Better After

5 In bathroom

English Baths

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right? Well, what about when life gives you a purple and aqua toilet? Then what? I’ll tell you what. You embrace that aqua toilet. You love it for what it is, and you do what Jen did, and work all that aqua into a cheerful color scheme for your bathroom.

Then, later down the road, when life hands you a bathroom covered in floor to ceiling maroon, from the tile to the tub and fixtures, you just say screw it, and gut that sucker. Check out all of Jen’s many before and afters HERE and HERE.

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This post sponsored by Whippy Cake!

June 10, 2010 By Lindsey @ Better After

3 In tables/dressers

Crystal’s TV Stand

Crystal found this old bamboo style dresser at Salvation Army for $35. She looked past the hideous green paint job and saw the perfect dimensions for a TV cabinet. That’s one of my favorite things about old furniture redos. $35 at a thrift store will buy you a sturdy, solid wood piece of furniture that will last and last, whereas it wouldn’t even buy you half of a kinda-decent particle board TV stand from anywhere else. All while saving the earth too! Win-Win!

This post sponsored by Whippy Cake!

June 9, 2010 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In tables/dressers

Get Ya Paper Here!

News flash! Another dresser goes from drab to fab! This shabby old dresser was way past its prime. Sara from Apartment28 picked it up from Craigslist and fixed all of its imperfections and then some. She covered the drawers with decorative paper and gave it a coat of poly for protection. I like that she papered the sides too, it’s so fun and funky! Read all about it HERE. Thanks Sara!

This post sponsored by Whippy Cake!

June 9, 2010 By Lindsey @ Better After

2 In bedroom

Sweet Dreams

Rebecca and Sharon each had some boring headboards on their hands. Rebecca from This Present Life had refinished hers once before, but was bored to death with the neutrally neutralness of it. So she gave it a terrific coat of turquoise, which brightened it up for sure.

Sharon from This Thrifty House found her headboard (actually a footboard that underwent a bit of construction) at a thriftstore where every. single. thing. costs one dollar! What what? I want one! So she took her $1 footboard turned headboard and updated it with a classy coat of white. Thanks ladies!

This post sponsored by Whippy Cake!

June 8, 2010 By Lindsey @ Better After

3 In outdoors

Pretty Porch

I stared and squinted at this before picture for a long time, trying to decide exactly how it could possibly be related to the after picture.

That previous “porch” was the most anorexic porch I’ve ever seen. It was nothing more than a slightly raised slab o concrete, and it couldn’t have cared less whether you felt welcomed to this house or not. It didn’t give a crap about curb appeal either.

Well Andrea had had enough of her porch’s attitude, so she sent it packing and replaced it with a full-blown porch of wonder, with swings and pillars and happiness. I could sit out there all day! Check out more on her blog Andrea’s Attic.

This post sponsored by Whippy Cake!

June 7, 2010 By Lindsey @ Better After

3 In tables/dressers

Red Rast

Today brings us another tale of the Ikea Rast dresser. This ugly duckling had undergone a terrible transformation at the hands of an unhandy handyman. He didn’t bother taking the time to sand and smooth before slopping the stain across it with reckless abandon. Bubbles, cracks and an angry, uneven finish were the sorry results.

Until Clara from The Home in Paradise saved the day, with a little elbow grease and a lot of patience, sanding, sanding, sanding and painting until it was the cutest dresser on the block! Thanks Clara!