Better After

35 In bedroom/ kiddie

Honey, I bunked the kids!

Nikki from Grand Design Co. is one of the craftiest people walking the earth, this is a fact. Her son’s before bedroom can attest to that, as she single-handedly hung all that beadboard and moulding, repurposed the globe, painted the chalkboard border (genius!), and probably sewed the comforters and laid the carpet. I wouldn’t be surprised if she smelted those beds out of old pipes she found in her garage too. She’s handy.

So handy that none of that stuff was even a challenge. No, she wanted to stretch herself. She wanted to build quadruple bunk beds in a weekend. And she did. Actually, there are two trundle beds underneath each side, so that’s like sextuple bunk beds, which sounds kind of wrong to say in a kid’s room, but amazing nonetheless. Kinda makes my weekend marathon of Toddlers n’ Tiaras look unproductive in comparison.

January 25, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

7 In tables/dressers

Glassy and Classy

This little dresser was not grossly offensive to the eyes, it was cute n’ shabby. But shabby and cute? No thanks, not today. The look Courtney was going for was GLAM, m’aam. I’d say mission accomplished, because nothing glams anything up faster than high gloss paint and mirrors! In fact, if I happen to get invited to the Oscars, that’s exactly what I’ll wear.

See more from Courtney on her blog Little Glass Box.

January 25, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

8 In bedroom

Pretty in the City

Ok, do you remember a looooooong time ago, when that guy named Iann Robinson was a VJ at MTV, and he did an episode of “Cribs” where they toured his Manhattan apartment, and he was all smug-like and obnoxious? And he went on an on about how overwrought and useless bedframes were? And how they just waste space and he was so much cooler for NOT having a one? And he just had a big, ugly mattress on his floor, and that was all? Do you remember that? Oh my gosh why do I remember that?!

Um, anyway, he was dumb, because bedframes certainly CAN look cool, and this upholstered bedframe from Lizzie at Pretty City Things only proves me right. Ha! Guess I showed that decade-old imaginary fued with Iann who’s boss!

January 24, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

5 In bedroom

All Right (angles)

Everyone knows it’s hip to be square (except probably not the people who were born after me, because that song came out like, 30 years ago. And also people who have not watched nor read American Psycho). But other than that, everyone knows it’s hip to be square. So then, do we all agree that if it is truly hip to be square, obviously the more squares, the better? Or hipper? I certainly think so.

See more of this hip and square big girl bedroom from Niko on her blog Neezy Peasy.

January 24, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

10 In desks/hutches/buffets

Cheerio!

Sorry if this post happens to be typo-ridden and wonky, but I’ am typing this one-handed as I babysit a friend’s baby today. Actually, the baby is sitting on me, and she is the squirmiest, floppiest baby I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m convinced she has no bones. So, I must go before she dives forward and does a floppy face-plant on my desk, but not without leaving you with this magnificent desk redo from Danielle at Antique Recreation. I don’t know if that center piece was an actual drawer or just a front, but if so, she disguised it well! Ok, the Cheerios have run out, I really have to go now.

January 23, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

17 In kitchen/dining

Little Momma, Big Sledgehammer

Well hello! I hope you are having a happy Monday! I am trying to, despite the fact that our bathroom flooded this weekend and now my whole upstairs is damp and smelling mildewy. Blarf. “But Lindsey,” you are thinking “didn’t your bathroom just flood a few months ago?” YES. That is correct. Double blarf. Maybe it will all lead to some grand renovation, much like this one from Nicole at This Little Momma! (Annnd segue!)

This kitchen was first on the list in a house full of rooms that hadn’t been touched since the Eisenhower Era; back when kitchens were commonly itty-bitty, and apparently people were too, because those cabinets look four feet high. Nicole did all the demo herself and is now enjoying a kitchen with all the modern day perks, like working appliances, lighting beyond a single fixture, and attractiveness!