Better After

14 In decor

Skiing the light

Got a bunch of old water-skis laying around and taking up space? Who doesn’t!? Well, ok, I don’t, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy this super-creative wall lantern idea from Deb at Lake Girl Paints. Just as fabulous as all the oar-art you see floating around the webosphere these days, and perfect if you happen to have yourself a summer cottage on the lake. I don’t have that either. We’ll just have to crash Deb’s pad, I’m sure she won’t mind.

Look, a side-by-side! I’ve been trying to figure out a system with the side-by-sides, really, it just depends on if the pictures and the projects lend themselves to it. So I probably won’t do it for every single post, but I’ll do my best to put one up if the photos and angles work out. Sound cool?

Hey, did I ever tell you my one water-skiing story? It goes like this: Try to water-ski. Fail. Try again. Fail. Try again. Fail. Try again. Fail. Try again. Fail. Try again. SUCCEED! Everyone watching from the boat gets so excited that I’m finally not failing that their excessive cheering causes the driver of the boat to stop, thinking I have failed again. The line goes slack, and I immediately stop succeeding at water-skiing. Never manage to succeed again. The end.

July 17, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

4 In bedroom/ kiddie

Aqua Thoughts

Ashley had a family of five in a three bedroom house, which meant her oldest daughter was sick of sharing a room with her little sister. I feel her pain! I am the oldest sibling too, and never got to enjoy my own room until I left for college. (Not that sharing a room with you was totally unenjoyable, Tori. It’s just that I was a compulsive neat-freak and you were … not. And you always got bloody noses in the middle of the night without realizing it, which was a terrifying sight to wake up to, like every day. I think I’m still having nightmares).

ANYWAY. Ashley understood the feeling too, so she moved heaven and earth to find a space for her darling daughter to dwell. And by heaven and earth, I mean the piles of stuff in her utility room. That’s right, this really is the SAME ROOM! A little elbow grease, some new flooring, and a fresh coat of paint later, her daughter has a perfectly little cozy place to call her own.

And here’s another girly bedroom redo, this one from Cait at My Home. My Canvas. Her five-year-old daughter had outgrown the pastel pinks and needed something more vibrant to match her fun-loving personality. In came a bold aqua, colorful bedding and accessories and a chandelier I’d hang in my own bedroom any day. Check out her blog for all the details, right down to the custom light switch cover!

July 16, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

8 In bathroom/ innovative idea/ wood

Icebox, Icebox, Baby

Rachel knew she had found a treasure in this old icebox. She also found a bunch of beer cans and about a gazillion years worth of grime, water damage, and rot. Still, even though she had no idea what to do with this thing, or how to salvage it, she knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime find that couldn’t be passed up. Not to mention it was free! So she took this little piece of history home and waited for over a year for inspiration to strike.

Inspiration struck like this: “Knock knock.” Who’s there? “Inspiration.” Inspiration who? “Bathroom vanity!” So, it was decided, but it wasn’t smooth sailing from there. The whole process involved nearly dismantling the entire thing, reusing the decent scraps of wood where she could, hodge-podging the drawers, balusters and marble top from random sources and turning it all into the beautiful vanity you see before you today. Whew! I’m tired just typing that! See the whole story on her blog The Olde Farmhouse On Windmill Hill.

July 16, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

3 In bedroom

Redhead backtracks on green.

Julie’s blog ain’t called Redhead Can Decorate for nothing. Obviously, she can decorate. It’s not like her before bedroom was furnished with milk crates, boy band posters, and an old sleeping bag pretending to be drapes or anything. It was just very green. And with all the black furniture and rich colors, it felt very heavy too. I can’t think of a single good thing that is green and heavy, other than maybe a bag of money or something. Or a pool table? What are we even talking about?

Julie’s bedroom, yes! It looks amazing now that she brightened it up with a crisp and clean wall color and neutral accessories. My favorite: that outdoor rug posing as an indoor rug! No one has to know!

Want to see more from Julie? Check out her amazing kitchen makeover that I featured last year here.

July 15, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

2 In kitchen/dining/ tables/dressers

Lamps and Revamps

Sheesh! I just realized July is already halfway over! This summer has been such a blur. I was supposed to have let you know by now about Better After’s annual Ugly Lamp Contest coming up in August! For those of you who are new ’round here, the Ugly Lamp Contest is … well, exactly what it sounds like. You submit an original picture of an ugly lamp, then the ugliest of the ugly lamps will be chosen to face-off in several rounds of battle, and the crowned champion, as voted on by you readers, will receive the coveted title of Ugliest Lamp of All, plus a fabulous yet-to-be-determined prize.

So! Be on the lookout now for some insanely ugly lamps. I don’t care where you find them, at the thrift store, in your great aunt’s basement, in the dentist’s waiting room, just as long as it’s an original picture, taken by you. Send it my way at betterafter(at)live(dot)com with the subject line “Ugly Lamp,” and you are all set!

See last year’s final round here to see what level of ugly we’re talking about.

And in things-that-are-not-at-all-ugly news, check out this dining room set makeover from Kirsten at Made For A King. She found it for a mere $20 on Craigslist, and decided that a weathered gray and distressed white would fit this farmhouse style much better than the glossy orange finish it was previously sporting. She first painted the top in Graphite by Annie Sloan, but quickly decided against a totally flat finish and blended in some French Linen while it was still wet to give it a bit more dimension. Lovely!

July 15, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

12 In outdoors

HGTV OMG

How is your week going? How are things looking here? I’m still camping, so I really have no idea what has been going on with the Blogger to WordPress switch. That’s the beauty of scheduled posts! Here’s hoping that when I return everything will be in its proper order and there won’t be like, some mail-order-bride website here instead. And I’m also hoping to get caught up on my emails, yikes. I do apologize if you’ve submitted something to me recently, I’m a few weeks behind! Arr, summer, you kick my butt every time.

But happy Friday to you, and please enjoy this makeover from Teresa, who actually gives herself no credit for this redo. In fact, you may have already seen it, if you are a fan of the HGTV show Curb Appeal. I love that show. Too bad whenever I turn on HGTV it’s nothing but a House Hunter’s International marathon. EVERY! TIME!

Anyway, Teresa – a big architecture buff – couldn’t have been more thrilled when the fabulously talented and insanely handsome architect John Gidding proposed this homage to Gerrit Reitveld’s Schroder House. Or, in other words, wowwwww.

But even if you don’t have HGTV knocking on your door, you can still make a massive impact on the exterior of your home just by upgrading your landscaping. What an amazing difference that alone makes!