Money

Renters rejoice.

And all for less than $1 per square foot.

While looking for matte black fixtures for a recent bathroom makeover, I had a hard time finding affordable, in-stock options from the usual places. Lighting with a black finish? No problem. Cabinet pulls? Everywhere. But searching for sink faucets yielded only a few good results. Then I figured out the trick and duh. It’s so easy it’s stupid. Black faucets are such a nice change of pace from ubiquitous chrome, or even the brushed brass we’ve seen so much of lately.

There are basically three different ways to get cabinets into your kitchen. You can have them custom-built to fit the space. This is very expensive. You can get pre-made cabinets delivered, already assembled, and install them yourself (or have a contractor do it for you). This is less expensive. Or you can order ready-to-assemble (RTA) kitchen cabinets, and assemble them yourself. This is the most budget-friendly option of all.

Pilling on fabric is no good. It makes clothing and furniture look worn and tired, like it needs to be replaced. I certainly felt that way about this yellow chair before the most epic fabric de-fuzzer showed up on my doorstep. Friends, here me when I say this: This is the most satisfying $12.99 you’ll ever spend on a home-care appliance. I knew this type of tool existed, but I didn’t know how amazing the results would be when used on upholstery fabric.

Considering a renovation? A recent article recommends that while you’re filling your home with dust, debris, dropcloths, construction noises, paint fumes, and skilled (and therefore expensive) workers, you might as well get everything done while you’re at it. How Remodeling More Than One Room Can Save Money by Jeb Breithaupt was published in the Shreveport Times, and it raised a few intriguing points. Let’s go through them one by one to see if they might apply to your project.

As one of the most intensely-used areas of our homes, bathrooms are popular candidates for remodeling. Though they can recoup a good portion of the costs at resale (usually 56-70%), bathroom renovations tend to be pricey. That’s why it’s important for homeowners to plan their budgets well. Given that more than two-thirds of renovation projects go over-budget, many homeowners could benefit from more thorough, accurate planning. Just how much does it cost to remodel a bathroom?

Anyone who’s ever done a renovation on a budget knows that you have to find places to cut costs. Everything can’t be a splurge, after all. When my husband and I redid our home’s third floor to make it a full-time Airbnb, we were starting from scratch, so expensive things like HVAC systems ripped huge chunks out of our budget. I knew we had to restore the gorgeous original wood floors, and that meant another big expense.

Taking on a home improvement project is expensive enough as it is – why add to the bill? Whether you’re fixing a leaky faucet or remodeling an entire bathroom, here are some costly mistakes to avoid. It’s crucial to take care of structural issues before starting on cosmetic fixes.

We just revealed our most recent original makeover —this time a budget kitchen renovation in a small town in Illinois. If you missed the full kitchen reveal, head over to see all the before and after shots. We wound up spending under $6,000 from head to toe, soup to nuts, which we’re feeling pretty good about, especially given that the house sold less a week (four days) after we shot the final kitchen.

I’m pretty lucky. My rental apartment has a large, cavernous pantry, which is a boon in the kitchen storage department. However, what it has in size, it lacks in efficiency. For all that space, there are only a few shelves (which tend to overflow with canned goods and foodstuffs) and the full-size refrigerator prevents me from adding in more. In an effort to boost my pantry’s usefulness, I headed straight to the dollar store.

You’ve clipped the coupons, you’ve scoured the weekly ads. But if you really want to save on all the bits and bobs at Michaels that fuel your DIY hobbies and home decor dreams, you’ve got to strategize. Here are 10 ways to maximize the savings. By all means clip those Michaels coupons (or better yet, download them on the app), but if you haven’t signed up to get coupons from the company’s competitors you’re missing out.

If you’re building or remodeling a home, or even just thinking about it, you’ve probably come across this particular conundrum: Do you pick laminate flooring, or go for real wood? Laminate, which consists of a layer of fiberboard with a photorealistic image of wood (or sometimes stone) applied on top, sometimes gets a bad rap for looking cheap or fake. But many modern laminates are actually quite realistic, and almost indistinguishable from wood.

Full bathroom remodels can run you tens of thousands of dollars. If that amount of money isn’t in your budget right now (or it makes you cringe to spend that much at any stage of the game), take inspiration from these light remodels, all of which cost under $3,000. These reasonable and affordable redos show it’s possible to get a brand-new-to-you bathroom without taking out a huge loan.

Bathroom renovations take time and come with a hefty price tag. The national average for a restroom remodel is $9,724, according to Home Advisor’s 2018 True Cost report. And in the upcoming year, homeowners plan on shelling out an average of $2,406 on upgrading their baths, according to the cost analysis. You don’t need to break the bank to upgrade the look of your bathroom.

Margaret lives in a condo in Atlanta’s Garden Hills neighborhood, in a 12-unit building that dates back to 1919. Old buildings sometimes come with unpleasant surprises, like when Margaret learned that the outside wall of her breakfast nook would have to be completely replaced due to water damage. But instead of seeing inconvenience, Margaret saw an opportunity to make her charming old home even more charming. Here’s a closer look at the breakfast nook alone.

The owners of the impressive and inviting converted Sprinter van we featured recently made a conscious decision not to install a bathroom. But, the owners of this van decided a bathroom was a must, and somehow manages to squeeze in a toilet and a shower. Rob and Emily of The Road is our Home—@theroadisourhome on Instagram—transformed an LWB Mercedes Sprinter into a rolling home.

It makes sense to assume that because home improvements are, by nature, improving your home, they must increase its overall value, too, right? Sadly, that’s not always the case. While some updates (new windows, minor kitchen remodels, and somewhat surprisingly, a new garage door) nearly pay for themselves, the projects below don’t earn quite the return on investment (ROI) you may think they should.

The Ikea Nolmyra has so much potential. Great lines, perfect scale, cool bent plywood legs. But with that stock gray mesh cover, it’s a like a sexy foot stuck in a dirty running shoe. You can easily upgrade it, though. Just toss a $12 Gurli throw into your Ikea cart, and we’ll show you how to give this cool little lounge chair a whole new look. Gurli throw (or 1.

A rug is one of the easiest ways to pull a room together. But what happens when your space simply doesn’t accommodate a regular-sized rug? You could go the custom route. The problem? Having something created specifically for your space will cost you—big time. Or, you could settle for the closest size-match, but potentially wind up with a too-small rug that throws the whole room out of proportion. (Check out this handy guide to find the right size rug.

There’s a big misconception in the renovating and real estate world that kitchen remodeling needs to be flashy and expensive to be good. That’s simply not true! We’ve found that with a little creativity, some reuse, a new coat of paint — and sometimes not even that much work, kitchen renovations can be not only eco-friendly, but also inexpensive. Here are our 15 best before and after kitchen posts of the year!

The power of paint can’t be denied – we all know how it can transform a room, but the effect is also powerful when it comes to projects that involve the application of paint to furniture and cabinetry. Here are ten examples from the archives (including one where the “furniture” didn’t even exist prior to the paintjob!); check out the befores in this gallery and then click through on each for the always-fun-to-see afters.

At this point, most of us can spot a BILLY bookcase, KALLAX cubby, or LACK table a mile away. Basic and affordable, they’ve been some of the most popular items at IKEA for years, and our first apartments would’ve been bare without them.

Maybe the front door is drafty or the floor isn’t insulated. Maybe there’s a big window that’s always cold to the touch. Maybe you enter through a dark and damp basement. For whatever reason, your entryway is always freezing cold this time of year. As a renter, there are a few things you can do to warm up this high-traffic space in your home.

Do you love 2019 already? It’s okay, we’re still on the fence about it, too. What about your kitchen? If you’re not totally enamored of the space, we’ve got some ideas to help you heart it some more this upcoming year. Each idea is seriously easy and inexpensive (especially compared to a renovation) to pull off. And you don’t have to do all 19, either—pick and choose from this list and your kitchen will be more lovable and up-to-date in no time.

When I moved into a sprawling old Victorian in Louisville, Kentucky three years ago, my neighbors terrified me with their tales of four-digit utility bills. I’d swapped an under-900-square-foot bungalow for the three-story, 1890 behemoth, and was so scared of the bill the first year, I chose to freeze rather than turn up the thermostat.

While we all need a little more #selfcare in our lives, not all of us are lucky enough to have a tub to soak in with a glass of wine and a good book. But just because you’re in a shower-only home or apartment doesn’t mean you can’t indulge in a little luxury every time you step in. It’s really simple to upgrade even the most practical of bathroom set-ups.

When you’re redoing a kitchen, flooring has a huge impact on the way the room looks. The orangey faux terra cotta we inherited in our Victorian kitchen drove me nuts and I couldn’t wait to replace it. New floors aren’t cheap though. If you’re considering an overhaul of your kitchen up to and including the floor, it’s easy to drop way more than you intend to. The good news is you don’t have to.

This powder room boasts a pretty pedestal sink (that doesn’t offer much surface storage space), a nice big mirror in an interesting shape (but those faceted clips are less than ideal), and nice pale walls (though it’s that generic cream-beige). It was an excellent setup that could use a bit of a spruce… Oooh baby, this is so much nicer. The changes aren’t huge, but they’re so, so effective, especially considering they only cost about $100.

The first whiff of colder weather makes you dream excitedly about boots and cozy sweater outfits. As you run to the closet to dig out your sweaters, you find… moth holes? Don’t throw out those old sweaters though. Sweaters make perfect upcycle material and can be transformed into a myriad of useful (and cute) DIYs. Check out our favorites below. Teapot cozies keep your tea of choice warm as you settle in for a snug night.

You know the drill: Any improvements made to this rental kitchen needed to be affordable and reversible, so that the renter could get the security deposit back. With just $500 in upgrades and some very clever re-styling, this kitchen now looks like a million bucks. I was all ready to gush over this ridiculously adorable wallpaper, when I realized that it’s not wallpaper: It’s renter-friendly removable decals.

Bathrooms are sometimes neglected when it comes to design, but that doesn’t have be the case (and shouldn’t be). While, yes, you may do your “business” there, it’s also a space for practicing self-care (I know, it’s a buzz word, but it is really important) and may be the only place you ever find yourself alone. Whether you’re a renter or homeowner on a budget, renovating your #selfcare space doesn’t have to be impossible.

Investing major money into one measly item always hurts. Some items, though, are more painful than others. My painful everyday expenditure: floor rugs. For an item that endures near-constant contact by the likes of dirty feet, pets and mucky shoes, $600 to $1,200 seems disproportionate. And if you have kids, toss in the very real possibility that within weeks of purchase, it could be irreparably ruined by a pool of ketchup.

This 50-year-old bathroom had two major things going for it, and they were both tile. All of the other features were perfectly fine, but, after a refresh, the entire room lives up to the high standards of the fantastic original tiles. Reader Kristine Buffa submitted this project and described exactly what was going on before the makeover: The before bathroom was outdated and dark, but the character of the original tile and tub had survived.

This bathroom was built in the ’30s, redecorated 30 years later… and then used as-is for decades. The new homeowners wanted to give the bathroom a much-needed update without spending a ton, and the results are a delight. First, here’s a tiny bit of backstory: 1931 Craftsman BADLY needed repainting when my then-boyfriend (now husband) purchased the house in 2003… This year we did a “temporary” budget remodel on a TERRIBLE 1960s bathroom remodel.

We're talking deep, deep discounts... but are you cut out for the experience?

Every home has its trouble spots, and clothing piles are a big one in many bedrooms.

We’ve turned the clocks forward, the days are longer (and hopefully warmer where you are), and time finally feels like it is in our favor. It’s time to shake off the cozy winter decor, and let your home project a new, lighter mood. Change the tone with a little living room refresh, starting with these eight easy, budget ideas. If you’ve swapped your flannel bed sheets for linen, carry the spring textiles over to the living room as well.

Is it nice enough where you live to open the windows yet? There’s nothing like warm, fresh spring air flowing through your previously closed-up house. Of course, then the bugs come. Because, no matter how much you enjoy those cross-breezes, insects will eventually, inevitably make their way through any teeny tiny holes in your screens, and there goes all your enjoyment out the window. Here’s some good news!

These pieces only look expensive.

This project has so much going for it: it was done for less than $200! It was done in a rental! It features faux DIY granite countertops and a covetable KitchenAid! (Mixer obviously not included in the $200 total.) Click through and get dangerously inspired. I love this! The pink + celadon + white + gold combination is comfortingly and charmingly vintage, but the clean lines of the cabinet doors, handles, and subway tiles keep things modern.

It doesn't take a lot of time, or a lot of money, to make a big impact.

Although Charlotte says, “A full kitchen renovation was never in our budget,” you’ll be astounded by the changed appearance of this “renovation-free” kitchen. With a few clever moves and a lot of paint, it went from super ’70s to marvelously modern. Check out what it looks like now… Wow! This makeover was done by Charlotte of At Charlotte’s House, and the most dramatic changes were the painting of the cabinets and walls (au revoir, chartreuse!

This kitchen has an enviable amount of storage, but that same storage — the hanging cabinets — make the room feel a bit claustrophobic and dark, and make the counters less accessible than would be ideal.

We feature a lot of amazing kitchen projects, but this kitchen makeover might just have the very best dollars-to-damn ratio yet. It went from oh-so-’70s to totally timeless, thanks to some hard work, tile bravery, and some stickers. So charming! I love the interplay of the hexagonal tiles of the backsplash and the ornately patterned floor tiles. The combination of black, white, grey, and stainless is fresh and modern, while the wood counters add warmth and coziness.

Here's our top 10 countdown of predictions....

Think a new kitchen is currently out of reach? If yours is bringing you down, but you don’t have the means to do a full renovation, don’t give up too soon. These budget renovations all cost under $1,000 (and some well, well under that) and prove beyond a shadow of doubt that you don’t need a wad of money to give your kitchen a brand new look. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of paint, a little bit of elbow grease, and some good ideas. Use these five as inspiration.

If you’ve ever priced custom closets, you know that they cost a lot. Like, a whole whole lot. But the good news is that you don’t have to spend a million bucks (or even a thousand) to get a closet that looks like a million bucks. Your secret weapon for custom-ish closets? IKEA.

Samantha’s little apartment is only about 500 square feet and it’s a rental. She wanted to make some minor changes, without putting a bunch of money into the makeover. Then she got the best news that an ambitious renter can possible get in their lifetime: when Samantha moves out, the apartment is getting renovated by the owners. Which meant it was carte blanche time! Samantha’s 1925 original kitchen had so much potential, but was a little on the lackluster side.

Step. Up. Your. Step. Stool. Game.

Flexible and fun inspiration for your upcoming DIY projects.

After you shell out cash for furniture, rugs, sconces and duvet covers, the thought of paying even more for artwork is overwhelming. We hear you! But if you aren’t artistic enough to draw or paint your own art, adorn those empty walls with free photos, illustrations and patterns that are up for grab online. Here are seven of our favorite, less-than-well-known sources to score free images. The only cost is the frame.

I think part of the reason shipping container houses are so appealing is that building a house from shipping containers is like the grown-up equivalent of making a really sweet fort from cardboard boxes — you have succeeded in making something awesome from something that you just found, something that would otherwise be in the trash. (Of course, the actual reality of shipping container homes is a bit more complicated than that — but there’s no denying they have a certain draw.

Stacy’s rental bathroom started out just fine. She had white and grey tile floors, a grey-blue wall color, and a white pedestal sink. The bathroom was tiny, but there was a separate counter and mirror from the sink, with plenty of space to store her products. The only trouble was the green countertops, which made the bathroom feel dark and dingy despite it being light everywhere else.

We can’t all live in a gorgeous Haussmannien building on the left bank of the Seine. In fact, some of us have to live in effective but uninspiring homes with little to no architectural detail whatsoever. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do. In fact, there’s a lot you can do, even if you live in the most boring of houses, to add a little character to your space. Check out these 7 DIY projects. Add a ceiling medallion.

If you hate your floors, but are a little short on cash, I’ve got good news. A new floor can cost a ton of money — but it doesn’t have to. Here are nine budget-friendly ideas for upgrading your existing floors so you can get a whole new look without spending a whole lot of money. This vinyl floor cloth, demonstrated by designer Kerra Michele Huerta in an article from the Washington Post, is a great option for renters as well as homeowners on a budget.

Curb appeal is about your home’s first impression—the face it presents to the world (and to you, when you come home every day). And while you may think of your home’s exterior as something that’s difficult to change without investing a lot of money and time, there are actually quite a few (really simple, DIY) things you can do to enhance your home’s curb appeal—many of them without even picking up a hammer.

One of my favorite small space hacks is swapping your bookcases for wall-mounted shelving. We’ve created roundups of wall mounted shelving systems before, but for those of you who are especially crafty there are also plenty of DIY options. Here are eight different DIY ways to turn a blank wall into a storage mecca. Above: Dabito from Old Brand New used components available at the hardware store to create this wall-mounted shelving system, which includes a desk.

Living the budget life is not easy and college grads know this more than anyone! During this exciting (read: stressful) phase of your life, having a cozy home that feels like your own space is so essential! After all, you need somewhere to kick up your feet after a busy day of chasing your dreams. If you’re on a budget, how can you create a beautiful home that’s not a mishmash of hand-me-down furniture? Here are some DIY ideas to help you stay on budget AND create a home you love.

We love good IKEA hacks and even more so when they solve small space problems.

Want to give those plain old IKEA frames a little extra bit of pizazz? Of course you do! Here are seven creative (and very inexpensive!) ways to dress them up using paint, tape, and a variety of creative techniques. Above: All it takes is a little spray paint to add gold corners, and a little touch of glam, to a RIBBA frame. DIY from Repolished.

There are so many ways to customize your IKEA furniture, but here’s one that’s really, really easy: contact paper. And lest you were convinced that contact paper is weird and tacky and always looks terrible, these ten projects are here to prove you wrong. Above: Blogger Jonathan Lo, of Happy Mundane, bought his IKEA desk in a birch finish, but wanted something a little darker that would match his vintage midcentury furniture.

If you’re a caffeine junkie, coffee stations are a great way to streamline your morning. Yet, Anna wasn’t jiving with her java setup. So she gave this area a free makeover by removing things and shopping her home: From Anna: The original look of our coffee station wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great either. I loved the bar cart, but the wood surfaces, brown mirror, wooden objects, and wood floor was just too much brown!

The dark-and-orangey fireplace in Amber’s living room was not her style. With a little ingenuity, she managed to give it a lovely light facelift, for under $50. From Amber: When we first moved into our house it was dark! Dark walls, dark trim and a big boxy and dark fireplace with orange tile. Not exactly our style. We’ve been diligently working to lighten everything up, but the biggest eyesore was also the main focal point of the living room – the fireplace!

You’ve probably seen a lot of bathrooms like this: not great, not terrible, just so-so. First-time Manhattan homeowners Hafeeza and her husband were planning on a remodel of their kitchen, with updates to their bathroom to be made at a later date. But their contractor helped them realize that they could fit the bathroom upgrades into their budget right now — and that only a few small changes would make a big difference.

Lucia found this old wooden cabinet with sliding glass doors, and immediately saw an alternate use for it. Instead of a wall-mounted unit, she transformed it into freestanding furniture that better suits her needs, all for a minimal cost… The transformation wasn’t technically difficult, just time consuming. After sanding off all the varnish, Lucia spray painted the inside white. The exterior got several coats of water-based wood stain.

In 2014, our Before & Afters proved again and again that you don’t need a ton of cash to have a fresh new kitchen. Here are ten of this year’s best budget kitchen remodels. Click on the slideshow to see the projects. To learn more about each project (and see more pictures), click the links in the captions. → Welcome to Apartment Therapy’s Best of 2014 roundup! From December 21 through January 1 we are rounding up our favorite (and your favorite) posts from the past year.

When the budget is tight and you can’t tear apart your entire bathroom to turn it into something you’d prefer, you’ve got to get creative. Jenna did just that with her bathroom, and it went from kind of sad to cheery! There are some simple but bold ideas in this makeover for both renters and homeowners.

If you’re in a rental apartment, the last thing you want to do is pay a lot of money to make it livable. Perhaps the only thing worse is pissing off your roommate(s) while you’re having loud — ahem — relations, or blasting Gregorian chants from your bedroom on Sunday mornings. Which means you need to find an easy, reversible and affordable solution for privacy, while respecting thy neighbors.

We often turn to IKEA for cheap storage options, which makes their basic wardrobes a popular item in a lot of homes. Clever DIY projects and hacks pop up as people discover ways to upgrade the units to look more expensive and custom-built in their spaces. Here are 8 great projects to think about yourself: Designer Tommy Smythe updated his PAX doors with molding and vintage knobs. Combined with the sleek black paint, this new storage looks high-end and beautiful.

Does this kitchen look familiar? It is the Apartment Kitchen. I believe it was installed in every apartment built between 1978 and 1995. It is difficult to hate the Apartment Kitchen — it just is. But there is not much to love about it, either. So when One Kings Lane editor Kerstin, who had the Apartment Kitchen, met stylist Megan Pflug, who was looking to do an “easy but stylish” kitchen before and after, she jumped at the chance. Yes — it is the same kitchen. I know.

Patrick is an avid DIY’er, but you’re about to see the toughest job he’s ever taken on. It wasn’t for the faint of heart, and he should’ve asked friends to help, but after a week of hard work, he transformed his hardwood into the floors he always wanted… Can you believe he planed his entire hardwood floor BY HAND? No, neither could I. But plane it he did, and therefore Patrick wins the award for DIY endurance. Hands down.