Better After

Crib Notes

Amber loved this $300 crib, but not the part where it costs $300. So, she scoured Craigslist until she found a nearly identical crib for a mere $100. It was a little roughed up, so she gave it a custom chalk paint job, and then roughed THAT up. If you’re going to have a roughed up crib, you’re going to rough it up on your terms pardner. Then she sealed it all with a clear coat to keep Jr. safe.

I love the distressed look here, because have you seen how much damage a wee baby can do to a crib? It’s uncanny. See more on Amber’s blog Dimples & Pig Tales.

And what to do once Jr. has outgrown the crib? Sure, you could turn around and sell it again, but what if you are sentimentally attached? What if you can’t bear to part with a part of your baby’s first years? Why not try something like what Jessica at J. Paris Designs did, and turn it into an art desk? What?! So creative. I feel like making art and building a fort all at once!

Win a $1000 Shopping Spree from Krrb and Apartment Therapy!

Details HERE.

May 7, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

2 In living room

Flooring Adoring

I think the number one rule for making your home seem bigger is this: unified flooring! Don’t you hate when builders chop a room in half by changing the flooring at some imaginary point where they decide the kitchen should end and the living room begin?

Even though Rene’ was already in the throes of removing her flooring here, you can still see how tiny the kitchen space looked thanks to that boundary. But no more, pal! With shiny new hardwood floors throughout, the whole space blends together so nicely now. And I also love how she turned that wall-o-awkwardness into a focal point with a subtle but stunning stencil. Oooooooh.

Check it out on her blog The Domestic Lady.

PS: We have a My Own Art giveaway winner! Congrats Tiffany Patterson!
I will be in touch ASAP!

Win a $1000 Shopping Spree from Krrb and Apartment Therapy!

Details HERE.

May 6, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

8 In decor/ other rooms

Gallery of Stars

A friend recently called me up to see if I could come over and help her decorate her living room. She had just moved into a new house and was feeling overwhelmed by all the big blank spaces, but she was also feeling nervous about hammering holes into her brand new walls. Now, I’m no professional decorator, but I am pretty darn good at being a hammer-holes-into-your-walls advocate, so I cheered her along, and we came up with a pretty sweet gallery wall that we were both excited about.

Moral: don’t be scurred to poke holes in your walls. If the thought of hanging a bunch of stuff on your big bare walls freaks you out, my advice is to do it anyway! Then take it all down after a week or so, and see how much you miss it. I bet you’ll miss it.

Here are a couple of great gallery wall makeovers for your personal inspiration and enjoyment now!

I love the unity of the yellow frames on this wall from Holly at Adventures Of An Almost 40 Year Old Intern. And that lone red frame too, what a rebel. Major improvement on the light fixture too.

Or how about this death-defying labor of love from Better After reader JoAnne, who used “a scaffold and lots of anti-anxiety techniques” to take her wall from ho-hum to hoo-boy! I love the unity again here with all the wood frames.

And lastly, this amazing gallery wall from my lifestyle guru, (I can call her my guru even though we’ve never actually met, right?) Jaimee Rose. Jaimee is a gallery wall aficionado. Jamiee teaches an advanced gallery wall course in college. Martha Stewart asks Jaimee for gallery wall advice. Ok, I made some of those up.

But Jaimee is not satisfied with just nailing up a random collection of stuff; she wants her walls to reflect the people and personalities they surround, like a museum. This particular wall contains her grandmother’s hat and pages from her journal, and her fiance’s old varsity letter. So inspiring! Check out her nine steps for hanging a gallery wall of awesomeness on her blog Jaimee Rose.

May 3, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

10 In desks/hutches/buffets/ wood

Mellowed the Yellow

Wood lovers, avert your eyes! Yellow lovers, prepare to ogle! Helen was commissioned by a client to pick out and paint the perfect shade of yellow on this old buffet. Talk about pressure. But Helen is a pro and didn’t even panic when the color she picked out ended up looking less like dandelions in the afternoon sunlight and more like Big Bird driving a school bus in a raincoat. REALLY yellow, I’m trying to say. No biggie, she just whipped up a custom shade on the spot and saved the day.

See the whole story on her blog Picked and Painted.

May 2, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

7 In office

Office Makeover: from conception to delivery!

Understatement alert: pregnancy can make a woman do crazy things. For instance, I ate half a tub of sour cream everyday when I was pregnant with my daughter. Sour cream! I don’t even like that when I’m normal. Laura blames her glowing green before office on a double dose of pregnancy hormones, since she was pregnant with twins at the time. And you can practically see that a pregnant woman planned this room. With the sweet curvy furniture against the bright green, you could call this scheme Pickles and Ice Cream!

But she eventually toned it down to the soft serene shade that it is today, and it looks fan-flipping-tastic. Check it out on her blog Top This, Top That.

May 2, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In tables/dressers

Golden Leg-end

Do you like the ‘dipped’ trend, but feel it might be a bit too modern for you? Phooey, I say. Check out how great it looks on this traditional set of nesting tables from Ashley at Dirt Stains and Paint. Funny story: they aren’t actually dipped at all! That’s the original gold paint on the bottom of the legs; she simply taped them off and did a coat of Rustoleum Slate Blue spray paint over everything else. I love how much they shine in contrast now. Lovely!