Want to make a more pleasant impression with your porch? You might find inspiration in this subtle but effective porch makeover, involving some bright paint and new pattern! Read More: → 7 Steps to a Fantastic Front Porch (Inspired by Real-Life Makeovers) From Neena: I had been thinking about stenciling our veranda floor for the past three years but never got around to doing it till now.

Stef stumbled on this $7 chair in a thrift store in Iowa while visiting her little brother in grad school. As a resident of California, she didn’t quite know how she was going to get it back home, but for $7, she’d find a way (thankfully her frequent traveling mom helped out). Once home, it sat as-is for another three years.

Jenny describes the “before” of her compact kitchen best: it was safe. White walls, white cabinets. Not a lot of color, accessories, style or windows. It gave off about as much charm as a doctor’s office. So she decided to add color — but in a practical way. She’d keep the black floor tiles that hide dirt, but add a cheery pop of color in an unexpected place, and throw in some efficient storage ideas for good measure.

Dark, dated wood paneling on the walls. Beige builder’s carpet on the floor. Even the curtains in this room were old news. Cara could have given up when tasked with turning this space into a dining room, but she persevered. And the result is a bright delight! From Cara: There is no question that it took a bit of vision and a large leap of faith to see the potential in our dining room. Paneling, old carpet, dated light fixtures.

Project by: Lauren N. Sellers/Trust the Vision Decor Location: Yardley, Pennsylvania You know those beige breakfast nooks that sometimes show up in the corners of otherwise lovely homes? Don’t start your day off boring when you can surround yourself with bold. Designer Lauren N. Sellers of Trust the Vision Decor turned this nook into an exciting place to drink morning coffee with only $600 and just over a week of time.

You know we’ve got bar cart fever over here at Apartment Therapy these days, but not everyone gets lucky and comes across bar carts that can be revamped. So you just might love this DIY project that turns a simple side table into a bar cart — and uses an unexpected material you might have around the house!

Compared to their last kitchen, the kitchen in Anna’s new home was amazing. Two people could cook at the same time, the appliances were made in her lifetime and it was bug-free. Once with newness wore off though, it was time to tackle all that wood that did not fit their style. The challenge? How to make this dated kitchen look brighter and more modern with the tiny budget of $2000!

Christina’s TV cabinet wasn’t looking so hot anymore. Ten years old, she had tried to sell it on Craigslist twice, without even one bite. She had even considered dragging it to the curb to give away for free, but it was too heavy to move! Christina felt stuck with a piece of furniture she didn’t love anymore. Until she had an idea to totally transform it into something completely new.

While dark wood walls certainly have their place in the homes of certain styles, in this dutch colonial Kelly’s renovating, it wasn’t quite the desired look. Though cozy, the eat-in corner of this kitchen did have ample natural light and opened out onto the deck, so it had a lot of potential. From Kelly: I wanted to refresh our eat in kitchen which opens out onto our deck. The goal was to brighten it up without spending a ton of money.

Attention all day-dreamers, travel-lovers and small space dwellers! You’ll love this makeover of an Airstream — bought and designed on a tight budget. It’s inspiring to those who love color in compact spaces, too! From Rebecca: Last Fall, I was offered a new job with an RV travel website: the catch? I had to buy an RV on a barista’s budget.

Kata started her project with the very simple IKEA NORNÄS side table. Her handful of DIY additions to this plain pine table turned it into a cute and functional bar cart. Not near an IKEA? No problem. These DIY additions could be borrowed to turn any vintage or affordable table into your own bar cart. From Kata: NORNASblog Thank you, Kata! SEE MORE BEFORE & AFTER PROJECTS SUBMIT YOUR OWN BEFORE & AFTER PROJECT – Re-edited from a post originally published 7.14.

It might be just a small stool, but this little piece of furniture turned out to be an inspiring project to tackle for Katie, who took her time finding the right new finish and then designing and implementing a fun, hand-stamped pattern for new upholstery! From Katie: I was hoping that the wood under the paint would be salvageable. Rather than using a chemical paint stripper – the last time I tried it ended with disastrous results – I decided to sand off the black paint.

This old vintage console stereo looked like it had seen better days, but Luann saw potential in transforming it into a bold and useful furniture piece to be used in another part of the house. From Luann: Primed and painted with high gloss oil based paint in cobalt blue. Made false door fronts and drawers in center section, covered with ikat fabric. Finished up with new hardware. Now a stylish sideboard with plenty of inside storage for linens, dishes, even a bar! Thank you Luann!

Think you’ve got to rearrange all the walls and rip out everything to have a completely brand new kitchen? Designer Leslie Price shows in this small kitchen that smart choices and fresh paint make a huge difference. Leslie Price My clients had a very dated kitchen, but with three kids and the oldest going off to college in two years, they wanted to do a budget friendly remodel using the existing kitchen cabinets and footprint of the space.

Tired of seeing stinky stacks of recycling take up residence in the corners of your cramped kitchen? So was Claire. In fact she had been dreaming of finding a structure that could contain her recycling bins stylishly. So when she came across this kind of rough but sturdy and free cabinet in an alley a few blocks from her apartment, she got creative to give it a new modern and functional look! Even more impressive? She made this transformation for exactly ZERO dollars. See how after the jump.

Amy’s home office functioned just fine before. But, being located in a corner of her living room, she didn’t want it to feel temporary or look blah. So she tackled a considerable amount of mini and large DIY projects to add some stylish detail to this small corner. From Amy: To make it more functional, I added shelves above the desk to increase storage space. Keeping with the theme of gold accents, I spray painted the brackets gold in addition to some of the other desk decor.

Do you love the look of card catalog cabinets but hate how impractical the storage is? So did Michelle and her husband Nate of the blog Decor and the Dog (dog Ike pictured above!). So they designed a cabinet that would offer more storage flexibility but give the look of a faux card catalog cabinet. And they’ve shared the instructions on how to make your own!

This table with its great and unique shape was destined for the trash. It had a water-damaged top and was definitely taking the description “shabby chic” a little too far! But a clean-up and a refresh makes it a perfect addition to any stylish room. From Karen: This table was a garbage day find and in dire need of repair and TLC. We removed the water damaged particle board table top and replaced it with a new piece of wood.

Tanya and her husband have been slowly updating and decorating their house on a small budget, just completing a remodel of their kitchen. In their previous home, they played it safe with design, concerned about resale. But in this home they did whatever they wanted, making some pretty dramatic changes in the kitchen that brightened and modernized the small space.

Kendra started her own business in 2011, REmix Design, a perfect way to use her interior design skills plus her passion for home design and working with tools. She loves saving furniture that “has seen better days.” She mixes old with new, rusty and shiny and this $10 table turned butcher block island is a perfect example! From Kendra: I took it home and immediately began tearing off the metal top with the help of my dad.

Have you ever hated the outdated look of a room so much that you wanted to paint every single surface? Tasha didn’t love her kitchen, and paint on every nearly single surface (along with some new hardware and furniture) helps transform it into a completely new space! Tasha says: Our kitchen was functional and in good condition, but outdated in style. We totally transformed it into a space that we love for under $700, including new hardware and furniture.

Sometimes our favorite before and after projects are the ones that take a small addition to a home and create a big impact on the look. This tiny kitchen is a great example. Christina made a small but bold choice —and it really paid off! From Christina I recently bought my first condo — a small and beautifully renovated 475 square foot one bedroom.

This chair was found at an estate sale for only $5. Estimated to be from the late 50s or 60s, it had great bones, but was unfortunately covered in what Landon calls “mass transit seat fabric” or “bowling alley carpeting.” Though not particularly attractive, it did seem to be flame retardant. From Landon: First, the mass transit fabric and the seat padding were removed. The legs were sanded before being stained in a cherry finish.

Anyone who’s inherited a weird nook, corner or odd-home-thing might appreciate this simple but successful recessed bookcase mini-remodel. Shonee’s list of needed home updates since buying a 1950s house last year is long, with many projects often turning out more complicated than originally thought. Thankfully this small project — updating an outdated bookshelf — was simple and came out pretty sweet!