DIY Before & Afters | Do It Yourself Projects & Hacks

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.

After buying this foreclosed one-bedroom in a trendy area of Charlotte, North Carolina, new homeowners Katie and Patrick were greeted with a less-than-encouraging scene. As they shared in their House Tour, “The day we officially moved in, this is what we found: a foreclosure notice, a bullet, an inmate identification card, and a dead pigeon.” First on the long list of much-needed home improvements was a renovation of the dated kitchen.

I just purchased my first home, a one-bedroom loft condo in DC’s Chinatown neighborhood. It’s a great location in a beautiful building, and most of the other units have very high-end finishes (and sell for $$$). Several of the units, including mine, were done with builder-grade finishes and sold at below-market prices to local artists about 13 years ago.

My daughter picked up this sad little dresser at a thrift store thinking I might have some fun with it. It had suffered an unfortunate paint job and was nicked and bruised and cried out for some love to bring it back to life. I began by patching any problem areas with lightweight spackle and gave it a vigorous sanding. After I was sure I had really roughed up the finish, I decided to forego primer and went straight for a glossy latex paint in a rich, deep blue-green.

I think most of us have had the internal debate over a family hand-me-down. There’s a moment where we teeter on throwing it out because it doesn’t fit in our lives, but feel we should keep it out of a sense of loyalty or nostalgia. Trini made the best of the situation by saving her family’s chair, while updating it to suit her tastes. From Trini: This chair has been in my family for decades. It was passed down to me with blue flowered tapestry fabric.

This is my latest piece of furniture that I’ve refinished. After doing my last dining room table I was so happy with the results that I chose to forget how much sanding and time had been involved. I think that for people who see the potential in secondhand objects it can be hard to pass up a project. When I saw this dining table with queen anne legs and a pretty scalloped top I had to restore it. The shape was beautiful but the scratches on top and badly scuffed sides needed some work.

I love to build things and have built all kinds of shelving, but I admit I’m all for a shortcut that makes my life easier (and in this case cheaper). These $10 garage sale bookshelves I found are solid wood, well-built and side by side were the perfect size to create a credenza. There is no way I could have built them myself for $10, the wood alone would have cost at least $50, not to mention the time and labor.

We needed some extra storage space in our new house and when I spotted this piece that was the perfect size for just 5 bucks, I purchased it with the idea of turning it into something completely different. At first I was a bit reluctant to take the legs off because they were the cutest part of the thing but couldn’t really change the style if I kept them so, off they went. I then removed the moldings and the doorknob and suddenly the piece was a blank canvas.

I have been teaching myself to reupholster furniture. When I found this sturdy vintage arm chair with cane sides on Craigslist for $15 I knew it could be a gem. The chair has a wonderful horsehair cushion and did not require any new batting. I cleaned it up, applied Annie Sloan Chalk paint in Old White, lightly distressed the edges, and put a couple coats of wax on the frame.

When I first looked over a few snapshots of Adrien and Jon’s house in anticipation of shooting their House Tour, I immediately latched onto the palm frond chair. I had been looking for the perfect palm fabric for a personal project and begged Adrien to reveal her source. I was soon on my way to downtown L.A. to scoop up some of the Tommy Bahama (yup, that’s right) Swaying Palms fabric from Michael Levine.

My husband and I recently moved into a brand new townhome in San Diego, California. We absolutely love the new place but for some reason, the builder created really awkward and unevenly sized “designer nooks” above the fireplace. We tried to think of ways to design around them but ultimately we knew we needed to cover the holes up and create a mantle.

Shehzeen was faced with an all too familiar problem, a rental kitchen that just didn’t work. The color was off, the placement wasn’t ideal, but she made apartment lemons into very cute lemonade. From Shehzeen: I live in a rental so doing any kind of a permanent overhaul to the kitchen or its appliances is out of the question. Also, my kitchen was extremely open plan and was sitting right there in the living room.

Did any of you make it through all seven seasons of Mad Men without thinking, “I should really get a bar cart?” I certainly didn’t. Erin turned her dreams into reality and DIY-d her way to a Joan Holloway worthy bar! From Erin: Mad Men I found this old bar cart on Offerup for $20 and with a little paint, it turned out amazing!!! Thank you, Erin!

My wife and I bought our house last year and there was a back house that was part of the property. At the time of the sale there was someone living in the back house so we weren’t able to see it (other than peering through the windows). In short, we had no idea what state the house was in but, from what we could could gather, it was a dump. Once we closed on the house, we finally got to tour the back house and we were in shock.

I recently remodeled my kitchen and had leftover subway tiles. I decided to use the remaining tiles to redo my fireplace which I had been wanting to refinish completely since I moved in four years ago. I also wanted to remove the tiles on the floor, but we didn’t think the hardwood carried through since other units who had redone their fireplace told us that theirs did not.

This is one of my favorite furniture flip stories. I found this chrome mid-century modern chair left for dead on the roadside. It was covered with rust, mildew and grime. For a long time, it sat in my garage and just lingered. It took me a long while for inspiration to strike. I live in the country, and happen to have kind of a thing for cowhide. I had wanted a sleek, modern looking cowhide and chrome chairs for years. You know those kind of chairs?

Jess and Ryan moved into their apartment six years ago, drawn to the multi-floor layout that allowed them to create two defined areas: one for entertaining and lounging, the other for sleeping and working. While they were in love with the apartment itself, the floors throughout the kitchen, dining, and living rooms left a bit to be desired. The old, yellowed, scratched linoleum caused the downstairs to feel cold and uninviting.

I was “gifted” this really simple, but classic desk from my boyfriend to use as a makeup table/vanity. While I loved the character, the desk was pretty beat up. There were imprints and scratches on the top and the knobs mismatched. I decided to take on my first larger project in my new apartment and paint the desk an awesome shade of teal gray.

Jess’ rental had a beat up fireplace that was a bit of an eyesore in the middle of her living room. She found the perfect low-cost way to give it some glamour, with a classic renter’s trick that we love: Contact paper!! From Jess: The main materials are contact paper and an exacto (or utility) knife. Prior to doing anything to your fireplace make sure you give it a good wipe down so that the contact paper will stick to the fireplace surround.

Robyn snagged this thrift store table for $50, and with some elbow grease, it became the farmhouse table of her dreams: From Robyn: When I walked into a thrift store and saw a two pedestals and the table top leaning nearby I knew that this was what I had been looking for and bought the table without even assembling it. I was motivated to finish this table and use it right away so refinishing a table this size could be a weekend project for someone who wanted to work long hours.

Rachel’s home hadn’t been updated since it was built in 1975, and it was evident in the dark fieldstone fireplace. Not having the funds for a full renovation, she got creative with paint—and boy, does it look great. From Rachel: We painted the 1970’s field stone fireplace. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and watered it down quite a bit which allows the texture and various colors to still come through.

Jenny’s ambitious first-ever woodworking project was transforming this scrap wood into a live edge coffee table. Want to see how she did? We’re living for it: That little air plant looks right at home! From Jenny: One of my favorite parts about this table is the amount of detail in every inch of the board: you can see the black epoxy inlay, the knots and natural curve of the wood, and the beautiful grain details.

With a blank wall and no storage, Jane decided her living room needed a long credenza on a budget. Perennial favorite, IKEA’s BESTA, to the rescue. From Jane: For $290 of IKEA material cost, 6 hours of labor, and some problem solving, we’ve installed a 5 unit IKEA Besta cabinet that doubles as a wine and coffee bar! See step-by-step instructions over on A Taste of Koko. Thank you Jane!

Though this old radio is showing its age, it was a bargain at $25, especially given its quality (and that it still worked!). Now, to make it beautiful again… From Anna: The speakers were covered in an old and stained fabric which was really an eye sore. We tore those out and decided to replace them with custom laser cut wood panels, which I designed and cut using the awesome laser cutter at my office.

Have you ever seen a closet with steps? This weird feature made it less useful as a storage space, but Aimee’s toddlers were enthralled. So she decided to turn it into playroom, for just a little over $100: From Aimee: Plastic rain gutters on the back wall serve as book shelves. Homemade cushions soften the giant steps. Cheap Ikea frames with free printables were an affordable wall art solution.

If my freshman year dorm is any indication, at 18, I probably would’ve decorated this poolhouse in Beatles posters. But Kevin, an Atlanta student, went for a more sophisticated look. From Kevin: For more about this project, check out Thou Swell. Thank you Kevin!

This half-moon curio cabinet was missing veneer and generally showing wear and tear. Lisa saw something in it, and decided it would be perfect to add some color to her dining room. From Lisa: The parts where the veneer was missing were very rough and needed sanding down. The detail across the top was removed because of significant damage — and I liked the clean line better.

This plastic thrift store cactus was covered in sawdust and broken Southwestern dreams. When Naomi and Sage were tasked to turn it into something amazing, weaker competitors would’ve folded under this nearly impossible challenge. The after might just send you on a hunt for horrible Goodwill cacti: Mind. BLOWN. From Naomi: We painstakingly cleaned off the sawdust and glue, and then cut off the base and drilled a hole through the top through which we ran a metal pipe.

Carly had held on to her grandmother’s chair, debating whether to fix it up or toss it. Then, after a year of searching for fabric, she found the perfect remnant: From Carly: With the encouragement of my shopping companion, a frantic call to the upholsterer, and the fact that it was JUST over the yardage I needed, I was ready to commit. Plus it was ridiculously affordable because it was a remnant. Bonus.

When Clare and Mike bought this 1950s house in Toronto’s Leaside area, they had just five weeks to transform it into the ideal home for their family of seven. This crowded dining room was too busy for their modern taste so they got to work re-designing the space, starting with the walls. Goodbye wainscoting and French doors, hello clean, modern white! “When we bought the house there was a large, rather ugly kitchen island and cabinets as well as unattractive, dated flooring.

As marketing manager for Eventbrite, Sara is a professional social butterfly. She’s fun, fabulous, and loves to entertain, but her apartment in Boston’s Beacon Hill didn’t exactly reflect that. And, since she works from home, she wanted a space that inspired her. Sara decided to work with designer Victoria Solomon to add some style and cohesion to her place.

An old piano bench and a rug destined to be donated came together to make a stylish statement piece. Just goes to show that you might want to take a second look in your outbox! From Letisha: For step by step photos, check out Blue Eye DIY. Thank you Letisha!

Shawn had installed windows on his enclosed front porch, effectively creating a sunroom. But it still sat unused and became a magnet for old furniture, that is, until stylist Carlton Ellis created a cozy spot in which to relax, entertain, or sip morning coffee: From Carlton: The first thing I did was plan the space. I thought it could be a nice area to read and have coffee in the morning so I decided on a settee and bench around a round table.

Zachary’s Craigslist bench was showing its age. Instead of simply recovering it, he went woven—and now it’s fit for a (very well appointed!) patio: From Zachary: Thank you Zachary!

Jolie and her husband bought this 1968 Sprite caravan and spent the winter fixing it up. It was in good condition, so the work was mostly aesthetic. It definitely looks more spritely now! From Jolie: The inside is just as cute as the outside, so go check it out over on Vintage Meets Glam. Thank you Jolie!

If you remember this Before & After project, then you know Kristen of The Painted Hive is not messing around when it comes to furniture transformations. She’s especially good at taking run-of-the-mill laminate furniture and turning those pieces into polished projects you’d be proud to have at home. After prepping the cabinet, Kristen resurfaced the entire face with small wooden hexagonal squares, added a base, and painted the sides black.

Depleted after a long distance move, Bryna was thrilled with this free kitchen island. It proved the perfect piece to practice her DIY skills and also add an unexpected hue to her space: From Bryna: It turned out to be the perfect piece to try my hand at rehabbing furniture; since I didn’t know what I was doing, I would have been too afraid to experiment (read: potentially ruin) with a piece I’d purchased.

Jason & Jeff love to entertain. Jeff, a biologist, is the resident mixologist, and Jason, the office manager for Facebook Boston, is a born host. Their Cambridge galley kitchen had this small eat-in area, but with their dining table in the multipurpose entry just behind, this space sat unused as their limited kitchen cabinets overflowed with glassware and spirits. On their first-ever trip to Brimfield Antiques Market, Jason & Jeff found this gem of an industrial cabinet.

Kelly’s new home was trapped in the 80s; In the family room, the fireplace stuck out— literally. As you can see, there were two protruding brick supports that perhaps once held a mantel. When Kelly decided to get rid of them and update its look, she made it worse before it got better. But get better it did—much better. Can we also talk about that bold choice to hang art under the window?? Loving it!

This $10 filing cabinet didn’t look like much, but Jordan had an idea. Its rusty paint job was not up to snuff, so he stripped it down and gave it some style: From Jordan: The cabinet was in great working order, but the facade was pretty beat from the wear and tear over the years, and had some rust damage to boot. After seeing the cabinet, I decided to go a more industrial look.

Arron’s Catskills retreat had great bones, but felt closed off and was in need of updating. The after is a picture of modern rustic perfection: From Arron: The first part of the project started with painting the kitchen cabinets white. We added crown moulding to the contractor grade cabinets to give them a “higher end” look. We replaced the laminate kitchen countertops with John Boos butcher block.

Erica inherited a living room with a sponge-painted fireplace and an olive paint job. She had planned a pallet wall, but realized the time (and tools) it would take was not realistic. Until she found a quicker solution: From Erica: After hunting down a few pallets, I realized that the effort and time (and tools that we didn’t have) to find, dismantle, sand, wash, and then nail the boards to the wall just wasn’t worth it. I was downtrodden until I discovered Stikwood!

In terms of basic overhead lighting, Alison’s fixtures were unoffensive and unobtrusive. But that didn’t mean she didn’t want more style from them.

Inspired by string art, Ryan took this blank wall in his loft and transformed it into what looks like a wireframed wood of birch trees: What a great use of a little wall! Here it is up close: From Ryan: A quick look on the internet showed my friend’s cute little Ohio-shaped project was all over Pinterest. I wanted to take mine to the next level and create something that was fresh, beautiful, and had never been done before.

After Meghan impulse purchased these workout leggings while traveling, she decided they were too crazy to wear again, but too cute to toss. Good thing she found those pineapples a new purpose: We’re digging the less intense, but still happy pattern and the neon edging! From Meghan: I bought the pineapples pants as a joke since I knew my friends would get a kick out of them. I had no intention of wearing my pineapple pants after that weekend.

Most of us would probably overlook the above Craigslist ad, but not Ryan. He brought this battered dresser back to life, and now it looks better than ever: From Ryan: The first thing I did when I got it home was disassemble each drawer. After years of use and some time outside in the southern humidity most of the original glue had broken down and almost every corner was loose and wobbly.

Eugenia Sangiovanni recently moved into a new home in Montrose, California. With two bedrooms and two baths, a full kitchen, formal living space and den to fill… she had her work cut out for her. She describes her style as “eclectic colonial,” drawing inspiration from Kloof Street House, Cape Town, Backstage Hotel and Zermatt Switzerland. She enlisted the help of her friend Nick LaKind to help bring her inspiration to life.

With a strange paste and layers of paint, this table looks almost unsalvageable. But Laura was determined to replace her card table on her student budget, and $5 was the right price.

Project by: Lisa of Lisa Zager Interiors Location: Nashville, Tennessee The designer says: This bedroom was re-done for a 10-year-old boy, who loved bold patterns and colors. We wanted this space to be very graphic and modern for him, something he can grow up in, with a hint of sophisticated style. The juxtoposition of bold black and whites against his neon, bright colored toys and accents in the room is one of our favorite elements.

IKEA’s KALLAX storage is so versatile as is, that it just makes hacks all that more wonderful. Astral wanted closed storage for her craft room and office, but also needed it to be modular in case her space requirements changed. The after adds a little height and a lot of personality: From Astral: The plan was to make a modular credenza for storage.

What to do if you have a coffee table, but would like a console table? Make like a magician and saw it in half! See how Letisha pulled this one out of her hat: From Letisha: Boy Oh! Boy! Was this a fun project. The best part is I got to cut a table in half. I found a pretty cool coffee table at my local thrift store for $35. I knew it had the perfect line for the console table I wanted to build. This project really can be summed up in 5 steps.

Sarah bought this table without seeing it in person. Though it was in rough shape and under decades of paint, she discovered something lovely when she stripped it: From Sarah: I’d been looking for a furniture makeover project for a while, and I found this beat up, dirty little end table on a local trash and treasure website. The photo of it was dim, and the table was covered in grime and a mound office supplies.

If you’re a caffeine junkie, coffee stations are a great way to streamline your morning. Yet, Anna wasn’t jiving with her java setup. So she gave this area a free makeover by removing things and shopping her home: From Anna: The original look of our coffee station wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great either. I loved the bar cart, but the wood surfaces, brown mirror, wooden objects, and wood floor was just too much brown!

Seduced by the siren song of free, Angelica scooped up this cabinet—as the panels started falling off. Not to be deterred, she took some fabric remnants and transformed it into a versatile piece: From Angelica: This modest wine cabinet was a free find. It looked like all it needed was a fresh coat of paint and it would become a great piece for extra storage in our home. But as I got it out of the car, the panels started falling off. I could not complain as it was free!

Erin’s dining room suffered the same fate as most of its kind. Hardly used except for special evenings, it was a blah purgatory for clutter and unused stuff. It needed a style boost to get the family to use it more often. And here’s what it looks like today. Erin took her time getting it fully decorated, and gathering things for the walls. She also used a lot of items that she already owned — like the table and rug — and swapped from other rooms in the house.

IKEA’s VITTSJÖ line is a sleek and modern staple as is, but Lidia took hers and gave it a minty fresh look. From Lidia: Being a a big fan of interior design, I find myself in constant decorating mode. I really enjoy bringing to life an idea or creative project and recently found myself doing it with our small living room. After painting the walls and rearranging the furniture, I noticed my small living space could fit a coffee table and would be more inviting.

A vintage cart from a friend came with a challenge that Monica readily accepted: try to make it modern. See how she did after the jump! From Monica: A good friend of mine passed along an old, brassy, rickety cart with the challenge to revamp it and modernize it. We immediately agreed it would make an awesome bar cart for my new Milwaukee apartment! Challenge accepted. I started by removing the trays and setting them aside. I spent a nice day outside with gloves, a cloth and a can of Brasso.

Sarah scooped up this basic rattan chair for $10, but thought it could use a little more interest. She tried her hand at recreating a classic pattern for the chair back; see how it came out: From Sarah: After finding a plain rattan chair for $10 at the thrift shop, we transformed the boring back into a Chinese Chippendale inspired design. Using thinner dowel rods from the home improvement store, we measured, cut and secured them in place to create the Chippendale look.

What to do when you have a nasty old rug that you can’t replace? Sarah decided to paint hers, using a technique she usually reserves for getting paint out of the carpet! From Sarah: I needed a way to bring some rock-n-roll attitude into this music room, and I couldn’t afford to replace the nasty old beige carpet.