DIY Home Projects

Shaun’s UK home was originally occupied by a dear old lady who was a smoker, so the room was dated and “ciggie stained.”  But he had big plans for this small room.Shaun kept his canvas — the walls and furniture — white in order to let his artwork and  personal items shine even more.

Laken is an incoming freshman at Washington University in Saint Louis and, just this Sunday, moved into her new dorm on campus. She was greeted by a very typical sight: commercial grade carpeting, conspicuous vents, and standard issue furniture. The dorms are very nice by all accounts, but it’s always a challenge to transform an impersonal space into a comfortable home for the next nine months.Laken has less than a week to get her room ready before classes begin.

We love a good, simple IKEA hack. In the hands of Sarah of Smitten Studio, this plain pine Tarva got a coat of paint and a little bling. Check out the results:Fresh white, gold legs, and brass knobs add much needed storage and a dash of style in the bedroom of Sarah’s cabin, after the removal of a bunk bed/closet system. Sarah also sawed a couple inches off of the dresser’s legs for a more contemporary proportion. Check out more photos over at Smitten Studio.

The compact shape, characteristic midcentury tapered wooden legs, and bargain price all caught Shannon’s eagle eyes at a yardsale, immediately convincing her this worn and roughened desk had yet another life to live in her living room after a serious makeover…I decided that a fun dose of bright color was just what it needed to really come to life!

Taylor and Corey desperately wanted some built-in cabinets for their living room but   space was limited, so they found a vertical solution.  Can you guess what they used? (Hint: I suspect this photo was taken just as they started their project) Perennial favorite, the IKEA Billy bookshelf strikes again!  Using two shelves (extended up to the ceiling) and custom moulding, they created lots of storage that looks and feels original.

There’s a reason we don’t feature many garage makeovers here at Apartment Therapy: no one but the very bravest souls will give us a peek at the often messy “before”!  Not James, he’s proud to share his new garage, and rightly so.  He transformed a dank garage into a bright and organized workspace.  The walls were planked with cost-effective (and aromatic) fencing cedar and the cabinets were leftovers from a previous kitchen renovation.

19-year-old college student Reeves picked up this dresser at an auction because she loved its clean lines and shape, but it needed a bit of an upgrade.  After prepping with a good sanding, she gave this beauty a new look with Sherwin Williams’ Smoky Blue paint. To prevent bleed through, she used two coats of water-based poly and, once the paint cured, lightly distressed the detailing and sealed it with wax.  The new, white hardware really pops against the updated color.

Christa couldn’t believe her luck when she found this gorgeous settee lounging around a Salt Lake City antique shop.  Despite the dowdy fabric, she knew it was the perfect candidate for a makeover.Amazing!  Inspired by the fact that the settee was a perfect example of 19th-century American Greek Revival, she chose to reupholster this beauty (which she aptly named Aphrodite) in black and white Greek key.

When it comes to camper makeovers, pop-ups don’t get a lot of love. Despite the serious lack of online inspiration, Sarah transformed her camper from totally 90s into red, white, and blue country chic, perfect for summer road trips: From Sarah: I wanted to do a total DIY to the often overlooked humble pop up camper. While searching for pop up re-dos I found literally nothing. The RVs ruled the web, so I was on my own.

Turning this barn door into a beautiful headboard was technically pretty simple. All it really required was hours and hours and days and never-ending hours of sanding.Mike Adamick, author of Dad’s Book of Awesome Projects and general dad extraordinaire, worked with his daughter Emme to turn this old barn door into a headboard for their family bed. On his blog, he walks you through the steps from start to completion with a healthy dose of hilarity along the way.

Imagine your job takes you out of town for a couple of months. When it’s finally time to come home, you think about how you can’t wait to kick back in your own  bedroom with your own stuff. But here’s something you didn’t expect: Your roommates decided to give your tidy space a major makeover. And it’s not exactly your style …That’s what happened to Reddit user Twoverend.

Here’s kind of a cool thing. This steel-framed chair had seen better days. Enter Janusz, who has an abiding love for the world’s most humble material — cardboard — and for bringing old furniture back to life. Click here to see what he did next. While the text isn’t in English, there are enough photos so you get the idea how it was made here and here. It almost look like inlay, doesn’t it?Thanks for sharing, Janusz!

Lindsay fell in love with the shape of this vintage record player console from Craigslist, but when she picked it up, it was beyond dirty. A lot of elbow grease and a little paint later, check out the results:From Lindsay: I have a thing for vintage record player cabinets. I found this Mid-Century style record console that had been gutted on Craigslist, and picked it up immediately. It is solid wood, and was in fairly good condition. Except it was FILTHY.

Josh found this dresser, solid and in good condition, but not quite his style, at a Dallas thrift shop. With a few basic updates, he turned lots of laminate into a mid-century style showpiece:From Josh: I found this dresser for $60 at a local thrift shop here in Dallas, Texas. It’s made entirely of laminate particle board, barely used, and very solid. I knew it had great lines and good bones, but lacked any personality.

Where I used to avoid working in my cluttered office since I could just carry my laptop elsewhere in the house, I now ONLY want to work in here.  The mood it creates is nothing short of inspiring. I used the rich wood tones and bold colors that I love, and I added in pops of color in unexpected places.

It doesn’t always take expensive and dramatic changes to refresh a room. Follow me after the jump to see how Andi used small details to pack a new punch in her attic guest room.Just by adding adding a bold blue and a few new accessories, Andi took this guest room from minimal and plain to cheery Mediterranean cottage. She painted in headboards, added a table, lamp, pillows, and a window treatment, and called it a day.

From what I’ve seen at garage and yard sales, bookshelf speakers are amongst the most common audio gear components readily available for DIY projects on the cheap. And how many of us have old audio speakers gathering dust in a closet or in the garage?

This is what Will had to say about the project: The personal drive to restore the tricycle stems from a general interest I have in refurbishing old, half rusted and seized treasures from the past. This is particularly true when it comes to bicycles (or here a tricycle). As it is, I’m looking at two half assembled bikes both wearing the Wilmas brand and almost ready for their maiden voyage.

Sarah took her chances on a very typical dresser at Goodwill — you know, the ones that are a dime a dozen and often get passed up by everyone. Follow me after the jump to see the incredible transformation that turned this sad little piece into a unique gem… She first sanded down all the old paint (always test for lead first) and then stained it with a lovely Mahogany Gloss Stain.

Not in love with a dated, brown dresser? Why not make it more brown? That’s the tack Ama Ryllis took to liven up this piece for her daughter’s bedroom. Ama Ryllis picked up this piece for $50 at a garage sale and gave it two coats of paint (and one of primer). She kept the original handles, but spiced them up with neon pink spray paint. These few small changes really make it fresh and chic, don’t you agree?You can see a few more photos on Ohoh Blog.Thanks Ama Ryllis!

Everybody has at least one piece of old furniture in their attic, but how often do you actually do something with it? Lacker was rooting around in his and found this vintage chair from the 1970s. It was in decent shape, with a metal base and plywood seat. See how he gave it a second life, after the jump.Lacker says: I was on vacation and looking for something to do. When I saw this chair, I immediately thought of creating a new seat and chair back with pieces of veneer.

Project by: Kevin Young of PMK+designersLocation: Kaohsiung, Taiwan   The Story behind my renovation project began sitting in the living room at our previous owned home, with only 66 sq meter of interior space (711 Sq feet), 2 bedroom, one study, living, kitchen and 1 bathroom. We would come home from work each day to find ourselves sit in front of the TV with no room to move and breath.

Nothing adds character to a space like art. But if you’re on a tight budget, your options might be a little limited. You could make like a college student and thumbtack a poster of The Starry Night to your wall — or you could make like a savvy DIYer and take some thrift store art to the next level. Related Video: The Secret To Buying Thrift Store Art Here are six ideas for updating thrift store art.

When Stephanie Gerber of Henry Happened was planning a nursery redesign to make room for baby number three, she wanted to make use of a dresser that had formerly belonged to her husband as a child. The problem was that it had definitely seen better days. That’s when designer Melissa Ballard stepped in with a little bit of elbow grease and a gold paint pen to create something truly special… Melissa refinished the dresser and used a gold paint pen to create the herringbone pattern.

To my mind there are two basic types of ‘Before and Afters’: the jaw droppers that leave you amazed at the utter transformation of a thing or place and the less dramatic, but no less inspiring ones that show a vast improvement to something with minimal expense of time and money. The latter is the case with this dated dresser repainted in springy colors as an appealing addition to Lynne and Darren’s guest bedroom where they host their 2-year-old grandson, Nicholas.

Recently I helped a lovely couple redesign their bedroom. They already loved the wall color and the abundance of natural light, but the placement of the windows left something to be desired.  They also wanted to upgrade from a queen size bed to a king, while enhancing the airy feel that they liked best about their bedroom.

Katherine Hammond, an interior designer, had a very specific vision for the desk she wanted in the behind-the-bed nook in her Brooklyn Brownstone. For her project, she turned to Nick Dillon of Nick Knacks Creative Interiors, a New York-area contractor who was able to build the desk exactly as she envisioned it.  The finished product is a desk that spans the entire length of the wall.

Karyn, an interior designer, found the perfect island bungalow in Coronado, California. Of course, it needed a little sprucing up before it would be the entertaining and living space she dreamed of. Check out how she transformed this studio into a chic, multipurpose space: How gorgeous is this? We love the navy and white against the dark bamboo floors. From Karyn: I had just moved to the island of Coronado and had the perfect bungalow apartment in mind.

This bar cart was far from perfect, but it sported some nice mid century stylings. Sarah picked it up at a thrift shop and set out to banish the bad stain and bring back its former glory.From Sarah: I have been seeing the most adorable bar carts lately, and after spotting this one at a local thrift store, I knew there was plenty of work to be done.

The closet in my guest bedroom never hosted much clothing, and I decided it’d be a perfect tucked away spot for sewing and crafting.My workspace in my last apartment was a craft cabinet, so a closet was a step up. I painted the bottom portion of the wall with leftover paint and built a desk with wood and metal braces from Home Depot. I hung acrylic shelves on the left wall and added a custom corkboard, task lamp, filing cabinet, and calendar.

You might walk by this unassuming stool at a thrift shop, but Charlotte saw potential. See how she gave this flea market find a fresh facelift. From Charlotte: Back when birds were chirping and grass wasn’t buried by 24″ of snow, I grabbed this wheelie stool at the Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market in New Milford, CT. The seller clearly thought he was getting the good end of the deal charging me $10. But a simple coat of spray paint later, and it has a new lease on life.

It’s not often that we see a before that looks so much like, well, an after. Natty admits that the dresser was in great shape when she got it, but she was looking for something more modern and personalized. After all, a dark stained wood isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and sometimes even beautiful pieces can stand to be a new kind of beautiful.

Samna flew out to New York from her home in Seattle to help her sister set up her studio apartment. With only five days and $500, here’s how she transformed the rental into a chic hangout.From Samna: Here’s what I had to work with: My sister’s apartment in a post-war building, 248 square feet of bedroom/living area and kitchen, $500 budget and five days to get it all done. This project is for all of the people who claim “I don’t have time.

For Christmas one year, the very stylish Suki gave her daughter a renovated vintage dollhouse. First off, the dollhouse itself is amazing, with what looks like real plaster walls and a brick chimney. Suki tore out some of the old materials, repainted, wallpapered and re-filled the house with tiny furniture and fixtures.The after is so charming, colorful and full of fun details. I would move in tomorrow if I could.  So amazing Suki!

Interior designer Lauren Liess had clients with a brand-new dining room looking for a stylish and personal upgrade. The family had a bold, cheerful style (and some budding Picassos!), so she came up with the perfect solution: a kids’ art wall!She added some new curtains, a new overhead fixture, and some sconces in the middle of the gallery wall — but the focus is the kids’ art, which adds a lot of color and fun to the room!

The great thing about Ikea’s Billy bookshelf is that it’s an inexpensive, versatile storage unit for any age — the downside is when you’d like it to be a bookshelf for kids but the height and reach is too much for little arms.Leave it to Lisa Campbell to fix that! She just turned it on its side, so that it not only holds books safely, it doubles as a bench! She added some decorative trim, secured the shelves, and sewed a cushion for the top.

Is this “before” image intriguing, or what? Yes, you can see the top of the old crusty side table, but what’s the point of showing it with all those paint sticks on top? This is truly a DIY project I would never have thought of on my own, and I love it!Truly, the folks over at Thistlewood Farms gave this little table an amazing facelift — with paint sticks. They cut them all down to uniform size, applied some stain, and laid them in a herringbone pattern, and the result?

Yeah, okay, this bedroom is fine. It’s got some beds, so it’s functional. It’s got walls, you know, because you need those. But it lacked pretty much everything else. Until now…What a transition! Out of nothing, Kelly created this super stylish playroom/studio for her to share with son Aston.

We’ve been showcasing a lot of Before and Afters here this month, and perhaps it’s inspired you to do a few of your own. You may, however, still have doubts, and may find that you ask yourself “can I really do that?” Well, here are some simple beginner DIY’s that you most definitely can do. Time to make your own Before & After.1. Paint a Globe.Take a globe you already have (preferably one of those 3D topographic ones), or acquire one.

A furniture redo doesn’t have to be drastic or especially time-consuming to make a big impact. This lovely chair had a lot of potential, but was a little drab — a few quick fixes made a huge difference!Lisa from All Things Campbell spotted this chair for $20. It had a few minor problems, but she was confident she could fix it up and make it work… and for only twenty bucks, she didn’t have a lot to lose!

From Celestyn: This is a pretty great “up-cycle” done by my super talented husband for the front office of our family business, Repla Prints. He broke down old pallets (FREE!!) and aged them by rubbing them with steel wool that had been soaking in apple cider vinegar before putting them onto the wall. He used the ugly existing desk and made an amazing privacy cover around it. The top is 2×6’s glued and clamped together and sanded for a smooth finish.

For years IKEA’s EXPEDIT has been a ubiquitous storage solution for homes everywhere. But recently the Swedish furnishing giant’s VITTSJÖ has been showing up more and more on my design radar. It doesn’t scream IKEA, and you’d never guess the system starts as low as under $50. The black metal and glass shelving system has a nice industrial quality on its own, but it seems to really shine when it’s given a bright coat of paint.

Tori was on the hunt for a new bed for her youngest daughter — her older daughter had a cool, unique bed, and she wanted to find something just as awesome for the younger one. So she found this plain headboard on Craigslist and gave it a playful new spin.A little paint, some stenciling, and some clever upholstering gave this headboard a totally new look! Now her daughter has a great colorful new bed, customized by her own mom.Thanks, Tori!

I purchased this 1960’s folding card table and chairs from an estate sale for $20. The table top and seats were covered in avocado vinyl that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since its last party, 40 years ago. The way the table is constructed, the center of the table top is level with the outer rim, therefore I couldn’t substitute tile or mosaic for the vinyl because it wouldn’t be level. The best solution I found was laminating fabric.

These Lyon steel drafting stools are straight from the architecture school where I was an undergrad over a decade ago. Rusted and layered with spray paint, they were pretty well-worn even when I was in school. Recently, when the department underwent renovations, a friend picked these up for free when they were discarded during construction. We paid him $5 each for the trouble of scavenging them and then started looking into refinishing.

Fluffy white Mongolian lamb stools pop up like dandelions in tony dressing rooms and decor magazine spreads, but the prices can be a bit overwhelming for the rest of us. But Nadia, the Paris-dwelling blogger behind Preciously Me, came up with a way to get the look on her own with just an IKEA stool and a fluffy pillow.That’s quite the upgrade, no? Nadia started with an IKEA Marius stool (which seems to be available in black, white, and blue on the U.S.

I check in with Craig (and his list) on a daily basis, and when I came across a pair of matching wooden arm chairs, I pounced. I talked the seller down to $75 each and brought them home for a facelift. We have a bright red coffee table I had sprayed at an auto detail shop, and I thought these could be a nice complement. A million hours later, all the nail heads and staples were out and I was ready to spray.

Some DIYers have a real knack for spotting products at IKEA that were just meant to be something else. In the case of this Before & After, a standard shelving unit gets an entirely new purpose and becomes a beautiful light fixture.The Ikea EKBY Shelf Unit contains two simple brackets and a shelf, but when taken apart, suddenly the brackets have all kinds of new uses. You could make a set of new sconces with one shelving unit with this simple hack.

LACK hackFrom Noelle: I decided to tackle my own project with my ages old white Ikea Lack coffee table using Cece Caldwell’s paint in Destin Gulf Green. I figured the worst that could happen is that I’d have to head out to Ikea and buy another Lack coffee table if it was a total bust.

 Anything blah can be turned into something wowing, including those ugly upholstered folding chairs. All you need is some nice fabric and spray paint. I used home deco fabric so it will hold up longer. I removed the seat cushions and back rest. The chairs I have were quite old so the screws were worn out and refused to come out, so I had to cut them off. Once the seat cushion and back rest were removed, the fabric was easily removed by pulling out the staples.

We have had this coffee table for 12 years. It was the first piece of “grown up” furniture we bought as a couple, so it is quite sentimental to us. It has inlay detail on the top, and we had glass custom made to fit it so that we wouldn’t scratch it (I always referred to the glass as the giant coaster). In recent years, the table was looking increasingly orange (I think because the rest of our decor is slowly leaning towards 50 shades of gray).

Inspired by the striped light fixtures at Schoolhouse Electric, I wondered if there was a way to dress up my basic sconce with a few fun stripes. I wanted the process to be inexpensive and easy, and I wanted it to create razor sharp paint lines. After a bit of experimentation, I think I got it.I painted 2 coats of green acrylic paint onto a strip of electrical tape and then stretched it around the fixture. For the black stripes, I cut thinner pieces down the length of the tape.

The ubiquitous IKEA LACK coffee table has a lot going for it. It’s just the right size for a small apartment, it has nice, modern lines, and at $19.99 the price is pretty much unbeatable. The only problem is that it can look a bit blah. But Catherine McNelly of domesticitie. figured out how to banish the genericness of the original with the help of a staple gun and some unconventional upholstery fabric.

I found this little piece at the Salvation Army for $7.50. I was looking for a nightstand and knew this would be perfect. The top had water stains where cups and glasses were placed, but other than that it was in good shape. Because I feel that I am drowning in brown furniture sometimes, I decided to paint the drawer fronts white. After sanding and patching the holes from the hardware, I used a high gloss lacquer spray paint on the drawers and stained the rest of the piece.

IKEA hacks aren’t always for the faint of crafting. But if you’ve got the time and the skill, this hack isn’t just clever – it’s downright stunning. Just get an unfinished Ingo Table for $69 and you’re on your way.The Ingo is a simple pine table, which you’ll find in the kitchen section. It’s small, measuring only 47 1/4 ” long by 29 1/2 ” wide, so it is more than suitable for a larger workspace.

Sharon and her husband have had these beech shelves from IKEA for almost 20 years, and had no desire to replace these perfectly functional (if outdated) units while they still have life in them. Luckily Sharon had a vision of how she might update these cabinets — a vision she was able to implement for only $10, thanks to a well-stocked DIY supply cabinet.After a light sanding, Sharon primed the piece with an oil-base primer and then covered it with a latex paint.

While Anna’s mid-century house has a fair share of closets, they weren’t exactly outfitted to store much stuff. Faced with the predicament of storing two young boys’ clothes and other belongings, Anna decided to build out the closet herself.A lot of us have faced a similar problem with our own closets — one measly shelf and a long hanging clothes bar do not exactly make the base for an organized closet.

Upgrading an old CRT television to a modern flat screen is a costly endeavor in itself, and it gets even more expensive when you consider some of the hidden costs of upgrading. For instance, if your old tube TV fit snug in a TV cabinet, you’ll need to find a new furniture home for the likely larger new screen. Or, you could take a cue from this no-cost DIY project and transform an old TV armoire into something new.

Reeves was privileged enough to have this dresser fall into her lap when her uncle decided it no longer fit his lifestyle. He in turn had been given the dresser by her dad many years before, so Reeves now has a piece of family history in her home.Sadly, this dresser had seen some heavy use over the years, use that left its mark. Reeves sanded the entire dresser, then restained the piece with Rustoleum Dark Walnut.

It was a hot pink curtain that started the ball rolling on Jae’s guest room makeover. She kept the furniture, painted the walls and tackled a DIY headboard to give this room a fresh, mature update.Jae tells us: I really wanted to add fuchsia curtains somewhere in our home. I decided on the guest room and that sparked a domino effect of other changes. I like the idea of letting the fabrics and accessories shine with color so I painted the walls white.

Would you click on this Craigslist ad: “very old & ugly high chair w/potty chair both for $15”? Yeah, me neither. But Jennifer did (and with enthusiasm I might add) and she set to work cleaning it up and giving it new look.The silver paint makes a huge difference and the vinyl cover will surely be easier to clean than the previous fabric. Jennifer shares the steps she took: I had been looking everywhere for a high chair and when I found it I jumped on it.

Julie’s basement needed some work to become a cozier spot for her kids to play and she also wanted it to be a relaxing, attractive spot for the whole family. The new room has big changes: new floor, new ceiling and painted walls as well as furniture and storage.Julie shares: When we moved into our new home, the basement was unfinished. I had dreams of making it into a world-class chaos wrangler, I mean playroom.

When Terry’s neighbor offered her this piece to redo, she knew she had a challenge on her hands. This sturdy little cabinet had already been altered by a previous owner who removed doors and the bottom to create a mini-desk, adding odd triangular trim pieces for support. Terry knew those pieces had to go if this cabinet was going to get a new lease on life.Terry removed the V-shaped trim and lined the inside of the cabinet with painted bead board.

When Jamie found this lovely mid-century modern dresser at a Salvation Army store fo only $50, she knew she’d hit the jackpot. Though she didn’t love the yellowing tone of the piece, and the finish was in bad shape (especially on the top), the lines and solid construction made it a great choice for an update.Jamie used Citristrip to remove the old finish, coating the entire dresser then leaving it to sit overnight.

Tricia from Simplicity in the South loved the vintage industrial look of Restoration Hardware’s steel cabinets, though their prices were not in the budget. She had an idea that with a little paint and some upholstery tacks, she could transform an old IKEA PS cabinet into something a little less schoolyard and a little more industrial chic.

When Jill found this sad little side table, it was in desperate need of some TLC to help bring it back to life. Jill was able to see past the missing trim, the broken foot and the badly damaged finish on this table to the strong bones and solid wood underneath. With a little hard work and creativity, she was able to transform this table into a showpiece for any room.After taking the table apart, Jill used Citristrip to remove all the old damaged finish.

Korrie has a passion for furniture, a passion she happily shares with her friends and community of blog readers. Though she usually find pieces to refinish herself, sometimes she benefits from what she herself calls their shared furniture addiction. This chest started out as a friend’s project, one that she passed along to Korrie when she found herself overwhelmed.

My kids’ art easel is one of those things I could trash instantly when my kids are done using it. It’s covered in doodles and smudged with so much paint that it’s an eye sore. Then when they actually use it, I’m the happiest person on Earth, watching them create their soon-to-be-sold-by-Sotheby’s works of art.

Board games. Where do you keep yours? In our house, they teeter unsteadily in a big pile on the top shelf of our coat closet. Admittedly, this is not really a great place for them, especially when the time comes for the kids to grab one. A nice game cabinet would be ideal. A nice, colorful, unique and all-out fun game cabinet. Like this one.Lori at Bleak 2 Unique certainly wasn’t going for a subtle makeover when she came across this cabinet.

When Heather found this tea cart, it was hiding in the back corner of a garage, cobwebby, dirty, and even a little water damaged. Despite the dilapidated appearance, the structure was solid, and Heather knew just how to reinvigorate this piece of history to make it work in her home.Yup — Heather transformed her tea cart into a bar cart, a lovely marriage of past function and present need in her home.

Julie was lucky enough to find this matching pair of settees for her sun room on sale for a mere $10! Though she didn’t love the dark wood and dated fabric, she did love the lines and function of these pieces, which she knew could be updated to work in her room.A couple of coats of white paint later, and the bases are lighter and brighter. Julie selected a new floral fabric and redid the upholstery to give these settees a new lease on life.

Though I’ve been doing this a long time, the power of paint to transform things still astonishes me. Take this lamp (or lamps, since it’s part of a pair) for instance. They’ve been moving from room to room as I’ve tried to work their weird green base into my home’s neutral color scheme. But it wasn’t working.