Makeovers

I devised a plan that would have a big impact without costing a ton of money. It was also simple enough that I could do most of it myself, on my own timeline. 

Name: Graeme & Rebekah Molloy Type of Project: Kitchen Remodel Location: Chautauqua Park, Des Moines, Iowa Type of building: 1920 Tudor The Renovation Diaries are a collaboration with our community in which we feature your step by step renovation progress and provide monetary support towards getting it done in style. See all of our Reno Diaries here. Rebekah and Graeme are now totally in the thick of their kitchen reno.

Erika’s young and doesn’t spend an arm and a leg on rent. Sure, her bathroom is functional, but all those shades of off-white are a style travesty that could make even the most stalwart of tenants cry beige tears. It’s a rental, so nobody wants to go nuts and spend a lot of money to renovate it, but Erika wanted something a little more fun and befitting her age. So, the goal is to give her an entirely new, bright, amazing bathroom for $500. Think we can do it?

This is what Tara’s kitchen looked like when she moved in this past year. Not too pretty, eh? With her landlord’s approval, we did a light reno that didn’t cost a lot, but made a major difference in both appearance and function. Spending money on a rental isn’t for everyone — but for those of you who love to cook, have a horrible kitchen, and plan to stay put for awhile, then a little investment may well be worth the time and expense.

You're going to want to pick up a paint brush after seeing this!

Name: Graeme & Rebekah Molloy Type of Project: Kitchen Remodel Location: Chautauqua Park, Des Moines, Iowa Type of building: 1920 Tudor The Renovation Diaries are a collaboration with our community in which we feature your step by step renovation progress and provide monetary support towards getting it done in style. See all of our Reno Diaries here. Graeme and Rebekah crossed the finish line!

Project by: Stella and family Location: Quebec, Canada Do you ever dream of a simpler life? Living with your family somewhere quiet, close to nature, maybe next to a pond, with a farmers market close by to visit on the weekend? Here’s the story of one family who made that dream a reality, one DIY challenge at a time.

Renovation by: Kristyn Location: Pittsburgh There was nothing WRONG with the kitchen when I purchased my first home except that it wasn’t me. It didn’t fit the 1920s Tudor Revival style of the house or my preferred bright, colorful, organic modern look. Although I don’t love bead board, there was no reason to replace the clean and sturdy cabinets. So I embraced it, adding more to the side and back of the island that separates kitchen from dining room.

Renovation by: Patti Location: Phoenix, AZ We moved into our fixer-upper exactly one year ago and finally finished the last room – the kitchen. I think the previous owner must have fantasied about being a princess because every single room was painted pink (including ceilings and doors!) and had wall to wall purple carpeting.

Renovation by: Laura Location: Oak Park, Illinois My husband Michael and I just purchased this 1892 gothic Victorian home in outlying Chicago’s historic Oak Park. (land of Frank Lloyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace.) I own a jewelry boutique called Gem Jewelry Boutique and Michael is a general contractor. The home is perfect with its nearly 10 foot high ceilings and elegant moulding, original marble fireplace and gothic windows.

Renovation by: Katie Location: Canada For Christmas this year, I decided to update my grandfather’s living room as my present to him. My grandmother passed away last February, and he needed a change – something that he could see everyday that would make him happy to remember his life with her. They had kept their 1960s furniture in near perfect condition, so I knew I would just need to update the styling of the room with fabrics and some interesting wall art.

Renovation by: Heather and Mike Location: Phoenix, Arizona We are Phoenix, Arizona natives that have never left our little neighborhood of Arcadia. Born and raised in such a gorgeous and historical area of the city, we decided to buy the perfect ranch-style home (in serious need of some TLC!) in our citrus-filled area of town 8 years ago. We’ve had some serious adventures in renovations, and the master suite was the last piece of the puzzle!

Project by: Sabina Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania We moved into our house three years ago and it was love at first sight. We loved everything about it—except the fact that it was incredibly outdated. So, after putting up with our dated, depressing kitchen for three years, in June of 2015 we finally started our dream kitchen renovation. We had replaced a few of the appliances with our own when we moved in, so we didn’t opt to get all new appliances during this renovation.

Project by: Julie and Laura Location: New York State Without further ado, another inspiring camper transformation! Take it away, Julie and Laura: We are identical twin sisters, are both registered nurses, both married, and we are mothers to three little boys collectively. Ever since we were teenagers and we watched the cult classic The Long Long Trailer with Lucille Ball, we have dreamed of having a little camper turned glamper to call and make our own.

Project by: Meg Location: Colorado If this project doesn’t convince you that just about any sow’s ear can be turned into a silk purse than I don’t know what will. This funky old, water damaged, faux woodgrain and formica-filled caravan is now a super sweet spot to hang out in. To top it off, he transformation was quick and the budget was lowlowlow. The perfect makeover!

Project by: Christina of andchristina Location: Philadelphia, PA Last year my boyfriend (now fiance 🙂 and I bought our first house (a rowhome in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia) and we’ve spent the last few months transforming the first floor, mainly the kitchen (check it out here!), and also building this breakfast nook in the main living area.

Every so often, someone sends in a project that 100% reaffirms my belief in the power of paint along with good diy and decorating skills. This is one of them. Take it away (and OMG, amazing job!

Project by: Erin’s Mom and Dad Location: Wilamette Valley, Oregon My parents live in a small rural town in Oregon Willamette Valley. My younger brother and his wife live nearby, but my sisters and I are all spread across the country. We try to visit as often as we can, but it’s quite a journey with little ones, so we manage to make one trip a year.

Project by: June Location: Hertfordshire, UK Our hallway was dark and dull, looking grubby and tired.

Project by: Ana Location: Seattle, WA The one thing I love and appreciate most in life, besides my baby son Magnus and awesome husband Jordan, is working with my hands. The process of creation amazes me every time, and I look down at my hands and thank them for being healthy and strong, then I realize I should thank my eyes, brain and heart for caring on an artistic drive in me year after year.

Project by: Katherine Location: Wichita, KS When we moved into our almost century-old house five years ago we were in the throes of planning a wedding (in the backyard of that house) and so a lot of things got the quick and dirty treatment. The dining room was one of those things. A coat of paint on the walls, a craigslist table and chairs, and a CB2 light fixture and call it good! This past fall, my father-in-law gave us a massive amount of books and along with them, several shelves.

Project by: Karen We just moved into a 1929 Tudor bungalow. The kitchen is small and has only one window. The upper cabinets made the room seem darker. In addition, they were hard for me to reach (I’m 5’2″). So I took them out and replaced them with open shelving in gloss white. The room was instantly brighter. I added storage in the pantry to make up for the lost cabinet space. So I took out the upper cabinets and replaced them with open shelving in gloss white.

Project by: Taylor Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Just days before my scheduled c-section, we were finally finishing our daughter’s nursery. We wanted a room with lots of contrast, personality and DIY touches. We also knew we were working with a small space and so we wanted our choices to be high-impact and make a smart use of our limited floor space.

Project by: Negar of Space Harmony Location: Vancouver, Canada This is an interior design and renovation we did for a client, a professional and avid skier who wanted his 1600 three-level town house to feel like a chalet. Because of the space limitation and ceiling height, we couldn’t use the real bold and robust materials used in chalets so we created an “modern chalet” instead! Our goal was to create the same cozy and comfortable ambiance on a smaller scale.

Project by: Molly of Awfully Big Adventure Location: Austin, TX This project focused on taking my tiny, boring, popcorn-ceilinged living room and turning it into a cheery, comfortable place to come home to- all on a serious budget. Using mainly Ikea, Craigslist, hand-me-downs, and tchotchkes galore, the living room came together and is now a colorful, eclectic space far from the oatmeal box it once was.

Project by: Samantha Location: New York, NY It was actually my boyfriend who picked out our temporary apartment in midtown Manhattan – at the time I was still living in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, I did not have the time to fly to New York by the time he moved in, in order to help him out. Hence, I had to order most of the necessary furniture online and have it delivered to an apartment I hadn’t even seen yet which was a bit of a challenge and risk.

Renovation by: Wendy Location: Nevada City We wanted the look of a stacked stone accent wall in our bathroom. However, we were unable to find a stone veneer that would fit behind our toilet. We decided to use reclaimed pine which we got from used pallets. We cut approximately 350 pieces of wood into different lengths and depths all with the same height (2.5 inches). We used a very strong floor glue to adhere the pieces of wood to the wall. After the wall was complete, we painted it a light gray.

Renovation by: Courtney and Brent Location: Houston, Texas When we moved into our house there was one thing about our living room that bugged us. It was the inset in the wall next to the fireplace. It was intended for the TV but we knew how we wanted the room to “flow” and found it awkward to have the TV off center and next to the fireplace. So we set up the living room how we wanted it with the TV on the long wall and left that space empty.

Project by: Emily and Erica Refinishing the main stairwell was just one small component of the year-log, full scale, gut-renovation of our 1900’s Greek Revival house in Providence, RI—but as the staircase is the first thing you see when you come in our front door, we wanted it to be a striking feature.

Project by: Kelly Location: Athens, GA I recently became obsessed with this wallpaper pattern called “Cuben” made by Flavor Paper. I saw a photo online of how someone had used it in a kitchen. Unfortunately the wallpaper is a little out of my budget so I decided to attempt to recreate it in my own kitchen with paint. I measured my walls and plotted out the design on graph paper. I used a yard stick and a level to get all the lines penciled onto the wall.

Project by: Kate Location: Des Moines, Iowa My husband and I moved into our little house in Des Moines (in a historic area called Beaverdale, full of houses from the ’30s) in July, and were very excited to start bringing some personality into the place! We liked the olive green walls of the living room and dining room, but realized shortly after hanging stuff up that we needed more color in the space.

Alison Dahl Kelly shared photos and the story of her amazing kitchen and dining room makeover with us. Take it away, Alison: Purchased in 2009, our artfully restored 1880’s townhouse has been taken apart and put back together again, restoring some old and adding some new. What attracted us to buy this house were the still-intact original details—parquet flooring, tin ceilings, marble fireplaces, built-in cabinetry, his and hers vanities.

Renovation by: Sofia Location: Toronto, Ontario When we purchased our house 4.5 years ago, our basement had a lot of potential with large windows and a beautiful backyard view. The operative word here is “potential” as the space was completely unlivable at the time. The primary objective of the entire basement renovation — and especially this bathroom — was to do it stylishly on a budget.

Renovation by: Alicia Location: Orem, Utah This project was such a drastic change and so much fun! This was months in the making – between backorders and busy summers, we were finally able to finish my friend’s master bedroom! From basic and drab to classy and chic, it was a fun and drastic reveal! When I did the first initial consult, my friend said she never really thought to decorate her master. It’s a HUGE master bedroom and had so much potential!

Makeover by: Wendi Location: Seattle, Washington The room had looked the same (horrible) for 18 years. After my divorce, I decided it was time for a change. The project was done over the course of the summer this year, with the main costs being paint and trim. Though I did not set a budget or keep track of the total, the project was relatively inexpensive.

We wrapped up a Style Cure the week before Thanksgiving. For those of you who haven’t heard about our Cures, they are month-long group projects where a big bunch of Apartment Therapy readers and editors work through a series of daily assignments with a specific goal in mind. This time, it was to refresh one room in our homes in time for the holidays.

Our home is full of lots of really gorgeous original details—and some not so gorgeous, not so original details. Somewhere around 1980, our fireplace’s original cast iron surround and summer cover were removed and replaced with plug-in, light-up logs and delightful glass doors.

Project by: Decorist Location: San Francisco The client, Kristen, had a great upholstered bed and a fantastic classic chair in her guest room, along with some ultra-vibrant apple green walls. While the bold color was a definite wow, it wasn’t exactly tranquil, which is what she was hoping for in this space, so it had to go. She went the makeover route in hope of ending up with a more pulled together, cohesive and welcoming room.

I’m super excited to share my very own living room Before & After with you. Once I finished my kitchen makeover earlier this year, things snowballed a bit and I suddenly wanted to change everything. I’ve also lived in my loft for seven years, and the itch is for real—the redecorating itch, that is. That’s a thing, right?

It’s all too common that the room that should be the most relaxing is the one that’s the most chaotic- or just forgotten when it comes to decor. The master bedroom should be your sanctuary so that you can rest up and deal with everything else life has planned for you, right? After spending years creating and decorating her space, Virginia of Fynes Designs decided a master bedroom makeover was long overdue. Get ready for a wow! transformation.

Erin of Earnest Home Co. admits that small changes aren’t her specialty. Once she focuses on a room, it’s usually all or nothing. So simply sprucing up her small bathroom was a decided challenge, one she did with only $150 and a couple of hours one afternoon. Since the tile and floor wasn’t going anywhere soon, she focused on the little things she could change out easily.

Ashley Poskin lives in a beautiful old Victorian house in Sterling, Illinois — a small town west of Chicago — which she is also restoring. The house is large, and Ashley and her husband are actually human, so it’s taken awhile to work on each room and make it into a home. (That’s her boxer Charlie front and center, checking out her small living room that’s still pretty devoid of decor and furniture.

So the comments around Ashley’s makeover were… spirited, to say the least. A lot of you all had things to say about the floorplan, and this is your shot at diving into the options in more depth. When the furniture arrived, we re-arranged things a few times to see what might work, fiddling until I felt we had the best possible option… As a refresher, here’s Ashley’s living room as a 3D model.

Name: Andrea Location: Boston, Massachusetts Room: Living Room Size: about 150 square feet Own or Rent: Own We’re on a road trip across the United States to tell people about Complete + Happy Home, and while we’re at it, we’re saving the country, one room at a time! First up, Boston—where we meet Andrea, her cat Sterling, and a blank slate living room that needs help going beyond the basics.

Marina and her husband Sebastiano bought a 100-year-old home in Houston about a year ago. The overall condition of the house was near-perfect, but Marina wanted to transform the traditional home into a more modern, open space. After knocking down the walls between the living room, dining room, and kitchen, Marina and Sebastiano now have a full view of the major rooms of their home from the front door. The openness and the new white paint work together to create a bright, open space.

I think when most people move into a new home, decorating the guest room probably isn’t their first priority—but that wasn’t so in this case. Emily, owner of Cheerfully Made, recently moved with her family into a big, four-bedroom in the small town of Almonte, Ontario, and while the extra space was amazing and the house was in great shape, it was stuck in a time warp. And what was the first room Emily attacked? The guest room.