Better After

Sure Be Cool If You (re)Did

This chair is like the Gwen Stefani of chairs. Totally hip and funky, but a little bit chewed up and spit out by recent life events. (AKA a philandering husband who according to reports is like the sleaziest jerk of all time, which is a big bummer, because I used to like his music and now I can’t even stand to listen to his sleazy voice, ugh). (That’s Gwen’s life, at least, I don’t know who did this chair wrong).

BUT WAIT! Who is this galloping into town? A new love interest? A swaggering cowboy to sweep her off her feet and make her feel shiny and new again? Someone who rounds out her rock and roll edges with his tender country charms?

I mean, right??? (This might only make sense to you if you are following the Gwen Stefani/Blake Shelton/Gavin Rossdale love triangle as breathlessly as I am).

Cow print and chrome? Is it a match made in heaven? Time will tell, but for now it sure looks fun.

From Heather at The Heathered Nest.

February 11, 2016 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In decor

Total Basket, Vase

Three cheers for little projects! Sometimes they’re the very most fun of all. Especially when you can create something magical out of an assortment of odds and ends that you most likely already have around the house. What’s not to love? For today’s projects you will need:

a dollar store vase
cardstock
glue
white spray paint
a round laundry basket
rope
probably more glue

All set? Let’s get started!

First you are going to take your cardstock and make paper flowers. Don’t be alarmed, it’s easy. Make a few different sizes then glue them directly to your dollar store vase. At this point you might be thinking “Hmmm. Not so sure about this.” But hang on for the best part:

Spray paint! Of course. Spray paint makes everything better. Does this look like a $1 vase? No sir, it does not. Get the complete tutorial from Shelley at 100 Things 2 Do.

That was fun, what’s next?

Yes, yes, the laundry basket. Grab your LB, (that’s what the cool kids call laundry baskets, just kidding, nobody calls them that), and spray paint it white too. Unless yours happens to be white, then just leave it alone. Better yet, just go back to the beginning and make sure you buy a white one. Unless it’s too late, and you already bought a black one. Then just paint it white. Got it? Great.

Now, take your rope and start hot-gluing it around the outside of your basket, starting from the bottom.

Keep going until you have this awesome rope basket like Jen at I Heart Organizing. Double up at the top to create a raised edge. She actually dyed half of her rope with paint for the striped look, so be sure to check out her blog to find out how, because I think the stripes really make it special!

February 10, 2016 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In bedroom

Black and White and Glam All Over

I would paint every room in my house black if I could, and I COULD, but I am pretty much very lazy when it comes to painting. Ugh, so much going up and going down and moving my arms about. Although, I do have one great trick for painting a room really easily. Here it is. Step one: start painting a room. Step two: stop, and hope that your husband or whoever else you live with will get so annoyed with your half-painted room that they’ll finish the job themselves. Works every time over here.

I really do love a black wall though, and if there’s bright white crown moulding at the top? Mmm! Even better.

So, no surprise that I love this guest room makeover from Lindsey at the O’Donnell Collective. The before is not bad, but the after?

Superb! She did a great job paring it down to the basics and the result is so chic. There’s only one thing hanging on the wall now, as opposed to ten items in the before picture. I also love how the low bedside tables are not out of scale thanks to the oversize lamps. Smart combination there. And I love the striped benches, look how nicely she lined up the pattern. I just love the whole darn thing!

Which look do you prefer? Black walls yay or nay??

February 9, 2016 By Lindsey @ Better After

10 In other rooms

Wash & Wear. And Wash & Wear. And repeat.

Sometimes I wish I was more like Justin Bieber. OK, never do I wish that. Except for two things. A: I wouldn’t mind having his bank account, and B: I saw somewhere that he wears underwear once and then throws them away. Never washes them, never wears them again. He just has a huge lifetime supply of underwears I guess.

What do you think about that? Here’s what I think you think. First you think that you are aghast at such epic wastefulness. But you are fooling yourself, because secretly deep down you are thinking “Heck yeah, #underweargoalz!!!”

Don’t deny it.

But unfortunately you are not Justin Bieber, and you have to wash your underwear just like everyone else. Take solace in the fact that you have something he will never have: the simple joy of snuggling up to freshly washed load of laundry. If that isn’t enough to cheer you up, and I know it’s not, how about feasting your eyes on this fabulous laundry room makeover?

C’mon, that’s pretty awesome. That would make being a poor non-celebrity all worth it. Or at the very least make laundry begrudgingly enjoyable.

It’s the creation of Susan at Uniquely Yours or Mine and it’s the happiest thing my eyeballs have seen all day. Now I want to see her entire house!

February 8, 2016 By Lindsey @ Better After

27 In miscellaneous

Super Cute Food

I’m sorry. I’m not sharing a typical post like you’re used to seeing on Better After today. I’m sharing something else that has absolutely nothing to do with DIY or before and afters. And I have no real reason to share it, but I simply cannot help myself. I just can’t hold it in any longer:

LOOK AT MY FREAKING CUTE EGGS!

OMG OMG OMG OMG, THEY ARE SO CUTE I MIGHT LITERALLY THROW UP.

Whew. I’m glad I got that off my chest. Yes, those are hard-boiled eggs shaped like a bunny and a teddy bear, and they are so outrageously cute I can hardly stand it.

So here’s the deal. I was minding my own business just browsing around on Amazon one night, and these egg molds popped up under ‘items you may be interested in.’ Amazon apparently knows me so well it knows part of me that I didn’t even know existed: the part that hyperventilates with excitement at the sight of animal-shaped food. I really did have a physical reaction.

They were only $3 for the pair, and I bought them without delay. And now I make adorable eggs all the time, and the kids love them so much, just kidding, the kids have never even seen them because I only make adorable eggs for myself because I CAN’T EVEN STAND IT, just kidding again, I really do make these for my kids, and they love them too, because WHO WOULDN’T???

The process is super easy. Hard boil your eggs. Remove the shell while the eggs are still hot. (Be careful!)

Squeeze the egg into the egg mold and snap it shut.

Submerge in ice water for 10 minutes.

Remove the egg and pass out from cuteness.

You can find the bunny and bear pair of egg molds here, and the larger set of six egg molds below. <–affiliate links

Cute food is nothing new, the Japanese have perfected the art with their creative and colorful bento boxes for years, easily putting a typical American “sandwich in a paper bag” lunch to shame. But now that the tools are so easily accessible, why, there’s no reason we can’t have outrageously cute food too! There is a treasure trove of adorable animal-shaped food possibilities that I have only just begun to mine.

I think this panda sandwich maker is most likely my next purchase.

Or this panda sandwich maker.

I can’t decide!!!

Or this panda rice mold:

Or THIS panda rice mold.

Or THIS PENGUIN rice mold! I’m so slack-jawed from the cuteness here, I’m literally drooling all over my keyboard. I’m surprised it hasn’t malfunc

No but seriously, maybe these things seems a little pointless to some people, but they make me so aggressively happy. Why not spread a little unexpected joy wherever we can, right?

RICE PENGUINS WEARING NOODLE HEADBANDS STOP IT RIGHT NOW.

Thanks for letting me veer off-topic for the day, I hope you thought it was as fun as I did!

Happy Weekend!

*this post contains affiliate links

February 5, 2016 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In living room

Living Room, Laugh, Love

This before living room wasn’t terrible, just empty. Easy enough fix. But anyone can put furniture in a living room. That’s not the hard part. The hard part is making it both comfortable and chic. Keeping it cozy but not cluttered. Mixing in eclectic elements without looking like you’re having a yard sale. With enough sentiment to make it personal but not to the point that your visitors want to blarf. (If you have wedding pictures hanging in your guest bathroom, I might be talking to you).

I’d say Kaylee nailed it on all accounts!

Cozy, chic, colorful, comfortable, and she even incorporated an enormous wedding picture that blends in seamlessly! *Slow clap.* I’m impressed.

Plus, she had to paint all that trim from gray to white, so that counts as a major makeover to me. Currently, my ambitious self is trying to convince my lazy self that we need to paint all the off-white trim in the house white-white, and she’s not having much luck.

See more from Kaylee at Kaylee Coles.

February 4, 2016 By Lindsey @ Better After

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