Renovating & Remodeling Skills & How Tos

Kari’s cottage used to be a rental. The kitchen had been “updated” with the cheapest options available, so she set out to give it a bit more style and functionality, while sticking to a first-home budget. From Kari: I purchased my home in 2012. It is a 1950 post war cottage with 2 bedrooms and 770 sqft. Prior to closing, it had sat vacant for 8 months and prior to that it had been a rental.

With shag carpet, vintage wallpaper, and a mustard counter, this bathroom was firmly planted in the 70s. Rosalind decided to bring it into this century with a dark and dramatic makeover. From Rosalind: Our master bathroom in our new-to-us house was lacking, to say the least. It had not been updated since our house was built in the 70s. A mixture of wallpaper and shag carpet had us dreaming of a renovation. It also sported two long, narrow closets that housed clothes for the master suite.

Lana’s home was built in the 1930s, and the separate rooms made it tough to entertain. She was also lacking counter space on either side of the stove. See how she opened up the space while keeping the same layout: From Lana: Our old kitchen was a great size and decent layout, but was difficult to entertain in— I always felt like I had my back to the conversation and only had 12 inches of counter on either side of the stove.

This is an especially interesting project because it shows how an older home can be adapted for the needs of a modern family without sacrificing the things that made the home charming to begin with. The owners of this Eichler home home in Mountain View, California were in love with the home’s midcentury detailing… but not with the midcentury floor plan.

Maggie and her husband are in the process of renovating their Pittsburgh home, transforming it room by room from a dark, dated place into a light and bright space that’s a joy to be in. One of their favorite projects-in-progress is this window-filled room, which they has tons of potential… So far they’ve ditched all the wood paneling, raised the roof, and installed drywall.

With Erica and her husband hoping to sell their home, they wanted to differentiate their builder-grade kitchen from their neighbors’— without spending a ton of money. See how they transformed the space: From Erica: With the knowledge that kitchens sell homes and our goal being to move out to the country, we needed to upgrade our builder-grade ’90s time warp.

While glad for the extra space, the addition made on Amanda and Dustin’s Sears Kit home felt out of place. So, when they started an update on its bathroom, making it fit in with the rest of the home was a priority. From Amanda: My boyfriend and I bought a 1925 Sears kit home in December of 2014. The entire house needed improvement, but the worst part was the way the addition they added on in the 70s felt too much like an addition.

Homeowners Shannon and Scott loved their home, except for one problem: their two-story house didn’t have a bathroom on the first floor. This was particularly annoying and inconvenient for Shannon — at home during the day with their young daughter, she found herself constantly running up and down the stairs. So Scott and Shannon turned to architect Andrew Mikhael, who identified a spot where they could add a bathroom, without adding to the home’s foundation at all.

In Ashley’s family farmhouse, only main floor bathroom (and only shower) hadn’t been touched in decades—and was carpeted. She decided to make it more welcoming, without spending a ton of money. From Ashley: We’ve recently moved to my husband’s family farm and into the house that he grew up in. The house is a turn-of-the century farm house, but has had an addition added to it in the late 80s/early 90s.

At 50+ years old, this vintage bathroom was starting to show its age. The sink and tub were pitted and dented, and since replacing them would mean subbing in new tiles that didn’t match the old, vintage ones, the homeowners decided to go for a full remodel — and bring this aging bathroom into the modern era. Between them, these two homeowners knew quite a bit about interior design.

If you’ve ever embarked upon (or even have just priced out) a remodel, you’ll realize that flooring is one of those things that seems like not much of a big deal but can actually add up to a whole, whole lot of money. So today we’re taking a look at inexpensive flooring choices: ones that initially may not seem particularly glamorous, but might actually wind up looking really great — and saving you a lot of money in the process.

Claire and Mike loved everything about their co-op in a converted Brooklyn industrial building, except for the kitchen. In appearance it was rather inoffensive — not nearly as terrible as some of the ‘before’ kitchens we’ve seen on this site — but in storage ad counter space it was seriously lacking. Also, with its standard-height cabinets, the kitchen looked awkward and squatty in such a tall space.

After living in their apartment for twelve years, Carrie and Jack felt that the time had come to overhaul their bathroom. They’d tried little, inexpensive fixes over the years, like a new medicine cabinet and new lighting, but nothing made their bathroom feel any less cramped and, with grout stained by years of use and tiles replaced haphazardly over the years, just plain dirty-looking.

Jill purchased a foreclosure last year, and her first project was fixing up the kitchen which had seen better days. This casita said adios to laminate, honey cabinets, and fire-starting stove! From Jill: I bought this casita in August of last year. It was a foreclosure and a fixer-upper – and it had apparently not been cleaned, much less updated, in what appeared to be a long time. My first priority was improving the horrible kitchen.

Paige’s ’80s kitchen needed to time travel a few decades forward. Now, hardly any wisp of the past remains; say goodbye to the cabinets, appliances, floors, counters, and even a wall. This kitchen transformation is truly stunning! From Paige: Last August we set out to destroy our ’80s nightmare of a kitchen and replace it with something fresh and unique.

Shelby’s new cute Craftsman style home had a lot of old charm….except for the bland builder-grade kitchen.

Heather’s Upper West Side apartment had a problem common to a lot of New York apartments, big and small — an outdated floorplan with small, chopped-up rooms. In particular, the galley kitchen was cut off from the rest of the apartment, not a great fit for the way people live now.

Sabrina had a typical powder room: beige walls, basic tile, pedestal sink—functional but nothing to write home about. With a moody hue and some DIY magic, this forgettable space is now fantastic: That ceiling is a stunner! Sabrina used a paintable textured wallpaper and coated it with a beautiful blue that’s echoed in her towels. On its own it might be too much, so she continued the faux molding with MDF painted the same color as the walls.

Cori’s apartment had a peach tub and separate tiny shower stall. Since the bathroom already had a small footprint, her contractor combined the shower and created much needed storage space: From Cori: He re-tiled the floor and around the tub. He converted the tub to a tub/shower and installed high glass doors on two sides. He converted the original shower stall into a closet. He made a custom medicine cabinet so we could have a larger mirror.

Dan and Mike made a great purchase that they’ve since gone on to make even greater: a one-bedroom condo in an old converted piano factory, in one of Manhattan’s most coveted neighborhoods. Although their apartment had a lot of things going for it, one thing that they didn’t love was the kitchen, hidden away from the rest of the apartment by a wall with an awkward passthrough.

When Tiffany Napper bought this New Orleans shotgun in 2010, she had major work cut out for her. The house – previously owned by a 93-year-old woman who had been born in the house and lived there until she died – had drop ceilings, faux wood paneling, and dirty wall-to-wall carpeting. The narrow 1400-square-foot structure had a small dark kitchen, one tiny bathroom, and four small bedrooms sandwiched together without a hallway.

When Megan and Ryan moved into their new place on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, they decided that renovating the bathroom had to be their first priority. Although, at a glance, their bathroom might not seem so bad, up close it was a bit of a disaster: a crumbling vanity cabinet, discolored and mismatched tile that had been painted (yes, painted) over, and a bathroom window that had been painted and tiled shut.

When Kelly and Dave purchased their home, its layout was in its original, chopped-up form, but what the young family needed was an open plan that would allow views through the living spaces. So when they embarked on extensive renovations, their first plan of action was to get rid of that wall you see in the Before photo above… With the wall gone and two columns in its place, one can see from living room to dining room and kitchen.

Saving money on a remodel is easier said than done. There’s a delicate balance between time, money, and quality, and you rarely get all three. But over the years, my husband and I have developed a few tried and true methods for reducing the budget while not sacrificing on quality. Here are seven money-saving strategies to implement on your next remodel. 1. Update existing materials instead of replacing them.

Kate’s 1950s home had great bones, but the bathroom needed some help. The shower had a full-sized window that leaked, which meant this wasn’t going to just be a little redecorating. But with some help from her dad and YouTube, she did it herself: From Kate: I ripped off the moldy trim and knocked the window (frame and all) out of the wall into the backyard flowerbed.

The guest bathroom in Melissa’s mid-century modern home was out of place with its rustic touches. She and her husband renovated it to have a more classic style, which fit with the rest of their home. From Melissa: All the work was done by us in a timely manner — we worked on it around our work and family schedules.

This condo hadn’t been renovated in 20-plus years. The owners called in Jessica Nicolls of Bungalow 56 to give it a fresh and open feel, worthy of its San Diego Bay views. From Jessica: We took down the obtrusive walls that enclosed the kitchen, updated the flooring and created custom built ins to maximize storage. Now this condo takes your breath away as you enter! See more after photos at Bungalow 56. Thank you Jessica!

Lisa’s kitchen was in need of an update. Realizing the faux terracotta tile wasn’t working, but not wanting to commit to a full retiling of the whole space just yet, she came up with this graphic Greek solution. From Lisa: We changed out the damaged bullnose laminate bench tops for Caesarstone Frosty Carinna with square edge, and changed the overhang of the breakfast bar so that it was no longer in a walk way and can seat four now.

Cedrick and Sunny are both from an apparel design background, and they have always been fascinated by modern architecture and industrial design. They really wanted to give the bathroom in their 1938 bungalow their 1938 bungalow “a vintage, industrial feel while still keeping it looking modern.” From Cedrick and Sunny : We pulled out and replaced the old harvest gold toilet, and the cracked floor tiles were replaced with a graphic, black and white hexagon mosaic tiles.

When interior designer Melissa Miranda moved into the bachelor pad of her now-husband, builder-by-trade Ulises Serret, she wasted no time adding her own signature touch to the space. The open layout kitchen was the first project she undertook, and while the original renovation that Ulises completed prior to Melissa living in the space functioned, it wasn’t the right fit aesthetically for the couple, and so the kitchen underwent a third facelift.

This cottage kitchen had a lot to overcome: a less-than-functional layout, old cabinets, dated floors, and popcorn ceilings. Sarah from The Estate of Things gave it a whole new look (and usefulness, too): From Sarah: As is customary for this historic renovation and interior design blog, readers of The Estate of Things joined along in the design process throughout. The designer gathered input on a banquette build, readers weighed in on lighting choices, paint colors and appliances.

Erin and her husband were taking steps to lighten up their Colorado home. Their kitchen had good bones, so smaller projects done over time helped transform it from lovely and not their style, to the light and bright space they now love. From Erin: The kitchen was a place that we did small projects over a few years to bring a lighter feel to the space.

Ashley describes her lake house’s kitchen as a “Knotty Pine Convention” fit only for lumberjacks. The ’70s yellow counters weren’t helping the cause. What she really wanted was an open farmhouse vibe, without replacing the existing cabinets entirely. Here’s what it looks like now: The upper cabinets and island came out, and the walls got the beadboard treatment, customized open shelving, and a few coats of Behr Snow Fall to brighten it up.

Kim’s double wide mobile home was from 1991 and showing its age. Deciding to do a full renovation was a big decision (especially starting during the holidays!), but the results are spectacular. Wow! We especially love the more budget-friendly choices Kim made, like cork flooring throughout, and the IKEA kitchen.

This is the story of how one Clinton Hill co-op got a complete, top-to-bottom refresh. The apartment had a problem common to lots of older homes: a small, cramped kitchen, cut off from the rest of the living areas. The homeowners, who love to entertain, envisioned a new, modern kitchen, and an open, uninterrupted living area that would take full advantage of the apartment’s incredible light and views.

A lot of the kitchen Before & Afters we share here on Apartment Therapy feature dramatic changes: new cabinets, new countertops, new appliances, walls torn down. But in this Fort Greene kitchen, the changes are much more subtle. They’re so subtle, in fact, that flipping back and forth between the before and after photos is a little bit like one of those puzzles where you try to spot the differences between the two pictures. Can you spot the changes?

The second bathroom in Michelle and Brad’s condo was in a strange state of flux. The home’s previous owners had removed the bathtub with the hope of installing a washer and dryer, but since the addition of the washer and dryer was rejected by the co-op board, the bathtub was instead replaced with a couple of awkwardly placed IKEA cabinets.

When Brian and Greg purchased a 1,500 sq. ft., 1960’s-era ranch house that had been on the market for over 500 days, they knew they could turn it into something special. A first priority was turning an 11 x 12 kitchen that comfortably fit one person into a bright, open space that met their needs as a growing family and frequent hosts. I would say they achieved their goal…a thousand times over.

Run–don’t walk–to your nearest contractor, cabinet maker or handy family member and ask–nay, beg–to have one of these seriously smart solutions built into the storage around your home.

Shopping for real estate in New York can be a bit heartbreaking. Corey found this out the hard way when he and his partner put in an offer on their dream apartment, only to be completely outbid. They wound up instead with a perfectly decent Williamsburg two-bedroom, with lots of space and beautiful views. But the good-enough apartment lacked character, and they couldn’t stop thinking about the one that got away.

Marina and her husband Sebastiano bought a 100-year-old home in Houston about a year ago. The overall condition of the house was near-perfect, but Marina wanted to transform the traditional home into a more modern, open space. After knocking down the walls between the living room, dining room, and kitchen, Marina and Sebastiano now have a full view of the major rooms of their home from the front door. The openness and the new white paint work together to create a bright, open space.

You may remember Ellen and Ben, the first-time Brooklyn homeowners who, instead of remodeling their kitchen, decided to tackle their master bath as their very first renovating project. Feeling more than satisfied with the results of that remodel, they decided to go with the same contractor for their second bathroom, although they elected to take the design in a slightly different direction.

You do you.

We purchased our townhouse about 4 years ago. We wanted to purchase a home that needed a kitchen remodel because we didn’t like what we saw when we toured houses with remodeled kitchens. Also, we wanted to get used to our place before we embarked on a remodel so we knew what we wanted as far as layout, finishes, and appliances. We were glad we waited because we made many decisions that were different from our initial thoughts on what we wanted.

Some people like to live in their homes a little while before renovating them, to get a feel for the space and figure out what they want. Before embarking on his kitchen renovation, Barrin took plenty of time; he’s lived in his Carroll Gardens condo for 18 years. The appliances had been slowly replaced over the years, but the almost 30-year-old cabinets had definitely seen better days.

Here’s a kitchen transformation where I think we can confidently say that no one will like the ‘before’ better. When Robyn and Alejandro bought their two-bedroom condo in Brooklyn’s Columbia Waterfront District, the kitchen was in distinctly sad shape (and had, apparently, a basketball in place of a refrigerator). I’m sure it was tough to imagine this space as anything near livable, but Robyn and Alejandro had a vision for what their apartment could be.

Remember Robyn and Alejandro, whose sad sad kitchen was transformed into a bright, super-modern space? Well, their condo also had a bathroom which, although not in quite as dire a state as the kitchen, was still in need of a little TLC. It’s kind of hard to believe it’s the same space, isn’t it? The defining feature of the new bathroom is the three kinds of tile that Robyn chose.

You may remember Lee, whose Midtown East kitchen got a serious upgrade, transforming from a dark, cramped, dated space into a bright and minimal galley kitchen. At the same time Lee undertook his kitchen remodel, he also chose to renovate his utterly unremarkable late-70s bathroom, which had definitely seen better days. Thanks to smart choices in fixtures and finishes, the new bathroom feels much cleaner, bigger, and brighter than the old one — hardly like the same space at all.

When Lee Hoffman, the CEO and founder of photo-sharing app Memoir, bought his co-op in Midtown East last year, he immediately knew that the kitchen had to go. The small, cramped space was cut off by a wall from the rest of the apartment, and to make things worse, the apartment’s previous tenant was a smoker, which meant that everything in the kitchen was covered in a thin layer of smoky residue. After months of research, Lee was finally ready to embark on the project.

Kind of hard to believe this is the same house, right? When Kezia and Jonathan bought their home, they were seemingly stuck with a material they hated that couldn’t be removed. Instead of throwing up their hands in despair and settling, they got creative and gave the facade of their home some major curb appeal. From Kezia: We bought a cookie cutter house and redid the kitchen and facade ourselves – we call it the Kimono Project (because our house is on Kimono Ridge Drive).

Greg and I are in our third plus year of bringing back the charm of a Dutch colonial foreclosure. It’s taken so long because it’s mostly been just the two of us. I obsessively plotted and planned while Greg, the perfectionist, made it all happen. After the second year or so, if our friends and family asked when we’d be moving in, I would always answer, “never” — but we did!

Park Slope homeowners Elinor and Joel were charmed with the details of their 1920s bathroom, like the original tub and tile. Less than charming were the 90-year-old fixtures: the towel bars that fell out of the wall, the showerhead that sprayed water all over the place, the toilet that threatened a flood with every flush. After six years in their co-op they decided it was time for a renovation, not to change the look of their bathroom but to restore it to its former glory.

Lest you think that Megha’s ‘before’ bathroom was merely ugly, you should know what the pictures don’t show, which is that up close, finishes were peeling and the whole thing was starting to fall apart. After living with this space for nine years, Megha knew that it was time for a change. The overhauled space feels much bigger and brighter, thanks to a few smart design decisions.

The kitchen in Megha’s Midtown West condo had a problem common to lots of older kitchens: it was tiny, and awkwardly walled off from the rest of the living spaces in her apartment. After living with a less than ideal floorplan (and a falling-apartment bathroom) for nine years, Megha decided it was time for a change — and embarked on a renovation that would dramatically change the look and feel of her apartment.

I can not get enough of this transformation! Popcorn ceilings, Miami Vice blue walls, Julie certainly had her work cut out for her. almost So, inspired by the challenge of small space design and well-resourced by Apartment Therapy and Houzz , I rolled up my sleeves and called my contractor. And, while he saw uninsulated 2×4 stick framing, funky wiring, and a complete absence of something called “square” — I saw modern cottage. Thank you, Julie!

I purchased this Condo on August 31, 2015. At the time it was renter occupied, which happened to be three (maybe four) college kids. I saw potential in the unit and wanted to make it my own. I fully designed the new space and worked with two contractors to get it fully to my design. In six weeks time, it went from dumpy to modern! It also has a porch and an amazing view of Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains. Thank you, Matt! Re-edited from a post originally published 12.11.

You should always call someone for help with a repair that feels too dangerous for your set of tools and knowledge. However, there are a lot of repairs that can be done around the home that don’t need a professional. This year, resolve to try one of these easier-than-you-realize repairs around the house. You might surprise yourself!

Upper West Side homeowner Christine had a unique problem: her two-bedroom co-op was lovely, but the limited storage options there were no match for her extensive collection of art and books (including a full-size terra cotta warrior!). After living there for seven years, she decided it was time for a change: a renovation that, besides updating the apartment, would provide all of her treasures with a proper place.

A job opportunity brought us to Milwaukee from San Francisco and we fell in love with the older homes along the northern shore of Lake Michigan. Our 1927 Tudor has a wonderful layout and beautiful details, but was in need of updating for modern living. The master bedroom gets lots of natural light from the original lead pane windows and the size was exceptionally large (especially compared with our prior homes in San Francisco and Manhattan).

When Henry purchased his one-bedroom co-op in a former tenement building in Manhattan’s East Village, it was in bad shape. Really, really, really bad shape. The entire apartment was falling apart, and the kitchen was, in a word, ‘destroyed’. Never had a space been more ripe for a makeover. Luckily, Sweeten was there to help Henry revitalize his space, and he didn’t just stop at the kitchen.

This ‘before’ bathroom might be the ugliest befores I’ve ever seen — and it’s certainly one of the strangest. Years ago, the person responsible for retrofitting a bathroom into this one-bedroom apartment in a former tenement building made a very unusual choice: in order to fit a bathtub into a very narrow space, they shoehorned it in lengthwise, so that you had to climb in from the short end. It was awkward, to say the least.

We recently purchased our first home, a 1950s ranch in Clifton, New Jersey, that needed updating to the main bath and kitchen. The existing bathroom was, quite frankly, hideous and couldn’t be salvaged. We used a contractor for all of the work and I based my design off an inspiration photo I had seen on the Internet. The black tiles (made by Lungaro) were purchased at Standard Tile in Totowa, NJ (who are fantastic to deal with!

Common wisdom says that when it comes to bathroom suites, newer, more streamlined, and whiter is better. The bathroom is often the first room homeowners want to gut, but this isn’t the only option. If you’re lucky enough to have a suite of retro bathware in good nick, whether it be pink, mint green, or even avocado, maybe think twice about ripping it out. Read on for some swoon-worthy retro bathrooms.

Cabinet hardware is a little detail that can have a big impact on the look of your kitchen or bathroom. The good news is that these days there are quite a few retailers offering modern, minimally styled pieces in a variety of budgets. Here are seven of our favorites. Superfront makes a line of pulls and knobs designed for IKEA cabinets, but they would be equally nice on other cabinets as well. (Blogger Maiju Saw used them in her kitchen.