Emily Shwake

Hello, better efficiency!

The Philadelphia row house hadn’t been upgraded much in sixty years, so Kristy knew it would be a fixer upper when she bought it. Kristy loves to cook and wanted to create the perfect workspace, so she put a lot of attention into the kitchen. Because of the nature of the renovation loan Kristy took out, she had to hire approved contractors to do most of the work. But that doesn’t mean it was easy.

When Heather Knight moved into her new home, she had to focus on more urgent repairs and wasn’t able to put as much money into the kitchen as she would’ve liked. While the space was in good shape, it was dark and a little too dated for her tastes. With some pretty clever spending, she pulled off a pretty impactful renovation project.

Although her two classic cherry wood dressers looked great for their age, Lindsey of Repurpose and Recycle wanted to style them to fit in with the rest of her modern farmhouse bedroom. They’ve been in the family since the ’80s, so it’s no wonder they needed a bit of an update. The Restoration Hardware Printmaker’s collection gave her the inspiration, but the result was two totally original, unique pieces of furniture.

When Colette purchased this 1930s Spanish-style home, her goal was to do a full remodel that included this dated kitchen. The goal: Put to use all that she has learned over the years while writing her design blog, COCOCOZY. The kitchen was originally broken up into three small rooms that didn’t quite flow together. While the furnishings were relatively inoffensive, they weren’t Colette’s style.

Before Ashley put her guest house up on Airbnb, she wanted to give the bathroom a fun update. It was simple and sparse in comparison to the rest of the home, so, even though she was working on a tight budget, she was determined to use her DIY tricks and unique style to make it an exciting space for guests. Ashley carved as much time out of her schedule as she could—during nap times, evenings, and weekends—to work on the bathroom.

The little nook at the bottom of these stairs wasn’t really serving a purpose. The steamer trunk is undeniably cool, but it couldn’t do the heavy lifting of filling out the otherwise blank question mark of a space. Suzanne was transitioning into her new life as founder of a design company and really needed a place to work until she could move into an office. She thought about using the basement, but it was dark and sparse.

There are only so many changes you can make to a kitchen you do not own. Jess Bunge, Senior Market Editor for Emily Henderson, faced many of the classic challenges of a rental—dated floors, lackluster countertops, an oddly shaped floor plan—but brilliantly worked around them to make the space one to sigh over. The real star of this new kitchen is the countertop cover. With help from her dad, Jess cleverly cut plywood to fit over the gray granite, and built a matching backsplash.

And it only took four hours.

Painting a door is a time-efficient, budget-friendly way to refresh a room. It can help break up the blank space and create a focal point just like a large piece of art, but it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. The best part? It’s just paint! You can switch it up every time you’re in the mood for something new. Taking the door off the hinges can make the job easier, but it’s not totally necessary.