Renovating & Remodeling Skills & How Tos

One highlight: a totally doable IKEA hack.

A huge reminder to leave the home renovations to the experts.

You'll have wanderlust after seeing this stunner.

Once you see this redo, you'll be looking at every nook and cranny in your home in a new light.

It's a little Scandi, a little boho, and a lot chic.

It's completely unrecognizable from the dingy before.

These BILLY built-ins added lots more function and style.

The 12-foot-by-15-foot room didn't even change size.

Plant parents will love this shower's feature wall.

Going all-in on your home reno project? Here's what to know before busting out a sledgehammer.

The after looks way brighter and more open thanks to some smart design tricks.

With all the time spent inside your home—eating, sleeping, etc.—it can be easy to forget about the impact that the outside of your home has.

Carpet has its place—but the bathroom is not it. Tearing it out of this bathroom paved the way for a much-needed redo.

The after isn't just for laundry—it's also a plant parent's dream.

When the old house collapsed, the team went full speed ahead with creating a modern, rustic dream home.

"It feels like we added an entire room," says the homeowner.

Learn from Redditors before making the mistakes yourself.

Learn from their mistakes to save yourself time, money, and effort.

Maybe this will motivate you to tackle your own garage.

In this bathroom redo, tile is the star.

It took about six weeks and £7,000 to turn the bathroom from unusable to an "OMG, when can we come over?" oasis.

"We had to get creative with our finishes to get the look we wanted but for less," the homeowner says.

Whether you're using it as an occasional getaway or hoping to turn it into full-time living, here are five tips for saving money on the overhaul.

Pro advice on the best (and worst) things to buy used.

Designer Orlando Soria brings new energy into a home for a family to be able to move forward.

You'll still love these upgrades for years to come.

Now there's tons more room to relax.

This house needed some serious updating, starting with the wall to wall carpet.

When architect and interior designer Taryn Bone of Bone Collective Studio bought her first home last year with her husband, she knew the laundry room of her new Boston residence would need some work just to become functional.

This space is just as beautiful as it is functional.

Lisa Backus and Andrea Richardson of Design Bar Detroit transformed this dark and dated Detroit loft bathroom into a bright, modern space.

This refresh holds on tight to the bathroom's original vintage charm.

It's all about highlighting mid-century style.

Karen E. Laine and Mina Starsiak describe its style as “refined industrial.”

You'll want to take a sledgehammer to your uppers once you see the result.

Here at Apartment Therapy, we love a colorful kitchen. But we also recognize that painting your kitchen is a little different from say, painting your living room or bedroom. It feels a little more scary, a little more permanent. It can also affect your home’s resale value. If you love color, but these things have you feeling a little trepidatious, why not consider blue?

Name: Graeme & Rebekah Molloy Type of Project: Kitchen Remodel Location: Chautauqua Park, Des Moines, Iowa Type of building: 1920 Tudor The Renovation Diaries are a collaboration with our community in which we feature your step by step renovation progress and provide monetary support towards getting it done in style. See all of our Reno Diaries here. Rebekah and Graeme are now totally in the thick of their kitchen reno.

Most of our Renovation Diary projects involve transforming an existing space. This one was different because Faith and Mike chose to create a bathroom in their 1920s Columbus home where before there was only a sleeping porch. Originally the space was only 7 feet tall, with a sloping floor that would have to be replaced. It was a unique project, and a unique challenge. (You can see many more photos of the original space in the post that introduced Faith and Mike’s bathroom remodel.

Undermount sinks are often a no-brainer decision when remodeling a kitchen. There’s lots to love: they look nice, let you to wipe water and crumbs directly from the counter into the sink with a single swipe, and they eliminate that gunk-magnet seam around the lip of overmount sinks. With all these pros, what’s the catch?

The apron-front, or farmhouse, sink has been a popular fixture in all kinds of kitchens for some time now, and with the rise in popularity of kitchens that mix traditional and modern elements, it feels more appropriate than ever. If you’re considering adding one of these big beauties to your space, here’s everything you need to know. Searching for a farmhouse sink? See all of our best picks here.

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

I had no idea that my little kitchen overhaul would yield such a response, ranging from “awful” to “amazeballs.” Thanks for all the great comments, both good and bad. By the way, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Dr. Kevorkian, and stem cell research combined have nothing on the “brass knobs with stainless appliances” debate. I’m not sure which issue will take longer to resolve. And that brings us to the bathroom.

My kitchen Before.. just two-three months ago. Name:Type of Project:Location:Type of building:Whenever I am asked how you learn to make good interior design decisions, how to trust yourself or how to just plain have style, I say the same thing. Start by copying. I don’t mean the type of copying where you cheated in high school by looking at someone else’s answers.

Your kitchen is only so big, so if you’ve run out of storage room, it’s time to make the space work harder and be more efficient. It’s easy to miss potential, but look closely and you’ll find lots more opportunities to store essentials and clutter. Here are five ways we often get it wrong, and how you can quickly remedy your kitchen mistakes.

Read and learn.

Butcher countertops are still having their moment. They can add warmth and character to an otherwise sterile kitchen, and the natural and classic look of wood can simultaneously upgrade a kitchen and give it a timeless feel. But as with any trend, you should be wary of adopting it unless it’s a style that truly and personally brings you joy. When it comes to butcher block countertops, which require extra maintenance and can pose unique challenges, this is especially true.

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.

Here’s a look back at Maxwell’s renovation of his and Ursula’s new apartment in SoHo. If you missed any of this earlier in the year, you’ll definitely want to take a look — I think you’ll be impressed with how much he was able to achieve in such a short span of time. Here’s another view of the kitchen before, to give you an idea of what we were dealing with.

The right appliances have a huge effect on your quality of life. If you’ve ever lived in a home with broken, poorly-designed, or just rundown appliances, and then upgraded, you know what I mean. You go from annoyed every time you grab a beverage from your refrigerator, to really looking forward to opening the door. Since your fridge gets get used many times a day, those interactions really add up.

I was sitting around the other day, thinking about pairing gold kitchen cabinet hardware with stainless steel appliances, and I suddenly remembered: I never showed you all any photos of the finished World’s Ugliest Condo bathroom!These photos were taken with an iPhone, but you can still see the what’s what. Enjoy.

Before: The kitchen, although graced with beautiful large windows, left a little something to be desired. After: A new kitchen from the studs inward, including a new Kohler sink and industrial task lighting above the windows for more functionality.From Andi: Possibly the most luxurious thing is the increased square footage (we went from 95 to 170 square feet).

For all of us who have been following along with Claire and Jeffrey’s renovation, the ultimate moment has finally arrived. That’s right — the kitchen is finally complete, and it’s time for the big reveal. Before: The space viewed from the living room entry. After: Now, the kitchen is wide open, with an uninterrupted view of the window to the backyard.From Claire:We spend all of our free time in this room.

As stone countertops and stainless steel appliances are to a kitchen, a large flat panel television (and a comfy couch) in the living room is to a typical American household. But there’s one continuing trend we’d like to see people stop doing doing: hanging flat screen televisions over the fireplace.