Mary found a very handsome but somewhat worn desk outside of a thrift store. After snatching it up for less than it costs to buy Lemonade on iTunes, she took it home and restored it to its former glory. From Mary: I had been looking for a small desk for my computer for some time, and since I knew it would be in the family room I wanted it to look nice and not look like an office space.

Project by: Ines Ensal of Studio Esnal Location: Gramercy Park — New York, New York Location! Location! Location! Ines Ensal’s clients got New-York-real-estate-lucky when they snatched up two spaces by Gramercy Park in Manhattan. Charged with combining a studio and a one bedroom into one larger, cohesive unit, Ensal took a clean and modern approach, maximizing another precious New York resource, natural light.

Project by: Karen Nepacena of Destination Eichler Location: San Leandro, California Karen was tasked with opening up the kitchen and dining area of a 1940s bungalow. The space had a ton of natural light that was going to waste in the current layout, so she tore down some walls and gave the space a whole new look that still honored the character of the home.

Erika’s kitchen was dark, drab and crowded. Even though she couldn’t make any major changes to the layout, she was able to give the kitchen a bright and stylish new look that created the sense of oodles more space. From Erika: The original kitchen of our 1950s split level house in the Oakland Hills was remodeled by the previous owner to simply sell the house.

Alycia just launched her own business and found herself in need of a dedicated at-home workspace. Surprisingly enough, building a budding empire didn’t leave much time for setting up a new space. Enter, the best friend! Alycia’s bestie put together a work from home space that is bright and bubbly and totally her. From Alycia: I live in a one-bedroom apartment, and due to my busy schedule and having just launched my own business, I don’t use my dining room much.

Lizzie’s upstairs bedroom came with a great view and some not so great cabinets. She’s a renter, so removing them was out of the question, but she found a creative way to make the space work for her. From Lizzie: We had two slightly tatty built-in cabinets either side of a Velux window. They didn’t look great, and the space in the middle was wasted. It became a catch-all for junk. Because the home is rented, though, we couldn’t make any permanent changes.

Our good pal Claire took an old IKEA standby, unfinished drawers, and turned them into a bright and charming accent piece. Drawing inspiration from her love of travel, she gave the piece an antique-inspired, worldly makeover. From Claire: When you buy something in unfinished wood from IKEA the idea is you finish it at home to suit your decor. Well this IKEA mini drawers set had been sitting in the back of my craft cupboard for 10 years waiting to be finished.

Mobile homes are small spaces that come with their own particular set of challenges. Tracey upgraded her living room and bathroom for a fresh new look and some added much-needed functionality. From Tracey: Our mobile home needed updating. The living room was a metallic damask wallpaper. In the bathroom there was an old tub and shower with a chevron wallpaper. For the living room, I just hung strips of 3/8 plywood I had cut at the store.

Fani’s Brooklyn kitchen looked like many a New York rental kitchen, small and kind of generic. One day she had enough of her brown kitchen and decided to take matters into her own hands, bringing color, texture and life to her Park Slope space. From Fani: My small Brooklyn kitchen had outdated old cabinets with lots of wear and tear. The style and color of the cabinets didn’t match the mid-century modern style of the apartment.

Project by: Jen and Eric Alden of Rara Avis Design Location: Rose Park Historic Neighborhood – Long Beach, California Jen and Eric’s bathroom, while not a total eyesore, was in need of some major updating. Being visual people with a practical bent, they decided that they wanted a bathroom that could stand up to water. Like, almost every inch of it. Coupled with some lucky vintage finds, their tile transformation makes for a pretty impressive overhaul.

When Kristen and her husband became homeowners they decided to shoot for the stars and attempt to complete their renovations before move in day. Unfortunately fate (aka their contractor) got in the way and they had to move in while finishing up their projects. Luckily Kristen kept things in perspective and when all was said and done she had a stunning kitchen to show for it. From Kristen: Owning a home is something my husband Shawn and I have been wanting and working toward for years.

Tricia was faced with a herculean (ok not really, but pretty difficult) task of maximizing a small space with sloped ceilings and outdated features. The result is cozy, crisp and stylish. Tricia: Before we got started on giving our smallest bedroom in the house a makeover, the walls were an odd shade of pistachio green and the flat part of the ceiling was covered in popcorn texture. The biggest obstacle in making the 100 square foot room livable was the awkward floor plan.

Project by: Tamsin Allen of Fawn Interiors Location: Hampshire, United Kingdom Tamsin Allen was charged with adding a modern industrial look to a cottage, without losing any of the 250-year-old antique charm. She completely removed the kitchen and started from scratch to create a functional and beautiful space perfectly catered to her clients needs. From Tamsin: Our first project for this thatched cottage (approximate age: 250 years old) was a challenging one.

Dana became the proud owner of a very large, worn down dresser because she knew with a little love and guidance, it could really be something. Who knew that sanding, painting and hand crafting some leather straps really turned this situation around (Dana knew). From Dana: I bought this dresser for $40 from a man who likely picked it up off a curb. It was really heavy and I could tell that it had good bones but had no idea what was under the several layers of stubborn brown paint.

Project by: Ariela Najman of Stripe Design Services Location: Santa Cruz, California Interior designer, Ariela Najman, was tasked with adding some light and breezy style to her client’s California ranch house. Along with other smart upgrades, she added a calming and eye-catching blue in the kitchen giving it a timeless look with a twist. From Ariela: Stripe Design Services was approached in 2016 by a local couple wanting a makeover for their kitchen, dining room and living room.

When Addison spotted a piece she’d been lusting after at a thrift store, she knew she had to have it. After snatching up the large ottoman of her dreams, she decided to put her extra cash towards spiffing it up a bit. I got this square ottoman for $20 from a thrift store. This ottoman was still structurally sound but need new fabric. Other ottomans this size can go for upwards of $500 so I was super happy to find this for so cheap at a thrift store! The ottoman is 37 inches by 37 inches.

Ilsa spotted this mid-century modern beauty in a charity shop and knew she could make it sing. After some initial fear that she couldn’t push through all of the wear and tear that poor Bruno the desk had suffered through over the years, she was able to sand and strip away the grime and stains and reveal a glowing and beautiful piece of furniture. Three cheers for Ilsa for her good eye and all of her hard work!

Chrissie’s kitchen in her historic Victorian home was dark, cramped and sans-dishwasher. After living with the kitchen for a bit Chrissie, her husband, and her helpful brother revamped the space almost entirely themselves. From Chrissie: We bought our 1870 Victorian in Salem, Massachusetts in October, 2010. We purchased it from a lovely family who had owned the house for more than 40 years. It hadn’t been updated in many years so we spent a month updating it. Thank you, Chrissie!

Well, this sure is something. We strongly suggest you hit the zoom on the wallpaper…we’ll wait. Now that that’s out of the way, Sophie’s bathroom was dark and crowded but after smartly adjusting the layout and changing basically everything about the “before” room, she now has a light and adorable space. From Sophie: When we bought this house, seven years ago, we felt in love with its potential. Its layout and location are fantastic.

Krista made some pretty stunning lemonade out of old-kitchen-laminate-lemons. She decided to double down on the purple color scheme and the results are crazy impressive. From Krista: My guiding principles when I realized, that, yes, I really had just bought my own NYC co-op, were no white or stainless steel in the kitchen. I succeeded for the most part, though compromises quickly became the name of the game.

Adie’s office space in her new house was in a room with great light and of a good size, but something just wasn’t right. After some big fixes before moving in, Adie and her husband focused on giving the room a DIY makeover. From Adie: When we purchased our home, one of the bedrooms was being used as an office. It had green walls and shelves everywhere. The floors were in rough shape, but the room has great natural light and is quite spacious.