Better After

From Depressed to Dignified

“Are your stairs … frowning at me?” That was the first impression people got from this home, where this sad staircase was the first thing they saw. You wouldn’t greet your guests with a scowl, so don’t let your house do it either!

Michelle at Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust came to the rescue by reviving the whole thing with new carpet and woodwork. Aren’t those newel posts swell? The more I look at it, the more I can see went into it, wow. Great job Michelle!

Have you entered the Custom Art Giveaway from Nine Red yet? Do it here!

February 18, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

266 In Uncategorized

Nine Red Custom Art Giveaway!

By now you are probably very familiar with Jesse from Nine Red. I feature him just about every other week. He’s amazingballoons.

But are you familiar with the fact that he has a passion for string-art? And it’s grown beyond a hobby because he’s been selling them like hotcakes? And he wants to give away a customized piece of string-art to one lucky Better After reader?

Yay, right!?

String-art used to be all the rage way back in the day, and lately it’s making a big comeback. Need a string-art refresher? Here’s a little look at what Jesse is currently offering in his Etsy shop, Nine Red:

I love them! Perfect for a kid’s room, or when you want to make everyone else at a baby shower feel jealous of you and the fabulously creative and thoughtful gift you brought.

All of Jesse’s designs are fully customizable, from the font, to the colors, to the wood.

And the name, of course. But you probably knew that.

But! It doesn’t have to be a name at all. It could be a word, an initial, or even a design. Here are just a few of several other options he offers, and you can check out his entire shop here for more great ideas.

Plus, Jesse is such a nice dude, he’d be happy to work with you and any of your ideas to get your piece customized exactly the way you envision it.

So! Are you excited for a chance to win? I am! Only … I can’t win … but I’m excited FOR you.

Entering is easy! Enter up to FOUR times by:

Leaving a Comment Here!

Liking Nine Red on Facebook

Liking Better After on Facebook

Visiting the Nine Red blog!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck friend, I hope you win. Giveaway ends a week from today! Have a great weekend.

February 15, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

12 In tables/dressers/ wood

Farm Fresh

If you are the kind of person who ignores what I write up here and scrolls down to look at the pictures first, well, welcome back. I assume you’ve already looked at the pictures and returned up here to see what I had to say about this table makeover which is obviously NOT even the same table. Maybe you don’t even read this at all, and you are the person who is going to leave the comment that will say “Ummm, that first one is NOT even the same table.” Siiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

It actually is the same table! JoAnn liked her sturdy table well enough, but really wasn’t digging the rolled edge and fancy legs. So her husband just trimmed off the tabletop edge with his circular saw and built new legs out of 4x4s. A little paint and stain, and she has a brand new look on the same ol’ table. Check it out on her blog DIY Maven.

And here’s another farmhouse remix from one of my faves: Jesse at Nine Red. He is always coming up with something new and creative, and has such a knack for color. You may even notice his hutch makeover in the background. I love how he got down to the original wood finish and let it peek through the triangles. Triangles are totally the hip new shape now now, did you hear? It’s true. Someday it will be your turn, parallelogram. Someday.

PS: Come back later today for a great giveaway from Jesse himself!

February 15, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

7 In tables/dressers

TV Pride

A couple of days ago, I showed you a solution for what to do with your big honkin’ TV armoire now that TVs are much slimmer. But where are you supposed to stick your skinny new TV? I’m so glad you asked. Here are a couple ideas to feast your eyeballs upon now:

Allyson at Domestic Superhero got her husband a new TV for his birthday, but after spending, I don’t know, DAYS getting it mounted on the wall above their fireplace, she took one long look at it and hated it. Too high, wrong angle, take it down, sorry hon. So she found this broken down thrift store dresser and DIYed it up as a cheerful media console instead. Handy hint: paint a board to match and lay it across the bottom of the open drawers so they don’t look so drawer-y!

Brie at Darling Doodles did something very similar with this tired dresser too. It was the perfect size to fit in the corner and replace her old particle board TV stand. She and her husband restored it by rebuilding some of the drawers and adding a new kickplate, not to mention a fabulous paint and stencil job that is so lovely I’d probably stare at that longer than I’d watch the TV!

February 14, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In bedroom/ chairs/ottomans/seating

Shut the Barn Door

Happy Valentine’s Day to you! I thought it would be cool to do a V-Day roundup of all red makeovers or something, but guess what? I didn’t. Ran out of mojo. Ate a cookie and fell asleep on the living room rug. Please forgive me. But, I do have this mini-chair makeover from Better After reader Toni, who plans to switch out the fabric for every holiday. Isn’t that sweet? It really would be simple to do a quick fabric switcheroo on something so small, and kids would LOVE it. I know mine would anyway.

And here is something that is not red, nor Valentine-themed but I freaking LOVE it, so that counts. It’s a DIY barn-door headboard. And it’s fannnntastic. My son was even impressed. He said “I like those lights, but wouldn’t it hurt to sit up against that?” And I was like, “Compared to what they were already sitting against? You know, the WALL?” And he was like. “Oh. Yeah.” And I was like “MOM WINS AGAIN!” Just kidding. I only said that in my head.

From the talented Ashley at Little Yellow Barn.

Today’s the final day of the Silhouette promotion!

Check it out here, and don’t forget to use promo code AFTER at checkout.

February 14, 2013 By Lindsey @ Better After

16 In other rooms

The Mama Cave

If only there was a thought bubble above Eden’s husband in this before picture. What do you suppose he is thinking? “Is there still time to back out?” “I’m not sure but I’m pretty sure this carpet came from Chuck E. Cheese.” “Gosh, those clouds on the ceiling look so real. On Opposite Day.“

Turns out he was thinking “I love my wife sooo much that I am going to turn this clown boudoir into the closet of her dreams! And truthfully, she needs it, because she’s kind of a shoe hoarder, but even more truthfully, I enable her so it’s OK, and gosh darn it, she deserves it. Also, it has no closet and it’s right off the master bedroom, so it’s perfect! Squeeaal!” I’m paraphrasing here. But it went something like that.

Check out Eden’s blog DIYHer for a lot more pictures of her “Mama Cave”, and prepare to be jealous. It’s like a department store in there!