Better After

7 In laundry rooms

Lil’ Laundry Room

Is anyone else limping across the finish line as the school year winds down? I am officially out of gas. One of my kids went to school today with nothing but a juice box and crackers in his lunchbox. I was shocked that we even had juice boxes. Just one more day of school left for us here, and then it’s summmmmmmmmer! Time to kick back, relax, and stand underneath the air conditioner until October.

I’m hoping to get the kids on some kind of summer-time-fun-time-chore-time routine so I don’t go completely mad. If you have any pointers or charts or things that have worked for you, please hook a girl up!

And speaking of chore-time fun, such a thing really is possible. But only if your laundry room is as adorable as Kristyn’s. A little storage and a little color make a lot of difference. So cute!

See more at Lil’ Luna.

May 20, 2015 By Lindsey @ Better After

12 In desks/hutches/buffets

Halfway to Bombay

Long, long ago I used to be obsessed with Bombay. The store, not the place. The store no longer exists*, and there actually is no place called Bombay anymore either. It was officially switched to ‘Mumbai’ around 1995, as the old spelling was considered to be a corrupted English version and an unwanted legacy of British colonial rule. Feel free to work that factual tidbit into your conversations at parties.

Anyway, I don’t know why I was so taken with the wares in Bombay, but I wanted nothing more than to furnish my entire life like I ran some kind of black market elephant tusk cartel.

Everything seemed so exotic and luxurious! Mahogany! Tassels! Animal print! Mahogany!

This highboy looks to be a remnant of those Bombay glory days, but today’s styles seem to lean a bit lighter and brighter, so Jennifer at Trillium Park Designs brought it up to speed with just a little paint and glaze.

Oooh! Still as stylish as ever. Great job Jennifer!

*Bombay is still a distributor, but no longer a store. Not to be confused with The Bombay Store, a completely different store. That’s not at all confusing at all. I spent way too much time googling this crap.

May 19, 2015 By Lindsey @ Better After

4 In bedroom

Sweet Suite Retreat

I have a limerick winner to announce! Congratulations to Bethany W. and her lyrical ode to Stephanie’s kitchen makeover:

The “before” looks clean and neat.
But overwhelmed by the color of wheat.
Put it down in the books
This one no longer looks
Like a dated surgical suite.

Hahaha, they were all so awesome! You guys are a hilarious bunch of wordsmiths, you are. Thanks for the laughs.

And now, please enjoy this bedroom makeover from Heather. I can’t really call it a makeover, because it didn’t even start out as a bedroom. In fact, it was two rooms that she converted into a master suite. I think they were some sort of living room arrangement, but I can’t really tell, mostly because I’m afraid that looking at the before pictures too long may damage my eyesight.

That’s a whole lot of Cheeto-colored paint to take in, is all I’m sayin’.

But now? It’s a complete master suite retreat! So neat! See more on Heather’s blog The Heathered Nest.

May 18, 2015 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In chairs/ottomans/seating/ outdoors

Chair makeovers, I think.

Oh my goodness, your limericks from Wednesday were hilarious! I will pick a winner and announce it on Monday!

Currently, for reasons too boring to explain, I am attempting to write this blog post on my phone in an airplane. I also can’t see the pictures that I’m trying to describe right now because this app I use for mobile blogging only shows me a bunch of html gibberish instead of photos.

This should be fun.

So! I know that these are chair makeovers, and I think this first one is cheetah print and it’s pretty darn sassy.

From Better After reader Janine.

If memory serves me, this second one also hails from the animal kingdom: zebra print! Ooh! Ahhh! Rowr! (That’s not really a zebra sound, but really, what is?)

From Rhonda at Batchelor’s Way.

Um, ok these next two are similar in the fact that that have both been painted. Not just the frames, even the fabric was painted! Don’t they look incredible?

Don’t they? I can’t see!

From Shanna at Restoration Redoux.

From Suzan at Simply Vintageous.

Ok, I’m pretty sure this one is a office chair makeover with geometric fabric that I really like. I feel like there is also a cat somewhere. I feel a feline presence.

From Janine at Chairished Furnishings.

Finally, I can almost guarantee that this last one is a set of tired plastic lawn chairs. Kat painted them a life-renewing shade of green, and they look brand new! Right? Right??

Green Lounge Outdoor Chair Makeover | betterafter.net

From Kat at Katch of the Day.

Happy Friday!

May 15, 2015 By Lindsey @ Better After

8 In bedroom

Small on Space, Big on Style

When Maria downsized into a studio apartment, the smaller space zapped her decor mojo. She felt completely uninspired.

I tooootally get it. When we were very first married, Matt tried to talk me into renting a studio apartment that was so incredibly tiny, the only furniture it could hold besides the bed was literally a mini fridge and a single chair. And if you had more than two adults over, it was impossible to even use the chair. I didn’t last long there.

But even though Maria plans to upsize in a year, she still wanted her apartment to feel like home, so she got to work. It didn’t take much! Just a fun graphic print on the headboard, some glamorous artwork, a new set of IKEA nightstands, and it looks like a whole new space!