Better After

4 In bathroom

Prison Cell to Southern Belle

Holy vomit-colored wallpaper, this room was bad. Pretty much the only thing it had going for it was a functioning toilet. Add in the soul-sucking fluorescent lights and TAbby’s bathroom was hovering dangerously near prison-cell territory. Only with more brown.

But TAbby bailed it out with fresh fixtures and a new layout, and now this little bathroom is rehabbed and reformed! See more on her blog Southern Charm.

January 12, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In desks/hutches/buffets

Made to Order

Allison at Fab Rehab Creations had second thoughts about painting this piece since it was in great condition. But she was painting it for someone else, and that someone else wanted it black. And the customer is always right, right? Even if that customer is maybe a girl who ordered the Baja salad from Wendy’s the other day, and when she tasted it, realized it was freaking disgusting (seriously, hot beef and melted cheese on salad!?) so she went back and said she there was a mistake and she had actually ordered the BLT Cobb salad? She’s still right, right? Right?!

Um, anyway, everything turned out great in the end, as this cabinet looks fabulous in black, and that BLT Cobb salad was perfectly delicious. Or so I hear.

January 12, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

14 In desks/hutches/buffets/ other rooms

Pretty as a Pantry

OK, this one is tricky. I will try to explain the best I can, but it took me a great deal of squinting and staring until I realized what exactly was going on with this makeover. Basically, Amy from Playing Sublimely took this looooong and narrow room that was hardly ever used, (seen here with the kids and dog) and turned it into three separate spaces: a mudroom, a pantry, and a built-in china hutch. And not just any old mudroom, pantry or china hutch, no, these are only the most fabulous of such rooms you’ve ever laid eyes on.

blank wall turned into a mudroom/pantry | betterafter.net

Mudroom on the left, pantry on the right. See, the girls and dog were standing where the pantry is now. Do you want a closer look? Prepare yourself for full-on fabulousness:

What?! I know. My dishes are from IKEA and don’t deserve a home nearly as palatial as this.
How about the mudroom?

I would freak the freak out if anyone got mud in this room, EVER! I would rename it the take-off-your-shoes-and-slip-on-a-pair-of-fabric-booties-instead-please room.

And lastly, when the two rooms were built, they created a hallway with a blank space at the end that was calling out for some sort of built-in. Amy and the rest of her fabulous dishes answered that call.

pantry mudroom makeover | betterafter.net

I’m impressed. And inviting myself over for dinner.
See more of this redo HERE and HERE. Thanks Amy!

January 12, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

13 In chairs/ottomans/seating/ tables/dressers

Saw then Sit!

Don’t be so quick to pass up that broken-down Goodwill dresser that is missing most of its drawers and seemingly held together with two screws and masking tape. Unless you are at my Goodwill, because that thing will probably cost $95. But most reasonable thrift stores should charge something like $7. So take that puppy home, and give it the Julia Treatment: a few cuts and some fresh paint, and wham-bam! You no longer have an ugly busted dresser, you have a new bench!

From Julia at ShoeStringBean.

And here is another uggo dresser that took a ride on the cuteness-carousel. I love the new finish and handles! This would be right at home in a child’s room, with the butterfly cushions and easy-to-reach drawers, but could be fancied up with a different fabric for a totally sophisticated look too. From Jenn at Heim-elich, (in German) who made the cushions out of an IKEA children’s mattress cut in half! Smarty pants. (Or, as the Germans say, smarty hosen).

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January 11, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

5 In tables/dressers

Marbled Arts

If I asked you to describe the process Kristy went through to take this dresser from beat-up to beautiful, you would say something like “Oh, looks like she repainted it, added some new hardware and an applique, and somehow muscled a giant slab of custom-cut marble on top.” To which I would say, “Ha ha, WRONGY CAT!” (‘wrongy cat’ is an actual term my kids use to tell each other how wrong they are about something, anything. I think it evolved from the term ‘scaredy cat.’ It is quite the derogatory insult here in the Allen household.)

Anyway, I apologize for calling you a wrongy cat. But that is in fact NOT marble, just a faux paint technique! Didn’t Kristy do a great job? See it on her blog 4 the Love of Wood.

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January 11, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

16 In laundry rooms

Put it in your pocket.

Someone please tell me why there aren’t more pocket doors in the world? They make so much sense. Natalie knew a pocket door was in order when she redid her laundry room, one, because her old door kept ramming into the new washer, and two, did you see the door? It’s amazingcakes. That thing had to be put to good use somewhere! I would take it to bed and cuddle it at night if I had nowhere else to put it. But luckily she did, and it looks fantastic. This just in: I just now realized that this is actually a sliding door, and not a pocket door, but, whatever, I declare it fantastic all the same.

Also fantastic: the whitewashed floors that she did herself! Great job Natalie! See more on her blog Natalme.