Home Projects

Kelsey and her husband Heath had their work cut out for them when they moved into their new home with an outdated kitchen. But they worked with the home’s bones for a makeover that both fits the house and their personality! From Kelsey: This project is/was the most time and energy intensive DIY renovation we’ve sunk our teeth into, but it has also been the most gratifying.

What to do when one of your old vintage finds or IKEA chairs is looking sad and worn? Well you could reupholster it, of course! Lisa gave not just a new look to her old IKEA chair, but a custom one. From Lisa: As an unstoppable chair rescuer, and self taught upholstery DIYer, I love to sink my teeth into new challenges as they come along. This dilapidated IKEA (Lunna) swivel chair, grabbed on Gumtree (Australia’s Craigslist!

Vicky and her husband had this blank basement wall just crying out for some pizzazz and they knew exactly how to get it there. Hint: it has to do with one of their favorite activities. From Vicky: My husband and I like to collect books. There is just something important about holding a real book in your hands, putting it on your bookshelf when you’ve finished it, and lending it to someone else if it’s worthy.

Soffia took a look at the $14.99 HYLLIS shelf at IKEA and thought she could give it an upgrade. A MAJOR upgrade. Check it out. From Soffia: I wanted a Restoration Hardware/Pottery Barn-ish industrial looking shelves for the living room. We used four Hyllis that we cut down to size and spray painted and some plywood that I treated. We got this and we love it 🙂 See more at Skyeytum Hus. Thank you Soffia! Re-edited from a post originally published 11.7.

Erin first noticed this “lawyer’s chair” style rocker at an outdoor antique market and kept right on moving. It was covered in flaking paint (what she called “legitimate shabby chic”) and had a water damaged seat so it didn’t seem worth the $85 asking price. But after wandering the antique stalls for a few more hours, she just couldn’t forget it. Though obviously neglected, it had such grand potential. She had to have it.

You know you love the satisfaction of seeing other readers transform their boring befores into amazing afters so join in! We want to see YOUR projects. If you’ve published your project on your own blog already, great! We’re happy to give you a shout-out (and link, naturally!) you crafty blogger you. You can collect the compliments and inspire others to take on their own DIY.

Project by: Heather Location: Denver Our third bedroom is used as a home office/guest room and was in desperate need of a face-lift. It had beige walls, an IKEA desk, a leftover kitchen chair and a butchers rack—a seriously uninspiring space for a home-based creative professional. As with most decorating projects, there were some design challenges to overcome: • This room has two functions—office and guest room.

Amanda spotted this round cupboard while trolling Craigslist and scooped it up for just $25. While it may not look like much to you and me, when Amanda saw it, “a lightbulb went off in my head.” Props Amanda, we would never had thought of this unique use. From Amanda: New dog bed for Mazzilli!! I love the idea of a small little nook for Mazzie that will look good in the middle of the living room.

Makeover by: Stella Location: New York After months of looking for a new place, I came across this semi-attic space covered in wood paneling. I knew I couldn’t sign a lease without thinking first of what my makeover would consist of. After all the makeovers I’ve done in the past, I had to came to terms with the fact that this one would be a whole new deal. It was going to take more than just hanging art or getting new bed linens.

We’re all about the affordable makeovers that completely transform a room for not a lot of money. And though this kitchen does get a new floor (the price of which is not reflected in the $500 budget mentioned here), pay attention to the rest of the room where the $500 was spent. Alex got creative and outlines everything done to achieve a fresh new look. From Alex: I’ve wanted to redo my kitchen since I bought the house five years ago.

If you’ve ever not been able to afford a design you spot in a catalog, look instead to your thrift store, and keep your eyes peeled for a piece that shows potential. You just might be able to shape it to look more like your dream furniture piece without spending as much money!

Jean and Ruthie bought these chairs nearly 20 years ago from a mother-daughter duo who were selling the entire contents of their home. The creepy house was filled with an assortment of oddities and at one point they noticed piles scattered throughout the house – only to realize later that they were, in fact, piles of hundreds of wigs! They say, “The whole situation was a bit Grey Gardens.” When they went back the next day, the house was deserted.

This Verner Panton cone chair surfaced as Andrew’s friend was cleaning his garage. It had been rained on and was in danger of disintegrating beyond repair. Not if Andrew had anything to say about it. In fact, this graphic transformation was also a surprise to Andrew! From Andrew: I rescued the chair, putting it in a dry place until I had the time to restore it.

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.

Beth says, “I love a good challenge.” She would have to! She bought this mess of a desk from Craigslist for only 15 bucks. It had been sitting out on a balcony and the wood was in shambles. From Beth: There was no way to save it the bottom portion. The top was stained beyond recognition and the drawers were beat to hell and back. Why did I buy this? It’s how we learn, people! So feast your eyes.

Project by: Jacqueline Wheeler Interiors Location: Charlotte, North Carolina Clients: Candice Langston and Felix Von Uklanski This family room has one big virtue: its large size, but, as you can see, not a lot of effort has gone into making it an appealing space for the family to spend time in. Jacqueline Wheeler was hired to brighten it up and and bring it to its full potential.

Karen found this table skeleton on garbage day and dragged it home. Creative soul that she is, she came up with an unexpected (and free!) solution to make it whole again. We can’t believe we’ve never thought of this one! From Karen: We are lucky enough to have a neighbor who is a flooring installer. He had leftover pieces of hardwood flooring. We chose a variety of wood grains and pieces. My husband helped me attach the flooring boards to the table top.

What to do when you’ve got a spare bedroom on the boring side and are looking for a creative place to work? You tackled it stylishly like Marie and her husband did with their extra room, creating one seriously dramatic, contrasting space to get creative in! From Marie: Our renovation started off quickly because, four days after moving in, a pipe burst in the bedroom’s ceiling and flooded the entire floor and closet.

With the holidays almost on the way, you might be looking for ways to add both extra seating and storage in your small home. You’ll love this DIY project that turned a plain cocktail table into a modern ottoman with concealed storage! From Pam: I came across this sad little cocktail table made from cheap blistered laminate in a second hand store. Its only redeeming quality was the octagonal shape, which I thought would make for a cool little ottoman.

Project by: designHARMONY Location: Bothell, Washington From the designer: This busy family of four had a disorganized, uninspired office space. We transformed it by updating pieces the family already had, turning a former closet into a desk space and created a masterpiece with all of the kids’ artwork. Bright paint and accessories round out the now creative, family-friendly space.

Project from: Joy Location: Boston When I moved in with my husband two years ago, our condo was a blank slate of cream colored paint, bare walls, and uncovered windows. We set to work infusing the space with personality, working first on our main kitchen/dining/living space, then the home office, and finally the bathrooms. But we dragged our feet getting around to the master bedroom, since we’re really the only ones who spend any time in there.

When Ian found this antique baluster oak armchair at a thrift store he could see it had been hastily reupholstered around 1950 (see that lumpy seat and vinyl?). He bought it anyway. From Ian: Instead of adding jute webbing and hand-tie coils for the seat (like I eventually did) the previous owner just dropped in an ill-fitting box spring system from another chair, added some foam and some ugly printed vinyl, and that is how it spent the last 60 years.

Carlos and his wife are two architects living in an old house where “everything is very big and brown.” Well they fixed that particular dilemma, at least with this cute console. See it now. From Carlos; We have gradually been transforming the inside of the house, trying to do so by spending the least amount of money possible. We have focused on using all elements that already exist in the house so we’ve tried to reuse most of the furniture and make it more fun.

Lucia in Italy proves once and for all that good bones and rich wood will always be a winner if you know how to look past a few dated details. From Lucia: This DIY project took just two afternoons. I took off the old trimming, the old fabric and the ugly clear plastic that covered the seat. The foam was quite good so I decided not to change it. I cut the new fabric and I stapled it with my automatic stapler. Then I bought gold pushpins and modern white trim.

We recently moved into our new (very old) home and the dining room was the only room in the house that was not covered in wallpaper from the 1980s. I couldn’t seem to work up the motivation to start the long and arduous process of ripping everything off the walls in the rest of the house, so I decided to tackle a room that would be easy, quick, and instantly gratifying to help me get going. While the Crimson was nice, it wasn’t “us.

The omnipresent IKEA BEKVÄM step can quickly add a touch of Scandi style to any home. But what happens when it’s been loved too much, used in too many ways, and become more eye-sore than icon? The clean design and crisp untreated wood can make an impact immediately after you’ve assembled the flat pack wonder step. But after a few years of being used a night stand, dining chair, stepladder, painting stool, saw horse and door stop, it was time for a refresh.

Even though he’d already gotten plenty of use out of this dilapidated dresser (he’s had it since high school), Chris knew this baby had some life left. He says, “it was just asking to be redone.” From Chris: It’s a pretty heavy dresser so getting it out of the house was its own project. I bought some paint stripper, a scraper, sand paper and some Golden Oak wood stain. It was surprisingly easy to strip and I was amazed at the quality of the wood.

Project by: Harmony Weihs of designHARMONY Location: Bothell, Washington What to do when your living room is full of LEGO in plastic containers, slowly taking over your home? You get in touch with a designer who can give you both a great designed space and plenty of room for your LEGO! From the designer: We walked into this house on our first visit to find rooms and rooms and containers and containers of LEGOS.

We never tire of tiny powder rooms that get a dose of bold style from DIY pattern, and this room is no different! What started out actually as a larger room became smaller when more space was needed for another part of the house. But any deficit of space isn’t missed one bit with the exciting makeover these creative folks gave the room! From Joanie and LinMara: We had a dysfunctional bathroom with a shower we did not need. We converted that bathroom into a tiny, narrow powder room.

You might remember Lauren’s style from her bedroom before and after; she turned a kind of boring bedroom into an exciting nautical and rustic-themed retreat. Well she’s back on a smaller scale, infusing some serious fun into an inherited desk from the in-laws. From Lauren: This past summer, I made over a roll-top desk we inherited from my in-laws…and it’s my new favorite project!

A white wall can be quite the inspiring canvas for interesting or even a little crazy ideas. Shehzeen had one of those ideas, and though her husband was a little dubious, after she finished DIYing a statement wall in their bedroom, there’s no doubt it was a brilliant — and easy-to-do — idea! From Shehzeen: When I moved into my current apartment, I immediately knew I wanted a statement wall for my bedroom and everything else could happen around it. So I painted it. Hated it.

Sometimes snooping pays off, at least it did for Breanna. She scored this beauty at a garage sale while investigating some odds and ends that weren’t yet pulled out for display. That’s one way to get first dibs! It was pretty cute to begin with but just wait until you see how Breanna jazzed up this darling dresser.

Leslie found this 1970’s Henredon Alvarado dresser at a thrift store. It was in perfect condition except for the “scraped, scratched, speckled yellow-brown sticky finish with the super-ugly, chunky pulls.” No problem, she could fix that. From Leslie: It was a lot of work to update it, removing the gummy old finish, filling the old pull holes (18), and sanding carefully. I used an edgy eggplant color I mixed myself, with a satin topcoat.

The best before & after projects are those that you will never guess in a million years what they’ll look like. Alex from Northstory completely changes the form and function of these two thrift shop mirrors into a fresh, modern and Scandinavian-inspired planter. Check out the reveal: Totally fabulous and unexpected, right? It takes a special eye and talent to visualize this when spotting those mirrors amongst the junk.

Lynn tells us that everyone thought she was crazy to purchase this gold velvet sofa. Lucky for her (and us!) she could see a diamond in the rough. From Lynn: First we cleaned up the arms, all is took was a little elbow grease and some touch up paint and the wood and resin arms look fantastic. Next, upholstery….I decided to use a hardy linen-looking cotton blend in oatmeal. A busy fabric would take away from the overall elegance of the arms and the lines of the sofa!

Six months after moving into their home, Jill and her husband were ready to tackle the kitchen remodel. The plan: IKEA cabinets and appliances, moving the cooktop, and adding bold tile. The result perfectly embodies the “cozy modern” style they love. As with all remodels there were a few bumps in the road—namely the project took about twice as long as they’d anticipated—but they got their dream kitchen when all was said and done.

It takes a healthy dose of vision to look at this peeling cabinet and picture the chic, modern piece it would eventually become. But Reeves seems to be just that visionary. Take a look at her masterpiece. From Reeves: This piece took a lot of prep work up front before I was ever able to get to painting. The mustard paint it had was so easy to scratch off so just putting more paint over it would do no good. I sanded almost all of the paint off, cleaned the piece, and spray primed it.

Sometimes when faced with a very outdated room, say like a kitchen, your first instinct could be to pour a lot of money into it to try to bring it back into the present day. But as Sabrina proves with this simple and subtle redesign, you can make a big impact on the look of a space with very small but potent changes (and only a bit of money). From Sabrina: Believe it or not, I bought this home at an estate auction, and these people were looking at it as well.

We LOVE when folks take something pretty forgotten and with a little work, turn it into something unforgettable. That’s what Susan did with this beat-up and battered old bar cart. Twenty dollars and a makeover later, and she now has a pretty, golden bar cart! From Susan: This battered old cart was hanging out in my basement. After emptying its contents at a garage sale, I decided to give it new life, since I loved the style of the wire side pieces.

This spring I won all new Moen fixtures for our bathroom. When it came time to install them, I realized they were too nice for our outdated bathroom, so the makeover began. We didn’t have the budget for a remodel, so all the major parts of the bathroom stayed intact. Sometimes a makeover has just as big of an impact as a remodel — for much less money! Everything in the room was DIY’d from top to bottom!

Nicole found this frumpy side table on craigslist for “almost free” and wanted to use it in her bedroom. But first it needed a spruce up and boy did it get one. From Nicole: Since the entire piece was made from plywood, the drawer front was replaced with 1/4 wood veneer for a nice wood accent that would match the new legs that were attached. Both the new drawer front and legs were stained with danish oil.

Jessica bought this dresser four years ago, as a college student. At the time, the entire dresser was painted green and naturally distressed (or “beat to death,” according to her mother) and worked with the shabby chic trend of the moment. After tons of elbow grease, it’s still chic but not so shabby. From Jessica: A couple months ago I finally decided to tackle the refinishing project. (The before picture is actually more of an in process picture, oops!

David told us this project was six months in the making, even through “most of it was procrastination.” We’re glad he finally got around to it because this is one unexpectedly cool stair upgrade. From David: We started with plain, light wood stairs. We wanted a dark, near black color to match our cast iron, gas fireplace on the other side of the room.

Anna’s craigslist chair makeover comes with a warning: “This was my first time ever reupholstering a piece of furniture, and BOY was it a lot more time consuming than I realized!” But worth it, Anna. So so worth it. From Anna: I don’t even know how many hours I put into this chair–not to mention the definite blood, sweat, and even a few tears.

Having a whole closet right by your front door is amazing for storage if you’re a family with kids, but not if that closet comes with big outdated mirrored doors that don’t work well and don’t allow you to see what’s actually in the closet. Jen got to work, transforming this old closet into a very stylish — but most importantly functional — welcoming storage spot for her family. From Jen: This all started because this closet was not working for us.

How do you take a plain, bulky cabinet and turn it into a complete show-stopper? If you’re Miruna, you go the opposite of subtle. A few bold materials, an interesting pattern and this dresser gets quite the makeover! From Miruna: I’ve been wanting to use black chalk paint for a while, but could not find the right piece of furniture to stand up to the challenge. When I found this dresser online I was not very sure what to do with it, but I knew I loved it. So I bought it.

Melissa’s living room wasn’t bad looking — it had perfectly functional, traditional-styled furniture and a lot of natural light. But it didn’t fit her or her husband’s style. So they worked together to come up with a look that would! From Melissa: My husband (lover of mid-century modern) and myself (a lover of modern, chic style) met in the middle and co-designed our space together.

Jordan and her growing family were looking for a home, but knew with San Francisco’s high prices they would probably have to settle for a home that didn’t quite match their dreams. Even though friends warned her of the high prices of renovating, discounts were searched for and they did a lot of work themselves. From Jordan: My husband and I recently bought our first home together in San Francisco. We wanted a large home that had space for our growing family.

June’s fireplace had some dated features like fake wood and weird Victorian-esque floral tiles. She would have loved to replace the whole thing with her dream of a wood burning fireplace, but she didn’t have the budget for it right now. So she got creative and made the fireplace over with some paint, stencils and style! From June: I was fed up with my dated fireplace…the fake wood surround and the horrid quasi-Victorian tiles from the 80s made me cringe!

Chelsey found this old card catalogue in the dumpster. She could see how much stripping and sanding work there was to do, so she kept putting off the project. Now that we’ve seen the results, we can’t believe she waited so long. From Chelsey: There were layers of chipping black paint over high gloss stained oak and missing drawer pulls. I scraped, sanded, and added legs.

Sone found this vintage Basset dresser at a magical-sounding place called the Mid-Century Furniture Warehouse. It needed some TLC but she was up for the challenge. From Sone: The original veneer on the top and sides needed a little TLC, but it was the perfect size and the exact statement piece we were looking for. Once we got it home I knew immediately that it needed to be brightened up. However, I didn’t want to cover up all of the walnut, just mask the imperfections.

Chyann calls herself, “the ultimate garbage lover” so when she found this little gem in the trash she took it home for a little dose of love. From Chyann: Upon closer inspection I saw that it needed a good sanding and a paint job, but otherwise, it had great potential. A few coats of spray paint, a new shelf, and a couple of wine racks later, it was almost unrecognizable! Cheers to finding garbage gems! Thank you Chyann!

Diana and her husband love their recently updated kitchen but it made their living room pale in comparison. So these self-proclaimed DIY-ers got to work sprucing up this space on a budget that was based on what the old on-their-way-out items could be sold for… From Diana: My living room is constantly changing but I don’t buy out of my budget. I sell what needs to be gone and with that money I buy the new things I need.

There are a select few of lucky folks out there who get to live in authentic converted lofts full of character— and then there’s everyone else. Even if you live in a suburban home, you can still infuse your space with the feeling of wood beams, cement floors and exposed brick walls. It’s true! This amazing transformation by Shannon from AKA Design + Life is proof. She turned this simple space into a brick wall full of character that could pass for any cool downtown coffee shop.

Alicia and her husband are always looking for ways to spruce up their apartment without painting or damaging the walls. This quick solution cost them just 10 bucks and zero wall holes to spackle later. Lovely! We’re making mental notes about this temporary decor. From Alicia: We came up with the idea of adding a vinyl wall above our mantle and love how it turned out! Ten dollars later and zero damage done to the apartment, we love the difference this made to our living room!

It’s never easy trying to create a beautiful space that reflects your personality when you don’t have a big budget, but it’s even harder when you’ve got two people’s tastes in the mix. Chelsea and her boyfriend managed to style a bedroom using only DIY projects, hand-me-down furniture and vintage finds that is a combination of both their tastes.

You know we’re big fans of furniture transformations that look totally different after getting a DIY makeover. This old dresser turned modern media stand is a great example of how a few small changes can make a big impact on the way a furniture piece looks! From Kala: My parents bought me this dresser as part of a bedroom set when I was 15 and I’ve held onto it because of its solid make (its gone through eight+ moves with me!).

While renovating an over 100-year-old Victorian sounds like fun, it’s also a lot of work, which is why Lilly and her husband are tackling this home project room by room. They decided to fix this room up so they could use it as a bedroom while they makeover the master bedroom, but they love the finished result so much they might keep sleeping in here! From Lilly: For years my husband and I used this room as a spare bedroom/storage space.

This sofa has seen better days. Honestly, it takes a lot of vision to think it’s got any potential! Tinca took this sofa home and changed it for the better — plus made it ultra functional for a home that happens to house pretty cute pets. From Tinca: Maybe we found this old sofa on a curb and then dragged it inside or maybe we didn’t. 🙂 But we did decide to give it a complete overhaul. Originally this was a sofa bed you could stretch out.

Tom and Alison had “grungy greige dust-mite-infested allergy-inducing wall-to-wall carpet” in their 90-year-old rental so they took a big risk and pulled it up (with landlord permission of course). The beautiful wood was in great condition except for this one spot, so they found a unique (not to mention genius) way to enjoy their new floors, rot-free.

Miriam found this beat up dresser on Craigslist for free (she says, “I love free!”) and without any spending guilt she was able to get really creative and take a risk on this one. She gave this dresser some Colorado pride! From Miriam: I decided to paint the Colorado state flag on this four drawer dresser. Here in Colorado EVERYONE sports the flag in some way: clothing, bumper stickers, hats. I thought a dresser would be cool to do.

After looking at hundreds of different properties over the course of ten months (and losing bids on eight other places), Allison and Jovito finally found their dream home: a 100-year-old brick row house in Brooklyn’s Ocean Parkway neighborhood. They loved the house’s character and classic feel, but going into the purchase, they knew the home was in need of some serious TLC.

When your tiny power room, closet, bedroom whatever starts to feel too boring and you want a change, you’ll want to come back to this easy before and after project for inspiration on how to do dramatic right. And how to do it all without spending a lot of money with a simple secret.

Are you a renter looking for something to add uniqueness, personality and texture to a wall without damaging your home (so you can get your security deposit back)? We love the idea Alicia and her husband tried out in their bedroom — and it’s something any renter could do in a few hours on the weekend! From Alicia: We bought pre-painted white wood, made a few cuts with the miter saw and actually used hot glue to make the diamonds!

Looking for inspiration on how a simple step — a tiny application of a surprising material, for instance — can dramatically upgrade the look of a tired piece of furniture you might already have? Then you’ll appreciate the do-this-in-a-weekend amount of work that Elly put into this old wooden piano stool. From Elly: When I moved out at the start of the year, I inherited this unwanted piano stool.

Chelsea had already made one enhancement to her Ektorp Jennylund chairs from IKEA (the cute pom-pom fringe she added to the bottom), but what she really wanted was chairs with a more Mid Century Modern vibe. She looked for super cheap steals on Cragislist…and struck out. She researched new slipcovers to buy…but they, too, were out of her budget. Finally, she resigned herself to tackling them as a DIY makeover.

Brittany loves vintage furnitures so much that she says, “I’m pretty sure it could be classified as hoarding.” She held on to this chair for five whole years, but it was definitely worth the wait. From Brittany: After moving from Alabama to LA, I had to pare down and decide which pieces I could fit into my tiny apartment and this chair made the cut. I absolutely love the shape of the chair and even the old paint job but the fabric had to go.

Rachel loved the “clean lines” of these chairs. Clean lines indeed! She took these super pared-down frames and added just enough to make them sing once again. From Rachel: After taking the chairs and cushions down to their raw materials, I started from the beginning. I had the metal powder-coated in a bright red and completely rebuilt the cushions in a neutral grey textured fabric. I added black accent feet and brass hardware for a finishing touch.

Shehzeen tells us, “I love a home with personality. If I had all the time in the world, I’d probably even make all the furniture for my house (I could be in need of therapy).” We feel you, Shehzeen. Just look at what this crafty lady did with these blank walls.

The refresh of this little shelf shows off the power of small changes. Odile recently moved to a new home and while searching for new furniture came across this piece at a local thrift shop for 40 bucks. 40 minutes (and one long journey with a borrowed cart) later, Odile had it safely home. Subtle yet powerful changes just makes this whole project a win in our book.

Emily called it “love at first sight” when she found this upholstered chair at a flea market. She’d been in the market for a new desk chair that she could fix up. Just what did she do with it? (Hint: those tools seem to be Emily’s favorite color). So fun! Emily needed to add some color to her all-white office so she really went all out. And that is one professional-looking reupholstery job.

We love a good rescue and that’s exactly what John gave this Heywood Wakefield Gateleg table. His journey included Craigslist, ebay, lots of research and even more elbow grease but his results will blow you away. From John: I had been wanting one of these tables for a long time. They’re not so rare that you can’t find them, but in nice condition, they can be over $800. I found this one on Craigslist listed at $250.