Better After

5 In living room

Wide Open Spaces

Emma had two cramped, dark little rooms. So she knocked down a wall and made one big bright room! Actually, she hired someone to knock down the wall. Very important, in case your wall happens to be load bearing, which hers was.

Did you know that load bearing walls can be replaced with overhead beams? I did not know that until today! I always thought they were destined to remain forever in place, which shows how much my dad’s lifetime of construction has rubbed off on me. (But I can still navigate a lumber yard Dad!)

Lots more pics on her blog EmTea Designs.

February 2, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

13 In tables/dressers

A Leg Up…

I have a hard time falling in love with a piece of furniture that sits squarely on the floor. They just look so flat and heavy without some space in between. Stand up, you lazy furniture! Stop squatting on the ground!

Kristy devised a way to elongate her nightstands that were, in her words “Too short, too old, and way too brown.” A lovely set of legs!

See more on her blog 4 the Love of Wood. Thanks Kristy!

February 2, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

13 In other rooms

Foyer Destroyer

I wish I had a magical, wish-granting paintcan that spewed out money whenever I decided to tackle a makeover project, but alas, that is not the case. If only my budget were as unlimited as my creativity!
Ha, I am actually not that creative, so yeah, it probably already is…

Anyway, so not every project has unlimited fundage, no big deal. Check out what Tanya at Percolating Projects managed to do to her supremely dreary before foyer with just around $100! Lighter, brighter, and now she reports, she no longer has to crop it out of photos! I’m guilty of that one too…

February 2, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

10 In decor/ miscellaneous

Is the weather outside frightful?

Do you live somewhere in the two-thirds of the U.S. that is currently being battered by snowstorms? Then let me just take this moment to bask in the fact that here in sunny AZ, the temperatures are balmy and breezy and I am wearing flip-flops! Don’t hate me, I will be envying you here in a few months when said flip-flops have melted to the sidewalk.

So, to make it up to you, here are a couple of great fireplace makeovers to thaw you out.

First from Julie at Thrifty Chic Designs, who beefed up her formerly weeny mantle with a substantial statement piece. Sorry, previous fireplace owners, one sloppy coat of glossy white does not a makeover make.

And Melissa’s fireplace really didn’t have much going for it either, other than a worthless 3 inch deep mantle and that snazzy pink tile surround, yikes.

She replaced it with travertine all the way to the ceiling to make it look like an honest-to-goodness chimney. The wussy ledge was replaced with a chunky wood mantle that came from a fallen tree that Melissa had milled and distressed. Divine!

February 1, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

11 In tables/dressers

A Case of the Stripes

Do you need some evidence in the case of You vs. Your Husband, he who will NOT let you drag home that half rotted dresser you saw abandoned in a cow field or some such?

Well Jessica from Très Boucher has proof that even the most tattered and beat up hunk of wood can become something beautiful. The funny part is, this dresser was actually her husband’s, who had dragged it around from place to place since childhood!

February 1, 2011 By Lindsey @ Better After

17 In chairs/ottomans/seating

Underdog

Once upon a time, fluffy florals interspersed with manly stripes in everyone’s favorite color combo — mauve and maroon — was all the hip rage in fabric. Or something. I do recall having curtains similar to this in our family room growing up, so I guess it was really hot for a while there.

Once upon another time, a fabric made with alternating bands of four dark and four light threads woven in a simple two-over, two-under twill, or traditional houndstooth check as it came to be known, was also all the rage… and continued to be hip for hundreds of years.

I’ll choose the fabric with the lifespan of centuries, thank you.

From Beth (via her Aunt Amy) at Theo Zone.