Better After

4 In living room

Lord of the Things

I hope you had a fabulous Easter weekend! For some reason, Easter sneaks up on me every year. Probably because it’s always different on the calendar, and I never figure out when it actually is until about 10 minutes beforehand. The Easter bunny had a hard time filling baskets with the scanty selection of goods Wal-Mart had to offer on Easter Eve, is what I’m sayin.

Korrie at Red Hen Home had the same problem. She was so unprepared, she still had her Christmas tree up. Ha! I kid, of course. This is the before shot of her family room, back in it’s beige glory days. It was due for an upgrade, so she decided to go with a “vintage geek” theme. What does that mean? It means she paid homage to her husband’s obsession with Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, while managing to keep the whole look cool and classy. Nicely done! Check out her blog for more details.

April 21, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

12 In fashion

Fashion Friday: Skirt Style!

Hey gang! It’s time for a Fashion Friday! I always love these, I don’t know why I don’t post them more often. If you’ve got any refashion submissions (or any before and after submissions!) to share, you can always send them my way at betterafter(at)live.com.

Today, I’m feeling skirty-flirty. It’s a thing. You will be feeling it too, after your eyeballs behold these super fab skirt/dress refashions starting with …

Kristen at Twenty Paper Links. Before, this shirt was suitable for … a renaissance festival maybe? But after a little snip here and there, it looks less like she’s headed to a joust, and more like she’s on her way to mingle with all the hip kids at Coachella.

Katrina at Offsquare wasn’t feeling this batwing shirt. Frumpadelic. So she stitched up the sleeves and turned it into a batwing skirt instead! Love it! Check out her blog for the how-to.

I’ll bet you’ll never guess what Andrea at Refashion Co-op turned these t-shirts into. Ok, I bet you will: skirts. How is a pattern that is absolutely uncute as a shirt look so adorable as a skirt? One of the universe’s many mysteries.

Beth at The Renegade Seamstress fearlessly chopped off the top of this dress and made it a skirt instead. I like it sooooo much better as a skirt, how about you? With that sassy belt? Yes. She’s a doll.

And one more from Katrina at Offsquare. Oh man, I would love to accompany her to the thrift store and see how her mind works. We’d be skimming through the racks together, and then I’d jump out wearing this pioneer prom dress as a joke, and she’d be like, “No, you’re on to something here.” And I’d be like, “Katrina, be serious!” And she’d be like, “I’m buying it if you aren’t.” And I’d be like, “Well, I can’t sew, so go ahead. And good luck.” And then she’d surprise me with this:

Isn’t it fabulous?! Great job ladies. Remember, if you have anything to share for Fashion Friday, I’d love to see it! Send to betterafter(at)live.com. And have a great weekend friends!!

April 18, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

13 In kiddie

Kid-a-riffic

Trying to keep this short and sweet because I’m having this super rad computer issue where I’m going along just fine, typeity type typing, and then the whole system rudely powers down out of nowhere and I lose everything I’ve been working on, and I want to punch my computer in the face.

So please enjoy this adorable kid kitchen from Better After reader Heather, who had been on the hunt for the perfect piece of furniture for over a year. She finally found it, where else, behind a dirty curtain at a flea market held in an abandoned sock factory. What, did you think I was going to say Craigslist?

She got it for a steal at $10, and turned it into the adorable play set you see before you. Is that a tiny cow in the window? So cute!

In other news: we have a BeddingStyle giveaway winner! Congrats Sarah H.! Check your email!

PS: In addition to my super rad computer being un-rad, I’m also having a problem with my feed. If you are an email subscriber, you probably haven’t been receiving any emails all month! Yikes! I’m working on that now. (If only I could work more than six minutes at a time before my computer shuts itself off). Hhnnnnrg! *grunt of frustration**

April 17, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

7 In tables/dressers

Chronicles of Hernia

They say nothing in life is free, but ‘they’ obviously don’t check the free section of Craigslist often. Because if they did, they would have seen this old dresser that Andrea scored for zip zilch zero dollars. Sure, she had to drive out to the middle of nowhere where it had been sitting in a ditch for two days and load into the back of her car by herself, but a hernia is a small price to pay for the perfect little TV stand, right?

Read more on Andrea’s blog Arch, and find out what she discovered in the bottom drawers!

April 16, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

3 In living room/ miscellaneous

Loss of Gloss

If you have an ugly fireplace, but also have a complex about painting stone, I am here to save the day! (Now pretend I’m leaping into the room wearing a cape with like, a picture of paint can and a fireplace on it. I’m a very specific pretend super-hero).

First, let’s take a closer look at that ugly fireplace. If it’s anything like Better After reader Lacey’s, that’s good news! Look closely. That reddish hue is NOT a natural brick color. It’s just some glossy maroon paint. Woof! Anything’s better than that. Get out your white paint, and while you’re at it, why not beef up that mantle with something substantial to top off the look.

Much better!

April 16, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

23 In kitchen/dining

go ’round and ’round

Hi friends. If you’ve noticed me being a bit sporadic in the blogging department, here’s why: I have a newborn and he is kicking my butt.

Also, did I mention we’re building a house? I don’t think I did. I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to keep you out of the loop. But we’re building a house! It’s not a crazy custom home or anything to wow you with the details of, just a nice house in a nice neighborhood, which I’m very excited about, and it’s way ahead of schedule, which is freaking me out because I just found out that we will be moving in in less than 40 days and I am 0% prepared. Did you know that moving is the worst? I think I once compared it unfavorably to being in labor while having a root canal.

But I am really looking forward to being back in our own home and get my creative juices flowing again. I haven’t done any fun projects or makeovers or anything in a long time, mainly thanks to that butt-kicking newborn, but also because our current living situation is temporary, which is a motivation killer for me.

Man, one year ago I had exactly no plans to sell my house, build a house, and have a baby. It’s crazy what can happen in one short year. Sometimes I feel like I’m trapped on a speeding bus, watching life whiz by faster and faster, and I just want the bus to slow down! Slow down! And there’s a bomb on the bus! And Sandra Bullock is driving the bus! No wait — different bus.

In short: life is great, and kind of kicking my butt at the same time.

So … enough about me. Tell me something going on in your life. Because we’re all on this crazy bus together. The bus of life. That sounds like the name of a song. The Bus of Life. It’s probably a really romantic ballad. I’m going to shut up now.

Believe it or not, I do have a makeover to share! It’s a stunning kitchen with butcher-block counters, vintage light fixtures, and a dreamy aqua backsplash. From Kaylor at Fisherman’s Wife Furniture.