David told us this project was six months in the making, even through “most of it was procrastination.” We’re glad he finally got around to it because this is one unexpectedly cool stair upgrade. From David: We started with plain, light wood stairs. We wanted a dark, near black color to match our cast iron, gas fireplace on the other side of the room.

Anna’s craigslist chair makeover comes with a warning: “This was my first time ever reupholstering a piece of furniture, and BOY was it a lot more time consuming than I realized!” But worth it, Anna. So so worth it. From Anna: I don’t even know how many hours I put into this chair–not to mention the definite blood, sweat, and even a few tears.

Chelsey found this old card catalogue in the dumpster. She could see how much stripping and sanding work there was to do, so she kept putting off the project. Now that we’ve seen the results, we can’t believe she waited so long. From Chelsey: There were layers of chipping black paint over high gloss stained oak and missing drawer pulls. I scraped, sanded, and added legs.

Sone found this vintage Basset dresser at a magical-sounding place called the Mid-Century Furniture Warehouse. It needed some TLC but she was up for the challenge. From Sone: The original veneer on the top and sides needed a little TLC, but it was the perfect size and the exact statement piece we were looking for. Once we got it home I knew immediately that it needed to be brightened up. However, I didn’t want to cover up all of the walnut, just mask the imperfections.

Chyann calls herself, “the ultimate garbage lover” so when she found this little gem in the trash she took it home for a little dose of love. From Chyann: Upon closer inspection I saw that it needed a good sanding and a paint job, but otherwise, it had great potential. A few coats of spray paint, a new shelf, and a couple of wine racks later, it was almost unrecognizable! Cheers to finding garbage gems! Thank you Chyann!

Diana and her husband love their recently updated kitchen but it made their living room pale in comparison. So these self-proclaimed DIY-ers got to work sprucing up this space on a budget that was based on what the old on-their-way-out items could be sold for… From Diana: My living room is constantly changing but I don’t buy out of my budget. I sell what needs to be gone and with that money I buy the new things I need.

Alicia and her husband are always looking for ways to spruce up their apartment without painting or damaging the walls. This quick solution cost them just 10 bucks and zero wall holes to spackle later. Lovely! We’re making mental notes about this temporary decor. From Alicia: We came up with the idea of adding a vinyl wall above our mantle and love how it turned out! Ten dollars later and zero damage done to the apartment, we love the difference this made to our living room!

Tom and Alison had “grungy greige dust-mite-infested allergy-inducing wall-to-wall carpet” in their 90-year-old rental so they took a big risk and pulled it up (with landlord permission of course). The beautiful wood was in great condition except for this one spot, so they found a unique (not to mention genius) way to enjoy their new floors, rot-free.

Miriam found this beat up dresser on Craigslist for free (she says, “I love free!”) and without any spending guilt she was able to get really creative and take a risk on this one. She gave this dresser some Colorado pride! From Miriam: I decided to paint the Colorado state flag on this four drawer dresser. Here in Colorado EVERYONE sports the flag in some way: clothing, bumper stickers, hats. I thought a dresser would be cool to do.

Brittany loves vintage furnitures so much that she says, “I’m pretty sure it could be classified as hoarding.” She held on to this chair for five whole years, but it was definitely worth the wait. From Brittany: After moving from Alabama to LA, I had to pare down and decide which pieces I could fit into my tiny apartment and this chair made the cut. I absolutely love the shape of the chair and even the old paint job but the fabric had to go.

Rachel loved the “clean lines” of these chairs. Clean lines indeed! She took these super pared-down frames and added just enough to make them sing once again. From Rachel: After taking the chairs and cushions down to their raw materials, I started from the beginning. I had the metal powder-coated in a bright red and completely rebuilt the cushions in a neutral grey textured fabric. I added black accent feet and brass hardware for a finishing touch.

Shehzeen tells us, “I love a home with personality. If I had all the time in the world, I’d probably even make all the furniture for my house (I could be in need of therapy).” We feel you, Shehzeen. Just look at what this crafty lady did with these blank walls.

The refresh of this little shelf shows off the power of small changes. Odile recently moved to a new home and while searching for new furniture came across this piece at a local thrift shop for 40 bucks. 40 minutes (and one long journey with a borrowed cart) later, Odile had it safely home. Subtle yet powerful changes just makes this whole project a win in our book.

Emily called it “love at first sight” when she found this upholstered chair at a flea market. She’d been in the market for a new desk chair that she could fix up. Just what did she do with it? (Hint: those tools seem to be Emily’s favorite color). So fun! Emily needed to add some color to her all-white office so she really went all out. And that is one professional-looking reupholstery job.

We love a good rescue and that’s exactly what John gave this Heywood Wakefield Gateleg table. His journey included Craigslist, ebay, lots of research and even more elbow grease but his results will blow you away. From John: I had been wanting one of these tables for a long time. They’re not so rare that you can’t find them, but in nice condition, they can be over $800. I found this one on Craigslist listed at $250.

Ashley experienced a happy situation we all find ourselves in from time to time: she made one change to her small, three bedroom home and she was so inspired that the improvements just spiraled from there. From Ashley: We needed to make the space feel bigger and allow for us all to feel at home. We decided the best way to convert the space on a tight budget was paint. We used Dulux Natural White Wash and Wear, it’s a soft and warm white which keeps the space bright but peaceful.

This kitchen was almost a deal breaker for Lauren when she was searching for a new rental, but her landlord gave her permission to make a few updates so she signed that lease and did this. Wow! And we especially love how much change Lauren accomplished on such a tight budget. Talk about bang for your buck.

Danielle and her family just finished six months of renovations (phew!) and moved into their new, old 1942 home. This is what their kitchen used to look like. Wanna see it now? From Danielle: My favorite room, by far, is the kitchen. We refinished the original hardwood floors, chose natural cherry wood cabinets with a brown glaze, bright white Corian solid surface countertops, a farmhouse sink, and subway tile with charcoal grout.

Kirsten tells us that her fiancé thought she was slightly crazy when she brought this hideous chair home one drizzly afternoon. He thought it was even crazier that she’d paid $25 for this eyesore. Guess what? He loves it now. And this from a reupholstery newbie! Amazing job. From Kirsten: The first thing I did was strip the chair down to its stuff, which was in surprisingly good shape. Next, I painted it with two generous coats of Annie Sloan’s chalk paint in Graphite.

You know we love a good IKEA hack, but Kristi really blew our minds with this one. She started with this black and white IKEA throw, and transformed it into something we were not expecting. Kristi says, “I transformed an IKEA throw into a chic maxi skirt. It’s super simple, and this lil’ piece has become my new favorite thing in my closet.” See more (including instructions for this DIY) at Kristi Murphy. Thank you Kristi! Re-edited from a post originally published 9.3.

These tables had lived at Anam’s house since before she was born, so it was about time they got an upgrade. She says, “I’m surprised no one threw these tables away and I’m glad they didn’t.” We think paint was great choice for the what-looks-like-laminate tabletops and Aman gave these babies a bunch of inventive flair. Super cute save! From Anam: I painted the entire table — one side gold and the other with pink.

Kathy got this leather-top table for free from her employer and we can see why! The leather top was stained and discolored like crazy. Kathy almost didn’t take it home, then she thought of one last-ditch DIY thing to try and that made all the difference. Turns out, it was the brilliant magic of leather dye that helped this table look so good. Great save! From Kathy: Thanks to the internet I learned that you can re-dye leather. It went really well!

We all need a friend like Bethany. She recently took on this DIY project for a friend and her family. This damaged heirloom was almost beyond restoration, but Bethany found a way to make it sail once more. Ahoy! We love the crisp, nautical look that Bethany coaxed out of this nearly-dead piece. Great job! It took me a while to really be confident with how I wanted to paint it.

Nadia loved everything about her new rental except for the very…err.. loud wallpaper in the bedroom so she came up with a temporary DIY way to style it to her taste. Heads up, renters, you can so copy this one. From Nadia: I loved practically everything about our new home, except one thing: this seizure-inducing wallpaper in my bedroom! Unfortunately, this beautiful, wonderful place I’m so glad to call home is also a rental which means, I can’t replace (or rip and burn!

Valerie fell in love with the Mid-Century details on this solid oak 1960’s Thomasville dresser but 50 years in front of a window had given the stain a yellow tinge and the wood a greenish glow. That wasn’t going to stop her. From Valerie: As soon as I saw this sun-stained dresser I knew she deserved some TLC. I fell in love with her beveled drawers and dainty legs and decided to make it my first restoration project.

Rebecca was drawn to the simple lines of this dresser and the unexpectedly awesome brass pulls, but the finish was just wasn’t worthy of her baby’s room. Well, it is now. From Rebecca: Sometimes it’s painful to paint beautiful vintage furniture, and sometime it’s just so right. In the case of this amazing vintage dresser, the original finish was just too far gone to refinish. So we decided to turn this gem of a find into a sparkling emerald dresser.

As all DIYers know, sometimes the flea market is just not your friend. Yari had visions of finding a vintage library file to buy and restore for her home office, but after months of searching, she realized it just wasn’t in the cards. So she bought this new but plain Jane chest and really put her own spin on it. Yari says, “I painted the drawers in different shades of pink creating the ombre effect, spray painted the handles gold and added legs. I love how it turned out.

It’s the ultimate DIY, survival-style. The wildly popular reality show Naked and Afraid throws two strangers (without clothes) into the wilderness for three weeks to see if they can come up with their own food, water and shelter. Being somewhat interested in shelter ’round here, we thought that their hard-learned lessons were pretty applicable to your home (although hopefully with fewer snakes). 1. Location, location, location — Yep, this law even applies to the jungle.