Easy DIY Projects

Cabinets can really make all the difference in a kitchen.

It turns out you don’t need to have a green thumb to "grow" an impressive garden.

This is a smart way to update chairs you've gotten tired of.

They call it a “cozy, Scandinavian cottage.”

It's so much more inviting now.

"The only thing I would do differently is I should've done this project years ago," the homeowner says.

This DIYer's first reupholstery project produced super charming results.

The after feels like a breath of fresh air.

And without outdoor space or a washer/dryer!

The before? "Tremendously ugly," says the homeowner—but she saw the potential.

These bird feeders are charming and easy to make,.

I have always loved the look of an origami lampshade — the simplicity and graphic nature makes it a statement piece in any home. When my friend Erin showed me her new book Paper Parties, I couldn’t believe how easy it was to replicate one of these at home, for a fraction of the price you will pay in the shop, and you get to choose any pattern you would like!

The new space will make your jaw drop.

The old laundry room was such an eyesore that it "quickly became the dumping ground for items we wanted to be hidden from our every day living space," the homeowner says.

Do you have a love/hate thing with your window A/C unit? Love overfloweth when it’s hell hot in the summer, and then the hate kicks in during winter when it’s nothing but an ugly appliance that lets in cold air. Let yourself get excited when it’s finally time to either: a) remove it from the window entirely; or b) cover that baby and forget about it for awhile. Store or Insulate Your Window Unit: The gaps around air conditioner units cause major energy loss.

When I first took a virtual tour of the charming prefab homes from the Swedish company LEVA Husfabrik, almost every room had an element that made me think, “Hey, I could make that!” Not only did the ideas seem doable, but also beautiful, minimal and supremely functional for small spaces. When you’re debating your next DIY project, scroll through these homes for inspiration, or choose one of the five projects on my wish list.

TOP ROW:1. Before & After: A Trashed Curbside Dresser2. Before & After: An Unexpected Upholstery Project3. Before & After: Faux Snakeskin Table4. Before & After: Dresser Makeover5. Before & After: From Trash to Silk Screened Style BOTTOM ROW:6. Before & After: Ottoman Transformation7. Before & After: Salvaging a DIY Dresser Gone Wrong8. Before & After: Trash to Treasure Table in Just an Hour9. Before & After: Restoring a Solid Wood Desk10.

My love affair with mudcloth is well documented. If you are unfamiliar with the stuff, mudcloth is a somewhat heavy fabric, sewn in strips, and dyed naturally with mud. It usually has a graphic pattern of geometric lines and dots, in high contrast black and white. Given the process of making it, it’s no surprise that the real deal is also somewhat expensive.

This kitchen was so dark that you could hardly see what you were cooking at night.

While a coffee table is by nature low—the right height to set your drink (and perhaps your feet) without blocking the television—an attractive coffee table display will have subtly varying heights (as well as properly organized zones for decor and useful items like remotes and coasters). → Make It Beautiful: How To Style the Perfect Coffee Table The key to handling disparate, not-particularly-attractive elements is corral, corral, corral.

“Stuff”—we all have it. Some of us are just better at displaying ours than others. To level the playing field a bit we reached out to a bunch of decorating professionals for styling tips because you deserve to have a home that feels just right. Today, we’re talking shelfies, vignettes and coffee table tableaus; they can be tricky to nail down, but since these little decor “moments” really can set the mood in your home, the effort is worth it.

Ask any cat owner with an ounce of decor-savvy what is amongst their top “pet peeves” and litter boxes will likely be high up there (right next to surprise phantom hairballs). Most litter boxes aren’t much too easy on the eyes, and some are just crazy contraptions that forgo any apparent forethought about decor-friendliness (we did roundup our favourite cat litter boxes not that long ago, so all hope is not lost).

I was warming up to make a bunch of wagon wheel coffee table jokes — most referencing When Harry Met Sally — when I realized this is actually a mill wheel. We’ll just have to appreciate this project for what it is: an approachable, unique upcycle of a neglected old piece of equipment. Here’s how this project came to be, according to Roxanne of The Honeycomb Home: While at a flea market, an old wooden wheel caught my eye. The seller said it may have been from a grist mill.

TOP ROW:1. Before & After: Molly’s IKEA Rast Turned Campaign Chest2. Before & After: IKEA Changing Table into Home Office Desk3. Before & After: The DIY IKEA Office Organizer4. Before & After: Bet You Can’t Guess What This IKEA Malm was Converted Into5. Before & After: IKEA Malm Gets an Upholstered Ombre Makeover BOTTOM ROW:6. Before & After: Anna’s Take on the IKEA Rast7. Lizzie’s Wallpapered IKEA Lack Table8. Before & After: IKEA Granas Table Gets a Rustic Makeover9.

We’ve seen the topic of painting upholstery come up from time to time to time, but this Before & After made my jaw drop. While I may have been on the fence before — one look at the After photo and I’m a believer.the After!Given the option of spending hundreds of dollars to reupholster her Craigslist chair or experimenting with painting the fabric, Kristy Swain of Hyphen Interiors broke out the brushes.

Star Wars fans, if you’re still shook from The Last Jedi trailer that dropped on Friday, allow me to continue to make your week. Crosley Radio, makers of the candy colored record players that pop up in many a styled living space on this here site, have debuted their newest design: A Star Wars emblazoned turntable, in honor of the franchise’s 40th anniversary.

The fun of Trading Spaces, when compared to all other home shows that came after it, is that it sometimes goes wrong—really wrong. While Twitter wasn’t exactly feeling the room designs of the reboot’s debut episode, we haven’t yet seen an actual fail. This week, we just might get it. In a preview clip from Saturday’s episode, Vern (who else is excited for a Vern room??) and his homeowner have a ball—literally.

Use this summer to master a new skill.

Small changes can make a big difference in your space.

Your apartment. It’s not quite a dream home. The floors are terrible and the kitchen is in need of an overhaul. Your rental might not be Mr. Right, but it is Mr. Right Now. If the place you call home feels a little dated, here are some easy ways to modernize your apartment.

We like to reserve for our very last Before & After roundup the projects that really wow you. As in, these ‘after’ photos will leave you shocked. Amazed. Inspired. Take a look at some of this year’s most dramatic transformations. Click on the slideshow to see the projects. To learn more about each project (and see more pictures), click the links in the captions.

Cooler weather means wearing jeans frequently, and wearing jeans frequently means wearing jeans out more quickly than you ever thought possible. If your favorite pairs are ripping, fraying, or just showing more wear-and-tear than you’d like, these 10 DIYs will keep them functioning and looking fabulous all fall. If you want a basic fix without adding too many distracting elements (these are jeans after all), try this tutorial on how to add a denim patch inside your favorite pair.

Good design is in the details—no matter how small. Today we’re here to shine the light (pun intended) on those white plastic light switch plates that are so commonplace, they’re often overlooked as permanent fixtures. No matter what your style, we promise there’s a wall plate that complements your home design better than the existing smudge-prone standard. All you need is a screwdriver and a few bucks, so start swapping.

No soil needed.

Ready for the most elegant party trick we’ve seen in a long time? Take just one cloth napkin and a pretty napkin ring and turn them into a beautiful bow to top off your table. If you’re hosting a holiday party or a casual get-together, use this bow-shaped accent to dress up each place setting. We’re willing to bet your guests will be begging to know how you made them.

Some of my favorite before & afters are the ones where some intrepid DIYer sees the potential in a piece that everyone else would’ve left on the curb. From a side table turned pet bed to a humble crate turned into a swing, this year’s projects featured plenty of impressive repurposings. Check out some of our favorites. To view the ‘after’ photos, click the links for each project.

If you’re a fervent follower of Emily Henderson on social media like we are, you probably already know she was just in Round Top, Texas for the town’s massive flea market. The designer and blogger was in the Lone Star State snagging items for herself, for clients, and also for vintage resale site Chairish, where you can take your pick of specially chosen pieces from the show, starting today.

Over the years, we’ve shared a lot of money-saving projects, large and small. If you can make something at home easily and cheaply, why wouldn’t you? Save some cash and flex those DIY muscles with these ten ideas for things to make rather than buy, from the Apartment Therapy and Kitchn archives. Your wallet and your home will thank you. Household cleaners. Ban chemicals from your home once and for all, and save pennies too with these recipes for eco-friendly cleaning products.

If there’s one thing that makes work more fun, it’s new office supplies. We normally save our pen and notebook binges for September (back to school vibes forever), but we might have to make an exception for DwellStudio’s new collection that’s launching this month at Staples.

This fix is cheap, easy, and super luxe-looking.

Even if you got stuck in there for a whole afternoon (and, let’s be honest, who hasn’t?), you might still never see every little thing the IKEA marketplace has to offer. Take, for instance, the untreated wooden magazine file the Swedish retailer likes to call KNUFF. It’s affordable and so unassuming you might miss it if you weren’t looking for it, but the KNUFF can be used for a whole host of things around the house.

These wooden tables are the perfect natural refresh for your home design.

Costco’s vast selection of items has been well-documented, and anyone who’s a fan of the discount megastore knows it sells more than half-gallon tubs of mayo and toilet paper in bulk. While some of its more… unusual… offerings (think: caskets) get lots of attention from media outlets, the store stocks a whole host of housewares and home improvement items that rival what you’d find in a Home Depot or Lowe’s.

You'll want to steal the high-contrast color scheme for your own space.

Sure, you could buy him a tie or golf ball cufflinks or whatever, but wouldn’t he rather receive something made with love by his talented offspring? Here are 10 Dad-worthy projects from our archives, plus 5 imminently edible and giftable recipes from The Kitchn… TOP ROW: How To Make a Mid-Century Style Dog Bed: Just face it, you’ve been replaced. Your inbox is full of dog updates and your dad’s wallet is full of puppy photos instead of your old school portraits.

Drop cloths are sturdy fabric, come in a basic neutral shade, and are readily available for little money at the hardware store. Need I say more? Okay, then I will. Drop cloths look remarkably similar to linen, so you can get that relaxed, coastal, or rustic vibe for less. Check out these 50+ projects to get the look… A hand-printed rug, done by Poppytalk, with a Sharpie! I love this super colorful painted and sponge-pattern rug that Nellie Bellie made.

Between beige walls, brown floor tiles, and oak wood cabinets, most rental apartments have cornered the market on neutral. If your walls are the color of a bandaid, and your landlord has no pity for your palette woes, it’s up to you to take the bull by the horns and deal with it. One of the easiest ways to combat the lack of vibrant color is with really bold bedding and artwork. You’d never walk away from Jen & Kirstie’s happy, welcoming rental and think it’s boring.

Here's proof that you don't have to bust down a wall to brighten up a dark space.

They may be some of the smallest details in a kitchen, but a change (or addition) of cabinet hardware can totally update a room’s entire look. Available in a disorienting array of finishes, shapes, sizes and materials, the sky’s the limit when it comes to choosing what to adorn your cabinet doors and drawers with. But perhaps you’re not entirely convinced that a few knobs can make a big visual difference in a kitchen? Check out the Photoshopped images below.

Look past all the stylish and affordable furniture and accessories in the new 2019 IKEA catalog, and you’ll also see some pretty smart and awesomely affordable decorating ideas as well. Get inspired by these design-savvy home hacks hiding in those glossy pages, all of which are very doable on a very small budget. Since this is most definitely a catalog shoot, chances are very, very good that you’re not looking at actual board and batten on the walls.

It’s March, which means tulips are popping up in stores everywhere. Take advantage of the tulip season, and learn the dos and don’ts for making them last longer and look their best. Plentiful clean water is pretty important to these pretty little flowers. When you’re first arranging them in their vase, re-cut each one so water has the best chance to travel up the stems.

Many of us have spent the last six months daydreaming about warm weather, so let’s spend these last few cool, rainy—snowy?—weeks preparing for all the basking and lounging we’re sure to be doing soon. Here are 10 projects that will help you spruce up your outdoor space, whether you have a huge backyard and a fully stocked toolbox—or just a fire escape and a dream.

It’s easy to forget how good life is when we’re focused on all the little things that annoy us at home. Part of the problem is physical and part of it mental. Address both this weekend by fixing one thing at home that’s broken or bothering you. And, while you do, try to also take in everything you’ve got that makes your life comfortable. By Monday, you’ll feel better about your space, and your space will be just a little bit better.

With the warm season starting, I’ve become obsessed with all things white. So I’ve returned to my rental white walls in the bathroom, which feels so fresh and clean for summer. Check out the results below. I used the same color on the baseboard and moldings so I didn’t need to worry about that clean line of paint as the color changes (the most frustrating part of a painting job to a self-proclaimed lazy perfectionist).

On their own, hammocks are pretty great. But some enterprising designers have taken the simple swing and merged it with other products to really up the relaxation factor. Check out five hammock hybrids that actually exist: Named after a flying squirrel, the Sunda (above) is a hammock/tent hybrid that lets you camp in the trees. On the ground, it’s a 2+ person tent. It’s also a hammock shelter (great for rocky terrain), or a regular hammock (the mesh hangs underneath).

Dividing walls were holding this bathroom back. Tearing them out helped it reach its open, airy potential.

It’s happened: my five-month-old has started rocking on her hands and knees and I’m well aware of the next logical step — crawling. It’s just about time to start baby-proofing the house. I’ve done it before so it shouldn’t be too difficult, but the one place that we were never able to stylishly address was the fireplace.

The internet is full of fascinating things. While doing a little research for my roundup of modern nativity scenes, I came across this nativity scene made of LEGO and just had to share it with you.Leo, a member of the science faculty at the University of Amsterdam, created these figures back in 2000.