The Latest

A few months back I busted out some fabric spray paint and painted a pretty chevron on my carpet. Although the looks are alright, there’s a new trend sweeping around the internet that will most likely yield better results. See that sofa up there? It’s about to get painted — with house paint.Over at Fabric Bliss a vintage sofa was purchased for the small price of $45. It had great bones but those flowers just had to go.

It takes a little imagination sometimes when you see a tired little piece like this at a garage sale or flea market. But Carrie at Fine & Handy had the vision and turned it into a sweet piece for her daughter:A little pink paint, new knobs for the sliding doors, and two adorable painted birds transform the old toy box. The end result is wonderful and makes us want to run out and scavenge for a unique piece of furniture like this one.For more on the before and after, head to Fine & Handy.

A little over a year ago I shared with you the house tour of Derek & Jennifer’s Dashing Digs. It’s an homage to mid-century furniture that they found on craigslist and got amazing deals on. Even though their apartment is fancy and quintessential city dwelling; they’re actually very budget conscious, which is why their subtle budget friendly kitchen renovation is inspiring.

Danika found herself in a spot that many renters and homeowners can relate to — her countertops were dated, and a “real” renovation wasn’t in the cards. Fortunately she has some impressive painting skills, and her kitchen has seen one good-looking makeover.While in my mind “faux” can often immediately go to “tacky,” these results prove that categorization to be unfair.

One look at this kitchen sends me back to the early 1980s, when I was a wee lad ambling about the kitchen in my parent’s Indiana home. This kitchen reminds me a lot of my childhood kitchen, complete with dark wood paneling and yellow appliances. A lot has changed since the 80s… and now it’s time for this kitchen to get with the times, too.Looking at the before photo, it would be easy to think that this kitchen was beyond help.

When Casey bought a condo in the Minneapolis loft building where he had been renting, he transferred his luxurious style to his new home. Luckily for us, he had the foresight to snap some before pics so we could witness the transformation …Casey’s Loft Life house tour was a highlight of my summer house tours last year. When I heard from Casey that he was moving to a new, larger unit in the same building, I was anxious to see how he would transfer his style to his new home.

When looking at the many before and after posts here at Apartment Therapy, it’s easy to think that everyone makes these amazing transformations over a long weekend. Truth be told, most of the projects we see take much longer. This dining room makeover, for instance, took four years of collecting appropriate pieces to go from bland to grand.Elisabeth over at bova goods developed this new look for her dining room over a span of four years.

Oh IKEA, where would our homes be without you? You offer us one product and the world turns it into 100 new designs and custom pieces for their home. This room is no different and this window area is about to go from drab to chalkboard fabulous!They’ve been busy getting organized at Repurposed Playground and although this transformation is similar to ones we’ve seen in the past, there are a few ideas to glean from this set-up that are perfect for any home.

We’ve seen the transformational power of paint here at Apartment Therapy many, many times. And yet I am still awed when I see that, with a little paint on the cabinetry, an entire kitchen can be transformed …Kimberly, over at Restoration House, has slowly been rehabbing her kitchen over the past five years. She had already added a backsplash, switched out the countertop, and traded out the old appliances for new stainless steel units.

This small wall isn’t an eyesore, but it’s just kind of “there”. It’s between the bedrooms of Kimba’s sons and she decided to make it not just a place to display their art, but a space for creating art too. Check it out:It’s nothing terribly tricky or time-consuming, but what an impact!Kimba painted thrifted and craft store frames to provide visual cohesion and filled them with her boys’ artwork.

This poor mirror. Naked as the day it rolled off the assembly line, with its exposed edges, cracked with age, right out there in plain daylight for all the world to see! Something must be done about this!Faced with naked, builder-grade mirrors in her bathroom, Amanda over at The Ivy Cottage Blog, did what any adventurous DIYer would do — she made frames for them!

When I bought these mismatched flower pots at the end of the season last year, they were so hugely discounted that I purchased them without a plan for their use. After a long winter to ponder it, I finally pulled the pots out of storage, gave them a little makeover, and put them to use.It’s not that these pots were ugly to begin with, they just didn’t match anything in my house. Spray paint to the rescue!

When I moved into my brother, Matt’s newly purchased bungalow, I brought with me an heirloom farmhouse-style dining room table which just barely squeezed into the 9’x9′ dining space. Since the space exists in the corner of an open kitchen and living area, it was doable, but the traffic space was limited and storage non existent.

Utility companies generally charge higher rates during peak hours, during the day when the load is highest with everyone awake and using their stuff. During off-peak hours at night the rates are quite a bit lower. Here are some tips to take advantages of the lower evening rates to save money on your utility bills!Check out your bill or utility company’s website to find the posted rates for peak and off-peak hours.

You’ve probably seen a lot of before and afters by now where you can sort of predict what the after might look like. A coat of paint or some new knobs might be what you’re expecting for this dresser.It’s a squid! You weren’t expecting that, were you? Well, maybe the title gave it away a little.

If there’s one thing Small Cool month reminds us, it’s that even a small space can pack a dramatic punch. Beth Beattie, who owns a PR, branding, and event planning business, tackled her tiny office transformation on a tight budget without sacrificing high style.After!Beth’s aim was to create a space that was comfortable and feminine with just the right amount of glam.

When my friend Rachel was given this chair — a secondhand hand-me-down from her sister — she was able to look past the ratty old upholstery and worn frame and see its true potential. With a little paint and new upholstery, the chair looks brand new.Says Rachel of the chair makeover: “I got this chair as a secondhand hand-me-down. My sister gave it to me after she had been given it from her older, quirky neighbor who she calls “Mr.

Of course safety comes first, but if you can combine safety with style, all the better. Lindsay wrote us to share a terrific solution her friend, Kate, Stone, came up with to keep her toddler out of the fireplace while adding to the decor instead of subtracting from it.A magnetic chalkboard – nice!! It’s not only leaps and bounds more attractive, but its become a functional playspace. See Kate’s toddler in action using it on Lindsay’s blog, Pink Green & Zebra.

We know there are plenty of good-looking hampers available for sale, but some of them have not so good-looking price tags. And, come on, it’s going to have my son’s dirty socks in it. Couldn’t I just figure out a way to jazz up his old plastic hamper?Sure! I love a challenge, and this is what I came up with. Silver spray paint (with a coat of plastic primer first) and a simple orange drawstring bag.

Getting the most out of a small bedroom closet can be a challenge in spatial recognition akin to playing a game of Tetris. So what if you discovered that you could expand your small closet to create a big, walk-in with enough room for even the most avid shoe buyer’s collection?I am stuck with one small closet that I share with my husband so when I saw this post detailing the expansion of a closet over at Life in the Fun Lane I was insanely jealous!

When I saw this lonely little luggage rack pushed to the back of a Salvation Army store, I felt sorry for it. Unloved and discarded by its former owner, I could see past its current beat up and water stained condition and to the gorgeous little thing it could become. Under my tender loving hands, this luggage rack has been granted a new lease on life.The quickest way to modernize this luggage rack was to spray paint it.

Ginger wanted to hand down her own childhood desk to her daughter Clara, but due to water damage and “the remnants of various stickers I put on there long ago (oops)” she needed to give it a refresh first. See how it looks now:Great job Ginger! We see desks like this all the time at flea markets and usually dismiss them as too dowdy, but bright paint totally modernizes the look.

How do you revive a dark and dated room without completely eliminating its original character? I gleaned quite a few ideas from the 2011 DC Design House where some of my favorite DC designers brought fresh sophistication to their spaces by simplifying and lightening — perfect inspiration for spring!• 1-3: The Pool Room: Erin Paige Pitts Erin was charged with the task of making the rather gloomy pool room into a functional and inspiring retreat.