Just as the markets started crashing in September of 2008, Lisa Hoffman and her husband bought their first house in Oakland, California. Thankfully, they weren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves, dig in, and do most of the work themselves—all on a very tight budget. The photo above is the sad-looking living room prior to their renovation. (Check out that wallpaper!

Q: What is the best solution to stop wasting water while waiting for hot water to reach the kitchen? My kitchen sink and dishwasher are a long way from the hot water heater. What is the best solution to stop wasting water while waiting for hot water to reach the kitchen: a tankless water heater under the kitchen sink, an on-demand recirculating system, or something else?Sent by SandraEditor: Here’s what our friends at Green Home Guide have to say:Answered by Alex Georgiou, Recurve Inc.

Re-Nest reader Abigail recently sent us her super thrifty sofa upgrade: A hand-me-down from her parents, she’s been living with the sofa for 3 years trying to disguise it with a floral slipcover and lots of pillows.

BEFOREOld doors can be used for many things, but what about using them as, well, a door? That’s what Adrienne of Dream Book Design did: she found a door on the side of the road (for free!) and, after a bit of sprucing, made it work to fit in her existing laundry room door frame. See the ‘After’ and how she did it below: AFTERAdrienne explains that the door they replaced was a generic particle board Home Depot door that lacked character.

Re-Nest reader Cassidy (of the blog Remodelaholic) emailed us her hutch makeover, and we were impressed enough to want to show it to you! She managed to turn what is otherwise a pretty old-fashioned hutch into something crisp and modern.

This basement makeover, submitted to us by Re-Nest reader Sarah of cafe + dish, shows just how transformative a few coats of white paint can be. As she writes: “Living in Boston, space is at a premium. The studio is in a “garden-level” part of the basement, so I used lots of white paint to brighten the space. What once was a very dark and dingy corner of a basement is now one of my favorite spaces…”“The renovation took about a week combined to complete.

In 1976 Julia Child wrote an essay for Architectural Digest about her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In it she called her kitchen “the beating heart and social center of the household … both practical and beautiful, a working laboratory as well as a living and dining room.” Sounds so lovely, right? We—as her humble servants, now and forever—can’t get enough of her kitchen either.

Innovative DIY projects are always inspiring, but even more so when they’re budget-conscious! All of these Before & After DIY projects can be done for under $50. So pick your favorite and get to it!

Fancy an outdoor rolling bar cart? Or a succulent scrap wood table? How about a shade sail or some wine crate planter boxes? Make the most of the outdoors this summer with one (or more!) of these 15 DIY projects.

A while ago, I wrote a post about how to ventilate a kitchen when you don’t have a range hood or vent. A number of Kitchn readers recommended installing a reversible window fan which, when put on the exhaust setting, can effectively draw smells, steam, and smoke out of your kitchen. I don’t have a hood in my rental kitchen, and for a long time I just ran the ceiling fans in other rooms when I cooked something particularly smelly or smoky. It worked okay, but wasn’t ideal.