The Latest: May 3, 2019

We're here for it.

To your average homeowner watching HGTV, the idea of Fixer Upper hosts Chip and Joanna Gaines or some other home improvement hero waving a magic hammer and turning your 1970s kitchen catastrophe into something out of a glossy magazine spread sounds almost too good to be true. So is it? We asked two alumni of home renovation shows to tell us what the experience was really like, and whether there were any downsides or unwelcome surprises. The verdict?

This is a Very Serious Dresser, and while it is certainly beautiful and worthy of preservation, how does one incorporate a dark, gravitas-filled antique into a home that’s decidedly not all stained glass windows, turrets, and gargoyles? Don’t worry—the answer is not “paint it white.

This post is especially for those of us who have lived in 400-ish-square-foot homes, and with a loved one we’d like to keep loving. We can relate to the limited storage, style compromises (there’s zero “me” space), multi-multi-use rooms, and eccentric bed positioning. This studio, shared by a married couple, is an inspiring small space, both pre- and post-renovation. This dreamy decor was designed and executed by Kate Lemmon of Kate L Photography.

Some rooms have a million flaws that need remedying; the problem with this nursery-to-be was there was no real there there. After months of sanding, painting, ripping out, and replacing by a very pregnant lady and her crew, this room was lovingly decorated for its tiny new occupant. The word for this nursery, created by Bridget Matkovich of The DIY Playbook, is dreamy.

Aldo and Zane had already been living in the Borough Market area of London when they fell in love with the city, so it made sense they’d want to buy in the same neighborhood. In fact, an apartment—”a characterful warehouse conversion on a quiet street near Borough Market”—caught their eye. When they got the opportunity to purchase it in 2016, they took on the remodel of a space with great light… but in need of an upgrade.

Grouting tile is as easy as frosting a cake (a very difficult, really pretty cake anyway). If that sounds like it’s above your skill level, hire a professional. But, if you’ve got the can-do spirit, are handy, and pick up a few grout-specific tools for the job, you’re going to be just fine. (FYI, I feel it’s important to note that I actually tiled and grouted this backsplash myself.) Before starting, choose your grout.

Some vintage bathrooms are incredibly charming, but I’m afraid the same could not be said of this one. One of the bathrooms in Jonathan and Cecilia’s Queens apartment was a mishmash of styles, with a black and gold sliding shower door, an uninspiring vanity cabinet, and wall and floor tile in a particularly unappealing shade of mauve.

Ursula’s new condo in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood came with a builder-basic kitchen that seemed trapped in the ’90s, and a dark color scheme in the living room that, while stylish, made the space feel heavy and dark. Her goals for the renovation were two-fold: to modernize the kitchen, and brighten the entire space to emphasize its natural lighting and generous proportions. So out went the dark, heavy wood cabinets, replaced by streamlined modern ones in a glossy white.

Can this humble, crumbling little garage be replaced by the hottest place to stay in town, all in just six short months? With a little help from trusted architects and contractors, anything is possible! Let’s let Jude Green of That Homebird Life explain how this family decided to go from a useless garage to a multi-use guesthouse: We pulled down an old rotting garage and constructed a guest house (with attached storage room, loft and bathroom) in its place.

This kitchen is perfectly nice! It’s got lots of windows, a beautiful hardwood floor, and classic cabinets. Its owner, however, wanted something beyond perfectly nice, and, after four years of plotting and planning, made it into something special. In the full-length shot, you can see that lovely floor, as well as more of the mustard walls.

If you want to add just one thing to a room to fancy it up, to really take the space to the next level, you can’t do better than crown molding. Crown molding draws the eye up and gives a room instant architectural character. And depending on the profile you choose, it can be a very inexpensive upgrade — and even one you can install yourself. Choosing the right crown molding for your space depends not just on style, but on scale.

Flower arranging is lost on me. No matter how much time I spend trying to make bouquets look good, I usually wind up just plopping the flowers in a vase and calling it a day. So I love simple, quick ways to raise my flower game, even a little bit. Learn these five basic hacks and get the best arrangements of your life. Letting leaves rot in water is one of the best ways to bring your flowers down.

We all have to start somewhere, and that includes Chip and Joanna Gaines. The Fixer Upper stars might be worth millions today, but they were newlyweds once, and just getting started out as a young couple while living in Waco, Texas. And apparently, their early homes were a far cry from their current sweet farmhouse setup. We recently asked Chip what he remembers about the first home they shared back in the day, before there were all the kids and animals running around.

Peggy Wang, Buzzfeed’s founding editor, decided one day a few years ago she was ready to move out of tiny apartment living. “It was like a weird sudden existential outburst in my usual lazy put-everything-off-forever mindset,” she writes. When she purchased this 1100-square-foot home in Queens, it felt like the right fit. But boy it needed a face lift. She worked closely with White Arrow—Keren Richter and her husband Thomas Richter—to remodel this home.