Better After

18 In bathroom

An Insensible Bathroom

Here are some things that look awesome but aren’t sensible: White bedding. High heels. Two-seater sports cars.

I don’t have a two-seater, but I do have white bedding, and once in a while I even break out the high heels. Because the extra effort they require is worth it! Same thing with this fabulous bathroom makeover from Rachel.

Yes, an all glass shower surround is more work to keep clean than the previous frosted glass doors of un-attractiveness. Vessel-style sinks can be a pain. But neither one is as insensible as navigating the bathroom with your eyes closed because you can’t even bear the sight of it, see what I’m saying? I think you do.

See more from Rachel on her blog Chaos in the Condo.

TIP: The key to keeping those shower doors clean is a squeegee. The hard part is getting anyone else to actually use it. I’ve even made up a song at my house, entitled “It’s So Easy To Squeegee!” So far it has not been effective.

September 17, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In kitchen/dining

Here a little, there a little.

Everybody loves instant gratification, that’s the whole MO of this blog! Before pic, after pic, boom. You just digested an entire kitchen remodel in 15 seconds.

But don’t get fooled or frustrated when your real life projects seem to take three times longer. (Longer than you originally planned on, I mean. Three times longer than 15 seconds is 45 seconds. Good luck giving anything a makeover that quickly. I can’t even make toast that fast).

Better After reader Joan chose to do her kitchen remodel as time and money permitted, which ended up taking seven years! It’s a game she enjoys, seeing what she can accomplish on a minimal budget without going into debt. Piece by piece she replaced this outdated kitchen, starting with stripping the fruity wallpaper and repainting, installing new countertops a year later, then new flooring and appliances a few years after that.

It’s definitely a kitchen to be proud of, and so inspiring to see what can be done with a little money and a lot of patience.

September 16, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

4 In desks/hutches/buffets

The Five Stages of Stain

Jen bought this desk at a yard-sale from a girl down the street that had used it forever and was ready to let it go. Shhh, you guys. Don’t tell her how awesome Jen made it look. She’d never stop kicking herself. I know I wouldn’t.

Jen wanted to try the two-tone look, but she’s an overachiever and went with a five-tone ombre stain look instead! I love it, but I think I love the little metal edge details she uncovered the very most of all.

See more at All Things New.

Aren’t they great!? And they were there all along!

September 16, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

10 In bedroom

So Long Panels

Hello Monday! I hope everyone is happy and healthy at your house. We have a sick kiddo here. My daughter developed a nasty cough situation yesterday. I kept her home from school, but I don’t know if she’s sick enough to go to the doctor. I mean, she sounds like a sea lion with emphysema, but is that enough? How do you determine if your kid is sick enough to go to the doctor? I need a flow chart. Somebody please get on that.

If you feel like crawling back into bed too, here’s a lovely bedroom makeover from Sabrina to tickle your eyeballs. Sometimes bigger isn’t better. She reduced the girth of that headboard by removing the panels attached to the nightstands, and it really lightens up the room even with a darker paint color on the walls. Love it.

Get all the details on her blog Pink Little Notebook.

September 15, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

6 In kiddie/ tables/dressers

Baby, Baby, Baby, Oh!

Hey kids! Listen up! This post is for you!

You CAN use a sewing machine, right kids? Because you’re going to need one when you make over your high chair, like Megan at Galumphing in High Heels did. (Actually, Megan got her mom to help her with the sewing, so maybe you should do that too).

So cute!

Ok, what about power tools? How comfortable are you with those? Because here’s a fun idea. Better After reader Jennifer took this old $2 magazine holder, chopped off the top and made it into a toy crib!

Coincidentally, Jennifer actually found a friend to cut the top off, so that might also be a good plan, if you aren’t adept with a jigsaw yet. Let’s conquer the toilet first.

Sniff. You’re getting so grown up. It seems like only yesterday you were still in diapers. What’s that? You ARE still in diapers? Oh. Ok.

Then here’s a project that your parents might appreciate: a changing table! This $10 yard-sale piece became baby-friendly when Caitlin fixed it up with a new top and Restoration Hardware alphabet knobs, also found at a yard-sale. (Where are these fantastical yard-sales happening, amIright kids?)

See it sporting its changing pad on her blog The Picket Fence Projects.

Next thing we know, you’ll be asking to borrow the car. Or maybe you’ll be asking to paint the car, you little DIYer-in-training, you.

Mac was happy to oblige when her son asked if he could have a blue jeep, and a couple of coats of satin spray paint later, that’s just what he got.

See the process on her blog The Happy Homester.

Want more kiddie makeover goodness? Take a scroll through my kiddie archives!

September 12, 2014 By Lindsey @ Better After

15 In chairs/ottomans/seating

Judging a couch by its cover.

I’m all for form over function. I’d rather hide my trashcan in a closet than keep it somewhere convenient and have to look at it all day. But even I can’t get behind the idea of plastic covered couch cushions. Praise the heavens that this went out of vouge. (Was it ever in vogue?)

When you are more concerned with keeping stains off your couch than your are of keeping guests comfortable on your couch, you’ve crossed a line my friend. (Although, it wouldn’t be too hard to keep people on a plastic couch, especially if they were wearing shorts on a hot day, I’m just saying).

But now it’s not even a ghost of its former Saran-Wrapped self. Better After reader Donna reupholstered it in gray, and get this, it’s only her SECOND TIME REUPHOLSTERING. Ever. Yeah. She taught herself by watching YouTube. She rocks. I have a friend who taught himself how to be a beekeeper by watching YouTube, and now he has a successful bee removal business.

So, before you go longing for the good ol’ days, just remember, they had plastic covered furniture and no way to teach yourself how reupholster and be a beekeeper without getting up off of it.