Better After

Ch-ch-chair ch-ch-changes!

Hello lovelies. I’ve got a little chair roundup today that is sure to make both you and your bottom smile. Most bottoms naturally curve into a nice little smile, don’t they? That’s the ideal, anyway. No one wants a scowling bottom.

That reminds me of this one time, when my daughter Mia was really small we were standing in the checkout line of a store, and the woman in front of us had a very rotund bottom, and to my horror, Mia couldn’t help herself, like a moth to a flame she reached out and lovingly stroked it and patted it and bounced her little hand on it like it was a basketball, and I could have died. I couldn’t stop her, because I was behind the grocery cart, and she was in front of it, and I was also busy pretending not to know her.

And now … makeovers! Lisa at Sweet Parsley Home wasn’t scared away by this chair’s total inability to perform its duties as a chair. She re-webbed it and jolted it back to life with some fearless fabric and pretty paint.

Jen at Girl in the Garage also went a step further than paint and fabric, she re-padded this chair and it looks so absolutely cushy, like if your bottom could get a massage. I guess technically your bottom COULD get a massage, but this is way less awkward. Remind me to tell you my awkward massage story sometime.

I always love a good MCM makeover, and this one stays true to form, with simple fabric and coaxing the beauty back out of that wood frame. From Lisa at Lombardo Lagniappe.

These before chairs from Better After reader Kristen weren’t terrible to begin with, I mean, I’ve seen way worse fabric (so have you, like 15 seconds ago). But wow, they are something special now. I love the look of the delicate script print paired up with the glossy black frame. Mmmhmm!

This chair also had some script print happening. Perhaps you’ve heard of Rebecca’s line of fabric? No? Don’t feel bad, her earlier work wasn’t that popular. That’s why Becca at Ivy & Co. chose to ditch it in favor of a graphic mustard print. And another black frame! I’m getting the urge to paint something black.

Here’s a sweet one from Michal at Caspitweb. This one would be perfect tucked in the corner of a girl’s bedroom. It used to look like it came from a southwestern-themed restaurant that went out of business thanks to multiple health-code violations, so I’d say that’s a huge improvement.

And one last beauty to feast your eyeballs on from Jen at Girl in the Garage. It’s so lovely, and what a great touch to choose the rose fabric to echo the roses carved into the chair. Not that the green microfiber wasn’t doing a great job of that. (It wasn’t).

October 17, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

7 In tables/dressers

Deux Commodes

Despite the fancy soundin’ name, French provincial style furniture is a dime a dozen. You can easily find some today on your city’s Craigslist or in your grandma’s guest room. In fact, if you are easily amused and have some spare time, please google “french provincial dresser.’ A whole world of french provincial makeovers will open up for you to behold. Some are really good. Some are … the eyeball searing opposite of really good.

But here are a couple standouts that rise above the rest. First, a mint and gold take from Bre at Brepurposed. Love the crystal teardrops. Sometimes people mistakenly think that adding sleek modern drawer pulls will update this type of furniture, but I say stick to feminine and flourishy.

And let’s first stop and virtually high-five Christy for getting this dresser for a measly $25 when my local thrift stores would have priced it somewhere in the car payment range. Her printed fabric technique is shabby, chic, and so sweet. See more at Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer.

Fun factiod: did you know the French word for dresser is ‘commode?’ What I don’t know is how/when/why that got translated to mean ‘toilet’ when it reached America. I think it has something to do with chamber pots. Feel free to use that nugget of info to impress your friends.

October 16, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

11 In living room

A vision of living room luv.

Hey gang!

I’m pretty much back to normal, hooray! About 90% there. Not seeing perfectly yet, but at least the pain is gone.

HOLY COW, THE PAIN. Thank you so much for all your kind comments and emails checking on me and wishing me a speedy recovery. It really means so much. Big thanks especially to the commiserators who have gone through PRK too, and reassured me that there is indeed an end to the terrible pain and sensitivity and blurriness and pain.

My doctor really didn’t prepare me for it at all, and I was certain I had destroyed my eyes permanently and my new normal would be stumbling around my darkened house wailing and cursing. There was one instance where my protective contact lens shifted while I was alone, and I couldn’t get it back in place, and it exposed my eye for one horrible horrible hour. I surprised even myself with the guttural howling I was capable of. It was seriously pleading-with-God type pain.

Anyway. Whew. Glad that’s over. Can’t wait to join the ranks of everyone else who insists that corrective eye surgery was the best decision of their lives.

And now, let’s get to a makeover why don’t we?

If your home could use an update from that wannabe-yellowish-beige color that was so common a few years ago (ask me how I know, I spent three years with walls the color of urine) (but hey, if you still like it, don’t let me stop you, you go on with your warmy-beige-loving self!)

But if you’re so over it, check out this lightened brightened living room from Alicia at Thrifty and Chic. Maybe it’s just my tired eyeballs talking, but I find the monochromatic palette so very soothing.

PS: We finally have a Slipcovers With Shelley Giveaway! Congrats Rhonda Anthony! Please check your email.

Don’t forget, Better After readers get an EXCLUSIVE 30% discount on all Shelley’s products, from her DVDs to her ebooks, including the new Styling Cents, so hop on over there and take advantage of that deal.

Use code BETTERAFTER at checkout.

October 15, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

30 In Uncategorized

Is this where the title goes?

Hi friends. Hope you had a happy weekend. I am discovering that recovery from my eye surgery is taking a lot longer than I planned on. I am actually blogging this by talking into the voice activated feature on my phone from my bed, with my eyes closed tight, in the dark. I hope I am in fact blogging and not saying all this in a text message to my mother-in-law or something like that. Who knows.

I didn’t have the typical LASIK surgery, mine was a little more intense called PRK, which is where they do the laser directly on the surface of the eyeball because the cornea is too thin. I hope you’re not eating breakfast and reading this. Ew. Sorry.

Anyway, I hope will be 100% here soon. And capable of doing things like looking at computer screens, and driving, and not having to remember what my kids look like based on memory alone.

I will be back whenever possible, and I will announce the winner of the giveaway as soon as I can, so I guess that’s just extra time to get those entries in!

See you soon!
Literally!
I hope!

October 13, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

7 In Uncategorized

In Good Taste

Enjoy this Better After flashback! Happy Saturday!

Jilly had an enormously long living room on her hands. If you’ve ever been to suburban Arizona, you have seen this phenomenon. It seems that local building codes require half a football field’s worth of uninterrupted living space upon entering the front door.

But Jilly had had enough of that nonsense and found the perfect set of giant bookcases to help break up the cavernous room. Perfect in every way except they were kinda woodsy, and not her vibe at all. Not a problem when you’ve got paint, simple wood cutouts and a handy set of friends who will help with the dirty work! Looks absolutely fantastic!

See more on her blog Girls with Good Taste.

October 11, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

8 In fashion

Fashion Friday!

Heyo, how’s your Friday? I am currently recovering from LASIK surgery (I’m writing this in advance, so I hope that’s the case. I hope they didn’t burn off my eyeballs in some freak LASIK accident or anything, not that I’m nervous, I’m totally nervous).

But it the meantime, it’s been a while, so I thought I’d serve up a Fashion Friday! Wheee! These are so fun. I hope my eyeballs survive to see them again in the future.

Sarah at Life is Beautiful is a total pro at making over thrift store treasures that have seen better days. Long, long ago, were those days. This one looks like it may have crossed the plains, it’s so amazingly outdated.

Ack! Not anymore! So cute! I love how she reused the lace detail.

But Sarah doesn’t limit herself to laughably large pioneer-esque dresses, she also updated this striped shirtdress with some feminine flair.

Not only that, but she took the extra inches from the bottom and …

Created a twisted headband for her daughter! I want one! See it at Life is Beautiful.

Jillian calls herself the ReFashionista and she couldn’t be more correct. Check out what she did with this paisley monstrosity:

What? How did that pattern suddenly become cute? It’s witchcraft I say. Check out her blog to see how she accomplished this makeover in literally less than five minutes.

And she’s at it again, this time with … what I think is an oversized t-shirt? Hard to say. But a little snip here, and a stitch there, and a hot bath in some raspberry dye, and she’s created an adorable little day dress. Perfect for walking around and looking adorable in. See it at ReFashionista.

I love one from Kristi at Alligator Toe for so many reason. First of all, that pattern is rocking. If I would have found it first, I might have left it as-is, thrown a vest over the top and dressed up for Halloween as Miss Lippy. But Kristi’s skirt version is super cute, and she even has a simple video tutorial that makes me feel like I could totally make one too!

And finally one more from Sarah at Life is Beautiful. I think this is my favorite! Talk about shape-shifting! Literally, it went from a shapeless shift to fitted, fun and flirty. I love that oragami-inspired peplum. Brava!