Professional looking projects, at amateur prices.

As if Kmart Australia wasn’t painful enough, we Americans have yet another reason to envy folks in other parts of the world. Europeans have discovered pastel-colored mineral water bottle crates, and are using them at home in all sorts of clever and cute ways. We are completely and utterly jealous that we can’t do it too. Why? Because these crates are light and versatile enough to move around and use as extra storage or seating.

All under $20.

At first glance, knitting looks pretty complicated. All those hand motions, not to mention an endless number of knots. It definitely takes some practice, but once you’ve got the basics down, it’s really quite straightforward and simple. Not only is it a soothing meditative activity —a break from the outside world — it’s a portal to handmade scarves, sweaters, blankets and other home decor and accessories. Plus, there’s all that beautiful, colorful yarn to buy!

Your entryway is one hard worker, and the gatekeeper to the rest of your home. Mail, grocery bags, shoes, and gear regularly come and go, and your home’s well-being depends in part on its ability to filter out the clutter and prevent mess from trickling into your main living space. A good hardworking entryway bench is the ultimate secret weapon, combining style, seating and storage to keep everything clear of chaos and mess (and to look good doing it).

Few beds are heavy and stable enough to stay in place: most move around, however slightly. When you climb in at bedtime, flop over in the middle of the night, or engage in sexy times, your bed shifts along with you. Maybe it squeaks or makes some noise, or, god forbid, bangs against the wall from time to time. Here are a couple of easy and cheap ways to stop the rocking and the knocking… First off, make sure that, over time, your bolts and screws haven’t loosened.

Having two sinks in a master bathroom is either a nice little luxury, or a total relationship-saver, depending on how much your schedules overlap, how well you share space when they do, and just how messy you both are. Would anyone turn an extra one down? Turns out this set up does have a couple of drawbacks however, which might give you pause. There’s lots to love about having his/his, his/hers, or hers/hers sinks.

IKEA might love it when customers hack their products, but I particularly love it when IKEA hacks themselves. I recently dove deep down into their website, and pulled out some of my very favorite decorating and storage projects hiding in there—all of which take their items up a notch or ten. Here’s a way to add a little interest and style to an otherwise functional yet basic IVAR storage system.

The original bathroom in this 1929 house definitely has a a lot going for it: the tile is totally classic with a unique detail (love that teeny horizontal line), a graceful sink with a charming faucet set, a cool ceiling, and fascinating — perhaps too fascinating — wallpaper. The task before the homeowner was making the most of the good bones while removing everything extra (see ya sink skirt!) and damaged. This bathroom is now so soothing and sweet.

Dollhouses are experiencing a revival right now, as busy people turn to them as a type of therapy, lovingly spending hours designing and crafting decor, albeit on a small scale. We’ve had our eye on some of the envy-inducing, jaw-dropping miniature houses out there. So imagine our glee when we stumbled on a cache of little IKEA furniture and decor to make all of our tiny Scandinavian dreams come true.

These are all genius.

Medina and her husband Vince inherited a bunch of not-so-lovely features when they moved into their current rental, yet creatively find ways to make them work. One prime example: the flooring in their tiny entryway was a dreary brown laminate, and years of use left it seriously scratched up. Medina turned to a surprising material to help transform the space. She wallpapered the floor! From Medina: I actually used a wallpaper with an adhesive backing in this tutorial.

They aren't just for windows anymore.

When we think about adding style and function to our rental spaces, we usually jump to what we can buy —what rugs, decor and plants will spruce up the space and make it feel more like home? Before you start shopping, consider this: the best (and free!) way to improve a home is to first take away what’s not working: fussy lighting, unnecessary doors and weird fixtures.

It's one of the easiest way to hack and personalize your favorite basics.

These six renters all have something in common. Each had high hopes for their homes, and they all invested some time and money into making their apartments match their lifestyles, priorities and interests. They weren’t huge projects or costly renovations, just little tweaks and changes that each tenant did to make themselves happier at home. When they moved into their Chicago home, Joe and Kim started coming up with new ways to make their space look and feel great. A big priority? Plants.

Evygenia from Foxy and Brass has a small desk that’s tucked inside an alcove in her apartment, and it’s surrounded by built-in shelving. To get herself organized, she hacked an IKEA SKADIS pegboard to fit the space. Not only does the spot look ten times better, but the project solved more than one small space problem. First she cut the pegboard exactly to size [note: the SKÅDIS pegboard isn’t currently available in the U.S.

We featured Medina’s closet makeover the other day, and now we are back to show you the rest of her bedroom, which she recently redid to take full advantage of every inch of the space. It’s a small room, so she had to get very creative…. This isn’t true before photo, but you can picture a standard rental bedroom with bland cream-colored walls, beige carpet and that ugly melamine wardrobe that Medina and her husband weren’t allowed to get rid of.

Mark Haggerty shared his DIY table project on the social media platform earlier this week and people are really loving it — both for the amazing end result, and for the price tag: $850, including lumber, hardware, tools, glue, and stain. From Mark: I have always wanted a farmhouse table, and when I bought my first house, the space next to the kitchen was begging for it. Buying a table wasn’t in the budget— plus, what’s the fun in that!

Here's our top 10 countdown of predictions....

Medina and her husband Vince inherited this built-in closet when they moved into their current rental, and had to find a way to make it work — especially since the tiny bedroom doesn’t allow for much more storage. They removed its ugly outdated doors early on in their tenancy, but that just left them with this awful view of red faux wood grain, which Medina especially couldn’t stand.

Think a new kitchen is currently out of reach? If yours is bringing you down, but you don’t have the means to do a full renovation, don’t give up too soon. These budget renovations all cost under $1,000 (and some well, well under that) and prove beyond a shadow of doubt that you don’t need a wad of money to give your kitchen a brand new look. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of paint, a little bit of elbow grease, and some good ideas. Use these five as inspiration.

If you’ve just spent hours assembling your child’s new dollhouse, or are still pulling things together for Christmas morning, then you might not want to see this. Because mom Melissa just turned this generic brown Costco playhouse into a winter wonderland of beauty.

There’s a lot of pressure around this time of year. But it’s not about whether or not your baseboards are white glove clean, or if fresh flowers adorn every table surface. There’s really only a short list of things that really truly make a difference between a happy holiday and an uncomfortable one. Nail these things down and you guarantee a good time, every time. Get Their Room Ready: Carve out an area for your guests to sleep —where they feel relaxed and at home.

Morgan and her husband recently bought a home and, little by little, are updating each room. First up, the laundry room. One of the things that sold them on the house was having a mud room off the garage, complete with a washer and dryer. As handy as that is, the room was very dark with brown walls, brown cabinets and was desperately in need of an update. More than anything Morgan wanted a light, bright and fun space to work in.

When it comes to big ticket kitchen appliances, saving even 5% on one item means holding onto a pretty tidy sum. So it pays to shop around and make sure you’re getting the best bargain out there. Retail giants Costco and Amazon regularly go head to head in the war of prices, battling it out for your business, and that includes fridges, stoves, and microwaves. So, we wanted to know: which is cheaper?

Samantha’s little apartment is only about 500 square feet and it’s a rental. She wanted to make some minor changes, without putting a bunch of money into the makeover. Then she got the best news that an ambitious renter can possible get in their lifetime: when Samantha moves out, the apartment is getting renovated by the owners. Which meant it was carte blanche time! Samantha’s 1925 original kitchen had so much potential, but was a little on the lackluster side.

About $100 can make a huge difference.

As kitchens go, this one isn’t too shabby. There are really nice white countertops, classic subway tile on the backsplash, and basic wood cabinets that look perfectly sound and in good condition. There’s no horribly dated light fixtures, no crappy peeling wallpaper, or any odd woodwork that needs to be ripped out. Even the walls are white and ready to go. Not much you can do to improve this space, right? So very, very wrong.

Chantel’s bathroom had a dark dungeon of an enclosed shower, dated vanity that lacked storage, and an odd medicine cabinet behind the toilet that protruded from the wall. With 35 years of use into this bathroom, it suffered from a grunge she just couldn’t get rid of — not to mention a slight odor and an odd color scheme that she just couldn’t live with. As you can see above, the 1980s was in full effect. The bathroom was originally one large 16′ x 7′ bathroom.

IKEA kitchen sales are legendary. 3-4 times a year, for about a month, the store has a department-wide sale for up to 20% off — a huge savings off big ticket purchases for a renovation. IKEA’s current sale goes until Sunday, April 8, so we hit them up for all their juiciest bits of insider intel, all to help you get the most out of the opportunity. Read on, then head to your local IKEA, or plan ahead and get all your ducks in a row for the next one.

Musician and producer Tim Ouyang knows that just living in the Bay area is a financial feat, let alone owning a home there. When he moved into his new place, Tim was determined not to overspend on a renovation, despite his kitchen’s need for some TLC. He made some smart, safe decisions that completely overhauled the space, without blowing his budget. The biggest visual improvement is the painted cabinets and new hardware.

It’s easy to forget about all the little things in our home that are broken or just not working. Don’t get me wrong — it’s good to focus on the big picture — we all have priorities after all —but, when we bump against the same tiny, irksome problems again and again, they start to wear on us mentally. Your goal for the weekend: feel a little bit better about your space.

I don’t envy appliance companies. Designers and marketers have a tough job, constantly trying to innovate new fridges, dishwashers and ovens —anticipating which features consumers will actually use and love, all without getting gimmicky or too niche. Because the current trend involves connecting to other smart devices like Alexa and iPhones, they now must also keep the technological horizon firmly in mind.

It seems like just yesterday I was bemoaning the ubiquity of granite, hoping and praying it would go the way of the dodo bird and I’d never have to see its speckled self in a kitchen again. Now, after several years of declining use, the day has come: another surface has officially surpassed granite in terms of popularity. Any guesses as to what the new countertop du jour might be? It’s quartz, otherwise known as engineered stone.

Hi there and welcome to Apartment Therapy’s Weekend Projects! Together we’re going to get tons of good stuff done this year: basic cleaning chores, organizing efforts, and small home projects. With each project, you’ll be closer to your ultimate goal of having a healthy and happy home that you love and enjoy. We’re all here to motivate ourselves to make our spaces better — little by little, week by week — at a natural, low-pressure, and manageable pace.