Better After

Touch Up Your Hutch!

Mikell found this blue entertainment center at a thrift store for $25. The only thing entertaining about it was playing a game of don’t-get-hit-in-the-head-with-that-broken-dangly-door while getting it home. I probably would have entertained notions of throwing it in a wood chipper, myself. But Mikell soldiered on and worked that big blue thing over into a sweet little coat-rack for her storage deprived apartment! Fantastic!

Speaking of storage, that’s exactly what Melysa was in search of when she brought home this unfinished hutch. After debating long and hard on how to finish it, she finally settled on a black on black look, and confidently bought one can of black spray paint. A few frustrated trips to the store and six and a half cans of spray paint later, it was done! See the whole process on her blog Moments with the Montano’s.

And here Bridget from Life as Bridget Knows It repurposed this hutch into an entertainment center! It’s like we’ve come full circle! (since, you know, the first project in this post was an entertainment center? Do you even remember that long ago? I know you internet fans are famous for having short attention sp— mmm, I could go for some toast right now. What were we talking about again?) Right. Bridget’s hutch, made over into an entertainment stand! I love how it fits perfectly under her window, what a great find! And it totally looks like she paid top dollar. (Shh, she only paid $60!)

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March 15, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In living room

Artfully Done

Dana wins the Daughter-of-the-Year award for surprising her parents with a living room makeover while they were on vacation! They had lived with what she lovingly referred to as “the brown frown” for way too long. Brown walls, brown floor, brown furniture. So, she brightened up the walls and mixed in a little color and accessories too.

As souvenirs from their travels, her parents like to bring home a piece of art from local artists. However, over the years, these treasures had been scattered around the house and some were never even hung up. So Dana gathered them all and made a little gallery wall. She even left a few empty spaces for whatever they came home with this time, and wouldn’t you know it, they didn’t! Buy any art, that is. They DID come home, and loved their new living room! See tons more details on her blog Circa Dee.

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March 14, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In chairs/ottomans/seating

High Spirits

If you’ve got a case of the Barstool Blahs, perk up! I’ve got a few barstool makeovers that might wet your whistle. But only if you like the colors black or white or tan or orange or blue. If you don’t like any of those colors, well, fine then. Maybe you deserve boring barstools! I hope you and you boring barstools enjoy a very boring life together full of boringness.

But if you are bold, like Better After reader Shannon, you might consider a eye-catching fabric, or two!

And Alexis updated these stools with a soothing blue and coordinating fabric too. Now they no longer look like the came from a ski resort! Oh, snap! They actually did come from a ski resort! I don’t know why I find that so terribly amusing, but I do. They look fantastic now!

Shalynn found these stools in a thrift store, but before that, I have no idea where they started out in life. Maybe a middle school for very tall kids? They just remind me of the plastic chairs we had in school, don’t you think? Now, they look ultra chic all cozied up the bar! Just a few coats of paint and Shalynn reports they are her most favorite DIY project ever! See more on her blog A Drop in the Bucket.

And fine, so this last one isn’t technically a barstool. Or even a stool. Whatever. But it does have wheels, so I suppose if you were to find this chair near a bar, you could effectively wheel yourself over to said bar, stand up, get your drink, then wheel yourself back across the room to your table. What on earth am I talking about? I don’t know. But bottom line, it looks great. From Rachel at Thrifty Inspirations who found this chair for a measly $7!

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March 14, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

19 In kitchen/dining

Cooking with Kim

Kim’s house is 180 years old! No wonder she needed a kitchen update, she was probably grinding her own flour by torchlight! She and her husband began this project in February of last year and had it done in time for Thanksgiving. Pretty impressive, considering how much work was done here.

They ripped out the 100 year old pine floors that couldn’t withstand another sanding and replaced them with dark oak. The lighting went back to the future, from recessed can lights and ceiling fans to period fixtures.

And after living with about three square inches of counter space for 12 years, Kim knocked out a wall of cabinets to make way for a long, luxurious stretch of countertop and opened the kitchen up to see all the way to the front of the house! Such a huge change from before!

Want to see the other side? Sure you do! She reports “That’s probably my proudest DIY accomplishment!
I taught myself to use a compound miter saw and nail gun and built it
myself!”

Amazing job Kim!

Update: OK, OK, due to popular demand, here is the “eat in” side of the kitchen, where the mysterious fridge had disappeared to! I agree, Kim needs to start a blog!

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March 13, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

7 In decor/ miscellaneous

Pinned and Prettied

Sometimes you just need a quick makeover fix, you know what I mean? Maybe you aren’t in the mood to devote the next six months of your life to repairing the decomposing remains of a dresser you unearthed from the back of your uncle’s barn. Maybe you just want to spray paint something. Well then, here are a couple quick and cute little ideas for you!

How about an inspiration/bulletin board made from an old mirror frame? This lovely example was sent to me by Suzanne at Pieced Pastimes and I loved it, and then I called it “the original Pinterest” and then I cracked myself up.

Or here’s an even simpler project! Find an old ugly tray at the thrift store (that should be easy enough) and fancy it up with spray paint and coordinating scrapbook paper! No disrespect to New Mexico and their official state flower the yucca, but yeah, this looks a jillion times better. From Linn at The Home Project.

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March 13, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In kitchen/dining/ tables/dressers

Far out to Farm Fresh

Better After reader Jenny had a plan for this table set she found on Craigslist for $100. The fabric had obviously seen better days, and by the looks of things, those better days had happened somewhere around 1988. So she and her husband freshened up the seats with new fabric, a paint and stain combo on the chairs, and ditched the tabletop completely and built another one! Just like that! (This is magical to me, because that type of thing would never go down successfully at my house. We’d be eating on splinters and broken nails.) Great job Jenny!