Better After

8 In kitchen/dining

End the Cycle

Are you still hemming and hawing about painting your cabinets? Well, after 15 years, FIFTEEN YEARS of daily eyeball abuse from her hated honey-oak kitchen, Michele decided she’d finally had enough. She walked away from their long history together and started fresh. The cabinets went white with crown moulding, the island went black with new beadboard, the appliances got an upgrade, and that was that!

Don’t tolerate one more day of eyeball abuse from your kitchen. Take a stand against ugly cabinets today.

This post has been brought to you by

PhotoJewelryMaking.com!

June 1, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

16 In lighting

A Lite Cake Recipe

See Merrilee’s old cake carrier? It doesn’t really look fit to carry cake, unless she was maybe trying to give someone lead poisoning. That’s a shame, because it sure is retro and cute. But then she had a LIGHT BULB moment!

She literally put a light bulb inside it. And made a lamp! Ha! If that isn’t the best thing you’ve seen so far today, I don’t know what else to tell you. Oh, yes I do, check it out on her blog Lilliedale!

This post has been brought to you by

PhotoJewelryMaking.com!

June 1, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

12 In desks/hutches/buffets

Black and Blue

Seems like everyone is going for lighter and brighter colors these days, which is great, but don’t forget about black paint! Deep, dark, moody, sophisticated, elegant, and even a little dangerous? Maybe that’s what the color black means to you, if you like to ascribe personality traits to cans of paint like I do. It’s not weird. Maybe a little.

So check out this buffet redo by Becki from Infarrantly Creative. She remade this vintage sideboard for a friend, and before you go worrying if grandma is spinning in her grave because she painted it, Beckie reports that it was in such roughed up condition that refinishing the wood would have been impossible. Besides, grandma would probably be like …”What?! You painted my sideboard?! Oh hey, that looks great!”

And if colorful colors are more your thing, check out this vintage vanity redo from Allison at Vintage Charm. Another beaten and battered piece gets beautiful new life! Even the wood purists would have to agree that using and loving a piece is about 50 billion times better than letting it rot in the garage, right? Thanks ladies!

This post has been brought to you by

PhotoJewelryMaking.com!

June 1, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

11 In other rooms

Get Some Sun

Abby and her husbandfrom Crafting Up With the Jonses are in the process of remodeling their 100 year old home, and kindly shared their progress in the sun room. Lovely!

This is another example of how adding cabinetry or built-ins can actually make a small room feel bigger. How it works, I don’t know. It is one of the mysteries of the universe that can’t be explained, like turkey bacon or Lady Gaga. I bet Lady Gaga is wearing a turban made out of turkey bacon right now. Which could mean the universe is about to collapse in on itself. So … consider yourself warned.

This post has been brought to you by

PhotoJewelryMaking.com!

May 31, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

33 In lighting/ tables/dressers

Bamboozled

So listen to this: I’m walking in to Target today, and as I approach the doors, I see a lady on the other side trying to exit the same doors. The doors that say “ENTRANCE” on my side, and “NOT AN EXIT!” on her side. So as I get closer, the doors automatically swing open, away from me and toward her. This causes her to yank her cart backward, which then causes an open beverage inside her cart to topple over and pour out into her purse. Then she totally gave me an long and evil glare as I walked past her and her dripping cart, like it was all my fault. I felt bad, but I didn’t say sorry, and then I kind of felt bad that I didn’t say sorry, but dang lady, that was really not my fault.

What does that have to do with this lamp redo by Bambi? Not much. Actually, nothing at all. But Bambi, a sweet soul who would never try to exit from the entrance, found this little unloved lamp for a mere 99 cents. Then she made it into a table! And I think it’s super cute. And you can read all about it on her blog Crafting Occurs. And don’t you think that the cart/beverage/purse incident was totally not my fault?

This post has been brought to you by

PhotoJewelryMaking.com!

May 31, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

12 In tables/dressers

Hip bone connected to the herringbone

Check out these too cool for school redos by Matt. First he lacquered up the side table and built the tray out of reclaimed cherry wood and gave it a little extra zing with cowhide glued inside. Seriously awesome. I could easily see this for sale somewhere like Z Gallerie or CB2.

As for the dresser he reports that the herringbone pattern on the drawers is actually vintage house shutters that he took apart and rearranged. The handles are vintage belts. How utterly hip is that? So hip that I feel unhip just looking at it, because I could never come up with an idea that hip! If you are also struck by the hipness, then you are in luck because his designs are for sale on his etsy right now!

Check him out and say hello here: Spruce Up.