Better After

5 In bedroom

The Young and the Rustic

I’ve been promising my three boys a bedroom makeover at the end of the summer, but what the heck, summer was like four seconds long. We’re already gearing up for back-to-school shopping and meet-the-teacher night. Somehow in the blur of recent weeks I dropped the ball and a big batch of boy bedrooms did not get made nor madeover.

I’m sure they don’t REALLY care; all they really wanted was to rearrange sleeping conditions. No one wants to sleep in the same room with the terrorist toddler, I have no idea why that is. Perhaps it’s his banshee-like shrieking fits capable of raising the dead, or his penchant for stripping off his diaper and peeing through the slats of his crib onto whatever happens to be in the ‘splash zone’ as we like to call it, who really knows?

In any case, I’ll just tell them I was just waiting for inspiration to strike, because I think it finally has. Behold:

How much in love are you with this rustic boy bedroom makeover, because I am in love so hard. It’s so effortlessly cool. Nothing is overwrought or fussy, the colors are simple and muted, yet there’s enough dynamic detail to really make it special.

Suddenly I find myself wishing I was a tween boy, or that I had a poster of a bison butt at the very least.

Head on over to Jen’s blog City Farmhouse to see much much more!

July 25, 2016 By Lindsey @ Better After

18 In decor

Macramayhem!

Earlier this week I mentioned that macrame was having somewhat of a comeback, and was surprised by the heated responses I received. Turns out many of you have harbored a burning hatred toward this humble fiber art for a long time. Well. If there’s one thing I’ll never back away from, it’s an opportunity to convince someone of something that I’m not entirely convinced of myself.

Did I know I had an secret macrame-fan beast inside of me? No. But I’m about to let her out. Here we go.

Oh, so you don’t like macrame, huh?

WHAT ABOUT THIS??

I mean. Admit it. That’s cool. Hang it on your wall while wearing a gauzy muumuu and you’ll feel like a bohemian pixie princess in no time. This was hand-crafted by Cindy at Niroma Studio, see more of her mind-blowing macrame art here.

STILL NOT CONVINCED???

What about a simpler version of a wall-hanging?

Who could be annoyed by this?! It’s lovely. Easy breezy. It’s marketed as a wedding backdrop, but there are no rules when it comes to macrame. Hang it in the bathroom if you want. Wear it around your waist. String it across your front door so your neighbors can see how unquestionably cool you are. You do you.

Available here.

Are you feeling it a little bit more? Are you at least a macramaybe?

Perhaps this hammock swing will tip you over the edge:

Anyone who doesn’t want to lazily swing in this for the rest of their life is a monster.

You’re no monster. Get yourself one here.

I know you’re feeling it by now. You have to be. You know what else you should be feeling?

This incredible macrame rug under your feet. But too bad you can’t, because it isn’t available anymore. It’s all sold out. That’s what you get for being a late-adapter. Let this be a lesson to you.

But I don’t want the thought of missing out on macrame to haunt you and your sleepless nights, as I’m sure it will. Hang this modern macrame dream-catcher above your bed to help.

modern dream-catcher

Someone was telling me a story recently that their child was having recurring bad dreams, so they decided to hang up a dream-catcher not thinking it would actually work, and it actually worked. (Insert Home Alone cat face emoji). That’s the power of macrame. Let that be another lesson to you.

Until next time,

Lindsey Allen

McMayor of Macrametown

July 15, 2016 By Lindsey @ Better After

0 In tables/dressers

Give it a Rast

I’m a huge fan of projects that aren’t too time consuming. I just don’t have the attention span. I live in 2016 and I expect instant gratification. Is that so wrong? Don’t answer that. Not because I don’t want to hear it, but because I’m already bored of this conversation and I have Pokemon to catch.

So here’s a quick Rast hack for your eyeballs to enjoy. I always love a good Rast makeover, and this one I especially love because it can be done in a matter of minutes. Many, many minutes probably, but still … minutes.

Shonee at Hawthorne and Main is the mastermind behind this makeover, don’t you love it?

I love how she left the wood raw on the drawers, which not only saves time, but compliments the tribal nature of the stencil and lets the grain become part of the design. Adding feet to the base also made a big difference. Even a few inches of height really goes a long way to elevate a look, ask any woman in high heels.

I’m pretty confident you could recreate this look in an afternoon, as long as you don’t have to drive to Ikea and buy a Rast and then go home and assemble it first. If that’s the case, plan for at least several weeks to a year.

July 14, 2016 By Lindsey @ Better After

7 In kitchen/dining

Time Traveling Trends

What if I told you I had a dining room to share with you that featured psychedelic wallpaper, a hanging macrame planter, and an oversized poster of Stevie Nicks? You would probably say “Sounds pretty wild, Lindsey. I can’t wait to see the after.”

Don’t you know me well enough by now?

That IS the after!!

This formerly staid and very maroon dining room has time-traveled back to 1975 and returned with a new take on some old trends. Let’s discuss.

Wallpaper: having a major comeback
Macrame: hotter than ever.
Tropical print fabric: no duh
Stevie Nicks: never not cool

So there you have it. The coolest dining room you never knew you always knew.

Now get out there and bring some other old trends back to life, why dontcha? I’m thinking … the return of sponge painting!

Actually let’s leave that one alone.

See more of this chic makeover from Casey and Savannah at Hey Wanderer.

July 13, 2016 By Lindsey @ Better After

0 In kiddie/ tables/dressers

Vintage and Vibrance

If you have a solid piece of vintage furniture, hang on to it with your grubby little hands for as long as you can. They just don’t build furniture to last like that anymore. Well, they probably do somewhere, but you aren’t going to find it for $100 on Craigslist. Or for free in your Grandma’s basement.

Vintage is where it’s at. But don’t think that just because it’s old it’s too sacred to personalize. Say it with me: It’s just furniture!

Rachel’s dresser has been on a journey, beginning with the virginal vintage finish you see here:

Then she had a daughter, and customized it with a pink ombre paint job for her nursery.

So sweet.

Then she had a son, and that old dresser birthed a new look too:

She simply sanded down the drawer fronts and stained them and added ring pulls. Such an easy change! It fits perfectly into the rustic nursery she designed for her little guy.

Out went the heavy brown paint in favor of a rich navy blue, with a few woodsy touches finish the look. Funny how the navy is also a deep, heavy color but manages to bring so much more life into the room than the brown. There’s a lesson here in vibrance, but we’ll talk about that another day.

See more of this nursery and the vintage dresser makeover on Rachel’s blog Two Wongs Make a Right.

July 11, 2016 By Lindsey @ Better After

8 In living room

Go with the faux.

What is your verdict on faux fireplaces? Are you like “faux no!” Or are you more like “faux sho!” I have a faux fireplace in my home, and I admit that it gets mixed reviews, and I’ll admit further that those mixed reviews come from myself. Some days I think it’s great. Like around Christmastime when it’s all decorated and cute. At other points in the year I look at it and feel puzzled and slightly … unnerved. What is this thing and what is it doing here and why?

Here’s the thing. I don’t love LOVE it because it just looks kinda fake. Because it is fake. If you’re unfavorable of faux fixtures for this very reason, let me show you something that might change your mind.

Wait. What were we even talking about? Because whatever it was, I’m not seeing any evidence of it in this photo. All I see is a Really McReal fireplace of Realness with a side of Reality.

The overmantle and the stacked stone surround are really what give it weight and keep it grounded. It’s not just floating in the space; it looks like it’s always been there. Lauren at Bless’er House is the mastermind behind this makeover, but that’s not all.

Once the giant TV was out of the picture, she needed something else to fill the space above the mantle. This mirror was the perfect size with a pretty shape, but it also came with an aging gold finish that was flaking off and not right for the room anyhow.

She painted it gray first, then black, using Vaseline to age it just so, and now it’s the perfect finishing touch. Gorgeousness all around. Great job Lauren!

July 8, 2016 By Lindsey @ Better After

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