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Living Rooms

Kitchens

Furniture

15 In desks/hutches/buffets/ outdoors

Way Cool Dude

At first, this may look like your standard buffet makeover.  Better After reader JoAnna found it for $10 at a yard sale, refinished the top, painted the body and changed out the hardware.  But wait … there’s … more.   Oh yeah, there’s more.  Are you ready?  Can you handle it?  Look closely and you might be able to tell …

 

Need a new and fresh idea for your patio? Check out this patio cooler makeover at betterafter.net

Need a new and fresh idea for your patio? Check out this patio cooler makeover at betterafter.net

Boom! It’s a patio cooler! What!? I know!  Her cooler is cooler than your cooler. And it’s way cooler than my cooler, which we use so rarely, that one time we discovered a dirty diaper had been in there for several months.  I don’t even know. But we stopped using that cooler.

But pretend I never told you that story, and let’s look again at this awesome cooler:

Need a new and fresh idea for your patio? Check out this patio cooler makeover at betterafter.net

***The Ugly Lamp contest is coming soon! Submit your original ugly lamp photo to enter! BetterAfter(at)live.com, subject line: Ugly Lamp. Deadline is August 15th. More info HERE.***

18 In Uncategorized

A New Design for Listerine

>>>This post brought to you by Listerine. All opinions are 100% mine.

Do you guys remember Christopher Lowell and his show Interior Motives? It was on TV waaay back in the late ’90s. I was probably the only middle schooler in the country who watched that show with such fervent devotion. I knew Christopher and I were soulmates when he mentioned on one episode that his perfect evening consisted of watching the biography channel while organizing his junk drawer.

Christopher taught me many things about interior design that still stick with me, like which ‘big-ticket’ items to invest in, the correct spacing between a sofa and coffee table (“Eighteen inches! What do you need all that extra space for, square dancing?!”), and he always, ALWAYS decanted bathroom products into prettier containers.

I blame Christopher for my compulsive toothpaste hiding habit. My husband loves this about me. (Not really).

So when Listerine asked me to check out their new ‘decorative’ bottles, I perked right up. My kids actually love using mouthwash, but because I tend to hide it under the counter, they forget it’s there.

So let’s have a look:

listerine3

Cute!  Currently, this is the ONLY decorative item in there.  The kid’s bathroom hasn’t made its way to the top of the Need-To-Decorate list of the new house yet.  So it adds a little splash of color and fun and encourages healthy habits too.  Could you ask more of a bottle of mouthwash?  I think not. Oh wait, it’s also the #1 dentist-recommended brand.  Overachiever Alert!

listerine1

 

This flavor is Fresh Citrus, my kids favorite.  Not too minty, (or “Spicy!” as my daughter describes it).

listerine2

 

Listerine also has newly designed bottles for their other flavors too: Cool Mint, Fresh Mint, and Arctic Mint.

 photo 02225-57_listerine_izea_400x450_zps2bfd58fe.jpg

Save Now with Target Cartwheel

Pick ya one up today!  They are only available at Target and for a limited time!  Would Christopher Lowell approve?  I bet he would.  I’ll let you know when he finally realizes we are best friends and gives me a call.

Visit Sponsor's Site

13 In desks/hutches/buffets/ tables/dressers

By your powers combined … I am Pnuematic Addict!

Much like Captain Planet and the Planeteers, when the elements of these bookcases and buffet combine, they form a complete, more powerful whole! (Please tell me you remember Captain Planet).

On their own, they are nice, but weak. Incapable of supporting a large TV, not visually arresting in any way, and unable to defeat the giant wall-o-space behind them.

But when their powers combine, watch out!  They come together to create a cohesive, space-dominating entertainment center, and the world instantly becomes a better place.  It’s all thanks to Elisha from Pneumatic Addict Furniture, who never met a furniture foe she couldn’t match. She should probably just get herself a superhero suit by now.

 

See this lovely "built-in" entertainment center makeover at betterafter.net

See this lovely "built-in" entertainment center makeover at betterafter.net
***The Ugly Lamp contest is coming soon! Winner will receive fame and fortune (or a $100 gift card of their choice). Submit your original ugly lamp photo to enter! BetterAfter(at)live.com, subject line: Ugly Lamp. Deadline is August 15th. More info HERE.***

8 In Uncategorized

Happiness Happens

Hey party people, guess what today is?  It’s Happiness Happens Day! Yay, I love happiness!

Here are a few things that make me happy:

Listening to my baby laugh.

When I hide chocolate in the pantry, and then forget about it, and then find it!

A freshly vacuumed floor.

Driving in the car with the windows down and the music up.

Making someone else happy!

HomeGoods wants to help spread happiness, and they’re doing a darn good job of it by giving away $10,000 in gift cards over the course of the day to lucky participants who share a happy moment on Twitter or Instagram.

It’s so easy to enter. Just share how you made a moment of happiness happen in someone’s life – no matter how big or small – either by posting a photo on Instagram or Twitter using #HappinessHappens and #HomeGoodsSweeps. 

 Homegoods Happiness Happens

Winners are chosen randomly and will be awarded $100 gift cards throughout the day on 8/8 from 9AM to 5PM EST.

Around this time last year, I got to participate in a HomeGoodsHappy challenge, and made over my friend Adrienne’s master bedroom from this …
  Bland to glam! Bedroom makeover with easy accessorizing!   from BetterAfter.net

to this!

Bland to glam! Bedroom makeover with easy accessorizing!   from BetterAfter.net

 

I get to do that again this year, and I’ve already got a deserving person in mind. Excited! So keep an eye out for that later this month.  But right now you should go make some Happiness Happen and win yourself a gift card! No better start to the weekend than that.

 

Bland to glam! Bedroom makeover with easy accessorizing!   from BetterAfter.net

Visit the HomeGoods sweepstakes page for more info and official rules.

10 In kitchen/dining

From a Yellow Bellow to Cream and Dreamy

Look.  Fans of yellow.  We need to have a talk.  Apparently, painting a room yellow is a way bad idea. Look at some facts I just learned according to a psychological study on the effect of colors:

– Yellow can create feelings of frustration and anger. While it is considered a cheerful color, people are more likely to lose their tempers in yellow rooms and babies tend to cry more in yellow rooms.

– Yellow is the most fatiguing to the eye due to the high amount of light that is reflected. Using yellow as a background on paper or computer monitors can lead to eyestrain or vision loss in extreme cases.

EXTRA CRY-Y BABIES?!  VISION LOSS!?   No thanks Jose.

That’s why this overly yellow kitchen had to go.  Well, that and the fact that it was outright hideous.  The talented duo of Ali and Brian at BK Wenger Properties had a go at it, making it beautiful, traditional, and unlikely to cause anyone to fly into a yellow-induced temper rage.

 

Don't miss this gorgeous kitchen makeover at betterafter.net

 

Don't miss this gorgeous kitchen makeover at betterafter.net

I don’t even understand how this is the same room.  But Brian and Ali seem like pretty nice people, so we’ll take their word for it.  Hey, you want to read something funny? Check out some these people’s comments about how they react to the color yellow.  I think the one about the teacher’s yellow shirt is my favorite.  Enjoy.

Don't miss this gorgeous kitchen makeover at betterafter.net

Don't miss this gorgeous kitchen makeover at betterafter.net
***The Ugly Lamp contest is coming soon! Submit your original ugly lamp photo to enter! BetterAfter(at)live.com, subject line: Ugly Lamp. Deadline is August 15th. More info HERE.***

5 In tables/dressers

Herring is Caring

Do you hear that?  That’s the sound of school starting again.  It sounds like … nothing!  No whining, no fighting, no “I’m bored!” no “I’m hungry!” No Disney Channel blaring in the background.  (If I hear the theme song to Jessie one more time, I might stab myself in the ears …  Hey JesSAY! Hey JesSAY!  It feels like a party ev-eryyyy daaaaay!) No Jessie, it did not feel like a party everyday. It felt like SURVIVAL.  But it was fun.  We had a good summer.  And I’m also glad to be welcoming back a regular routine and a few hours of peace every day too.  Ahhhh.

Maybe now I’ll have some time to do a few projects around here, like finally being patient enough to paint a herringbone pattern on something.  Just kidding.  Summer may be over, but we’ll still be in triple digits til October!  I’ll just enjoy Amber’s handiwork on this cute cabinet for now. Very striking!

See more on her blog Frame Candy.

 

Black and white storage makeover at betterafter.net

 

Black and white storage makeover at betterafter.net

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