DIY Before & Afters | Do It Yourself Projects & Hacks

Ash was about to put his house on the market, so he took a second look at his kitchen and came up with an ingenious and sophisticated idea for sprucing up his pretty blah pantry situation. From Ash: Simply stated, our pantry was an eyesore. It was a little nook of shelves with old curtains pulled to each side. We were going to put our house on the market soon, and in looking at the competition, we kept seeing very similar houses with beautiful kitchens.

We’ve been seeing so much really great, eye-catching wallpaper in recent years, that it’s become easy to forget why it had such a bad rap not that long ago. Luckily, Laurène’s pre-trend wallpapered living room is here to remind us. With a super simple paint job and some excellent furniture selection, Laurène was able to maximize the natural light in her space to create a cozy living room/dining area.

Kristine purchased this beat up bad boy for $5 knowing she could make something out of the mid-century style. After some serious blood, sweat and tears it is now a gorgeous patterned side board. From Kristine: I started with this crappy old sideboard which I picked up for just $5… I bought this baby “site unseen” (after a friend sent me a photo) because I loved the clean mid-century lines and generous proportions. I also really liked the fact it looked so disheveled.

I’ve been on the hunt for an affordable brown leather sofa for a while now, and had just about given up when this one turned up on Craigslist. It wasn’t the color I wanted. I was hoping for something a little less Manhattan and a little more Marfa, but for 50 bucks, I figured I could experiment with changing the color. Can you paint a leather sofa? I did! And I’m in love with the results. Let’s take a closer look… And another close up.

Sometimes, you’ve just got to take a chance. When Pati’s sister offered her a large and somewhat underwhelming dresser, she was on the fence. Pati decided to go for it, and with some smartly selected paint, turned this dresser into a gorgeous credenza. From Pati: My sister bought this on our local Facebook classifieds. She decided while moving, she no longer had room for it. She offered it to me and I was a bit undecided. Not only was it heavy, it needed some work.

Cate’s thrift store find was certainly interesting, if a little clunky. After pulling out the pieces she needed for another project, Cate got inventive and the results are pretty charming! From Cate: I grabbed this quirky (and rather large) mid-century modern table lamp from my local thrift store with plans to harvest the brass for another lighting project. After taking the whole thing apart, I was left with some beautiful turned-wood pieces that I couldn’t let go to waste.

Kari found herself facing a familiar design foe, the too large white wall. She eventually landed on an ingenuous solution that added interest to the wall without sacrificing any of the cool. From Kari: When we moved into our house last year, it was basically move in ready but we had a large, white wall in our living room and we had no idea what to do with it.

Molly’s space was totally adorable as is, but she was itching for a little drama in the living room, and boy did she bring it! From Molly: My obsession with a black accent wall started about a year ago when I saw this house tour right here on Apartment Therapy. I couldn’t stop thinking about how the art popped and the TV blended — pretty much everything you want for an accent wall that contains a television.

When I think about color and pattern in an outdoor space I usually think throw pillows or maybe the occasional funky patio umbrella. Claire decided that pattern need not be limited to textiles and accessories and got really creative with her weathered bench. From Claire: I had a neglected old bench in my garden, that was crying out for a revamp. Instead of just repainting, I decided to give it a designer makeover.

If a cabinet can survive years of kid style wear and tear, you know you’ve got a sturdy piece of furniture on your hands. After removing any trace of Brontosauruses and sharks, Rosa set to work giving this old cabinet new life. From Rosa: This cabinet was purchased about 25 years ago in a thrift store to use in a child’s room. It was covered with stickers of animals, surfboards and all kinds of kid stuff.

When bookshelves are in OK shape, it can be so tempting to leave them as is. After all, you’re just going to cover them with with books and tchotchkes, right? Sahana had to go and overachieve by putting curtains AND wallpaper on her total steal of a bookshelf duo. From Sahana: We recently moved from New York to North Carolina. While we were hunting for some furniture, we got an awesome deal of two bookshelves for $20.

For anyone who is waiting on an elusive piece of dream furniture, let Robin’s carriage seat offer you some hope. She was able to turn her not-totally-perfect-but-close find into a gorgeous manifestation of her entryway bench dreams. From Robin: I have wanted a carriage seat as a house bench forever. Seriously. The one I scored at an auction was not the one I wished for, but it was close enough.

I am sharing our almost-completely DIY, super budget $7K kitchen remodel, which we started in September, and finally wrapped up just a couple weeks ago. The process was a lesson in patience, as we hated the kitchen upon buying our house, but waited about two and a half years before we had created a plan, emotionally recovered from the bathroom remodel (which was shared here a while back!), and saved up enough dollars.

Tamara spotted this old office chair that was in surprisingly good shape, so she snatched it up with plans to make it her own. Fast forward three years, throw in a lucky find at the fabric store and you have one gorgeously updated chair. From Tamara: I see these old university office/lobby chairs in Surplus Goods quite often, but the joints are not always in great shape so I usually pass.

Ahhh the magic of white paint. Roxanne updated and brightened up her kitchen with some gorgeous new additions but kept the original cabinetry and used some really nice paint with great success. From Roxanne: Our small builder grade kitchen was in desperate need of a makeover. I could no longer stand the orange tone wood cabinetry and yellowish countertops. To save money, we kept the existing cabinets, but extended them to the ceiling, making the room feel larger.

If you’re going to go bold, go bold. Claire took her old beige staircase and turned it into a spunky, funky and printed space that greets you as soon as you walk in the door. From Claire: The first thing you used to see when you opened my front door was some steep victorian stairs crying out for a transformation. I got rid of the boring beige carpet that was just a dust and dirt magnet and brightened them up with a touch of Marimekko.

Hannah’s apartment is part of Olympics history! But while her home came with a very cool backstory it also brought along an outdated early 90s kitchen. With some trips to IKEA and a very accomodating landlord, Hannah now has a gold-medal-worthy place to eat her Wheaties. From Hannah: My fiancé and I live in the French Alps in a small apartment. These apartments were originally built to house the press during the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville.

Carter had a lucky find with these classic Herman Miller chairs. They needed a little love and Carter decided to go above and beyond to turn these chairs into seriously funky eye candy. From Carter: These Herman Miller fiberglass shell chairs are a true design classic and seem to be everywhere. I found these at a church garage sale and they needed a little cleaning up.

We’ve seen smart & beautiful design from Kevin before, and he’s keeping it up with this gorgeous master bedroom makeover. From Kevin: After decorating most of my father’s house in one fell swoop, the master bedroom was left unfinished and needed some attention.

So you want to revive your living room but your fear of commitment/budget/upper arm strength makes purchasing furniture a big, terrifying deal. Luckily, Jay’s approach to freshening up a room is to actually get rid of some furniture and lighten things up with a coat of paint. From Jay: Here’s a quick and easy way to refresh your room without purchasing any new furniture. Consider painting the walls and letting go of any furniture that sucks all the energy and life out of the room.

Astral’s antique market find was almost perfect, save for one thing. After some deconstruction and reconstruction she has a stylish and gold pattern free swivel table. From Astral: I LOVE mid century modern furniture. I lucked upon this beautiful vintage swivel table at an antique mall. Everything about the table was great EXCEPT the gold pattern in the glass. At first I thought that the pattern was part of the table underneath the glass and not a part of the glass.

Patience truly is a virtue, as demonstrated by Megan’s two phase bathroom remodel. By keeping one eye on savings and one eye on design, she was able to create a tastefully modern space that didn’t break the bank. From Megan: When we moved into our 1960s home seven years ago, the bathroom was an eyesore. The blue tile and wallpaper were original to the home and they needed to go! The problem was that we didn’t have a budget to completely remodel the space.

Fireplaces are a dream feature for a lot of folks out there. They add character, charm and warmth. But sometimes, the look of the fireplace isn’t quite right. Autumn’s living room had a ton of 1920s charm but the color of the walls and the look of the fireplace kept it from feeling like home. With some smart color selection she was able to turn her living room into a welcoming spot.

When spots are out of sight it gets super easy to just let them exist in a sort of functional disarray. Clara had enough of her cramped closet and decided to get to work making it the best it could be. From Clara: When I first walk into a consult, I never judge my clients’ homes. They are busy with work and family, it’s understandable that things get busy and their home isn’t perfect all the time. I, however, do judge my home constantly.

While Nicolette’s design senses to her that this chair had serious potential, but rehabing the chair in its original fashion was beyond her pay grade. So she got creative, and with a little paint, some upholsury magic and voilá! From Nicolette: Once I closed on my new house I panicked, I knew it was bigger than my current place, so I suddenly went chair crazy. Since home renovation is expensive I had to budget.

Yasmin hit all of the magic words with this project: DIY, IKEA, Storage. And while it may seem counterintuitive to open up your laundry room to the world, it works wonders for Yasmin’s space. From Yasmin: The laundry situation was not very glamorous before. A stacked Washer and Dryer in a tiny dark closet, with no built in storage space. The potential was great. We ripped out those ugly brown doors that were keeping the space so closed.

Before: My previous kitchen was outdated and nonfunctional. I had a –very!– red textured backsplash with mahogany cupboards, two different styles of floor (red and black tiles and wood parquet) that visually shrunk the space. Lots of different heights and depths among the cupboards created an overall sense of confusion.

Mix together a dash of plaid, a scoop of inspiration and a sprinkle of You Tube and you have the recipe for a gorgeous office chair upgrade. From Steph: A friend gifted me a great old desk that her mom had found on the curb years ago and everybody knows if you give a girl a desk…she is going to need a chair. I found this chair at a local Goodwill and knew it was the one. Even though the vinyl was cracked, I lived with it for a few months until I found a remnant I liked.

Emily juggles a successful creative business as well as her family of four so having a space to work at home is crucial. She had a large enough room to work in, but it was dated and not necessarily the most functional. First, Emily worked with a professional organizer to help edit her current work space. Add some of her signature cheerful DIY style and this uninspiring room was transformed into a bright and fresh space that will keep her organized with no shortage of creative inspiration.

Callie’s new take on Carrie’s inherited chair may have you looking twice at your aunt’s old living room set. Through a perfect mix of good bones, some incredible fabric and collaboration between friends, this chair really came back to life. From Callie: I’m an Austin textile designer and painter (and my treehouse home was on Apartment Therapy a couple years ago).

If you’re a color loving renter, contact paper is your best friend. Medina went all out adding color and pattern to her rental kitchen in a security deposit friendly manner. From Medina: I really went all out with the makeover. It is a rented apartment, but that didn’t stop me from decorating and injecting some color into it. The floor is wallpapered which I have a tutorial for on my blog. The cabinets were changed by adding contact racing stripes (all renter friendly).

I’m always amazed by people who are able to see the potential in somewhat ordinary pieces of furniture. This cabinet had been put out to pasture by a local school and Naomi snatched it up knowing it could be something beautiful. From Naomi: When I salvaged this old cabinet from the nurse’s office of a local school that was about to be demolished, it was gross – dirty, rusty, and covered with some strange gunk.

Sometimes, you’ve just got to follow your design loving heart. Faith found a lovely antique credenza, but it didn’t seem quite right for her. She stopped fighting her instincts and now has an adorable piece of furniture that she loves. From Faith: I purchased this gorgeous dining set on craigslist for a song and while functionally it was a fit for my space, stylistically it wasn’t working.

Christina had been pretty faithful to the character of her old Victorian home while adding her own style. There was a lot going on in the original hallway and she made some smart design choices to transform the space without losing a sense of the home’s charm. From Christina: One of the last pieces of our fixer upper 1902 Victorian was our hallway and entry. We have worked hard to preserve the original wood floors, structure, and character (original copper hardware!) in this space.

It is so easy to fall into our home routines. In no time our placeholder basket becomes our throw-everything-here-I-promise-I’ll-get-to-it-later basket. Jane got herself out a storage rut with some simple and smart choices. From Jane: One of my favorite unexpected parts of the IKEA Home Tour renovation was my entryway! Unexpected because I didn’t think there was a solution for my small nonexistent entryway that was a complete mess.

Sometimes, all you need is a little white paint and creativity. Two simple design choices made a huge difference in the look of Emily’s fireplace. From Emily: This electric fireplace surround was picked up from a thrift store. It was a black color and all of the details were hidden. There was a faux brick finish on it. Using some bright white paint and some simple peel and stick tiles, were all that was needed to make this fireplace stand out.

Not all wallpaper is created equal. And while it is having a well deserved moment, some wallpaper can make a room feel instantly dark and outdated. Yasmin found an inexpensive way to banish her bland wallpaper, among other things, and brighten up her whole kitchen. From Yasmin: When we got this home, we definitely loved the original 70s homey feel to it, the original owners were so kind as to even leave us some orchids in the kitchen!

Who among us hasn’t spotted that rare garage sale find full of potential and charm, only to look at it and sigh, “What’s the point, anyway? Time is endless yet fleeting.” Charles did exactly that and the results are pretty breathtaking. From Charles: I was looking to add a little mid cent mod flair to my living room. So I spent countless hours scouring the internet to fill the void, and to no avail.

While Emily’s kitchen certainly wasn’t in the worst shape visually of some of our submissions, I became much more invested in this transformation (and wept for the state of her baked goods) when I found out she was using a 50 year old oven. From Emily: Our kitchen was original from 1965, and after living with it for two years we decided it was time to renovate – I’d been using the original stove and oven!

Kevin’s hallway update is an excellent blend of style and function and a testament to really thinking about how the furniture is serving the space when making design choices. Also, I’m a total sucker for an interesting ceiling and this one is tops. From Kevin: When it comes to small spaces that are hard to design, the hallway is one of the worst offenders.

Our 1961 Colonial house on Long Island had orange shag carpeting and some delightful fixtures when we purchased it in 2013. We ended up renovating nearly every room in the house, but it’s taken all this time for me to finish decorating! The room I’m sharing is our powder room. It had a shell shaped sink in the shortest vanity I’ve ever seen when we started. I decided to use the small space to get dramatic with color.

One thing I love about this upgrade is that you can still see the heart of the original kitchen, it’s just…grown into its looks. Cara made a ton of smart choices to upgrade the look and usability of the space to create a bright and sleek kitchen. From Cara: Before we even put in an offer on our current house, we knew that to make the house fit our needs and gain serious points for resale, the walls separating the closed off kitchen and formal dining room needed to go.

Spoiler alert: they remove the carpet. And, yes, it goes a long way in brightening and modernizing the room, but Christina and her boyfriend don’t stop there. From paint, to furniture, to light fixtures, this is a pretty impressive overhaul. From Christina: My boyfriend and I bought a one bed, one bath condo in San Jose, California about a year ago and immediately saw so much potential for it once we moved in.

In October of 2014, my boyfriend, Sean and I purchased the tiny row house I had been living in for the past six years. When I moved to Philly to be closer to family I hadn’t expected our little residential spot off of (a then desolate and rather gritty) Frankford Avenue to all-of-a-sudden become Philadelphia’s hippest/hipsteriest hood.

Who couldn’t use a little glam in their life, right? Okay, so maybe it takes a certain type of person to pull off a really glam look at home, but Tim from Design Maze and the resident of this apartment were the perfect team to pull off this eye-popping den with a modern take on Hollywood glamour. I think it will make even the most minimalist design lover feel a little glam-envy. The best part? This is a rental apartment so everything is temporary.

Bradley and I had been house shopping for over a year, but in the Denver market, it was nearly impossibly to nail something down in our budget with all of the crazy investor offers constantly swooping in with full-cash offers. We had just lost another bid on a house and the next day, I got a call from our realtor that he had just gotten a listing and that we should come take a look.

Cintia’s beloved saucer chair needed some major TLC after battling the elements. She not only resurrected this chair with a ton of style, she did it in a low cost, totally green way. Once in pristine condition, my vintage saucer chair was left out in the weather for many years and slowly disintegrated. I had quite a sentimental attachment to it so was reluctant to throw it away. It took me about a year, working on it intermittently to complete this project.

When we bought this tired little cottage, we didn’t really know what we’d gotten into. Sitting empty for 3 years, the pipes had burst, the furnace had died and there was a small lake in the basement. Oh – and it was truly the homeliest house on the block. We had just started our ‘encore career’ to buy and renovate homes in a little town in Maine. But this project was a bit daunting for newbies! It took 5 months of work to transform it from top to bottom.

Hidden among many other obscure objects at a garage sale in Princeton, New Jersey, this bentwood rocking chair sat dressed in black paint and heavy black leather upholstery attached with large tacks. At the time, I couldn’t place where this piece had come from. It wasn’t a Thonet chair, but it had the similar features and was certainly older. As I continued to look at it, the colors and materials looked so heavy on such a small, slender frame. It begged to be refinished.

Ashley’s took her guest bedroom from all-purpose-catch-all to swoon worthy oasis. Just look at that gorgeous green! That fabulous rug! When can we visit? From Ashley: When we first moved in, we had a pretty standard guest bedroom. It was outdated, had dingy walls and a wallpaper border. It sat like this for quite some time and eventually just became a dumping ground for random decor pieces, clothes, etc. My husband and I had finally just had enough.

While not in terrible shape, Lesley’s bathroom felt a little dated. Instead of committing to a major bathroom remodel, she made some smart design moves to make the most of her small space. From Lesley: The bathroom in my condo is tiny, and badly needed updating when I moved in. It was straight out of the 80s with dingy beige paint, and a terribly outdated medicine cabinet/light fixture situation.

Lizeth’s medicine cabinet makeover is a perfect weekend project. If you’re feeling the need to organize and spice up your bathroom, take a look at her super easy cabinet makeover for inspiration. From Lizeth: One Saturday I decided to makeover our medicine cabinet. There was an accumulation of items we don’t use on a daily basis in the cabinet plus I was keeping some items I used a lot under the sink; hence the need for some purging and reorganizing.

Home is a sanctuary. You should love the place you come home to every night. And if you’re planning to move on or move up in a few years, investing in your home’s curb appeal is a wise investment, too. Plus it’s just crazy fun to see how a few simple tweaks can add up and completely change the way a house looks. Here are 7 home exterior renovations that really blow us away. Click through to each source to learn more about these impressive makeovers.

When we moved into this rental house last year, we had the luxury of not only having a powder room but also a newly-painted, all-white space with a beautiful grey wood floor throughout. Although the rest of the house has large windows and skylights and is very bright, this powder room has no windows and is tucked into the end of a short hallway.

After moving into her new home, Sara realized her design non-negotiable was living with her old, stained, formica countertops. With a little research she was able to find a fast and affordable fix to tide her over till it’s time for a renovation. From Sara: My husband and I moved into my grandparent’s old house a year ago and we’ve been making slow progress in each room, but I’ve really been focused on the kitchen lately, specifically on appliances and the counter.

As a young married couple (and now toddler parents!), we’ve relocated 3 times in five years with Justin’s company. Our last move brought us home to Greenville, South Carolina, where the real estate market in our dream neighborhood was insanely competitive. Since we were relocating from Northern Maine, we couldn’t be on site when a potential home would go on the market so we ended up in multiple bidding wars on properties that we had only seen via FaceTime.

I had promised not to remodel anything else, since the house is getting a bit packed, but this guy caught my eye. This little sad cabinet had belonged to a 1960s bookshelf that was long gone and was laying about in the quietness of a my grandparents garage. Legless, scratched and with some water stains, it needed some TLC. After some deep sanding, it was time to give it a new structure. So, as a totally inept carpenter, I did what any girl would do: call her father.

Maria made some kitchen magic happen in her rental. Her new floor is classic, cute and matches the most vital of household accessories, her cat. From Maria: I made an AMAZING kitchen floor makeover a month ago. The floor really looked like S when I moved in to my rental apartment in Gothenburg. SO I decided to get the floor in black/white that I always dreamed about. I was really SHOCKED how different, more bright and even bigger my kitchen became.

I am a sucker for Before and Afters. Whether it be home remodels or weight losses or What Not to Wear, I get all giddy about transformations. And SO, why NOT buy a really ugly house?? Where’s the fun in buying an already-beautiful home? Nowhere. A couple of years ago, my husband and I bought a fixer-upper. About 11 months later, we (and by we, I mean my dad. Thanks Pops.) finally got enough done to show some of the progress we’ve made so far. Only took a year ..

When I first walked into Thomas’ home, I was struck by the amazing number of creative and personal touches that filled every room. As I got to know Thomas, I quickly learned that most, if not all, of my very favorite parts were designed and/or handmade by him! Against the living room wall, on the far end of a long room, sat an elegant buffet.

Kris’ impressive powder room makeover is a master class in the art of the well chosen splurge. Impressive DIY updates compliment some truly spectacular wallpaper. Check it out! From Kris: We moved into a new house last summer, and have recently started tackling some small-ish DIY projects. My most recent project was updating our first floor powder room.

A year ago my husband, our two sons and I bought the house I grew up in and my parents had owned for over 30 years. Not only did the house need quite a few renovations but, for us, it also needed to not look like the house I grew up in. Because the house is small and we don’t have a playroom the open concept living room is the busiest room in our home. It is where our kids play, where we read and watch TV and dance.

I’m in love. I’m talking about my new (super old) refrigerator. This fridge, whom we lovingly call Mr. Heckles, was made in 1949 by General Electric. I’d always wanted an old fridge, just like the one Monica had on Friends. Gender aside, I am Monica. Really. A month ago, we finally signed a new lease at an apartment complex that did not provide a fridge. I seized this opportunity to find my dream fridge. I scoured eBay, Craigslist, Etsy, antiqueappliance.com. You name it.

Our 1925 Craftsman had a number of unique features, some of which we preserved, and some which had to go. The Master Bathroom was one that had to be completely renovated, down to the studs. It was such an odd space before. It was essentially a Jack-and-Jill bathroom, but the pass-through from one side to the other was the shower! I’ve never seen anything like it, nor had our contractor.

About six years ago, my boyfriend and I bought a severely neglected 1970s ranch house. It was basically a grimy, character-free tract home with critters living in the garage and AC return duct. We had a lot of issues to deal with after we bought the house, so the limestone fireplace was pretty far from the top of the list, and we ended up ignoring it for years while we worked on other parts of the house. Eventually, it became harder to ignore.

Whitney of Whitney J Decor was charged with shaking up this guest bathroom and adding more storage. She was able to add a ton of character while avoiding major renovations. From Whitney: My client gave me full, creative control of her guest bathroom, but the only exception was that I couldn’t make any changes to the floor or any permanent fixtures (like sink, faucet, tub, etc.).

Project by: Relish Interiors Location: British Columbia, Canada Leah was asked to revamp a Boler trailer into west coast inspired tourism kiosk. The result is a charming small space that may induce some serious pillow envy. From Leah: I was commissioned by Tourism Powell River, in beautiful British Columbia, Canada to makeover a 10′ Boler trailer into a mobile Tourism Kiosk that represented our west coast influence.

I can’t believe it took us 10 years to renovate our small 1980s bathroom. With the hideous almond tub, loo, sink and the orange wood cabinetry, things should’ve changed long ago. After I took a week off of work and my husband took a few days, we got to work on demo on a Sunday. We expected to be done by Wednesday but had some buffer days just in case. We found we needed new plumbing to fix low water pressure which set us back on our timeline.

Our kitchen has really tacky fake granite particle board counters. Someone at some point in our building’s history thought it would be a good idea to cover the backsplash in this same ugly material, which not only draws attention to how absolutely fake the “granite” is, but also just generally looks horrendous.

I’m happy to share with you the DIY makeover of my compact apartment kitchen, which went from dark and red to bright and white (mostly). The only thing professionally installed was the countertop, and the rest was a lot of hard work over a few months. For cost reasons, the layout, appliances, and cabinets are all the same. The details are as follows: Cabinet molding: F.D.

When we purchased our house two years ago, the only word that accurately described our bedroom was “depressing.” As you can see in the before photo, we were the proud owners of a clanking window unit, a rusty radiator, and one window shade— all contained within four drab, off-white walls. I forced a smile and tried to tell myself that it was a “blank canvas” not “utterly dreadful,” which was the phrase that really kept flitting through my mind.