The 9 Most Brilliant DIY Tips I Discovered This Year (And I Saw 390 Room Makeovers!)
As a home projects editor, every year I look at hundreds of Before and After room transformations and read advice from hundreds of DIYers as they recount their projects. I find it all inspiring — but year after year there are pieces of advice and projects that just stay with me. Last year, for instance, I learned about zig-zag chair rail molding and pop-pom reupholstery. (What are those, you ask? Read here!)
Here are my favorite pieces of advice and project ideas I learned from this year’s 390 (!!!) Before & Afters shared on Apartment Therapy.
Use peel-and-stick instead of stone for a marble makeover that’s a fraction of the cost.
As a renter, I love this tip. Swirly marbles and travertines and Parisian-inspired aesthetics were very in this year, but the look proves a bit more challenging if you can’t change your backsplash or flooring because you’re renting. I stopped in my tracks when I saw this marble wallpaper that looks like the real deal — I love the burgundy colorway! — from Balarte Studio in Leah Hodson’s (@thestanleydiary) bathroom makeover. A peel-and-stick option is a great solution if you don’t have the budget for real marble (or the upper body strength to carry heavy slabs up a walkup).
Use wallpaper to fake the look of fluted wood.
Similarly, fluted wood wallpaper can add a bit of warmth with no woodworking required, just like it did on DIYer Carrie Waller’s kitchen island. If you loved the pole wrap trend from 2023 and 2024, this tip is for you. “I love how much character the wood grain adds to our mostly white kitchen,” Carrie writes on her blog. “It helps the wood floating shelves look more intentional, and also breaks up all of the white tones in the cabinetry color, countertops, and backsplash.”
Instead of tiles, try IKEA mirrors.
This list would, of course, not be complete without an IKEA hack, and here’s my favorite from the year. Note that this next tip only works if your fireplace doesn’t actually make a fire. (Hello again, renters, and hello, historic homeowners.) I love the way Galina Efremova used 12-inch-square IKEA BLODLÖNN sheet mirrors to complete her DIY fireplace. At $12.99 per pack, this is a much cheaper option than tile and still looks completely chic. In fact, it even brightens Galina’s living room a bit!
Save sad sheet mirrors with a bit of paint.
Speaking of sheet mirrors, I’m so impressed with the way Cass Danson (@our.home.le.fleur) salvaged the plain oval sheet mirrors in this bathroom makeover by painting a scalloped border around them with leftover paint. (I love a $0 upgrade!) This trick would work with any sheet mirror and any sort of fun border — no matter the shape or silhouette.
Add vertical drama with a “wallpaper canopy.”
This dining nook project puts a twist on a classic wallpaper accent wall by extending the wallpaper all the way up the ceiling and underneath the light fixture. “The wallpaper feature is a great way to create a wow factor without needing to wallpaper a whole room or invest in lots of artwork,” the DIYer, Becks Huntley (@the_interior_lens), says. “It is also a really unique design and a real focal point in our home.” Becks gave her project clever nomenclature, too: She calls it a wallpaper canopy, which I just love.
Try cocktail napkins instead of wallpaper or fabric.
Cocktail napkins just might be the new wallpaper. Don’t get me wrong — I love a good wallpaper (can you tell from the projects above?), but I also think this budget-friendly solution for smaller-scale projects is ingenious, especially because cocktail napkins are a little more malleable than wallpaper. Here, DIYer Ashley Poskin decoupages ditsy floral cocktail napkins around a plain white lamp for a little bit of bookshelf eye candy. “Of course I’d love a shirred lampshade in my favorite designer fabric, but I can’t drop hundreds on a single yard,” Ashley says. “Instead, I went with a pack of pink floral paper napkins.” You can find similar napkins from Michael’s or Amazon, and Ashley recommends using matte Mod Podge for the project.
Pattern mixers, try the “3, 4, 5 method.”
Pattern mixing is predicted to be huge in 2025, and if you want to get in on the trend, heed this advice from DIYer Nancy Cavaliere (@casacavaliere), whose kitchen transformation — and whose clever method for striking the perfect mix of patterns — has been totally stuck in my head since I saw them. In her spaces, Nancy almost always goes for three patterns, four interior design eras or styles represented, and five different colors used.
Keep the light fixtures, but replace the shades.
For a small space like a powder room or entryway, your budget might be equally small. In my opinion, these are prime spots to use Katie Falbo (@highboyla) and her partner, Cody Scheppers’ quick fix for a dated light fixture: Don’t replace the fixture itself (maybe spray paint it if it’s within your budget and allowed within your lease), but replace the glass shades for something the same size but a bit more modern. Above, you can see how it made a big difference in Katie and Cody’s bathroom makeover.
Rethink your countertops to totally change the flow of a kitchen.
Lastly, this one’s (literally) a bit more of a heavy lift, but I was struck by how much replacing the countertop (and, of course, removing the metal poles that supported the old one) in this kitchen makeover completely opened up the flow of the space. The same is true for multi-level countertops. Sometimes, all you need to replace in a kitchen is the countertop, and the floorplan will feel completely new — no need to demo any cabinets or shift around any plumbing.