Home Projects

If there’s one thing Small Cool month reminds us, it’s that even a small space can pack a dramatic punch. Beth Beattie, who owns a PR, branding, and event planning business, tackled her tiny office transformation on a tight budget without sacrificing high style.After!Beth’s aim was to create a space that was comfortable and feminine with just the right amount of glam.

When my friend Rachel was given this chair — a secondhand hand-me-down from her sister — she was able to look past the ratty old upholstery and worn frame and see its true potential. With a little paint and new upholstery, the chair looks brand new.Says Rachel of the chair makeover: “I got this chair as a secondhand hand-me-down. My sister gave it to me after she had been given it from her older, quirky neighbor who she calls “Mr.

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.

Getting the most out of a small bedroom closet can be a challenge in spatial recognition akin to playing a game of Tetris. So what if you discovered that you could expand your small closet to create a big, walk-in with enough room for even the most avid shoe buyer’s collection?I am stuck with one small closet that I share with my husband so when I saw this post detailing the expansion of a closet over at Life in the Fun Lane I was insanely jealous!

When I saw this lonely little luggage rack pushed to the back of a Salvation Army store, I felt sorry for it. Unloved and discarded by its former owner, I could see past its current beat up and water stained condition and to the gorgeous little thing it could become. Under my tender loving hands, this luggage rack has been granted a new lease on life.The quickest way to modernize this luggage rack was to spray paint it.

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.

How do you revive a dark and dated room without completely eliminating its original character? I gleaned quite a few ideas from the 2011 DC Design House where some of my favorite DC designers brought fresh sophistication to their spaces by simplifying and lightening — perfect inspiration for spring!• 1-3: The Pool Room: Erin Paige Pitts Erin was charged with the task of making the rather gloomy pool room into a functional and inspiring retreat.

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!

Ah the power of a few coats of paint! This little side table looks like it’s way past its prime but with a little elbow grease, sanding, and a fun new paint color, it is transformed!The sunny yellow paint color transformed this table from a scarred old relic to a shiny new treasure!Denese at Plum Life blogged about this table makeover. The table itself has been in Denese’s possession for some time, hence its well used appearance in the before photo.

Closets are often the spaces that get neglected in even the most stylish and organized of homes. As I get ready to start my spring cleaning, I’m pulling some inspiration from Sara’s coat closet transformation.After seeing what Sara over at Russet Street Reno did with paint and an old vegetable bin, I’m not surprised to see that she was able to transform her coat closet from plain to cute with a just a little color.

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.

Faced with two sets of mismatched cabinets in her otherwise dreamy kitchen, Alana decided to paint the lower deck of cabinetry to complement the upper deck. After a lengthy color selection process, Alana dived into the project and the results are gorgeous!The upper deck cabinets in Alana’s kitchen are the vintage windowpane variety that were original to her bungalow — but the lower cabinets are all new.

After living with this bedroom for awhile, AJ decided it was a little drab. He started the room’s makeover by changing out the bedding and it all went fabulous from there…AJ blogged about his recent bedroom update at Handjobs (For the Home). The overhaul has been an ongoing process. AJ started with a new bedspread, which went a long way in improving the room. But he didn’t stop there.

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.

When I posted How To Make a Block Print Rug Using a Welcome Mat, I promised a full reveal of my den’s before and after, and while ideally there are a few tweaks I’d still like to make, here it is. Since our budget was virtually non-existent — as in free— everything in it was borrowed from another room, salvaged, handmade, or secondhand.Ideally, we’d like to redo the addition where this room is housed.

Craigslist finds are what I live for. And this cowhide was one heck of a bargain. Except that the smaller ends keep curling up and I trip over them. I tried taping them down to the floor, I tried rearranging the cowhide so that the curling bits were under the sofa. Until I found out the easiest way to tame a curling cowhide.What You NeedMaterials:Cowhide2 rags (for absorbing water)pile of heavy booksspray bottlewater Instructions1. Lightly spray the top and underneath of the cowhide with water.

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.

This is the tiny guest room at the end of the hallway in my house. It started off as an ugly room with paneling and a paint job that was old and worn. It sorely needed a new coat of paint, and since I didn’t love the room to begin with, I felt brave enough to do something bold:The room is seriously small – it really only fits a full size bed. Remembering that small rooms really can go dark, I took the plunge.

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.

Last month I wrote about how my dog’s New Year’s resolution was to ditch the dog food and start on the ‘woodchip’ diet. After she chewed through all of our windowsills, the AT community was wonderful in helping me figure out the best way to fix it! My husband took a reader’s advice and used wood epoxy, in this case J-B Weld KwikWood Epoxy Putty. See the step-by-step results below. First, he removed any splinters and lightly sanded the damaged and surrounding area.

You know the pair of built-in dresser drawers in my master bedroom? Well, there’s a smaller second bedroom that has just one set of drawers on the left side of a similar dormer window. On the opposite side of the dormer, there used to be just a blank wall. It was a blank slate, an opportunity to install a partner to the dresser:My husband and I came up with a shelf design as a complement to the dresser.

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!

I know there are those among you for whom the classic pink-tiled bathroom is a national treasure worth saving at any cost. And while I admire your commitment to preservation and in theory agree with you, in practice I know better — six years ago I bought a pre-War apartment with two pink tiled bathrooms and that turned out to be two too many for me.

Many of us have often stared at the pages of magazines, wishing we could have a designer look on a dime. Those that actually make that dream come true are usually willing to roll up their sleeves and do things themselves. When it comes to this bedroom that couldn’t be more true — the new look includes an amazing handmade ruffled duvet cover, headboard and more!Over at Kiki Creates, there’s been some action in the bedroom (hubba hubba!

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.

If you’ve ever been told that installing a ceiling fan is a great way to keep cooling costs down, you ought to keep that friend close because they’re exactly right. But if you buy the wrong size ceiling fan, or install it too close to the ceiling or walls, you could be counteracting all of the good work your fan should do for you.SizeThe size of a fan probably has the most effect on how well it cools down your room.

Late last year, Edgaroso shared his “Brave Bathroom Renovation” with Apartment Therapy. Well, he’s back with another room makeover in the small home he inherited from his grandmother — this time he tackled the sweetly retro kitchen on a truly miniscule budget.

Remember when we discussed whether or not it’s OK to close off air vents to unused rooms? The answer was that, yeah, it’s OK to do—in moderation. But do you know the most effective way to close off those air vents? Here’s a quick trick that will have your vent sealed up in no time—all you need to do is make a trip to the craft store.Think you need a screwdriver or super-tiny fingers to shut down your extra, extra bedroom for the winter? Nope.

Unless you drop your china and it shatters into a million pieces (which is usually my luck), it probably only suffered a small crack from a fall or mishap. Instead of just waiting for the day it inevitably breaks for good, try giving it a milk bath. Yup, your china is getting a day at the spa!Curious about how it works? The idea is simple. You place your cracked piece in a pot and cover it with two cups of milk (or more if needed). Next, heat over low for an hour.

If you don’t subscribe to the “every little bit counts” idea for saving money and living green, we suggest you turn away now. This tip is going to have such a small dent in your monthly hot water bills that it almost won’t seem worth it. In fact, we wouldn’t even suggest it to you—but it is so. incredibly. easy. to do.

Cold weather is right around the corner and that means the grill will be getting a lot less use. If, like me, you don’t have any place other than the balcony to store the grill over the winter months why not make a DIY cover for it? Oilcloth, which is available in an impressive array of patterns and colors, will make a cute little hideaway for your grill while it’s not in use. And with this how-to, you’ll have it together in no time!

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.

We can install our own surround sound and hack wires to do what we need, but somehow, the microwave still eludes us. Yes, our microwave has a “beverage” button. No, we don’t know exactly what it does. Instead of living life in the dark, we wanted to find out exactly what all those crazy microwave settings are designed to do.If you’re equally confused by your own microwave, the first step is going to be reading the manual.

(Welcome to New York Times readers! We’re republishing this project described in “Expanding the Creative Horizons of Your Printer” by Sonia Zjawinski – enjoy!) We love to integrate books into our decor, but does your child have favorite books that aren’t quite in display condition? Beat up paperbacks can easily be turned into custom hardbacks with some scrap cardboard, fabric, a gluestick, and an inkjet printer.

During this post-Labor Day week, I can sense autumn creeping into the picture. While I’m sad to see summer come to a close, there is one advantage to the impending change of season. It will soon be time to remove the air conditioners and reclaim the windows! Here are a few tips for storing an air conditioner in the off season: After removing your air conditioner, take the time to clean it before you stick it in storage. Remove the filter and clean it in warm, soapy water.

Life lessons happen less frequently as you get older. After years of getting to know the ins and outs of the world, you find you’re a pro at life—navigating your once-foreign city with ease and troubleshooting the office coffee maker. Yeah, yeah. But you’re probably still loading the dishwasher wrong. Sorry. Don’t feel bad. There’s a reason these are 8 common dishwasher mistakes.

Designer: Jen ChuClient: ChiLocation: Fort Greene — Brooklyn, New York My friend, Chi, grew up in this room. She moved out for college, and when she came back, the room seemed to need a face lift more than ever. The dingy paint with the poor lighting made the room unbearably drab. The lack of storage made it impossible to maintain a tidy space. Fortunately, her room had great bones with plenty of wall space and nice hardwood floors.

One of our tips for “How to Know When to Replace Your Dishwasher” was to check that your dishwasher is draining properly by looking out for water leftover after it runs a cycle. But the truth is, not all standing water is a bad sign. After a few awesome commenters asked about their own water woes, we’re here to help set the record straight.How much water should there be?Anywhere around 1 cup of water leftover after a cycle is normal.

If you’re a console gamer who’s fortunate enough to have the pleasure of owning a 27″ iMac, at one point or another you’ve probably leaned back in your swivel chair, taken a look at your massive screen, and wondered what it would be like to play some Modern Warfare 2 on that bad boy. Or perhaps you’re a college student/gamer moving into a tiny dorm room, looking for a way to save some space.

Being a writer by trade—with more than a few writer friends—we’ll often get caught in discussions about semantics. Things like whether it’s proper to say “done” or “finished,” for example. But recently we got caught up in an Unplggd-worthy battle of meaning: When you want it to be cooler, do you turn the air conditioner “up” or turn it “down?”You say po-TAY-to, I say po-TAH-to. You say turn it up, I say turn it down.

Today, we welcome the newest Unplggd contributor, Vivian Kim. Hailing from San Francisco, Vivian is a self-described “geek at heart”, gamer and musician with a love for tech and DIY. Please tell her what you think of her first post here at Unplggd!So you’ve had your Series 1 Bose SoundDock iPod speakers for a number of years–it still sounds great, and for being released in 2004, the design still manages to stand the test of time.

I’ve never been a fan of the bi-fold doors on our bedroom closet. My biggest complaint is that when the doors are open, as you see in the second photo, portions of the closet are almost inaccessible. And with two vain men sharing one small closet, we need all the space we can get! Rather than install new doors I decided to convert these bi-fold doors into swing-out doors.

Michael found a vintage Steelcase bench from the 60s and decided to replace the ripped vinyl upholsery — with Missoni! Michael chose a thoughtful mix of Missoni Kew and Missoni Claremont to totally transform and update the steel bench.Missoni upholstery-weight fabric is not cheap — but it elevated the bench to great heights!After purchasing the Missoni textiles from Amara, Michael hired a local upholsterer to do the magic.

Yesterday, we featured 5 Tips for Annual Air Conditioner Maintenance. It was a helpful article for anyone with central A/C, but Unplggd reader Amanda H pointed out that we completely neglected many small, cool dwellers with window or free-standing air conditioning units.Just like any other appliance in your place, the window A/C also needs tender love and care. Make sure to give it a thorough cleaning at least once a year:1. Wash the filter.

Although we’ve been hearing rumours that brass and bronze are back, many of us still prefer the clean cool look of silver. But, what if you fall in love with a bronze something? Now what? We found this tip that will turn your brass object into silver faster than you can say Abracadabra!According to this post we found on new blog The Modness (and Madness) of 9251, all it takes is a can of KleanStrip KS-3 Premium stripper.

Our Homies winner in the Kids at Home category, Meg of Whatever posted Before & After images of her kitchen remodel — and it’s a total transformation.The massive makeover took 3 months and involved tearing down a wall to transform a porch into an expanded family area of the new kitchen.You can see more pictures of the process Whatever | Before and After and see a great list of FAQ and resources from Meg in a follow up post Whatever | Questions.

While we were working with a client this week at their shop, we pretty much got locked in the bathroom. Yep, definitely a first! The doorknob came loose, wouldn’t catch the door release and 30 minutes and a non-emergency call to the fire department later, we now know some tips for handling this type of crazy situation.1) Try to stay calm. While it is quite a strange feeling to be stuck in a small space, relax and stay calm.

When we talk chalkboard paint here at Apartment Therapy, there are invariably those who voice that the trend has run its course. Do you agree?…If you do, and if you have the trend painted onto a surface in your own home, here’s how to paint over it: Clean the wall thoroughly and allow to dry fully. Use fine sandpaper to lightly sand the surface of the chalkboard paint. Pay particular attention to the edges, as chalkboard paint may sit higher than the rest of the paint on the wall.

We have a sort-of suspicion that, up close, these shelves — made out of actual shelf mushrooms — might be a bit too reminiscent of those clocks made from overly lacquered slices of logs, but this photo gives them such Alice in Wonderland appeal that we kind of love them anyway.

Hi! My husband and I just made a faux fireplace on our new loft. The top piece is sustainable salvaged maple from our local re-use shop. We cut it in half (going to make a coffee table out of the other piece) and stained it with a clear coat for protection.

Let’s just say the kitchen was not what attracted us to our new home. Country rooster decor was in abundance and so were peeling vinyl floor tiles, 80s lace valances, and honey-stained cabinetry — not exactly our dream kitchen. However, coming out of grad school, we weren’t really in a position for a total dream kitchen remodel, so we prioritized our list of essential updates, enlisted a handyman friend, and went to work…FIRST ROW• 1 Before & After views.

This is a small space DIY that’s clever, easy, and cheap. AT:SF reader Killorn wrote to us and told us how she turned an IKEA LACK shelf into under-bed storage. Before She says: I could not find a suitable storage bed in my budget that fit in the 64″ x 88″ alcove in my tiny apartment (450 sq. ft.), so I decided to build a plywood stage around a rolling LACK shelf to give the bed the appearance of a built-in.

Hanging frames on your wall can either be a walk in the park, or your worst nightmare (which depending on your nightmares, could be one in the same, but I digress). See how to hang frames with the dreaded “two hook” back, easily and on the first try after the jump.Hanging frames on the wall is relatively straight forward unless you are dealing with something tricky like plaster or concrete.

The handle broke off my toilet a few weeks ago, right at that time when it’s too late to go to the hardware store but too early to wait until the next day to fix it (my boyfriend and I are both night owls so are often up into the early morning.) Sticking our hands into the tank every time we needed to flush seemed . . . unappealing, so we rigged up a temporary solution that we happen to think is pretty great.

We’ve got a drawer full of unruly extensions cords that we’ve been trying to unsuccessfully keep in order with rubber bands and twist ties. While looking for cable management solutions, we found a tip about using a cardboard roll for cable storage and thought we’d give it a try…The version shown on Unclutter struck us as a fine idea, but it was missing a little something-something.

So the thing about living in a rental is that someone lived there before us. Someone lazy who did not tape off the hardware on the doors or remove it entirely before painting. We are a little frustrated by the fact that all the hardware is encrusted with paint and nothing works correctly. We go to the hardware store and we stare at the shelves and we wonder: which product will best remove the paint?

When we made the switch from a plain old mattress and box springs to a platform bed, we started to change the way we made our bed. Before we had a duvet, and now we prefer using layers of quilts and blankets, neatly tucked and folded under the mattress to show off the bed’s clean, low-slung lines. This image (of the Hubert Modern Platform Bed at TREOmodern) shows the way that layers of bedding in the same family of colors can create a “striped” effect.

Welcome again to Ann, one of the writers vying for a blogging position at the upcoming AT:Home Tech. Comment away. I love the moment on the decorating makeover shows when they bring out the 40″ LCD display and show how much more style-friendly it is than that clunky 50″ box-television that had been looming over everything. It gets even better when the display is cleverly hidden beneath a framed old master on hinges.

Product: The Monkey Hook picture hanger Designer: A Monkey & A Marketer Price: $11.25/30 hooks (10 original, 10 gorilla grade, 10 flush mount) Rating: Recommend* Like trying to reinvent the mousetrap, a product comes along every now and then that DOES make a significant improvement in an ancient field. The Monkey Hook is one of them. An ingenious and simple design, The Monkey Hook uses one rigid piece of wire to replace the need for a hammer, pin and hook.

Ever thought of making your own shades? If you’d like to know how to make rice paper shades, here’s how I do it. (Watch. Ask Questions. Have confidence. Curse me for making it look so easy…)I love these shades because they’re simple and organic and function well. They glow like Naguchi lamps. They work splendidly for our San Francisco Victorian or Bungalow tall, narrow, double hung windows (38″ wide max, unless you can find wider paper).