When DIYer and content creator Megan Zietz and her family moved from their old apartment into a new one that had cherry reddish-brown kitchen cabinets, Megan learned an important lesson: Sometimes it’s best to work with brown cabinets, not against them. “I finally — after months of fighting the idea — decided to lean into the cabinet color,” she says.

When a room’s layout isn’t working, you change it to work for you. In Sean Matthew Robinson’s case, he flipped his entire apartment because the layout wasn’t working. Originally in his Hell’s Kitchen apartment a tiny living room was at the front of the railway-style apartment, and two small bedrooms were at the opposite end.

My kitchen was once a blank canvas, an uninspiring white-walled space when I moved in. Although the space was brand-new, it lacked the warmth, personality, and soul I wanted to surround myself with.I bought my apartment and moved in in July 2022, and from that very first day, I knew that every inch of the room would need to feel like me, which would take time, effort, and a lot of love — but I was up for the challenge.

New mom Maisie Powers didn’t have much time to design a nursery for her son, Arlo. She and her husband moved into their house in June 2025, and the baby was due in December, so Maisie had to work quickly when transforming what had previously been a guest room. “The design inspiration came from various other nurseries I had seen on Pinterest, mixed with my love of traditional home decor,” Maisie shares.