DIY Furniture Before & Afters

After removing the upper cabinets from her laundry room in order to create more useable open shelves, Sarah hung onto the narrow cabinets which she knew still had some life in them. Though most of us would probably think of reusing such cabinets in the basement or garage, Sarah transformed them into a centerpiece in her living room.By removing the doors and adding on some fun feet and decorative trim, Sarah turned those ho-hum cabinets into a wonderful sofa table.

If you have a chair that looks like this in your home you’ll want to see Suzanne’s terrific transformation. If you don’t, you might find yourself running to a thrift shop or keeping your eye on the curb come garbage day to get one. In Suzanne’s words, “Goodbye Disney (no offense Tigger)! Hello non-eye sore!”After!We love it and, as you can see below, so does her son Callum. Suzanne says it took her about two hours and 1.5 yards of Ikea fabric.

When Shelley’s parents gave her their old double vanity mirror, she immediately knew she wanted to transform it into a full length floor mirror for her living room. After living with the mirror in the garage for months, she finally got the supplies (and the truck) necessary to complete this creative DIY project.Shelley used plywood, trim, and crown moulding to transform this free vanity mirror into a centerpiece for her living room.

Amy’s home art studio was in major need of a transformation. It’s really easy to get carried away with your work and let the space slide around you. Well, this summer Amy finally had some time to really focus on her studio and let me tell you it sure paid off …One month later and Amy has a beautiful, bright, clean and organized space that she now spends as much time in as possible.

We’re all very familiar with these little black office chairs. They’re super convenient for a home office but they’re certainly lacking in the style department. Take a cue from Mindy and dress up an office chair with just a little fabric and a staple gun…Melinda Ann had actually relegated this chair to the donation pile, where it was destined for a one-way trip to Goodwill. And then, at the last minute, inspiration struck.

Spaces in our homes serve different needs at different times in our lives and this family decided that instead of a traditional car garage, they needed a playroom. See how they made that happen:After!Tracy, her husband and their son Harrison live in Seattle and she told us about this terrific project:We live in a small townhouse with a rather small shared driveway making it almost impossible to park in our driveway.

Jen emailed us a link to the office she dressed up for her friend Natasha. As a rising star in fashion PR, Natasha needs a space that exudes simple style. So over a weekend, Jen turned Natasha’s sad space into a stylish office. AFTER! Jen describes herself on her blog as a DIY enthusiast who is “gradually turning into an Asian Martha Stewart”. So it’s no surprise that when her friend Natasha needed help dressing up her fashion PR office, she turned to Jen.

These two white dressers are perfectly fine for a baby’s room, but aunt-to-be Meg got her hands and, more importantly, paint brushes on them to create a pair of woodsy dressers inspired by her nephew’s nursery bedding.After!If it looks like a lot of work – well, it was! Meg was under a deadline to finish these so they could be hand delivered by her parents. All told, it took her 32 hours and 11 different paint colors – we’re tired just thinking about it.

The stairs in Andrea and Cliff’s house were looking a bit dated. Wrapped in berber carpet, they looked more like a giant cat scratcher than the beautiful floating stairs the couple hand in mind. With some hard work and a lot of sanding, the crafty couple updated the stairs while also creating a more open, airy feel to the space.Andrea and Cliff emailed in to share their stair makeover and the minute we saw what an undertaking it was (and what a difference they made!), we had to share it.

These “before” shots above were snapped during the final tour we took of our house before buying it last year. The upstairs bath (left) was highlighted as a selling point. I thought it had potential. The basement bathroom, on the other hand, was composed entirely of bargain tile and fixtures and didn’t seem to have any potential at all. This past month, I gave them both makeovers on a mini budget.

When designer duo Natalie Younger and Sayre Ziskin called me up to shoot some portfolio work for them I was excited to see their take on a masculine opulent bachelor pad. Mark has lived in his 1 bedroom loft for just over a year, but has never had the time to really delve into design. He hired Younger & Ziskin to help him create a lavish, dark and sophisticated home.Mark lives in an eco-friendly urban loft condo at the TLofts in Los Angeles.

Tired of living with the unfinished look of a “king size bed on a cheap metal frame just pushed up against the wall”, Kristen knew she wanted to add a headboard but didn’t want to spend a lot of money. Enter her local secondhand store, Buffalo ReUse, where Kristen went to browse for inspiration. At only $10, this solid wood door was a great find, one Kristen knew she could use to transform the look of her bedroom.Kristen selected this door for its simple lines and its symmetry.

Inspired by NicoleMari’s reading chair makeover, Rachelle decided the time had come to make some changes to the reading chair passed down from her parents when she was young and furniture-free. Since she still loved the comfort and scale of this chair, changing out the fabric to bring it up to date was the ideal (though challenging) solution. Though she originally planned to reupholster the chair, in the end she opted to make a custom slipcover instead.

I don’t think I’d ever be able to tackle this impressive DIY project, not unless my dad decides to take up carpentry when he retires. Luckily for Sarah, her father is a self-taught carpenter who was happy to help her transform an old oak door, some plywood and some wood strips into a herringbone-pattern dining table. Prepare to be jealous!Sarah details the entire project from start to finish over at Design*Sponge. The steps sound tedious, but not impossible.

Something about making over a fireplace always seems daunting to me. I think it’s all the tile or brick work that makes me feel I should leave it to a professional, but after seeing Heather’s surprisingly smart and simple fireplace facelift at Home Modern I’m gonna take a deeper look at it from now on.

When Carrie found this vintage vanity at a garage sale, the large center mirror was missing, the finish was in desperate need of some TLC, and the drawers were full of dead bugs. Despite the obvious condition problems, and the fact that she herself had no need for a vanity, Carrie knew this lovely piece deserved a second chance to grace a home. After a little reflection on the piece and on her actual needs, Carrie was able to give her secondhand vanity a new lease on life.

I’ve been trying to come up with a pun on this door-to-bookcase project — you know, something like opening the door to a new bookcase or some such cleverness. But, well, as you can tell by that sentence alone, i have not had much success. So let’s just make it simple: this project is totally rad!I love a project that re-imagines stuff that would have otherwise been bound for the junk heap. And Gail, from the blog My Repurposed Life, is the queen of such projects!

Kate found this great dresser for only $20 at her local thrift store; though it had lovely lines, she knew it needed some TLC before it found a place of pride in her home. Kate originally planned to sand and stain the piece, until she discovered the top of the dresser was laminate rather than solid wood. Faced with this unexpected curveball, Kate was forced to change her plans for this inexpensive piece.

It takes a keen eye see past the dingy upholstery and waiting-room feel to focus on the possibilities of this loveseat. When Kelli found this piece at a garage sale for only $20, she knew she had a steal of a project on her hands, but she had to wait a few months to find the time to get this makeover started.Kelli stripped this seat down piece by piece, saving the fabric to use as a pattern for the new upholstery.

I love it when readers leave links to their blogs in comments, which is how I found out about this project from Gloria at A Little Paint. She commiserated with my can’t-paint-another-stroke pain by showing a room makeover she took on earlier this year. The “after” is proof that a little paint can make the biggest difference in the world.I am so impressed by how Gloria transformed this once boring room, from the eye-catching detailing on the ceiling to the cool ombre cabinet.

When Ashley’s aunt brought her this old rocking chair, which she had rescued from a dumpster, it was an ugly sight to behold. Still, Ashley was confident she could give it new life and, $10 later, she did just that…The first thing Ashley did was peel the fabric and foam off the chair. After removing the fabric, Ashley sanded the chair frame, then primed and painted it. Once the paint had dried, Ashley replaced the chair foam and then applied new fabric, using small finishing nails.

I love my quaint, 1940s condo, but the kitchen has always felt unfinished and out of place. Not being in the financial situation to completely remodel to my liking, I decided to do a few quick, inexpensive projects to brighten the space as much as possible.The original flooring in the kitchen was a clay-like, synthetic tile which was glued down like nobody’s business.

Time to do laundry because Curtis Robertson is about to knock your socks off! His niece and her husband just moved into their first home and he wanted to do something special for his great nephew’s room. With two vintage eBay paint-by-number paintings as his guide he meticulously recreated them in an incredible whole room mural. It’s a must see:After!

Jesyka D’Itri over at Visual Vocabulary did a remarkable makeover on a china hutch a few months ago. The original piece had a lot of scratches, missing pieces and a broken door, but she really kept on it and was able to bring it back to life in a very unique, stylized and surprising way…After sanding and stripping the wood, repairing the door and getting new glass for the broken cabinet, Jesyka was ready to get her style on.

I bought these bar stools at Target about ten years ago, when my husband and I were renting an apartment with a little breakfast counter. Since then, I’ve used them in my studio, where they’ve gotten beat up and paint splashed. I moved out of my studio but I’m still not quite ready to part with the stools so I decided to give them new life…It was immediately evident when I brought the stools into our little apartment that I would need to cut them down.

Do you remember the days when televisions came in these giant wood consoles? Now that we hang our flat screens on the wall, it may be hard to imagine that televisions were furniture. Nowadays these old console sets end up getting set out for the garbage man. Here’s a clever re-use of one of these anachronisms:Beckie, from the site Infarrantly Creative, picked up an old console television the night before trash day and turned it into a cute new table!

If you saw this chair in a thrift store would you jump at the chance to give it a new life or is it in such disrepair that you would just have to pass it by? Well, Irina wanted to take on the challenge and had an incredible vision for this lucky little piece. After a month of dedication and a lot of love this dilapidated chair has been transformed into a stunning work of art.

This chair looks like it’s on its last leg. Um, literally. The leg on this chair had rusted through and the whole thing was bent out of shape. No wonder it was sitting out on the curb, waiting for the garbage collector. But wait! This chair hasn’t quite reached the end of its life just yet …Rachelle, from Adventures in Creating, saw this old metal chair on the curb and decided to rescue it from its garbage heap fate.

When you have the world’s most generic (i.e. ugly) doors in your apartment like me, you can easily develop a fondness for old doors with a bit of character. And if I had one I would strongly consider doing what Gail did – make it into a toddler bed.Even a quick perusal around Gail’s blog My Repurposed Life lets you know that she is a pretty fearless DIY’er.

When Korrie came across this mid-century dresser in need of some TLC, she immediately envisioned the piece redone in a style inspired by an Anthropologie dresser. Given the beat up finish, she knew painting was her best option, but wanted to preserve some of the wood tones that drew her to the dresser in the first place. The end result is a fun look that gives new life to a classic piece.

The “before” shot of this bathroom looks like the kind of room I’ve seen a million times. A plain old bathroom, nothing unusual, perhaps a little dated, and definitely boring. Oh, but this bathroom is anything but boring now…See, what did I tell you? The “after” is anything but boring! When I saw the changes that Percy has been making to his home over on Design*Sponge I had a moment of design envy. How can one dude be so unbelievably creative?

Madeline wrote us with not only a great Before & After to share, but a lovely story: I had done a lot of looking around online for inspiration for recovering old gliders and really didn’t find as much as I’d hoped. Now that my old glider has a fresh new look I was hoping it could be some inspiration for someone else out there.

It’s not everyday you come across an old bench that has so much potential. If you do ever come across a run-down version of the perfect outdoor (or indoor) piece you’ve been looking for, don’t keep walking — pick that bad boy up and head straight to the home improvement store! You never know how that thing will look after a good sanding and a fresh coat of paint!Christina took to her blog to boast about the recent transformation of a pretty run down wood bench.

This looks like your grandmother’s desk, right? Well, it was someone’s grandmother’s desk until Erin bought it cheaply on Craigslist and totally re-envisioned it for her daughter, Sydney.After!Fabulous, no? (And I really didn’t think she could save that brass plated stool.) The aqua paint choice is perfect and she did a great job bringing this desk back to life.

I am in the process of turning my bedroom into a shared space with my fiance. We are on the lookout for yard sale finds to accentuate the space, and were happy to find this great miniature dresser last year. It has been sitting in the storage unit waiting for refurbishing time and the perfect color of paint.Finally, with a little time off and the right color of paint (Martha Stewart’s “Pencil”), we went to work.

I have a hard time looking at vintage lamps and overcoming the often bland and dreary shades that adorn them. Looking at a DIY like this, though, inspires me to broaden my vision!Heather Spriggs Thompson is a designer, artist and stylist with an extremely inspiring blog titled, appropriately, Heather Spriggs. One of her most recent projects was to transform the lackluster shade that came on an otherwise beautiful milk glass lamp.

Though painted furniture isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, it is makeovers like this that demonstrate why this technique is so popular. This yard sale find with fabulous curves was transformed with a little elbow grease, some leftover paint, and a mix of old and new hardware.We have written about Sarah’s magic touch wth paint before (Sarah’s Delightful Dresser Redo); now we’re starting to wonder how she has so much luck finding dressers with such appealing lines.

When Tiffany found this chair she was immediately in love. What she didn’t love was the scratchy, ripped fabric covering it. As we all know, DIY upholstery projects can be daunting so Tiffany decided to leave the recovering to the professionals. To the auto body professionals, that is.Upon the recommendation from a friend, Tiffany, from the blog Living Green with Glamour, decided to take her old chair to a local auto repair shop to have it reupholstered.

Ikea markets the Gorm shelf as lowly secondary shelving for the pantry or garage. Well, take a look at this makeover, Ikea. We think this transformed Gorm belongs in the living room, office, or even a lucky kid’s room.After!Shauntelle from A Beautiful Abode snagged a $15 Gorm off Craigslist and with some silver spray paint, wood stain, and some boards, turned it into this amazing industrial chic shelf.

A few months back I busted out some fabric spray paint and painted a pretty chevron on my carpet. Although the looks are alright, there’s a new trend sweeping around the internet that will most likely yield better results. See that sofa up there? It’s about to get painted — with house paint.Over at Fabric Bliss a vintage sofa was purchased for the small price of $45. It had great bones but those flowers just had to go.

It takes a little imagination sometimes when you see a tired little piece like this at a garage sale or flea market. But Carrie at Fine & Handy had the vision and turned it into a sweet piece for her daughter:A little pink paint, new knobs for the sliding doors, and two adorable painted birds transform the old toy box. The end result is wonderful and makes us want to run out and scavenge for a unique piece of furniture like this one.For more on the before and after, head to Fine & Handy.

When Casey bought a condo in the Minneapolis loft building where he had been renting, he transferred his luxurious style to his new home. Luckily for us, he had the foresight to snap some before pics so we could witness the transformation …Casey’s Loft Life house tour was a highlight of my summer house tours last year. When I heard from Casey that he was moving to a new, larger unit in the same building, I was anxious to see how he would transfer his style to his new home.

Oh IKEA, where would our homes be without you? You offer us one product and the world turns it into 100 new designs and custom pieces for their home. This room is no different and this window area is about to go from drab to chalkboard fabulous!They’ve been busy getting organized at Repurposed Playground and although this transformation is similar to ones we’ve seen in the past, there are a few ideas to glean from this set-up that are perfect for any home.

This small wall isn’t an eyesore, but it’s just kind of “there”. It’s between the bedrooms of Kimba’s sons and she decided to make it not just a place to display their art, but a space for creating art too. Check it out:It’s nothing terribly tricky or time-consuming, but what an impact!Kimba painted thrifted and craft store frames to provide visual cohesion and filled them with her boys’ artwork.

When I moved into my brother, Matt’s newly purchased bungalow, I brought with me an heirloom farmhouse-style dining room table which just barely squeezed into the 9’x9′ dining space. Since the space exists in the corner of an open kitchen and living area, it was doable, but the traffic space was limited and storage non existent.

You’ve probably seen a lot of before and afters by now where you can sort of predict what the after might look like. A coat of paint or some new knobs might be what you’re expecting for this dresser.It’s a squid! You weren’t expecting that, were you? Well, maybe the title gave it away a little.

Of course safety comes first, but if you can combine safety with style, all the better. Lindsay wrote us to share a terrific solution her friend, Kate, Stone, came up with to keep her toddler out of the fireplace while adding to the decor instead of subtracting from it.A magnetic chalkboard – nice!! It’s not only leaps and bounds more attractive, but its become a functional playspace. See Kate’s toddler in action using it on Lindsay’s blog, Pink Green & Zebra.

We know there are plenty of good-looking hampers available for sale, but some of them have not so good-looking price tags. And, come on, it’s going to have my son’s dirty socks in it. Couldn’t I just figure out a way to jazz up his old plastic hamper?Sure! I love a challenge, and this is what I came up with. Silver spray paint (with a coat of plastic primer first) and a simple orange drawstring bag.

Ginger wanted to hand down her own childhood desk to her daughter Clara, but due to water damage and “the remnants of various stickers I put on there long ago (oops)” she needed to give it a refresh first. See how it looks now:Great job Ginger! We see desks like this all the time at flea markets and usually dismiss them as too dowdy, but bright paint totally modernizes the look.

You may be looking at this thinking, “I have that exact same stroller at home.” While yours is also likely pink (the non-pink doll stroller is akin to the Holy Grail), you’re probably referring to the state of disrepair this one is in. From how quickly they fall apart, you’d think these kids were pushing around bowling balls not little baby dolls.

Heidi is a hoarder. She doesn’t have dusty stacks of newspapers lying around or dozens of cats, she hoards her son’s artwork. And who can blame her! Determined to display his cute scribblings and paintings, she strung a small line of rope and hung his artwork with clothespins. Finding this inadequate, she took a tip from another blogger and went big. Really big. Find out what humble material has solved her problem:Yep, chicken wire!

This family may not have a big entryway but they have a wide staircase which they turned into a mudroom of sorts with tons of storage for every family member. See how great it looks now:Even seeing other people get organized makes me feel good. I imagine these cubbies will fill up a lot more over time and not look quite as pretty, but what a great way to maximize this space along the stairs.

So much of the successful end result of design projects depends on the ability to take risks and think “outside the box” when in the planning stages. Being able to consider the idea of making one big shift opens up many possibilities. This was the case with the story of the redesign of the entrance and facade single family home in Chicago…… featured in the current issue of Chicago Home + Garden.

What happens when water invades your living room and you have to take the carpet out? Well in this case you do great things while staying within a budget. Curious to see what this boring concrete floor looks like now?Over at the blog TwentysixFiftyeight there’s been some serious transformations happening. After having to remove the carpet in their home due to some unforeseen water issues, Merritt and Cris were left with a slightly uneven, yes solid concrete slab.

I recently had the idea to replace the photographs which hung above my couch with several images from one of my favorite picture books, Caps for Sale. Five dollars for the book, a few cuts with an X-ACTO, and I have six beautiful images that add new life to the room.Since I already had the frames, this was a very cheap and easy way to do a quick change to the room.

Do you tend to bring home project pieces from the thrift shop simply because you can’t pass up a good deal? We must be related. I adopt pieces of furniture even if I don’t have space for them. When I saw this unloved little ottoman, I knew I had to bring it home. See how this ottoman went from sad to glad after the jump!A close-up of the ottoman before it’s overhaul.Supplies:1 Old Ottoman-$151 Can of Spray Primer-$2.991 Can of Sunburst Yellow Spray Paint -$3.

Jarret and Catherine of Bungalow Bungahigh had a classic renovation story play out when rehabbing the kitchen in their Chicago home. What could go wrong, did, and the job took much longer than initially expected. But, I’m sure you’ll agree the results are worth it — just check out the after:Here’s the story from Jarrett and Catherine: We bought our 1931 Chicago bungalow knowing that we’d have to do one major renovation project: the kitchen!

In cities that have an IKEA, their furniture is found in many homes. While there’s nothing wrong with this affordable option, that doesn’t mean your pieces have to look like those everywhere else in your city. Check out what these BESTA cabinets after Kris was through with them! Kristina Klarin isn’t one for plain and boring. She is all about making a splash with color and these cabinets were slightly lack luster before she got a hold of them.

Making over an area like the bathroom can seem like a small project. At first it feels as though only a few things will need refreshing or changing out — but often once things get started it seems as though everything must go. In this bathroom highlighted on This Old House, everything received a makeover from hardware and fixtures to lighting and paint — all for $439!

Peter and Molly’s light-flooded West Village studio was perfect for the two of them plus Hugo, their dog. But when they were preparing for a new baby, they successfully reorganized the space and added a sliding door, creating a comfortable and calm one-bedroom. Initially, Peter and Molly used the larger area for their bed, a comfy chair and storage.

Jarrett and Catherine of Bungalow Bungahigh have tackled DIY projects that make mere mortals shy away, like rehabbing an outdated basement bathroom on a super tight budget. They got creative with their choice of materials and were able to get a whole new look for under $200 – $158 to be exact……and the After!Here is what Jarrett and Catherine tell us about the project: We recently rehabbed our tired basement bathroom.

When I was growing up, this glass door bookcase lived in the home of an elderly neighbor housing a collection of beautiful hardcover books. My sister and I always considered Miss Matthews a surrogate grandmother, and I was delighted to inherit this and some other furniture pieces when she passed away a few years ago. Though this bookcase wouldn’t work in my library, I knew it would be perfect to house my DVD collection.

I have always dreamt of having a “couple’s desk”. However, every apartment we’ve had hasn’t given us the proper space for this to happen. Luckily, for Valentine’s Day my guy surprised me with a rearranged space and enough room for my dream double desk to finally happen!In the before photo above, you can see our original desk. It housed his cluttered workstation and was large — but not large enough for two people.

With some white paint, elbow grease, and a few affordable accessories, Noreen and David turned a barely-used storage area in their 180-year-old Florida home into a peaceful and comfortable guest room.When I was visiting my parents Florida home earlier this month, I was so thrilled to see that they were transforming an old storage area at the back of the house into a guest room – and they didn’t even know it was Home Project month here at Apartment Therapy!

We moved into our home four years ago in a flurry of MA thesis writing and job changes. When we had time, we worked on decorating the bedrooms, living room, and dining area — but we pretty much ignored the loft space at the top of the stairs. We eventually bought a rug and our friend Karen kindly built us pine shelves while staying as a houseguest. Sadly, that was about it until last year, when our home office moved there to make way for a nursery.

Whit and Rachael Gardner of Our Mid Century are savvy stylists, whether we are about talking vintage or contemporary furnishings— the post that they shared with us for Home Project month proves it. When the search for an affordable mid century sofa kept coming up dry, they did a complete makeover of an affordable IKEA basic to help it fit in smoothly with their vintage style home. The “after” looks like a totally different sofa!…and the After!

When I moved into my apartment, the built-in cabinet in my bedroom was shoddily painted in yellow and blue with brown “accents.” To make matters worse, there were so many layers of paint that the hinges didn’t work well.Basically, I spent several hours over two weeks chipping away at the old paint — a process I found surprisingly satisfying. Beneath the yellow, blue, and brown, I found pink, gray, and lime green.

Ashley sent in the results of her just-completed upholstery project &mdash and it’s crazy! This afternoon I re-covered a set of four dining room chairs that my husband and I received from his GREAT grandmother, all the way across the Atlantic from Bermuda. It’s a lovely set — but the fabric in which they arrived was dirtied and dingy and was in desperate need of a change.