Better After

12 In outdoors

Porsche of a Porch

Earmuffs on if you happen to live in a tiny apartment or some other type of cramped environment. Seriously, get them on, because I don’t want you do die of jealousy when you hear that Anita had the tragic problem of a 600 sq ft PORCH she needed to decorate! I declare! That thing is enormous! You could go square-dancing out there!

Anita needed to fill the space, so she bought this set of furniture in a hurry, not really loving the black. It didn’t flow with the peaceful farmy scenery. But she knew she could eventually paint them, and she did, with white exterior house paint followed by a glaze of thinned Paris Gray Annie Sloan Chalk paint (although she doesn’t recommend that technique, too drippy). The pillows and daybed cover were made with linen and vintage feedsacks, and the whole thing looks like porch paradise to me!

Check it out on her blog Cedar Hill Ranch.

June 29, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

11 In tables/dressers

What Goes Around

Caitlin picked up this shabby, bestickered table at a fundraising rummage sale, for a whopping $5. When she got it home, her mom laughed and said it was the exact same table she had just found in the garbage! She had plucked it out earlier to donate to the sale! Oh well, it was $5 to a good cause. And now it’s looking good, fully un-sticker-fied, proudly adorning the front porch in red. See it on her blog Riparata.

June 28, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

8 In decor/ tables/dressers

Stump the Yard

Alicia’s husband looked at her like she had grown a third head when she got excited over this pile of stumps. But Alicia had a vision. And that vision was stump tables. After I saw her stump tables, I got excited too! My dad has all kinds of stumps! I’m sure he’d be happy to give me some, even though the conversation would probably go like this:

me: Dad! Can I have some stumps?! I’m going to make a stump table!

dad: Wuh?

me: TABLES out of the STUMPS! So easy! You take the stumps, paint them, and BAM: stump tables.

dad: So …. you want … to build a table … with the stumps?

me: Nope! No building. Just paint + stump = table. That’s it!

dad: *looking at me like I have grown a third head*

Ah well. I see the vision. Check out more on Alicia’s blog, Thrifty and Chic.

June 28, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

3 In tables/dressers

Silhouette Winner … and more!

Oh boy, we have a Silhouette WINNER! Lindsay from Larsen Legacies, it is YOU! Woot!

If you aren’t Lindsay, well, shucks. You can still take advantage of the great reader discount by using the promo code AFTER at checkout. Silhouette is currently offering:

• The complete Silhouette SD (everything you need to get started)
• 2 Packages Temporary Tattoo Paper
For only $199!

(I’m no math whiz, but that’s like, $120 in savings!)

If you’ve already got a Silhouette machine, you can still receive 25% off all other products from Silhouette, (excluding gift cards and download codes).

Ok, welp, let’s look at something else. I must be in the mood for the two-toned look today, because that’s what the first post of the day was, and that’s what Nick did with his dated set of dressers too. They were in pretty decent shape, the only thing dragging them down were those handles, which I have heard described as everything from a Batman insignia to squashed bugs. Instead Nick swapped them out for his and hers knobbies!

June 27, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

29 In kitchen/dining/ tables/dressers

1st Place Medallion

Christina from Christina’s Adventures wanted to dress up her plain table, but when she told her husband of her idea to paint a medallion on top, he thought it would look gaudy. Bound and determined to prove him wrong, she went ahead and painted a friggin medallion on top, hand-painting two coats, followed by a light sanding and three coats of poly. The results, I think, are so far from gaudy, they’re over the river and through the woods, straight into Awesometown.

June 27, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

2 In Uncategorized

Sponsor: Home Talk

Happy Friday friend! If you are planning on tackling some home improvement projects this weekend, let me give you a little heads-up: Check out HomeTalk first!

Home Talk is a FREE online home improvement community that can answer all your home improvement questions, everything from “How can I remove stains from my concrete driveway?” to “Why are my tomatoes rotting on the vine?” I know this, because those were my questions! (answers: a high-pressure wash followed by muriatic acid, and “blossom end rot,” a result of uneven watering or a calcium deficiency).

Isn’t that cool? Get helpful answers from regular folks and home improvement pros who have advice to share.

Home Talk exists for one simple reason: to make home improvement easier and better for you. Whether you are a homeowner, a renter or a contractor, Home Talk has created a network where you can find all the information you need to get your projects done right, big or small, down to the nitty gritties:

Get (almost) instant answers to questions about your home and garden.
Search photos and tips for inspiration and information.
Post photos and grow a fan base for your very own house.
Once and for all, get real and reliable reviews of local contractors.
See tips from local businesses.

It’s like hanging out at your local hardware store, only everyone there is super knowledgeable and friendly! Plus they have weekly giveaways. This week they are giving away $250 to Plow & Hearth! Does your hardware store do that? Mine sure doesn’t.

Here’s a little screenshot to show how it works:

So easy! And now Donna knows exactly what to do (and what not to do) to fix up her popcorn ceilings.

Head on over there with YOUR home improvement questions and check out Home Talk today!

And have a great weekend, I mean it!

And thank you so much for reading and contributing to this blog!

You are the best.

June 25, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

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