Better After

247 In Uncategorized

Slipcovers With Shelley Giveaway!

So excited to share this giveaway with you today, because it’s something I’ve always wanted to have. No, not unicorn wings, today I’m giving away the ability to make slipcovers!

Shelley, the self-taught guru of slipcovers has kindly offered to give away a copy of her “Slipcovers With Shelley” DVD, (a $45 value) which is absolutely loaded with expert advice on everything you need to know to make beautiful slipcovers of your own, even if you are a novice sewer. Seamstress. Whatever.

Shelley knows her stuff. She’s been able to quit her job and make slipcovers full-time to help support her family, and she’s so busy, she’s backed up until after the new year.

You can check out more examples of Shelley’s work on her blog, and start getting inspired by all the possibilities that await you and your soon-to-be-discovered slipcovering skillz!

But wait, there’s more! Shelley is also giving away a copy of her fabulous e-book Pillow Talk, a colorful and easy-to-follow guide for creating five different types of decorative pillows.

Her step-by-step instructions make them all seem positively easy, like, I’m never not using a zipper again. I might even venture into making my own piping. Did you hear that? PIPING!

Want to enter to win? Of course you do. Entering is easy, simply leave a comment here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Can’t wait? You can always hop on over to her website to purchase either the

Slipcovers With Shelley DVD

or Pillow Talk e-book now!

Good luck friend, I hope you win! Giveaway ends Tuesday, November 13th, and is open to everyone internationally as well! Woo!

November 9, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

9 In chairs/ottomans/seating

Suitably Sittable

Hey howdy hey, I’ve got a mini chair round-up today! The chairs themselves aren’t mini. They are normal sized, as far as I can tell. It’s just a mini post. Like only five chairs, instead of fifteen, or whatever. You know.

So let’s get to it. First up is this incredibly crusty slice of dilapidation from Better After reader Diane, who found this old slipper chair in her mother-in-law’s attic. It was on its way to the dump when Diane decided she loved it enough to overlook the fact that parts of it had been eaten completely away by mice. Now that’s love. (Because love is blind. And possibly crazy). She took it to some upholstery pros and it’s looking totally sittable now!

Ok, this next one is not nearly as drastic. No mouse skeletons or hantavirus here. But I nearly fell out of my chair when I read what Ashley at The Three Of Us paid for these fabulous Danish chairs: $2.50 a piece! They only needed a bit of sanding and light coat of touch-up stain. Then she replaced the well-loved (gross) cushions with some super cool peacock fabric, and the results look worth 50 times what she paid for them.

Have you ever changed a little something in your house, like say fixed up a thrift-store chair, which got you excited enough to rearrange the living room, which forced you to find a new place for that bookcase, which caused a major re-organization of your office, which required new curtains for every room in the house? Stephanie had an experience like that with this lovely thrifted chair. See the story on her blog Sandpaper and Glue.

Ha ha, this before chair just makes me laugh! It couldn’t be begging out for a makeover any more if it actually had a mouth. How is it even standing there?! From Better After reader Melissa, who somehow saw potential here and fixed it up into a chair anyone would be proud to call their own.

This one started out like a sad clown: “I’m red! My fabric is kinda fun! I’m dead inside.” Erin aka The Impatient Gardener brought it back to life with nothing more than a fabric update, keeping the weathered patina of the original paint as-is. Check out her blog for an up-close look at the fabric, there’s more than meets the eye! It’s like polka-dots for grown ups. Love it.

November 9, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In desks/hutches/buffets

Jealousy and Deskpair

Sometimes people email me, and they’re like “Look, it’s my first ever furniture redo! Woo!” And I have to stop myself from punching myself in the face, because their “first ever furniture redo” is like, fifty thousand times better than ANY of my furniture redos.

Like this desk from Better After reader Genevieve, who writes: “Here’s a couple photos of my first ever furniture redo!” And wouldn’t you know, it’s gorgeous. Smooth and shiny, with perfect little bird knobs for an added dash of whimsy. Ugh. If I didn’t love it so much, I’d hate it.

And here’s another great desk from Virginia at Live, Love, DIY who swapped out the outdated pulls on this desk for a single sleek modern handle instead. It’s a charming mix of old and new, and looks totally fresh! (Do the kids still say ‘fresh?’ Did they ever?)

November 8, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

18 In bathroom

Tile me about it.

Better After reader Elizabeth had a teensy bathroom in an older home that she described as ‘very plain.’ Teensy bathroom, I could live with. Very plain? No thanks!

She swapped out the basic vanity for a custom furniture vanity with matching mirror and added all kinds of fabulous tile. Large hexagon tile on the floor, small hexagon tile in the shower, rectangle tile, decorative tile, so much sexy tile I’m really going to have to form some kind of support group for people like me who are inappropriately attracted to tile.

November 8, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

22 In miscellaneous

REduce REuse REcycle

As I’ve written this blog over the last three years, I’ve become somewhat of an unwitting advocate for recycling. I certainly wasn’t aiming for that, but I’m very happy to be able to do my little part for the world by helping people see the cool things that can come from reusing and re-purposing vs. tossing stuff in the landfill.

So when Apartment Guide contacted me about sharing a recycling project of my own with my readers, I hopped on board! Here’s what I came up with:

I started with this broken-down thing from Goodwill. I don’t even know what it is, a barrel on wheels? I actually passed it by three different times on three different days as I was contemplating on what kind of ‘recycling’ project I could share.

Then as I was home sitting in my thinking chair, or rather, spinning around and around in my office chair, it hit me! I could use that barrel thing that I saw at Goodwill, and turn it into a recycling center! I rushed down to the store, and no surprise, it was still there. And only $5.99!

I’m very literal. You ask for a recycling project, you are going to GET A RECYCLING PROJECT. Of course, I had to doll it up a little with a little vinyl and some stripes. Studies show you are more likely to recycle when your recycling-barrel-on-wheels is cute.

It’s perfect, because it was already divided inside, and it will roll easily to the curb to be emptied into our street bin on recycling day.

Want to see another makeover? Ok. This is what the door from my garage to my house looks like. (There should be a name for that door. You can’t really call it the garage door.) Anyway. It was pretty gross. I can’t believe I’m showing you.

Ug. Embarrassing. But now:

Just more vinyl and black paint. Easy! And so welcoming. It really does make me smile, and I’m considering painting all my doors black now, it just looks so much cleaner.

(If you’re interested in eco-friendly cleaning products, Apartment Guide offers tips on how to make your own!)

Whether you’re living, looking or moving, Apartment Guide can show you how to make your apartment greener and make the most of your space on the Apartment Guide blog.

I actually have learned a lot from Apartment Guide, like, did you know you can’t recycle pizza boxes and juice cartons? What!?! All this time I never knew. You CAN recycle things like trophies, cell phones and crayons though, pretty cool, huh?

You can find Apartment Guide on:
Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest
for real-time tips and updates on how to make the most of your small space.

Disclosure Statement:
Apartment Guide and owner Consumer Source, Inc. partner with bloggers such as me to participate in blogger programs. As part of that program, I received compensation. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about any products and believe that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Consumer Source’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

November 7, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

4 In chairs/ottomans/seating/ tables/dressers

Red, White and Stools

Did anyone else wake up with a political hangover? Ugh. Whether you were up all night celebrating good times c’mon, or banging your head against a wall in despair, now it’s time to come together and do what we Americans do best. Stool makeovers.

Kidding, of course, but here are a couple good ones to give you something else to think about today.

First from Valerie at Home Made Modern, who had a single bar stool. Everyone knows you can’t just have one bar stool. How lonely! So she added a top from one of those ‘decorator tables,’ and turned it into a side table instead, with a little nail-head trim and fabric to dress it up. So cute.

And Jesse at Nine Red has once again made furniture into something cooler than I’ll ever be, with a triple-dipped look on this stool. I really just love that gold/white/navy color combo so much. Why don’t I marry it? I think I will. Ha, beat you to it.