Renovating & Remodeling Skills & How Tos

The tile in this bathroom will give you serious heart-eyes.

The total budget for the renovation was a lot less than you might think, too.

These DIYs will floor you

This is a very welcome twist.

This bright, welcoming redo is fireplace goals.

Ok, yes, strong claim—but wait until you see it.

Bye, dirty carpet and crumbly ceiling tiles. Hi, dream destination.

See if you can spot all the tiny swaps that make this kitchen look brand new.

These will knock your socks off, despite the teeniest tiniest price tags imaginable.

Creating your own countertops may seem intimidating — but we’ve rounded up 10 stylish DIYs that demystify the process. Your kitchen will look brand-new in no time! 1. Above: DIY Concrete Coated Countertops by Little Green Notebook 2. Faux Marble Countertops by Batchelors Way for Remodelaholic 3. DIY Butcher Block Countertops by This and That 4. DIY Live Edge Wood Countertops by Modfrugal (This is obviously a bathroom, but the concept could be adapted to a kitchen.) 5.

This easy project adds both style and function, with very little effort.

*Blink blink blink.* Yes, it's the same dining room!

Hello, 1995? We're here to give your beige tile back.

This family got the best of both worlds: a fresh new bathroom with a classic old-school look.

One great way to get the look, without the high price tag.

Your tiny kitchen is about to feel a whole lot bigger.

It's like night and day... or day and night.

Brick veneer plus DIY art makes for one fresh hangout space.

With twenty years of accumulated items, one New York City apartment dweller was ready for a change, starting with some major decluttering.

As this homeowner says, "paint, elbow grease, and lack of fear are my secret weapons!"

A layout switcheroo plus some fresh new finishes made this bathroom way more spacious and relaxing.

Got marble counters? You'll want to read this to avoid future repair costs.

This beige-on-brown bathroom wasn't pretty, and it definitely wasn't practical.

See ya, '70s-style mirrored doors. Wallpaper and paint pair up to make this closet way more fun.

These start at just $5K.

You know what they say: the best home transformations come when the "before" photo looks like it came straight from a horror film (and if they don't say it, they should!).

First-time homeowners Nick and Sarah Wissinger bought their home in 2016 and, after having only rented apartments before, were grateful to finally be able to decorate in a way that felt like them. Their plain-Jane master bedroom gave them the perfect opportunity.

The couple snagged the retro trailer for $500, and while that price seems like a steal, you get what you pay for—meaning there was a lot of work to be done.

Myra McKeon's kitchen was, well, totally fine. "The before was functional and by all means great," she writes. "The style of the kitchen would be liked by most, but it just wasn't my particular style."

Name: Austin & Danielle (of Forage + Fodder)Type of Project: Kitchen & Garage RemodelLocation: Austin, TexasType of building: One story, Single-Family House, 1250 square feet We’ve been following along with Danielle and Austin’s kitchen and garage renovation every step of the way, from its ‘Texas suburbia’ style beginning to the beautiful new kitchen and master suite they have now.

Name: Lorna Ziller Type of Project: Open plan kitchen, dining, and sitting room remodel Location: Moonah, Hobart, Tasmania Type of building: Brick cottage After planning, dreaming, destroying and shopping, Lorna’s new kitchen and living space is here! Take the full tour now. Afterwards, she crunches the numbers and offers some hard earned DIY wisdom — as well as shares her favorite things about her sleek new space.

Name: Graeme & Rebekah Molloy Type of Project: Kitchen Remodel Location: Chautauqua Park, Des Moines, Iowa Type of building: 1920 Tudor Graeme and Rebekah’s kitchen was seriously outdated, and had a crazy layout to boot. Join them on their renovation journey to a new dishwasher, complete with old-house problems, scheduling snafus and charming Pinterest finds. We’re sharing all their photos, budget, lessons learned, and the final reveal!

Why have a room serve only one purpose when it can have a few?

The once-tight quarters included quirky floral (not-in-the-good-way) wallpaper on the bathroom and kitchen ceilings.

Aside from the embarrassment of a disastrous attempt at fixing stuff around the house, performing your own fixes could very well wind up costing your more money than you’d planned on spending.

It took about three weeks and cost around $6,400 to complete this bold black and white bathroom renovation.

Suchada Eickemeyer and her husband bought their house in 2016, just as she was beginning interior design school. She knew that she would be able to put her newly-acquired skills to good use in the home's kitchen.

"I wanted a kitchen with an open aspect that I could love, enjoy, and utilize," writes Vicky Flynn of Liverpool. Instead, she had a "dark, gloomy, decrepit space" with a leaky tap and "some interesting shades of brown."

When Andrea Jensen and her husband were house hunting, they narrowed in on a Southern California area they loved. However, "the neighborhood came with a steep price tag," Andrea writes, "so we knew whatever we bought in our price range would require a lot of work."

Allison Schaeffer and her husband Noel had a large loft space at the top of their stairs that wasn't serving much purpose—but had serious potential.

Bye bye, golden wood cabinets!

Electrical fires are the third leading cause of home structure fires, according to The Electrical Safety Foundation International. But fortunately, there are a variety of preventative measures you can take to help ensure that one doesn’t happen to you.

A dark and dated back room is now an airy and bright master bedroom with gorgeous exposed ceiling joists.

As soon as Hope Mendes and her husband saw their Cobb, California, cabin, they knew it was the place they'd been searching for.

Alanna and her husband Jesse purchased their tiny, two-bedroom Melbourne cottage when they were in their early 20s. The kitchen hadn’t been updated since the 1980s and was so small, the couple couldn’t comfortably cook in there together at the same time.

Cali Gabrielle must be a magician, because she made an ugly old house turn into an absolutely stunning home.

When it comes to kitchen design, there have really only been two options: cookie cutter IKEA or cost prohibitive custom—and not much in between. While the former is getting a lot nicer with the recent crop of third-party sellers creating design-forward cabinet fronts and various other elevated touches, the latter hasn’t seen much in the way of innovation or accessibility.

The previous owner had lived in this old house for about 70 years and it required updating.

At first glance, Nidia Serrano’s monochrome bathroom seemed like one we’d all love to come home to at the end of a busy day.

Lucinda Mitra and her husband inherited a bathroom from their UK home's previous owners that was "completely livable, but somewhat tired and dated," she writes.

"Nice bones." That's how Alison Caporimo and her wife described their New Jersey home the first time they walked through it.