The Latest: May 4, 2019

Ashley describes her lake house’s kitchen as a “Knotty Pine Convention” fit only for lumberjacks. The ’70s yellow counters weren’t helping the cause. What she really wanted was an open farmhouse vibe, without replacing the existing cabinets entirely. Here’s what it looks like now: The upper cabinets and island came out, and the walls got the beadboard treatment, customized open shelving, and a few coats of Behr Snow Fall to brighten it up.

Kim’s double wide mobile home was from 1991 and showing its age. Deciding to do a full renovation was a big decision (especially starting during the holidays!), but the results are spectacular. Wow! We especially love the more budget-friendly choices Kim made, like cork flooring throughout, and the IKEA kitchen.

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.

This is the story of how one Clinton Hill co-op got a complete, top-to-bottom refresh. The apartment had a problem common to lots of older homes: a small, cramped kitchen, cut off from the rest of the living areas. The homeowners, who love to entertain, envisioned a new, modern kitchen, and an open, uninterrupted living area that would take full advantage of the apartment’s incredible light and views.

A lot of the kitchen Before & Afters we share here on Apartment Therapy feature dramatic changes: new cabinets, new countertops, new appliances, walls torn down. But in this Fort Greene kitchen, the changes are much more subtle. They’re so subtle, in fact, that flipping back and forth between the before and after photos is a little bit like one of those puzzles where you try to spot the differences between the two pictures. Can you spot the changes?

The second bathroom in Michelle and Brad’s condo was in a strange state of flux. The home’s previous owners had removed the bathtub with the hope of installing a washer and dryer, but since the addition of the washer and dryer was rejected by the co-op board, the bathtub was instead replaced with a couple of awkwardly placed IKEA cabinets.

When Brian and Greg purchased a 1,500 sq. ft., 1960’s-era ranch house that had been on the market for over 500 days, they knew they could turn it into something special. A first priority was turning an 11 x 12 kitchen that comfortably fit one person into a bright, open space that met their needs as a growing family and frequent hosts. I would say they achieved their goal…a thousand times over.

The options are endless.

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.

Run–don’t walk–to your nearest contractor, cabinet maker or handy family member and ask–nay, beg–to have one of these seriously smart solutions built into the storage around your home.

Shopping for real estate in New York can be a bit heartbreaking. Corey found this out the hard way when he and his partner put in an offer on their dream apartment, only to be completely outbid. They wound up instead with a perfectly decent Williamsburg two-bedroom, with lots of space and beautiful views. But the good-enough apartment lacked character, and they couldn’t stop thinking about the one that got away.

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.

Name: Wintta Location: Capitol Hill; Washington, D.C. Room: Bedroom/Living Room Size: about 400 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! Our second makeover stop is Washington, D.C., where we meet Wintta and her studio with an inherited Murphy bed, just itching to for us to come in and make her Parisian dream a reality.

You may remember Ellen and Ben, the first-time Brooklyn homeowners who, instead of remodeling their kitchen, decided to tackle their master bath as their very first renovating project. Feeling more than satisfied with the results of that remodel, they decided to go with the same contractor for their second bathroom, although they elected to take the design in a slightly different direction.

Name: Jessica & Christian, and their two children Location: Atlanta, GA Room: Living Room Size: about 220 square feet Own or Rent: Rent We went 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!

Name: Corinna and Eugenia Location: LA Room: Living Room Size: about 200 square feet Own or Rent: Rent 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! Our last makeover was in Los Angeles—where we meet Corinna and Eugenia, a couple of artists who could use our help blending their creative styles into one playful living room.

You do you.

We purchased our townhouse about 4 years ago. We wanted to purchase a home that needed a kitchen remodel because we didn’t like what we saw when we toured houses with remodeled kitchens. Also, we wanted to get used to our place before we embarked on a remodel so we knew what we wanted as far as layout, finishes, and appliances. We were glad we waited because we made many decisions that were different from our initial thoughts on what we wanted.

Some people like to live in their homes a little while before renovating them, to get a feel for the space and figure out what they want. Before embarking on his kitchen renovation, Barrin took plenty of time; he’s lived in his Carroll Gardens condo for 18 years. The appliances had been slowly replaced over the years, but the almost 30-year-old cabinets had definitely seen better days.