Apartment

Goodbye, red carpeting.

This is such a great idea.

This once-blank space is now a collector’s dream.

Plus, the “after” is filled with secondhand finds.

“We have to walk through it every day, so might as well make it nice,” the DIYer says.

The new colors tie in the cabinets and appliances.

“I wanted to take this warm-toned, early-2000s nightmare and turn it into a modern dream,” the condo owner says.

In Germany, where this renter lives, it’s common for rental units to not come with a kitchen — the renter must build their own!

Style + seclusion = seriously cool. And it’s renter-friendly, too.

This apartment is only 470 square feet, but feels way bigger.

“The room now feels like a warm hug when I walk in,” the DIYer says.

“It was my first time really taking a corner from ‘blank and awkward’ to ‘built-in and intentional,’” the DIYer says.

After dreaming of a fireplace for years, I finally made my own in my 10th apartment.

And it’s renter-friendly!

It was all DIY, and it cost about $800.

The project cost $700.

This bathroom got a top-to-bottom redo.

The closet makeover is totally copyable.

The makeover boasts three kinds of peel-and-stick.

“I really like the feel of an old library, but I also love some elements of more modern style,” the apartment owner says.

The paint color is perfect.

“Everything had to be renter-friendly,” the DIYer says.

Even though you might not live in a rental home forever, that doesn’t mean you have to grin and bear it if you’re not loving the look and feel. There are plenty of smart ways you can update a space in a reversible, temporary way. Renter Sarah Bryant (@sarahlouwho) knows this well. After moving into a charming 1901 apartment in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Sarah decided to make some changes to what she guessed was an “early 2000s” kitchen.

Leaning into color — not away from it — will make a space feel calm, according to this DIYer.

A basic big-box find becomes stylish shoe storage with striking stripes.

Plus, the homeowner wanted to create a “boudoir” vibe!

“I love curvy furniture,” the apartment dweller says. “I like things that are kind of playful.”