmed the whole space up with curtains, pillows and decor. I could spend a whole summer out there! (In reality, I will be trying not to collapse from heat stroke when I walk from my mailbox to my house. Feel sorry for me and send Otter Pops).

May 28, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

8 In tables/dressers/ wood

Woodn’t you?

There’s something to be said about a quality refinishing job. That something is: “Wooooo!” (There’s probably a more eloquent something, but that’s the best I’ve got so far. Feel free to chime in).

Better After reader Hilary had high hopes for this $30 Craigslist dresser, even though the previous owner thought it was a lost cause thanks to its multiple oil stains and scratches galore. Plus it had thin veneer top, and if you’ve ever messed around with those, you know they are next to impossible to repair. But what the heck. Why not try to salvage that beautiful solid wood first?

She veeeeery carefully sanded off the previous finish and stain, then did two coats of stain and many coats of poly to achieve this rejuvenated look. New knobs from World Market to top it off, and she’s in business! (The business of NOT selling it, that is. This one’s a keeper!)

May 27, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

8 In chairs/ottomans/seating

Sofa, So Good.

Rita’s sofa looked like it had just sneezed really hard.

Or like someone had hurt its feelings.

Either way, the poor gal needed a hug. But Rita thought all it really needed was a fresh row of cushions to replace the super sad ones. Way more helpful than a hug! She went even further by stapling the skirt up and under the frame to show a little leg, and just like that, this sofa has officially gotten her groove back.

Check it out on her blog This Sorta Old Life.

May 27, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

11 In Uncategorized

Getting Floored with Tarkett

This post brought to you by Tarkett NA. All opinions are 100% mine.

As you may know, we are in the process of building a new home. It’s always been my dream to design and build a custom home from the ground up, and to choose every last little detail exactly the way I want it.

Buuuuut, that is not exactly the case here.

Since we are going through a building company in our neighborhood, a lot of the choices are already made for us. I get to choose SOME things, but I definitely don’t get to choose ALL the things. For instance, I got to choose my interior paint color – out of five approved shades of beige.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m super-pumped. So excited!! We’ve never had a brand-spanking new home before, so we’re thrilled. But there are some things (like the paint) that we already know will be changing out sometime down the road.

Another one of those things is the flooring. The home comes standard with basic carpet and 12″ tile. (I had a dizzying array of THREE color choices!) There’s an option to upgrade, but that would have cost around four times the amount it would take to hire someone ourselves. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. So, blah carpet it is. For now.

However, when the time comes, I’ll have it all figured out, thanks to a handy little tool I’ve just discovered. If you are considering new flooring in the near future, you will love it too!

Tarkett Flooring, a national brand available at over 10,000 retailers, has taken the guesswork out of flooring with iSelect. What is iSelect you say? Thought you would never ask.

iSelect is the premier collection of Tarkett’s ‘FiberFloor’ line of luxury vinyl tile, organized into six easy-to-shop palettes. It’s easy to find the design palette that suits your style.

Pick the palatte that screams your name, and all the other options fall away. You’re left with a selection of flooring designs, where each option complements the others, making it easy to coordinate a whole house.

My favorite of these is Evening Receptions …

… a color family “filled with drama and deep dark hues of cool grays, blue-based browns and blacks that invoke a swank, retro feel that’s still contemporary.” Oooh!

Here’s the fun part. From there, you can upload a picture of your room to RoomVue, their online room visualizer. It’s so fun! I’ve been playing around with the kitchen/dining area of the home we’re renting now. As you can see, it has one of my biggest pet peeves: split flooring. I hate how this forces you to separate the rooms along that exact line.

Plus, the carpet is way too close to the kitchen/fridge/eating areas and it’s as gross as you can imagine. If it were up to me, this would all be one continuous flooring: Here’s a few fun looks I’ve played with using the RoomVue:

I could have played on there all day! Tarkkett also has a design gallery full of Pinterest-like rooms to get your inspiration going. Check it out, and if that’s not enough, you can also chat online with professional designers too.

For more information you can …

Find a Tarkett retailer near you!

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