Better After

7 In tables/dressers

She’s got legs, she knows how to use them.

This long-forgotten old chest was hiding a secret. And when Chelsi opened it up and peeked in for the first time, she made a startling discovery. There were a pair of legs inside! That’s right, table legs! This wasn’t a chest after all, it was a table! Whew! Did I scare you?

Well, don’t be scared, because now it looks fantastic. I love the new appliques she chose for the spot where the disintegrating needlepoint had been, they look like they’ve always been there! See more on her blog TwentyNine Magnolias.

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January 10, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

4 In innovative idea/ kiddie

Ooh, baby baby.

Nobody puts baby in the corner. But you can put baby in the closet, if you’ve run out of usable baby-stuff space that is. Kelly decided her little house wasn’t working so well for her little person, so she commandeered this coat closet and turned it into a destination for diaper-duty!

She says, “I love our little changing nook! It’s right off of the living room, so
it’s convenient, and until we can get into a bigger house, I think that
it works very nicely.”

Check out more on her blog The Pretty Bee.

And if you are feeling particularly baby-hungry today, please don’t eat any babies, and instead feast your eyes on more babylicious makeover goodness. Better After reader Melanie shared her son’s nursery transformation, which is actually more like a transportation, since she admits she liked the look of this room so much, she recreated it from her previous home when she moved to her new home! Ain’t nothing wrong with that. Thanks ladies!

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January 10, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

5 In kitchen/dining

House Rules

This is the story of a simple utility cart that got her feelings hurt when everything else in the kitchen got a makeover except for her. sniff. She felt out of place and unloved, but Linn took heart. She noticed the little cart’s distress and decided she needed to fit in with the gang too. So she freshened her up and everyone lived happily ever after. Check it out HERE.

And, in case you were wondering, here is the whole kitchen. OK, I am almost POSITIVE this the very same kitchen of the house I rented in college with three other friends. It looks 100% exactly the same. We called it “the Mango House” due to the unexplainable bowl of fake mangoes that were part of the “decor,” and it was the sweetest little old house. Then, the year after we left, some new girls rented the house and decided it would be like, way awesome to string thong underwear all across the living room as part of the “decor” and so they did and christened it “the Thong House.” I think you know how I feel about that. (EW.)

Uh, anyway, sorry about that tangent, and behold, the rest of Linn’s fabulous kitchen redo! See it on her website Christonium.

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January 9, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

11 In chairs/ottomans/seating/ desks/hutches/buffets

Do you see what I CC?

Even though it looks like CC pulled this chair straight out of the dumpster, nothing could be further from the truth. It was actually sitting next to the dumpster. So, pride intact from not needing to wiggle her way out of a dumpster dive, CC simply wheeled this beauty home and nearly-as-simply gave it the transformation of a lifetime! Vinyl paint, fabric and glue. That’s it! (plus much disinfectant).

See it on her blog Zodirowe.

But what’s a desk chair without a desk? Lonely! So she rescued this hunk-o-trash and turned it into a gleaming match for her mod chair, and now she’s studying in style. Check that one out right HERE.

Great work CC!

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January 9, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

14 In bathroom

Mirror Mirror, Off the Wall

In most cases, a large mirror gives the illusion of double the space in a room. But somehow Staci’s bathroom actually looks bigger without the wall-o-mirrors, don’t you think? Leaves more room for pretty light fixtures and accessories that your eye is drawn to, rather just a reflection of the other side of the room. And if this bathroom is laid out like I think it is… you don’t really need to be seeing double of what is going on over there anyway.

Looks fantastic Staci! I love the simple but striking color scheme. See more on her blog Playing House.

ps: look here! I added a Pinterest button to my posts! I hope it works…

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January 9, 2012 By Lindsey @ Better After

13 In fashion

Fashion Friday

Hey everyone, it’s time for another Fashion Friday! Are you excited? I am! Today we are visiting Liz from Cotton and Curls, who is so tragically hip that I almost can’t stand it and simultaneously want to be her best friend and never be in a room with her at the same time because of her all-encompassing fabulousness. Uh, anyway…

Liz has tons of fashion remakes on her blog, but I was particularly taken by the ones featuring bleach! The only time I’ve used bleach to fix up my clothes was one time in high school, I noticed a small stain on the front of my white shirt right before I left the house, so I thought, “Hey! I’ll just dab some bleach on here and be on my way!” And by the end of the day it had burned a hole through the chest of my shirt. So… I could use some pointers. Here we go!

Not only did she bleach the blah right out of this rugby shirt, did you see how she also removed the collar and cropped the bottom? Cute! And she makes it look so easy too. See it HERE.

Oh no! Did a few splashes of Clorox ruin your favorite pants? Bleach the whole darn pair! I would be too terrified to try this, for fear of my pants dissolving right off me in the middle of Safeway or something, but they sure look cool. See it HERE.

Ok, this one doesn’t use bleach, but instead dye. Still, that’s using some sort of liquid to achieve a color different than the one you started with … so, same diff. Whatevs. Here she slowly lowered this tank-top into a pot of dye, 30 seconds for every couple of inches, to achieve a lovely ombre-effect. See what I mean? She’s just so darn hip! See it HERE.

And here’s one more bleachy redo from Kelly, who used a bleach pen to bring life to a thrift-store find. Feel free to try this one at home, but don’t feel bad if your results aren’t quite as awesome, because Kelly just happens to be an incredible henna artist by trade. My design would probably be a smiley face. That turned into a hole. See more on her blog Kelly Caroline.