The Latest: May 4, 2019

Mallory had her eye on this beaded chandelier at Lowe’s for quite awhile. However, since it wasn’t a perfect match for her home, she hesitated to pull the trigger. When she finally saw it marked down over half off to $69, she quickly bought it and vowed to give it a little makeover. It’s always amazing what a single can of spray paint can do! Mallory proves that it’s easy to customize store-bought stuff to get what you want.

This office credenza is all business. It’s gray, it’s functional, but pretty it is not. Owner Joanne took this cabinet to task, refinished it in about 4 hours in her driveway, then found a better place for it. Want to see? What was all business in the front, is now a party in the back. The formerly buttoned-up credenza fits nicely in her nook, and is now the perfect furniture host. It holds drinks, stores glasses and wine, and blends in nicely with the rest of the home.

If I had a dollar for every birdcage I’ve seen at yard sales, I’d be in Belize right now. I always note them, but never know what to do with them, which is why this project piqued my interest. See what Kathy and Karen did with a cage they found on the curbside on trash day…. After painting the cage, and removing one of the walls, they outfitted the whole thing with shelves and mounted it on a wooden base.

Sometimes, while thrifting and searching about you come across something amazing, and in perfect condition. This wasn’t one of those times. Kelly found this old Eames-style Plycraft chair whose leather was nasty, grime-covered, torn and faded.

This kitchen was originally built in 1989, and after 20 plus years of daily use, it was falling apart. While it may not look too bad on the surface, behind the before photograph were broken cabinets, a cooktop that barely worked, and granite countertop edges that were falling off. The kitchen had a contemporary feel for 1989, but for 2013 the owner was hoping for a softer, more family friendly feel.

Kim wanted to update her son Carter’s nursery into a big boy room. They never used the room except for sleeping, and it was stuffed with forgotten gifts and baby gear. Kim knew she wanted the new space to be light and airy and to reflect Carter’s personality and interests, so she painted the walls a bright white, added a splash of Carter’s favorite color on the ceiling, and added fresh accessories: What a stunning transformation! Thank you Kim!

Nicole had been looking for a furniture piece for a peculiar nook in her home. So when she found this dresser on Craigslist, even though it was in really rough shape, she took it home (for “practically free”). The wood veneer was so damaged it wasn’t worth saving, and with the dark wood floors in her bedroom, she wanted something that would be a bright contrast. She took her color inspiration from her favorite jewelry box.

Jess and her husband had been on a quest to find the “perfect” media stand — one that sported both function and style — for awhile. When they found this cabinet on Craigslist for $75, they decided to ditch their IKEA coffee table they had been using for a media stand and go for it!

Little powder rooms can pack a punch. Case in point: Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere recently redid a tiny bathroom in her house, and decided not to play it safe. The results are impressive: I think it’s safe to say that this oversized floral wallpaper from Ellie Cashman is a show stopper and, when paired with the marble vanity and gold accents, makes for a glamorous and timeless room.

Kim found this lovely, albeit ‘beat-up’ secretary desk at a secondhand store, and got right to work fixing it up. Of course, she added a little twist…. Here’s what Kim did, in her own words: First I cleaned it up, then I lightly sanded and painted it sort of an antique cream. I sanded it again then went over the cream with a rubbed on coat of very dilute brown. When the final coat dried I applied a hand-rubbed wax finish.

Years ago my grandma gave me a huge stack of napkins and, even though I knew that those plain white ones weren’t really my thing, I politely took them. Fast forward to a recent afternoon of marker tie dye fun! I’m a little embarrassed to show you how easy it is and I can truly say I really had fun creating these little masterpieces. • Rubbing alcohol (min.

It takes talent to spot an old rusted lamp in a dumpster and see it for what it really is: an opportunity for a DIY project that could light up a room! Paula only took a few steps to make over this lamp she found in the trash, but definitely turned it into a simple and sophisticated treasure for her family room. From Paula: Last summer while I was at the beach, I found a lamp in a dumpster. I liked its shape and size and knew that with a little effort I could give it a new life.

Why only tackle one DIY project at a time, when you can tackle two that combine to create one sweet sitting vignette to spice up a corner of a room in your house? Pascale challenged himself to fix up this chair and stool, and the results are a complementary pair of stylish seats he can enjoy using and looking at. From Pascale: I finally had some free time, so I challenged myself to give these two a new look.

There’s always room for LEGO, and over at Ikea Hackers, user Sooze made her BRAN lamp a lot more fun, just by popping the top off the lamp and filling it with flame-colored orange and yellow LEGO pieces. There’s always room for LEGO, and over at Ikea Hackers, user Sooze made her BRAN lamp a lot more fun, just by popping the top off the lamp and filling it with flame-colored orange and yellow LEGO pieces.

A long weekend to Amanda and her husband usually involves some sort of DIY project. Recently, they had an empty wall in their living room that was in desperate need of some attention, and more storage. Their project is pretty remarkable… In need of a solution that took up minimal space, but added more functionality to our living room, Amanda and her husband figured out how to build a wall mounted shelf and combined desk. Shelves can be moved around as needed.

This chair was spotted in the free section on Craigslist, and listed as the “Attack Cat Chair.” Apparently, the owner couldn’t bear junking it, and Cat (yep, that’s her name too) was happy to take it on as a project. Cat used discounted remnants to reupholster the 1961 chair. It was more complicated to work on than she expected (especially when it came to the tufted back and buttons) but she made it through!

Sabrina is usually in the Mid-Century modern furniture purist camp. But what she dislikes even more than painted furniture is a bad patch job. And boy did this desk need a lot of patching: scratches, tons of stickers, stains, gum embedded in the grain and even “gaudy plates” covering original hardware holes. Sabrina was able to see past all the surface damage though, loving its lines, legs and sturdy frame.

Once you’ve groaned at the title of this post (go ahead, I know you want to), click on over to see Gemma’s DIY fix for the back steps down to her basement. An IKEA rug just happened to be the exact width of Gemma’s stairs, which made it an irresistible choice for a quick DIY runner. Finished off with some nailhead trim, it’s now a chic little entrance. (Plus, Gemma hopes the dark rug helps hide tracked in dirt.

June’s mom needed a bathroom makeover. As you can see, it was a little dated and — like most showers over time — needed refreshing. On a recent visit, June and her dad got to work and totally renovated the small bathroom over the course of a week. See what it looks like now…. June and her father did the work themselves, including tiling the walls and floors, for the 90 square foot space. They even built a custom tiled shower pan.

Alexa may one day completely renovate this bathroom and add a great tile floor, but she wasn’t quite ready to make that leap. But this old gray sad vinyl floor covering sure wasn’t doing this room any favors. So she grabbed a cheery color of paint, a stencil and completely redid the look of this small bathroom without spending a lot of time or money! From Alexa: For this project I wanted to update the old gray rolled vinyl flooring in my bathroom.

This heavy dresser found on Craigslist was sturdy, and Allison loved the clean lines and large, square drawer pulls. But she was not a fan of the yellow-ish finish (which she claims looked even worse in person). She hatched a plan to give this dresser a more modern, stylish look. From Allison: I was looking for a new (to me) dresser with clean lines when I came across this promising one on Craigslist. I love the simple design of the body and am especially drawn to the square wooden drawer pulls.

Tanya swiped this chair from a trash heap, shoved it in the back of her car, and and drove away without looking back. Over time, she grew sentimental about this “garbage chair,” and finally made the leap to reupholster it: The labor was $630 (which included repairs), new foam cost $50, and the velvet fabric was $250.

Julie remodeled her dark, out-dated half bath right after moving in, but it took awhile to finish the room completely. She moved on to other projects until she found the perfect chandelier to cap off the space. That motivated her to finally put the last finishing touches in place. And we’re so glad she did! Julie’s renovation shows what you can do to brighten even the most cramped of small spaces.

We bet plenty of folks would have passed up this heavy laminate dresser, even if found in the “free” section of Craigslist. But not Breanna. She saw some creative potential for this forgotten furniture piece, instead transforming it into attractive and useful storage for a friend’s kitchen! From Breanna: This laminate dresser came from the FREE category on Craigslist and got a well deserved makeover for my friend, Abby.

Like a lot of homeowners, Colleen and Pete dreamed of transforming their underused attic into a space that they would use everyday. Their aim was to turn it into a bright, sunny, master bedroom suite where they would have enough room for their king-sized bed, clothing, and a bathroom, as well as for a cozy nook to read nighttime stories to their two children, Mac and Quin.

IKEA’s Ektorp sofa is a safe choice, and about as basic as you can get in the living room. Aga of Patchwork and Co. decided to kick it up a notch and deal with her bland, beige cover. Want to see what she did? Aga decided to dye it, and chose black for a more dramatic statement. With the added eclectic assortment of pillows, her living room now has a Bohemian vibe that is far from boring. Many thanks to Aga for sharing the project!

When Gretchen finally got down to finishing her bedroom space, she added wall color, fresh art and affordable flea market finds to fill out what has now become a very calm and sophisticated space. From Gretchen: The before picture shows the room how it looked when we moved in, with all our furniture from our old house just sort of plopped down in the room.

We’ve certainly seen our share of entertainment centers turned into play kitchens. But what if your child doesn’t want to play domestic goddess? What if she just wants to be a goddess? Then you might want to follow Mandi’s lead and turn an old entertainment center into a dress up station. I love all the amazing details, like the jelly jar lights, that Mandi installed to make this the ultimate vanity.

Our favorite before and after projects are the ones that are downright unrecognizable after being transformed, and this project certainly fits the bill! Diane and her husband came across this dresser for cheap at a thrift store and decided to make it look like a type of furniture Diane had always wanted — only more practical! From Diane: First, we removed the top two drawers and built a base for the bookcase. Then we used lattice to create the fronts of each card drawer.

Want to see what just a few coats of paint can do to a room? Rafaela’s dining room wasn’t bad-looking before — great furniture and fun art made for a stylish space. But as a renter, she hated the beige walls that seemed to cast a dull look on the entire room. It was time for a wall paint change as well as a new coat of color on a pair of shelves she had had for years. From Rafaela: I rent this place and all walls were beige-yellowish (urgh!

When Sara’s family moved into this house, they had a long series of DIY and renovation projects to tackle and the closet you see above became their “chaos cupboard” – toys, tools, spare pillows, old curtains, and a de facto staging area for their next project. Sara described it as “an embarrassing vortex of stuff.

I think AgaP. would admit that this wasn’t her “best” project in terms of ease and fun. But the finished result is pretty spectacular and inspiration to those of us with entryways whose doors have seen better days. Take a look and see how it turned out: AgaP. had a “bad craft day” and encountered every DIY problem in the book. But, armed with her list of dos and don’ts, you’ll learn from her mistakes, and it’ll be all smooth sailing from there.