Better After

12 In bedroom

Tarred and Bettered

Janet’s son was ready for a bit of an upgrade in the bedroom department, as he was still using the crib rail from his convertible crib as a headboard, and he’s almost nine. As my ten-year-old son would say, “Mooo-ooooom! AWK-ward!” So she found the perfect full-sized bed on kijiji.com and painted it Black Tar by Benjamin Moore. Then she realized it was actually a queen. Woopsie. But it looked so gosh darned great, they decided to go with it anyway. I know I wouldn’t complain! Getting a bigger mattress is like discovering a magical new world you only wish you had known about sooner.

See more details on her blog House Four, including an mini-photography lesson. Good stuff.

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July 10, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

5 In outdoors

Faithfully Fresh

Way back when, when Rebecca and her husband first bought this house, hot pink trim and faux stone panels were all the rage in the home exteriors world. That is not true. That has actually never been true. But they had faith that they could eventually turn its offensive pinkness into something lovely. Rebecca had faith anyway. Her husband had little more than a desperate shred of hope that she was right. And seven and a half years later, I’d say she was!

Get a glimpse of everything they’ve been up to since then on her blog We Need Some Pink!

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July 9, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

9 In desks/hutches/buffets/ kitchen/dining

Match and Mix!

So Friday, I posted Christine’s KitchenAid that she had repainted to match her kitchen. Great idea. If I could find my stinking camera, I’d show you my repainted KitchenAid too.

BUT, get this: How about repainting your kitchen to match your KitchenAid? No, I’m serious. Sure, this isn’t a WHOLE kitchen, but Better After reader Elizabeth is renting and barely had any room to work with as it was. So she found this puketastic green buffet for $25 on Craigslist to use as an island and painted it to match her pretty pink appliance. Then she added a countertop made from an old door! She’s crafty, that one.

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July 9, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

28 In Uncategorized

Degrossifying my Bathroom: Part II

The saga continues …

So, the degrossification of my master bathroom is still in progress. You may recall that The Home Depot offered me a chance to try out some of their Daltile tile, and I was all over that because my master bathroom is *brace yourself* carpeted. Ewness. I couldn’t wait to get started, so off to The Home Depot we went.

Here’s a handy tip for you tile-it-yourselfers: make an appointment with the flooring experts at The Home Depot. We got some invaluable advice from our personal tiling expert Ron, mainly, that the tile I had picked out online and already started loading in my cart, the lovely marble-lookalike rectangle tile that had starred in my dreams, was NOT the tile for the job. Ron helpfully pointed out that it was WALL tile. Like meant for the shower wall, and not to be, you know, stood on. Drats.

Here’s another tip: don’t bring your kids to The Home Depot. Or maybe your kids are fine. Don’t bring MY kids to The Home Depot, because they will think they are at Disneyland. This is me, pretending to listen to Ron while mentally yelling at my kids as they scream gleefully in the background:

Here’s yet another tip: if you want awesome pictures such as this one, just ask your husband to take them for you. And he’ll be like, “Why?” And you’ll be like, “For my blog!” And he’ll be like, “Why would you want this on your blog?” And Ron will be like, “Blog? Whuh??” And you’ll be like, “Nobody understands meee!!!”

So, back to the story. After I scared Ron away by having a mini breakdown about the tile, I decided to go with my second choice, called Briton Bone. It’s actually not THAT far off from the look I was going for and they had plenty in stock, so we loaded it up!

Now, would you like a little peek into my before bathroom?

Nice, right? If only you too could feel the crispy way the carpet crunches underfoot when you step out of a warm bath. Stay tuned next week for the big reveal and a $100 giftcard giveaway to The Home Depot!

The Home Depot partnered
with bloggers like me to participate in the Daltile program. As part of the program, I received
compensation from The Home
Depot in the form of a gift card to participate in this campaign promoting the
new Atmospheres Tile Collection by Daltile. All opinions are 100% my own.

The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC
guidelines and social media engagement recommendations. Winner will be chosen at random and gift card fulfillment
will be handled by a third party.

July 8, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

14 In miscellaneous

Avocado to Bravado!

I just love the classic KitchenAid, don’t you? It has such a timeless shape. Would you believe Christine’s before KitchenAid is actually 100 years old? Ok, so it’s not that old. But it IS old. It was a hand-me-down, in avocado green no less, which is not such a timeless color.

So Christine went straight to work with some painters tape and a few coats of Krylon and put a new twist on an old fave. I can say from experience that this is a great way to update a KitchenAid, as I have done this myself. Yay for me! Mine was red and now it is oil-rubbed-bronze, and it looks so pretty. (I could actually prove this to you if I had remembered to take pictures.) Holds up great too. I recommend it! I also recommend checking out Christine’s blog The Crafty Woman to see more.

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July 6, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

13 In bathroom

Jaunty or just jaundiced?

Ever wanted to know what it’s like to stand inside a box of orange Tic Tacs? Well, now you know. I can’t even wear orange, so I can’t imagine the horrors that I would face in the mirror of this room. It couldn’t possibly flatter anyone’s skin tone.

Vel was certainly ready for a change, and opted for some muted and classy colors that toned down the tangerine without giving up any eye-catchability She probably feels 15 years younger looking in the mirror now, or at least less like she should stop by the local hospital for a bilirubin test. See more on her blog Buhay at Bahay.