The Latest: 2019

Removing wallpaper is a massive job —many how-tos begin with “you can do this” and other encouraging words— but with the following steps, you really can do the job and do it well. Patience, persistence, time, and upper body strength are the major requirements, and a bucket, sponge, and scraper are really the only tools you really need. I’ll say it again: you can do this.

I know some of us at Apartment Therapy have strong views on painting wooden furniture, particularly (gasp!) painting it white, but sometimes it’s gotta be done. This bedside table belongs to my flatmate/landlord, left behind by some long-ago tenant. We both agreed that the knotty pine was an eyesore, and that for the benefit of future tenants, giving it a makeover with a lick of white paint was the best thing we could do.

Michele’s son had outgrown his room’s decor, and everyone was sick of the orange, purple and red color scheme. It took a couple of weeks to re-do it completely, using a lot of what they already owned, plus adding a few new things to the mix. The goal was to keep it affordable and simple.This room might win the award for the most handmade things in one space.

This couple wanted to create a space in their Upper West Side apartment dedicated to displaying and enjoying wines. While they didn’t have a lot of kitchen space, they did have this under-the-stairs closet, ripe for transformation.The homeowners were connected with Ecostruct, a Brooklyn-based design/build firm, through TheSweeten, a service that aims to connect New Yorkers with design professionals for renovations of all kinds.

Benita Larsson has done it again. Her simple yet brilliant projects never cease to amaze the craft-loving community. This time, her gorgeous update to a set of clear, glass plates she picked up at a thrift store is the perfect inspiration for decking out your holiday party on a budget.Some basic craft paint and a few minutes (plus drying time) is all she needed to transform these mundane dishes into beautiful dessert plates.

Mekenzie was dreaming of the Restoration Hardware Versailles chair for her basement but at almost $2400 it was out of her price range. Like a true DIYer, Mekenzie decided to mock up her own version of the chair using this tiki chair as a base…The first step in Mekenzie’s makeover was applying a custom blended gray paint over the chair’s original finish.

One rainy weekend Lora Neveu decided to build a charming little dream escape in a window nook in her daughter’s room that had remained empty and unused. Follow me after the jump to see what she came up with.Two days and $165 later, Lora had created a wonderful and cozy space that doubles as a play/nap and storage area. She built a simple box and divider out of plywood and brackets, painted, added cushions, lanterns, and drapes, and then she was done.

The IKEA MALM is amongst the most popular of the Swedish retailer’s line of home furnishings, ubiquitous for the series’ simple lines and wallet-friendly price. In other words, perfect for anyone with a little ingenuity, wood-working tools, and plans for a DIY transformation. Can you guess what this common IKEA chest of drawers was converted into?

What do you do when you’re living in a small studio apartment, but don’t want people to be able to see your bed immediately upon walking in the door? Apartment Therapy reader Christina was faced with this particular dilemma when designing her friend Ann’s apartment and decided to get creative.

Jennifer picked up these chairs last year when she began planning for a dining room makeover. She knew she wanted two armchairs to anchor her dining room set, but wasn’t 100% certain how to finish them. As her vision for the space evolved, so too did her vision for these wonderful chairs.Jennifer stripped the chairs down to the wood frames then spray painted them with Rustoleum Metallic Gold with a top coat of spray poly.

This NYC apartment kitchen got the job done. But there were a few things about it that irked — the L-shaped layout blocked part of the window, and there wasn’t a lot of storage space. The appliances were outdated, and the laminate cabinets had seen better days. Plus, the whole room just felt, well… little. What to do?Can you believe it’s the same room? Architect Nalina Moses removed the sink cabinet that was blocking access to the lower part of the window.

The makeover of this Brooklyn living room wasn’t just for aesthetic reasons; the homeowners needed more organized, out-of-sight storage, and a space that was kid and cat friendly. They also wanted to incorporate a small piano, and be able to watch TV without the television being the focal point of the room. To do this, they turned to New York design firm Mercer Interior. Check out the results after the jump.

In a small space, just a few changes can make a big difference. The owner of this Brooklyn Heights studio knew she wanted to update her kitchen (and add a dishwasher!), so she turned to designer Sarah Zames, owner of Brooklyn design firm General Assembly. Under Sarah’s guidance, a few small updates came together to make a big impact. Check out the finished product…Ta-da!

Handmade holiday gifts are almost always more meaningful, and the best part is that you can tailor your gifts perfectly to the recipient. Rebecca from Simple as That created a special Christmas gift for her two girls by turning this plain bookcase into a dollhouse.Rebecca notes: We took an ordinary bookshelf and converted it into a dollhouse which can just as easily be used as a bookshelf for an older child.

You may have seen the kitchen in this West Village apartment, which got a modern update courtesy of designer Carly Yates. One of the apartment’s bathrooms also got a much-needed facelift. Check out the transformation after the jump.This bathroom renovation is all about the details. Lots of clever choices keep the room spacious, modern, and very functional. From Carly: The large and light feeling of the bathroom was achieved by wall mounted fixtures that allow the tile to flow underneath.

When Sarah and her husband first spotted this cabin it was in need of a major facelift. They fell in love with the structure and the land and only saw the potential this little beach gem had to offer. Follow me after the jump to see their vision come to life…Living full-time in a very colorful LA home, Sarah wanted their cabin getaway to be bright, white and fairly spartan. She and her hubs gutted the entire cabin and did all the work themselves.

When we first moved into our 1919 Craftsman one of the first things I had my mind set on fixing was the kitchen. I decided to begin with the outdated breakfast nook (oh and btw, the ‘before’ image is the styling from the realtor at the open house). Follow me after the jump to see where it ended up…First things first — the red paint was actually lead paint from way back when painted over layers and layers of warped wallpaper.

A sad, old crib sat at a thrift store — not useful as a baby bed for safety reasons, this piece seemed destined for the scrap pile! Until Cristin came along, that is… she saw some untapped potential in its pretty spindles and simple shape, and came up with a clever way to breathe new life into an old piece.She found some cabinet doors in a garbage pile that were the perfect size for shelves, and removed a few brackets and braces from the crib to help reinforce the new legs.

Rachel of VanHook & Co. is sharing a project that features paint in an unexpected way: refinishing a worn out wooden floor in her kids’ room.A painted floor may not be a DIY for the faint of heart, but the floor in Rachel’s kids’ room turned out beautifully. After experimenting with paint on their hallway floors, Rachel and her husband decided to apply a distressed version to their children’s room.

If you live in an older home, you’re familiar with Adrienne’s struggle with storage — namely, that there isn’t any! Her 1930’s home is lacking in the closet department, so it was up to her to come up with some creative storage solutions for her four-year-old’s room.She found this old slightly warped and musty armoire at an antique store, and for less than $100 (including the armoire!) she created this fun, playful piece.

This chair has been in Stephanie’s family for generations — she was rocked to sleep in it as a baby, and so was her granddad! She wanted to keep it around as a treasured piece of family history, but she also wanted to give it a little update — the result? A lovely chair with a fabulous new look, ready to rock the next generation… Stephanie’s new baby!

When Jane and her husband bought their new house, they were less than thrilled with the outdated and sad bedroom that would be their son’s nursery. The wallpaper was old, the walls were in bad shape and, to cap it off, there was a very, very skeevy bed that lived in there. Eight months pregnant, Jane got to the tedious work of stripping the wallpaper, repairing walls and then building the room back up from scratch.Today, the nursery is a far cry from its humble beginnings.

This relatively plain bathroom got a major face lift with something that looks as good as wallpaper, but is actually impeccably painted, DIYed stencil handiwork. While that has a huge impact on the space, there are a few other east improvements that A Pumpkin and a Princess implemented that helped transform the room — can you spot them?Crystal from A Pumpkin and a Priness set out to makeover her guest bathroom, all on her own.

This little Ikea bed frame is cute and very economical, but it lacked a certain joie de vivre. With some MDF, batting, stylish fabric, and lots of clever planning, this little frame went from dull to delightful!Lisa from All Things Campbell had a design in mind when it was time to move her daughter to a toddler bed… she carefully sketched out her idea, and was able to complete the project in under two days.

Charlotte Turtle and her husband didn’t have a master bath in their home and wanted to find a way to remedy the situation. They did, however, have a large laundry room attached to their bedroom that they thought just might do the trick. Follow me after the jump to see what they came up with…They began this renovation with planking the walls, leaving one wall with exposed brick. For Charlotte, the design element key to making this rustic bathroom a success was the sink basins.

Cybele and her husband transformed their very old, gross garden shed into a playhouse that their daughter uses every day. The inside is about 8′ x 10′, and the exterior wrap-around porch adds even more room for tea parties during warmer months. I mean, how many kids have their own wrap-around porch? The answer is not many.The adults did the fix-up work while their daughter napped.

In late 2011, I looked at my living room wall and decided I need to refresh it. So I decided to do a small project by taking photos of the flora that surrounds my home since I am living near one of Singapore’s best Nature Reserves, The Bukit Timah Hill. I have been running on the forest trail for quite a while, enjoying the peace in contrast to the hectic city life. With inspiration of 18th century botanical illustration, I decided to do a modern interpretation.

By the time we were completing construction on our kitchen, I was nine months pregnant. Nothing will motivate a contractor to wrap things up faster than his client going into labor before his eyes. I waved away an offer to be driven to the hospital and said between deep breathes, “I just need it done!

From Lilly: When we were shopping for our home and walked through what is now our kitchen, I was really taken aback by the dark and cheap looking laminate counters and back splash. However, I thought the ceramic tile floors and off-white cabinets could be a great base for an update.

Jolene kept some old nail boxes in her garage for some time, waiting for a way to repurpose them into something useful. Can you guess what she made for her kids? Click to see what she and her husband did with one crate in an hour’s time, with a few tools and additional supplies. I’ll give you a hint: it involves eyebolts.Jolene cut some holes for legs and her husband secured the rope before hanging it from a tree in their front yard.

It’s easy to walk into a rental and see only the bad parts — poor lighting, bad flooring, old paint, etc. Forced to move, Victoria of SF Girl by Bay has made the best out of what initially seemed like a less than ideal new home.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) (Image credit: Anna Robinson) (Image credit: Apartment Therapy) (Image credit: Apartment Therapy) (Image credit: Apartment Therapy) (Image credit: Apartment Therapy) (Image credit: Apartment Therapy) (Image credit: Apartment Therapy) (Image credit: Apartment Therapy) (Image credit: Apartment Therapy)We love the cool loft space and the laidback vibe of the renovation, plus those antler sconces are so chic.

This was a transformation from a minimally heated, dark, unlivable attic-like space to a bright, modern master suite. The main features include the headboard wall with wall hung sinks on the back side, gas stove, library, skylight, built in bench seat, walk-in closet, and the spacious bathroom. One of the primary design goals was to keep the space wide open while still offering subtle boundaries and separations between functions.

From Megan:  Our whole house was a mess when we bought it. Nothing had ever been updated properly. The bathroom was our first major interior project and not being very handy, we hired someone to do it for us. It was completely gutted because there were rotten joists in the floor and there wasn’t anything salvageable in the room. It also had a very cramped feeling, so we changed the layout at the suggestion of our contractor.

The ubiquitous pallet — just when you think you’ve seen every pallet project under the sun, one comes along and surprises you! This clever little toddler sofa is the perfect height for playing, reading, or resting — and it’s super cute, to boot!Griffin Carrick says this about her pallet sofa project: I stumbled upon some abandoned wood pallets (once used to transport sod) in my neighborhood and jumped on the pallet bandwagon.

How do you add some personality to a plain Jane chair? If you’re like Ainhoa and can’t sew, try painting a pattern on it! The after has us practically buzzing:From Ainhoa: My aunt gave us an old accent chair she no longer had room for. My initial idea was to make a new cover out of a fun patterned fabric. The problem? I don’t really know how to sew, so I’d either have to learn, or ask someone for help. My next idea was to dye it.