Better After

15 In miscellaneous

Candy is Dandy

Well, I survived girl’s camp! Barely! I actually got back last Wednesday, but it has taken me this long to stop falling asleep mid-sentence and feel somewhat normal again. I hope you had a great week and that you also enjoyed the freaky bear lamp, which totally reminded me that it’s time to start accepting submissions for

BETTER AFTER’S ANNUAL UGLY LAMP CONTEST!

More details to come, but for now, feel free to send in an original picture of your ugly lamp to Betterafter@live.com with the subject line “Ugly Lamp Contest.” Check out last year’s contenders here, here and here, and the grand prize winner here.

And in before and after news, check out this adorable candy stand that Lindsay from Pillow Thoughts made for her daughter Lexi’s 1st birthday party. How memorable is that? Well, ok, Lexi probably won’t remember it, (the one downfall of fabulous 1st birthday parties), but I bet her guests were talking about it for weeks! And who says you couldn’t whip this thing out at family gatherings throughout the year? Thanksgiving dinner candy stand? That’s what I’m talking about.

July 25, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

36 In desks/hutches/buffets

Oh, I guess you could say I like it.

I don’t know what this thing is … a curio cabinet maybe? But what I do know is this: We need to hunt down Debbi from Tattered Butterfly Studio (who didn’t give many details) and demand to know where she found that Parisian Ferris-wheel themed wallpaper. I must have it. I love it so much I want to simultaneously wear it and eat it and cover the inside of my eyelids with it so I never have to stop looking at it. Yes, I love it so much I WOULD marry it, thank you, and I may even start a new religion based on it. Would you like to join?

July 15, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

5 In bedroom/ kiddie

More Better!

This before nursery was cute, if not a little cramped and cluttered. How then, pray tell, does the exact same room somehow look twice as big with the addition of a bigger bed? My brain struggles to understand!

Possible solutions: crown moulding to draw the eye up. (I know, we can’t see it in the before picture, but let’s pretend, ok?) Or how about this one: drapes hung high and starting from the ends of the window to make it appear larger? (A favorite trick!) Or maybe: warmer paint color bounces the natural light around the room better? Or could be that the after picture is just not as cropped. But it looks fabulous regardless. Check out the many cute details over on Crystal’s blog The Weekend Homemaker.

July 14, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

13 In chairs/ottomans/seating

Is this seat taken … to the dump?

I can’t for the life of me figure out why JC from My Rustic Cottage Life would want to redo such a perfectly nice chair. I mean, aside from all the stains, rips, cobwebs, mold, probable vermin infestation, and the fact that I can almost smell it through my computer screen, it really was a nice chair!

No. No it wasn’t. All it really had going for it was a sturdy frame. Luckily that was all JC needed to work her magic. High-fives to you JC, for following through with this beastly thing! You are a super-champ!

July 14, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

13 In kitchen/dining

Back in Black

Leslie’s kitchen was sporting an overabundance of yellowy oak cabinetry: the kitchen equivalent of sweatpants. Easy. Boring. Unflattering. And a little grungy. So she decided to give it the little black dress treatment instead with Benjamin Moore Onyx and a mouse sander to show off its curves and edges. Insta-glam! And now I’m inspired … to go put on my little black sweats.

July 14, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

28 In decor

Here Kitty, Kitty

Last week I got a huffy comment from someone all upset that I dared to mock a twee little set of teddy bear canisters. So let me preface today’s post by apologizing to the very, very small percentage of you who might happen to adore horrendously depressing paintings of inbred cats attempting suicide, or whatever this thing is supposed to be. Just look away now, because lil’ Slumpy is about to become a message board.

I don’t know about you, but I’d call that a better after. From Melinda at Before to After and Everything in Between.

And here’s another frame redo, from Philippa at Philly Bee. She used her old frame as a message board as well; I love how the burlap looks against the bright colors. And how it was blessedly empty of any desolate pet paintings to begin with.