Rooms

Sometimes it’s just a simple decluttering, a few fresh coats of paint and a less-is-more attitude that completely transforms a room from kind of dark to light and bright, as it did in Cortney’s dining room. From Cortney: Our family spends a lot of time at the dinner table. We (mainly me) were looking for a change. I really wanted to brighten the area and free up the wall space that our hutch was on. We found the new dry bar on Washington, DC Craigslist for $20!

With a guest bathroom outfitted in seashell wallpaper, brass fixtures, laminate countertops, vinyl flooring, and “swine beige” finishes, Rita and Cane of This Sorta Old Life could have treated this bathroom as a gut job. But having gutted their master bath not too long ago, they knew what a formidable undertaking that would be, and instead, they figured out a way to make the current space work.

Seeing potential in this heavy storage piece from an old bedroom set, Carmina set to work transforming the blah beige finish to a handful of shades of just one hue. Now beautiful and functional, it’s got a modern color palette that updates its style and creates one unique addition to a home! From Carmina: We rescued this piece from a house being cleared out after an estate sale down the alley from our home.

Benches have to be the most versatile piece of furniture ever. Even in the tiniest apartment, there’s room to move a bench around to the foot of the bed, along the entryway, or pulled up to a dining room table. And then there’s the endless ways to customize: starting with just four legs and a seat top, like this affordable plain white SIGURD bench from IKEA, anyone can create the perfect piece to finish off a tricky room.

Annie’s Sydney townhouse had a seriously circa-1980 kitchen when she and her husband moved in three years ago. But, it was their first home purchase and didn’t have a budget to completely redo the kitchen, so they decided to give it a minor update that would freshen up the space but stay in keeping with the feel of the place. This kitchen is a great example of small changes making a large impact. A few cosmetic tweaks later, it feels instantly updated.

This is Lisa’s old kitchen — complete with tiny old stove, wonky old cabinets, and a backsplash in a particularly delightful shade of green. And then there’s the part you don’t see: hiding behind the sink cabinet is a big hole in the wall. This past summer, after having lived in the apartment for a year (and with her fancé about to move in), Lisa decided that it was time for a change.

This is Mattie’s old bathroom, pre Style Cure. Even though she was a little off of the usual Cure schedule, due to some conflicts with work and potty training, it doesn’t make her results any less impressive. The best part? The budget for her entire bathroom redo was a low low $49. After: what a difference a little paint makes! The blue walls, with a pattern of little birds and clouds, lend just the right amount of color and whimsy to this previously drab bathroom.

Katja’s entryway was pretty, but plain, and needed a good dose of something. Turns out that something was turquoise paint and a lot of graphic pattern. To create the accent wall, Katja first painted it a light turquoise. Then, strips of painter’s tape were placed vertically every 14 inches. Smaller bits were taped at an angle off those stripes, to create the arrow effect. She then painted over the whole thing with a darker turquoise and removed the tape.

When she moved in, Diana had a lot of books but little else. Considering her tight budget and completely empty room, she faced quite the challenge. From Diana: $4500 sounds like a decent amount of money, but we started with no furniture, no linens, not even a rug liner. To shop wisely, we hunted for the largest pieces of furniture first. The sofa was the biggest challenge — we finally found a red sofabed for $500. We wanted the rug to make an impact so we found one from Urban Outfitters.

Christine’s husband thought she was insane for falling in love with this 113-year old house — it was a mess of ’70s faux wood paneling, awkward trim colors and in desperate need of some TLC — but she knew they could reveal its charm with a little elbow grease. In the sunroom, she painted the paneling a soft gray and gave the buttery-yellow trim a coat of crisp white. What a difference! From Christine: I was also thrilled with how easily I was able to paint the paneling.

Wendy from Designed to Dwell had a perfectly nice formal study, yet she came to a realization I think we’ve all had at some point: sometimes what we think we like isn’t our style after all. Check out how Wendy lightened and brightened to create a completely fresh new room that’s much more her. After living with the formal study for a few years, Wendy realized her study needed a makeover.

Sometimes “before” pictures aren’t disgusting nightmares that leave you horrified. Sometimes they are perfectly nice, but the owner was just sick and tired of looking at the same layout or piece of furniture. We’ve all been there and so was Bethany, who’d grown weary of seeing this dark brown trellis pattern first thing after walking in the door. She made a few crucial tweaks without spending a dime — including a mini IKEA hack — and wound up refreshed.

Coltography’s closet home office was already a space efficient and streamlined affair, with cables and wires thoughtfully routed through the wall from PC to a trio of wall-mounted screens. But with improvement in mind, this industrious gent set out to eke out even more usable desk space with an impressive modification merging desk with computer… As a person with a tiny room, I have used my closet as my desk space.

What happens when you find yourself in need of an area to call an “office”, but the layout and/or space inside your home doesn’t offer delineated work and live boundaries? That’s the issue general contractor Tim Logsdon faced when helping set up a home office in Atlanta, Georgia for a novelist who needed somewhere to write.

Amy says, “Great things happen when you are willing to haul your neighbors’ discarded trash down the street at 8am in your PJs while they drive to work in their swanky cars.” Want to see what she means? Read on… Amy’s about to start her own creative business so she needed a great space to inspire her. With her limited budget ($200), she was able to fill in the gaps of her scavenging with a few key IKEA pieces and some DIY initiative.

While shopping for a bulletin board to hang above my home office desk, I was shocked to discover how much this home office essential can fetch from some decor retailers. And adorned with something special like an ornate frame? Forget it.

Last year, Manisha posed a question to the Apartment Therapy community about how to add some color to her living room. “It needs some oomph,” she said. “Right now everything seems to be grey, white and black.” Armed with your suggestions, Manisha added color in a few strategic places. Want to see what her living room looks like now?

Drop by IKEA’s as-is section, any thrift store, Goodwill, or yard sale, and you’ll eventually run into one of these wooden slat bed bases.

The compact shape, characteristic midcentury tapered wooden legs, and bargain price all caught Shannon’s eagle eyes at a yardsale, immediately convincing her this worn and roughened desk had yet another life to live in her living room after a serious makeover…I decided that a fun dose of bright color was just what it needed to really come to life!

While house hunting, Holly and Ryan nicknamed this 1974 abode, “The Depressing House” due to its dark, cave-like feel.  They bought it anyway.  Want to see this kitchen today?Over the course of a year, they tore down the upper cabinets to open up the sight lines, ripped out three layers of linoleum and painted the cabinets a chic gray (Martha Stewart Zinc).

Heidi described her main bathroom as “tiny and odd,” and “yuck, yuck, yucky.”  It was beige with yellow lighting, an ugly vanity and a crooked door.  Well, it’s yellow no more. She opened up the space by removing the vanity and installing a pedestal sink, then adding plenty of wall storage. She used galvanized pipe and hardwood planks — stained and sealed — to create a custom shelving unit and towel bars.

Earlier this year, Samantha was hired by a newly-married Houston couple to transform their living room on a budget. Although they’d lived in their townhouse for about a year, they’d never really felt settled.  But with a baby on the way, the couple wanted to spruce up their space.  And spruce it they did!  Want to see it today?Despite their tight budget, they still wanted classic design that would reflect their growing family.

The whole project, including the paint, cost $27. If this sounds good to you too, head on over to Chrissann’s blog, Ducklings in a Row Thanks, Chrissann!

Where I used to avoid working in my cluttered office since I could just carry my laptop elsewhere in the house, I now ONLY want to work in here.  The mood it creates is nothing short of inspiring. I used the rich wood tones and bold colors that I love, and I added in pops of color in unexpected places.

Tonya lives in a “fantastically old” house that’s filled to the brim with home improvement projects. The target for one of these projects was a blank corner of her kitchen that needed seating beyond just the high chair that usually lived there. Check out what she was able to do with this little corner in just one weekend.  The idea seemed logical and simple and kind of a no-brainer.

Here at Apartment Therapy, we talk a lot about small spaces, but we don’t often get a chance to look at design for a group of people who often find themselves living in smaller spaces — senior citizens. That’s why we’re so excited to share this Before and After with you. Designer Emily Henderson partnered with Sunrise Senior Living to make over the home of Fran Ferguson, an 81-year-old military widow, grandmother of 8, and all-around active, creative lady.

When Cristin and her husband found this dresser on the curb in their neighborhood, it quickly became apparent why no one had grabbed it first: it’s huge, heavy, and covered in dated white veneer. But with a little vision and a ton of Mod Podge, this beast became a buffet. From Cristin: Last summer, while hosting a garage sale at my house, my husband came home from work and told me there was a buffet table out to the road in our neighborhood.

For most apartment and home owners, the idea of a dedicated media room is wishful thinking. Usually a basement, spare bedroom, or in this case, the living room has to be designated for home entertainment purposes. But that doesn’t necessarily mean having to settle for “as-is”.

Design Love FestEmily Henderson Color and light were important elements of this makeover, and it couldn’t be cheerier. Bri and Emily went with a mix of vintage, eclectic, mid-century and new pieces to create this lively and delicious space. The turquoise, fuchsia, gold and natural palette melds beautifully. The ample foliage brings the room together, softens the palette and creates such a calm and peaceful environment.To see more of the makeover, check out Design Love Fest.

Karyn, an interior designer, found the perfect island bungalow in Coronado, California. Of course, it needed a little sprucing up before it would be the entertaining and living space she dreamed of. Check out how she transformed this studio into a chic, multipurpose space: How gorgeous is this? We love the navy and white against the dark bamboo floors. From Karyn: I had just moved to the island of Coronado and had the perfect bungalow apartment in mind.

A staircase in the entry was a selling point for Cassity, but the builder basic quality left much to be desired. She decided to make the steps worthy of their prime location. Check out the results:From Cassity: Having a staircase in our entry was one of the features I liked about our new house, but the builder grade finishes, worn carpet and cramped entry really bothered me.

Jenna’s living room was filled with furniture that she loved, but that wasn’t working in her new home. Here’s how she transformed the space by letting go and bringing in some new color and pieces: From Jenna: Over the past 3 years since moving into my home, this space has been forever in transition. Much of the room was filled with furniture that was meaningful to us, but just didn’t fit.

The Portus House in Istanbul was used to getting high praise from guests, except for the bathrooms. Check out the how they transformed these beige boxes into rain shower retreats:From Portus House: We own a small hotel with a total of ten rooms in Istanbul and often are inspired by projects on this site. Last year, when yet another guest praised every little detail of our venue except the bathrooms, we finally decided to empty our pockets with brand new bathrooms.

I came across this project from a comment left in my recent post Brags! What DIY Project Are You Most Proud Of? It came from Julia from the blog Chris Loves Julia. They were looking to change up their living room for a more sophisticated yet casual look and Julia fell in love with some dramatic wainscoting images and got the bug to re-create it at home.It took them just a few hours over two days to put it up and then one day to paint it.

Harry Potter isn’t the only one with a cramped cupboard under the stairs. KariAnne Wood had a similarly awkward closet off the living room in her farmhouse. Previously it was just wasted, forgotten storage for random things, so she decided to make it a more useful and special spot in the house. See more of this project on KariAnne’s blog, Thistlewood Farms Thanks for sharing KariAnne!

I was a teenager once, and I’m sure my mother would have been beside herself with joy if my room were ever as neat as this before photo. But while uncluttered, this teen bedroom lacked a certain je ne sais quoi. A teen’s room is the one place where they can express a style that is truly their own, and this room wasn’t cutting it.

Joy and Corey loved their downtown Los Angeles loft, but its small footprint made finding storage space pretty challenging. So they figured out a way to take advantage of their 13′ ceilings by going vertical.From Joy: The whole project was inspired by the need to get stuff up and off the floor; with limited square footage, every inch counts. Also, I really wanted a way to consolidate all our media elements.

Samna flew out to New York from her home in Seattle to help her sister set up her studio apartment. With only five days and $500, here’s how she transformed the rental into a chic hangout.From Samna: Here’s what I had to work with: My sister’s apartment in a post-war building, 248 square feet of bedroom/living area and kitchen, $500 budget and five days to get it all done. This project is for all of the people who claim “I don’t have time.

Laura spent seven years using this room, with its high ceilings and statement fireplace, as a family room. But considering its pass-through and access to the kitchen, she found a new purpose for the space that felt more natural. The process of transforming a living space into a dining space may not have been without challenges, but the results are stunning!

Interior designer Lauren Liess had clients with a brand-new dining room looking for a stylish and personal upgrade. The family had a bold, cheerful style (and some budding Picassos!), so she came up with the perfect solution: a kids’ art wall!She added some new curtains, a new overhead fixture, and some sconces in the middle of the gallery wall — but the focus is the kids’ art, which adds a lot of color and fun to the room!

When Charlotte and her family moved from New York to Connecticut, they fell in love with this 100 year-old house and its bay window. With so much white everywhere, it was a blank canvas. Check out how she transformed this living room with color:From Charlotte: We moved to the Connecticut suburbs from NYC into this sweet 100 year-old house. The previous owner had a love affair with all things off-white (carpet, walls, trim, window treatments).

This bathroom had not been touched since the 70s, so we thought we’d modernize it a bit. We replaced the old vanity with a double sink IKEA vanity with ample storage. The old faux travertine flooring was removed and new tile was installed. We chose the gray because we wanted a nice, serene color so our guests can feel comfortable while they’re here. We chose the long glass kitchen cabinet doors from IKEA to give the small bathroom an airier feel.

The second bedroom of our house is only 8 feet wide and 13 feet long. In spite of its size, we still needed it to function as an office/craft room and a guest room that would sleep 2 people. The major projects here were pulling up the carpet and painting the walls light gray and the ceiling blue. Then we found the perfect sofa bed for small spaces and built a wall shelf behind it since there wasn’t room for end tables. The whole transformation cost about $800.

After researching relatively simple and inexpensive ways to update my bathroom’s hideous ‘butterscotch’ tiles, my partner and I thought we’d give adhesive linoleum tiles a go because they’re cheap, impactful (in classic black and white squares), relatively simple to install yourself, and super quick (versus not being able to use the facilities for a few days!).

A couple of years ago, a friend and I decided to invest in a home that we could fix up, and flip in a year or two. I also needed a place to live. I took on the role of general contractor, landlord and designer. I also took over one of the units on the second floor of this 4-plex. We found the perfect house in Roncesvalles, near shops, waterfront, highway and crown jewel, High Park. My unit was in a pretty rough state but I could see the potential.

I had the great fortune of moving into my grandparents house on our family farm a couple of years ago. It hadn’t been touched much since it was built in 1971, so we saw it as an opportunity to make it exactly what we wanted… starting with the removal of the mostly original carpet. It covered the entire house from kitchen to bathroom!  Since it’s a working farm, our house projects are limited to winter time.

It’s one of those things that nobody wants, but everybody needs in their home office. A utilitarian fireproof file cabinet is a must to keep your important documents safe and in order. But you don’t have to settle for the metallic beige eyesores of your parents’ den circa 1970.You can take an old cabinet (or a new-to-you one from a flea market or thrift store) and tailor it to suit your home office with a fresh coat of paint, wallpaper or patterned vinyl.

Ever since my husband and I moved into our 1997 split level, we’ve been slowly working at removing the builder grade finishes to really make it reflect our taste. A couple of weeks ago I finally finished making over the entryway.I smashed the old green ceramic tiles, pulled the stained carpet off the stairs, and painted what felt like miles and miles of honey oak trim. The front door got a coat of yellow paint and the walls got a pale gray.

When Liz and her husband completed their kitchen renovation, they still couldn’t agree on whether or not to add an island. Liza was a fan of the idea, but her husband was concerned about overwhelming their space. After months of debate, and recent entertaining experiences, Liz decided to take the bull by the horns.Once Liz started searching for an island with the proper measurements for her kitchen, she realized that such a specific size might require a custom solution.

A big, open space in a home is a nice thing, but sometimes it can be hard to divide the space into useful areas. That’s exactly the problem Bob and Cortney tackled with their clients on Saturday’s Home By Novogratz, and the best part is that we get to see it in Before and After format!I’ve loved before and after transformations ever since Brady Bunch episode 71 where Marcia gave her friend, Molly, a makeover. This Novogratz design was similar.

This earthy room was in need of a bit of energy. Interior designer Kirsten Krason came in and saved the space. Follow me after the jump to what she stirred up…Kirsten had a little pattern party with primary colors and brightened up this room in a big way. She kept a good amount of the furniture and added some new pieces along the journey. She splurged on a few big items like the rug, coffee table and window treatments, but then bargain hunted for other great but inexpensive finds.

Many of us complain about our sub-par, bad taste bathrooms and wish for something updated and modern. But let’s be honest, how many of us have started out with this degree of bad? Follow me after the jump to see how April left the 1800’s behind…Photographer April Cochran-Smith chose to go with a clean, bright, and cheery look for her bathroom, using a white palette and bold, unexpected primaries.

Sheila was never a fan of the console that held her TV and other media equipment, especially given its size in relation to the awkward corner that housed the installation. Months ago she found the ideal solution to her dilemma and ordered an artist’s easel to convert into a TV/media stand. With just a little modification, she was able to transform the easel and therefore her living room.

DIY desks are becoming a more common sight these days, but desks like rrim’s beautifully executed bi-level birch and pine desk designed for three displays and a water-cooled PC is far from the norm. Hours upon hours of “sanding and staining and clear-coating” resulted in a space efficient and cable-hiding piece worth showcasing… rrim’s Spec’s List: CPU: Intel i7 980x @ 4.

One of the best things about Apartment Therapy is the community of real voices weighing in on real-life design dilemmas and challenges. No matter how (relatively) easy it is for me to dish out advice to others about interior decorating and layout, I find I can get stuck in a decorating rut when it comes to some of my own spaces.Sometimes, all it takes is getting fresh, new perspectives on a room to overcome design challenges, especially when it comes to layout and furniture placement dilemmas.

When Kalie and Travis moved into their house a year ago, they knew they had a lot of things to change to make it feel like home. Thrilled to finally have an outlet for their passion for decorating, they have been gradually implementing their big plans in their self-defined little house.They changed out the light wood floors for dark, and installed new custom cabinets built by a friend.

From all-purpose craft room/storage room to spectacularly organized and inspiring workspace, this craft room makeover is enough to make the best of us a little envious.I love the industrial touches with the work stool, table legs and chains that hold up the shelving. It doesn’t go over the top and retains a refined edge.The makeover was done by Real Simple so of course they focused not just on the aesthetics, but functionality and organization.

When the folks at Fixing It Fancy bought their home in Hudson, Wisconsin, they knew they had a lot of work ahead of them. They powered through the wood-paneled home room-by-room. Here’s a look at what they dreamed up in their bedroom… They began with tearing down the wood paneled walls. They decided on keeping the panel on the ceiling and painting it white, which really gave a nice, open and airy quality to a once claustrophobic room.

Many of the ‘Befores’ of our Before and After posts are hopeless spaces where any bit of attention would be a marked improvement. But sometimes the room itself is fine and it is the needs of the occupant that dictate the change. In this case, a little sister was moving into her big brother’s room. To make things interesting, the makeover was a birthday surprise and had to be completed in just one day. The suspense is killing me!Voila!

Think you need to spend a lot on new furniture to give your space a total overhaul? Think again. This compact kitchen office gets a 180° makeover from the pros at Martha Stewart using a new color and a few inexpensive additions — a task chair, acrylic desk organizers and a rolling window blind (really!).

Just off of Washington Square Park in Philadelphia, there’s a small art gallery called the Bridgette Mayer Gallery. A champion of innovative contemporary art, owner Bridgette Mayer exhibits international artists from around the world. She also just finished an amazing year-long renovation of her gallery. With it, the exhibit space has more than doubled in size. However, it’s the basement (or Level A, as Bridgette calls it) remodel that really struck me.

Wood panelling doesn’t always do great favors for a space and this room is an example of that. With heavy furniture this room was a dark and oppressive space, but with some brighter furnishings and white paint the room is completely transformed.The wood panelling really brought down the mood of this room, but I do love the look of panelling on ceilings, so we kept that and painted it out white.

This master bedroom needed a modern update and some TLC in order to transform it from drab 1980’s tract style into a sleek and sophisticated sanctuary.When you live in a home for awhile, it is easy to get used to certain architectural elements that may not be helping a space out. This space had a large soffit surrounding the room that seemed to enclose it in a negative way.