0

Living Rooms

Kitchens

Furniture

113 In Uncategorized

Review, Giveaway, and Cute Baby Alert!!!

** GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED**
This is my little brother Nate, his wife Kalli, and their most outrageously adorable little chunk -of-a monkey, Gavin.
  
Here is Gavin up close. He’s so cute and chubby I can’t stand it! I kiss and squeeze all over him whenever I’m around, and he probably is starting to think of me as totally crazy and developing a deepening aversion toward me. 
Sorry, one more, I can’t help myself! 
Anyway, I swear I have a point here. Here’s the point. Nate and Kalli just bought their first home. Kalli has this unhuman gift for decorating; she could seriously make an outhouse cute in her sleep using toilet paper and duct tape. So she had Gavin’s room all dolled up in a jiffy. Only problem was, Mr. Gavin was used to sleeping in a basement, so his adorable new room went from this: 
to this: 
What to do? Give up on style or give up on naptime? 
Luckily, Redi Shade came to the rescue! The kind people at Redi Shade offered me a free Simple Fit shade, and being the nice auntie I am sometimes, I decided Gavin should have it. (Plus, I haven’t given Nate a birthday present in like, five years and he hasn’t let me forget it, so this should get him off my back for a while).
Behold:
 
This thing is amazing. It took all of about 30 seconds to install, no tools, no brackets, no nothing. 
Simple Fit shades come in two options, light filtering or blackout. They went with black out, and it is SO DARK in there! 
It is super sturdy, high quality, and you can raise and lower it with a finger! Plus no cords, so it is safe for Gavin! I am going to win the best aunt award after all! (Take that Tori!) 
And guess what? You could win a Simple Fit shade yourself. The nice folks at Redi Shade would like to offer Better After readers a chance to win a free custom shade! You pick the size, you pick the color and light filtering level! This is valued at up to $233!! 
How to enter: Just leave me a comment on this post and tell me where you would use your Simple Fit shade! 
Easy peasy. 
Word to the wise though… Nate measured a bit too short. When they say “exact dimensions” they mean it. Nate just measured the old blinds which were hung from the top, but the factory makes compensations for size, so there is a little extra space as you can see. Luckily, the shade comes with some spacers just in case, and it still works great! 
And uh, the shade is a spotless, glorious white, even though this picture makes it appear like I delivered it to Nate’s house by dragging it behind a city bus. 
Good luck! Winner will be chosen Monday!
12 In kitchen/dining

Hola!

Well hi friend! I’m back! I sure hope you missed me a little bit! I received so many wonderful comments from you over my break and lots of great suggestions. The major consensus seemed to be … that you like the blog just the way it is!

So that’s good news for me, because I am pretty much lazy. But there will be a few little tweaks coming in the next few weeks, so get excited. Or don’t. But you can get excited about the cool giveaway that is coming up later today! Yeeeeah baby! (Pretty sure no one quotes Austin Powers anymore. I apologize.)

But not yet. Because first here are some sweet table redos coming atcha!

Let me tell you, I have dining tables on the brain because I’d been scrounging around craigslist looking for a new one for a long time. I finally found one last week, and it was really cute, distressed white, solid wood. So I bought it, got it home, THEN realized that the top of the table is NOT solid wood, just some weird laminate stuff that had a few scratches in it, which had bubbled up from moisture getting under there. Ugh.

So I had this conversation with myself:

“Why didn’t you notice this weird laminate top until AFTER you had bought the table and brought it home?”

“I don’t know! I get nervous! I don’t like standing around stranger’s homes, inspecting their furniture! It appeared to be stable and hadn’t been in a recent fire, so I took it!”

“You are so lame sometimes.”

“I know.”

So the moral of that long and pointless story is, do you know how I can fix this stupid table?

AAAND now, here are those table redos I was talking about so long ago … first from Patty at Nuestras Aventuras en Texas. This table serves as inspiration that “old and dated” is only a coat of paint away from “classic and chic!”

 

Woah. Can this table possibly be saved? It is so country I expect it to grow arms and start playing the banjo any minute now.

Christina knew there was hope (didn’t hurt that her solid wood table was ACTUALLY solid wood) so she sanded the snot out of it and stained it into deep, dark loveliness. You can’t even notice the heart cutouts, but I think it would be cool to find some sort of applique to cover them with as well. Maybe even a small ceiling medallion?

See more on her blog Christina’s Adventures. 


 
 

And here is some more staining action coming your way from Sloane at Eleven.49. See, not everything has to be repainted! It looks brand new.

Thanks so much for sharing ladies! Be sure to stop back in later for the giveaway!

 

83 In Uncategorized

Adios …

Hi friends! Well, my kiddos have fall break right now, so I decided I’d give myself a fall break too!

I’ll be back in a week with all new before and afters for you. And to be honest, I need a bit of a break. Sometimes I feel trapped within my blog. It’s very content specific. You come here to see before and after pictures! So that’s what I serve for breakfast, lunch and dinner, all week.

But I would love to branch out a little more. Not a lot! I’m not nearly that creative or crafty. But I would like to get to know you — my dear reader — better, and I’d hope you’d like to get to know me a little better too.

So, I am welcoming any and all comments and questions! (Preferably of the kind and helpful variety).

What would you like to see more of? Less of? Anything specific you’d like to see here?Any burning questions you’ve been itching to ask? Would you prefer that I not use the words burning and itching in the same sentence?

I would love to hear your feedback.

I would also love to spiff up the blog design a bit as well, so if you can point me in the right direction, that would be appreciated too.

So, for now, I thought I’d introduced you to my family and answer a few of the questions I have been asked lately. I hope you enjoy!


This is what I look like:

 





Where are you from? I grew up in Arizona, but lived in Utah for a short time too, specifically Cedar City, where my husband and I went to college. Now we live west of Phoenix and are just trying to survive life with our three mildly rambunctious kids. (‘Mildly’ is putting it mildly).


How old are you? I’m 29, so big plans better be in the works for next year. (hint, hint friends and relatives).

How did you get the idea for your blog? I’ve always loved before and afters, (who doesn’t!) and my mom was probably getting sick of me calling up and being like “ok, you have to go to this website, click on this tab, scroll down until you find this one post, nope, check the archives… there! Do you see it? Isn’t that the coolest thing ever?!) So I started sticking them on a blog. Early versions of Better After included a mascot. It was a sheep. Get it? BaA? Yeah…

 



How did you and your husband meet? My devilishly handsome husband Matt and I actually grew up in the same little town in AZ, although we didn’t date until college. He ran with his crowd and I ran with mine, let’s just say. His crowd was the type to take off their shirts at prom and dance around in their bow-ties like Chippendales, for example.


Um, he’s totally not like that anymore. He’s very supportive, although he remains a bit mystified about all that is the blogosphere. Won’t you wish him happy birthday today?

What does your husband do? He’s the assistant principal at a high school in Phoenix. Now he’s the one busting kids at prom, ha ha!

How many kids do you have? We have three, two boys and a girl. None of our kids are what you might call … calm. Or quiet. Not a one.


Blake, the big brother. Likes reading, sports and making money. He’s digging through his toybox right now to have himself a little yardsale.

 

Koy, the middle child. This was the only picture I could get of him: he does NOT stand still. And he needs a haircut. And he REALLY likes wearing camo. He loves to help me bake and can usually be found wearing the oven mitts around the house.


Mia, the little princess. She can go from this…

 


to this in a heartbeat. Especially when there is food involved. She is angry that I took away the carton of ice cream she had helped herself to. “I had my pink fork out and everything, MOM!”

Do you photoshop the pictures you post on your blog? Sometimes I do, mainly to crop out clutter in the background, or else I might remove an electrical cord or something that is distracting.
And yes, I did photoshop myself in my picture. The zit fairy has been especially unkind to me lately. Just keeping it real. But don’t plan on seeing the original picture anytime soon, I’m not keeping it that real!

Here’s a little photoshopping before and after for you, cuz that’s what I do:

 

So, that’s us in a nutshell. If there’s anything more you’d like to know, ask away!
Would you like some photoshoping tips and tricks? (I can help!)

Picture taking advice? (Yeah, don’t ask, that one is NOT my strong point. Did you see my pictures up there? I don’t know if the camera is supposed to be facing the sun, if the subject is or what. And Koy dropped my camera so it is being held together with electrical tape).

Just stick to the before and afters? Let me know your thoughts!
I’d love to hear from you and I’d love to hear your ideas on improving my blog.
Thank you so much for reading! I’m so grateful to have you here and love each and every comment and email I receive. Have a great week!

Loving my hopeful new Lisa Leonard necklace, which I was planning to wear in my picture, but I left it at my grandma’s! Gosh dang it!

And say hello to my sponsors, I appreciate them so much!

 

2 In chairs/ottomans/seating

Stoolio

Stool is not my favorite word, because I am a 6th-grader at heart, I guess. (Heh heh, stooool). But I loves me some stool redos, because stools are 
A) easy to find! You probably have an extra stool or two kicking around your house right now. 
B) low commitment! If you screw it up, your neighbor probably has an extra stool or two that they would sell you cheap.
C) so simple! No hours of sanding and reupholstering here, no sir. Just paint and enjoy. 
These redos were brought to you by Amy, Rachel, and the letter A.






See? I wasn’t kidding. From Amy at My Roswell Home. Go Crimson Tide!







Woah, it’s like deja-vu from the first before stool, which also had a circular floral design on the top. But the similarities end there, because this one looks much better, wouldn’t you say? Of course you would. From Better After reader Rachel who basically stole these (not really, but she only paid $2.50 a piece!) and used her Cricut to cut the perfect circle she mod-podged on top.







Thanks ladies!


11 In decor

Carrie’s Containers

Oh ingenuity, why do you evade me so? Why can’t I be the one to see something cool and unique and fabulous out of garbage, why?! If I ran across these dated light fixtures in a thriftstore, this is what would honestly run through my mind. “Uh, good for target practice I guess.” (Side note, I’m a pretty good shot, just in case you were thinking of robbing me in the middle of the night, mkay?)

I would have definitely never thought, “Yes! Perfect for a whimsically retro pair of laquered vases in vintage throwback colors of aqua and gold!” The credit for that goes to Carrie, (actually it was Carrie’s husband’s idea! Yeah! High fives to you sir!) from Carrie Saxl Jewelry. Love these!



15 In desks/hutches/buffets

Hutchy in Red

So get this: Brooke had a friend who had a grandma, and that grandma had a hutch. Grandma gave friend the hutch, and friend gave the hutch to Brooke! Just like that! For free! (Dear my friends and my friend’s grandmas: Why you no give me awesome free furniture, huh?)

She invisioned it in red and that’s what it got, plus added depth and texture with a superb glazing job. And I hearty mcheart the fabric, which she applied easily with spray adhesive. Check it out on her site The Crafting Chicks. Thanks Brooke!





















83 pages of tips, instructions and pictures for only $10!


Download your copy today!





***




I have personally read this ebook and am happy to recommend it,


and I am totally not just saying that because Better After is name-checked in it! What what!


***

Protected By
Shield Security PRO