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Living Rooms

Kitchens

Furniture

11 In kitchen/dining

Kitchen Exorcism

If you want proof that a white kitchen can be warm, homey and full of texture, read on, dear reader.

If you have a demon-cat phobia, you’d better stop now.






















Don’t worry, demon cat was exorcised right along with the outdated oak and humdrum everything else.






This redo comes from Better After reader Amber and her husband, and would you believe this was a DIY job? They used the existing cabinets (plus the glass cabinets) and just built new doors and drawer fronts. It is a little thing, but making the cabinet doors touch instead of having gaps of space between each make them look so much more high-end.







Some readers are concerned that adding cabinets on top of cabinets, right up to the ceiling will make the room feel smaller. This is certainly not true! Nothing draws the eye up better. Like wearing high heels vs. flats, it e l o n g a t e s. Thanks for sharing Amber!

4 In bathroom

Nifty Bathroom Fixes

Here are a couple of smart fixes that made the most of the limited space in the smallest room in the house: the bathroom!

First, Lindsey from That Saint Paul House had a funky little space between the shower and the wall. The previous owners, possible Prince fans, had dealt with it by installing hulking purple shelves. Lindsey kept the storage and ditched the lavender look with simple Lack shelves from IKEA, which really brightened up the whole space.

Cherry Blossom from Beauty in All Things recently revamped her bathroom, ditching the country corner shelves and fuzzy toilet topper (is there any instance in the universe where those even kinda look cool? I submit that there is not) for a sleeker, pulled together look. Also, did she rip out that corner shower and replace it with a standard tub? No silly! She just threw a shower curtain up, hiding the awkward shower and giving the shower-er extra privacy and a little extra space for dressing. Genius!

4 In desks/hutches/buffets

Going Camping

Lauren found this fabulous campaign style desk at a thriftstore for $11! Even at its grody, yellowed-with-age worst, I’m betting it is worth far more than that. Who finds campaign style furniture for $11? Not me, that’s who. I’m lucky to find a broken plastic Playschool desk covered in mystery stains for $111. Ok, that might be an exaggeration, but only a slight one.

It turned out fantastic, I love it in red. 

Check it out on her blog West Furniture Revival.

3 In decor

Do a Deer


Who knew my little hick hometown was so avantgarde? They were WAY ahead of this hip deer mount trend.





 









Yeah, I’ve never been a fan.







But I DO love the fancy and faux look, brought to you here by Danielle and the clearance section of Michael’s. For $8.99 a peice, she beheaded and mounted these Christmasy reindeer for a year-round display. See the how-to on her blog Danielle Oakey Interiors.

























And for an even less pricey display, why not try your hand at paper maché? My most talented friend ever Kelley, aka Glamma Fabulous constructed this deer mount out of cereal boxes. Then she made it sturdier with layers and layers of paper maché, (and it doesn’t hurt that she’s an artist by trade because any paper maché deer I attempt to make would look like the back half of the deer) and finished off with a layer of comics!



















10 In chairs/ottomans/seating

It’s 5:00 Somewhere

I feel like such a sham. I show you plenty of cute chair redos week after week, and yet here I sit. In a chair so plain and nondescript it is almost offensive. Big, black and clunky. No real way to reupholster without completely disassembling it, in which case I would most definitely lose something or put it back together wonky. Ah well, I will just appreciate your redos for now. Like this damask darling from Better After reader Stacie.

 


 

She also redid this little stool for a “Chair-ity” event her work puts on. Everyone fixes up a chair, usually with a theme, and then they auction them off! Um, FUN! Her theme was Margaritaville and she says, “I also included margarita mix, tequila, salt, glasses and two drink umbrellas that I made to match the chair. It sold for $325 – to my mother!!! It was my sister’s birthday the night of the auction, so my mom gave her the margarita stuff and kept the chair for her craft room.” Win-win-win!

 

 

 

3 In kitchen/dining/ tables/dressers

Homestead to Homey

This is the story of a table. A corn-shucking country table. Actually is is the story of two really similar tables, both just a leetle too backwoodsy for their owners tastes. Nothing that a little love and paint can fix though!

Stephanie went for a total overhaul with her dining room table and chairs, painting them entirely black with new fabric to boot. I don’t really say “to boot” in real life, but it seems like a country thing to say, so we’ll go with it.

Check it out on her blog Full of Great Ideas, which is *spoiler alert* full of great ideas.


















Kendra went with a homey but sophisticated vibe with a two tone look and new chairs. See it on her blog My Insanity. And seeing how it took me about 45 tries to spell “insanity” correctly just now, I’m going to call it a day.
















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