When Jenna and her family moved into their house three years ago, they loved the layout and bones of the space, but they desperately wanted to liven up the chilly room with some much needed color. We’d say they accomplished their goal. What a stylish and inviting space. We absolutely love the subtle colorblocking — it adds so much interest to an otherwise neutral palette. They offset the color with crisp white trim and chose to redo the floor with luxury vinyl tile.

When Steve and Sherrie moved in to their new home, the dark kitchen was in need of a facelift. The appliances were new and the cabinets were in good shape, but they knew they could turn the rest of this dim log cabin kitchen into a bright and happy place. Amazing work! We especially love how they managed to keep the cozy vibe of the log cabin while making the kitchen so much more modern and user friendly.

Jackie found this gorgeous, but slightly beat up credenza at her local Goodwill for only $20. It had great, clean lines and she fell in love with the amazing details on the doors, so she snatched it up and made it her own. Looks like all members of the family (including dogs) love it! From Jackie: I used a hand sander to remove all the old layers of paint off of the top.

Clever Christa recognized that this consignment shop loveseat had great bones, but it still needed some major…eerr…love, so she got right to work reinventing. Not only did she choose this bold, Indian-inspired chintz but she also smartly turned the disjointed double seat into one cohesive cushion.

Well, color us intrigued. Lettie couldn’t pass up the DIY potential of this brown, vinyl chair (especially for $4.99), but knew she needed to make one big change. Brave Lettie spray painted the chair a lovely light blue. Spray paint! Who knew? From Lettie: I painted a primer coat using a Rustoleum white primer and let it dry over night. I then gave it a good coat of Valspar’s Silver Fox and also let it dry over night. I left the legs of the chair as is.

Kris’ apartment in Brixton is an LA style bungalow bang in the middle of downtown South London. Kris renovated it to sell, and, after seeing the after pics, we can see why it was such a hot commodity. What a difference! We’re especially loving the new, glowy flooring and bright, white open feeling. From Kris: The goal was to bring the space to life. It was an old bungalow with no light or life.

Due to some rowdy cats, Lizzie was in need of a new slipcover for her IKEA Kivik loveseat and chaise. Instead of shelling out close to 200 smackers, she decided to try a different route: dyeing. She began with a plain white IKEA slipcover ($50), and took a chance on a bathtub dye job since she doesn’t have a washer. To give the back cusions some definition and polish, she decided on tufting (so smart!).

99% of the time, a great-but-rundown piece of furniture inspires a before & after project, but color-lover Gretchen was so obsessed with Martha Stewart’s “Plumage” paint that she was plotting this makeover long before she came across this project-ready, thrift store cabinet. Wow! That bold blue against the tile floor is just perfection. How’d she pull it off? From Gretchen: See more at Boxy Colonial. Thank you Gretchen!

Derona had been putting off painting her fireplace wall for ages and we’re so glad she got around to it. The simple change made a dramatic difference you have to see to believe. From Derona: When the post Style Inspiration: Dressing Up Your Mantel, was published on this very site featuring a fireplace wall that was painted black, I took it as a sign and, after being encouraged by a fellow commenter on the piece, I headed to the DIY store.

Kate was decorating a forest themed bedroom for her son, so she began (where else?) at the woodpile. Step 1: “scream at creepy-crawlies.” After selecting her log, she let it dry in the sun for several days and then got to work sanding, sanding and more sanding until it was smooth. The final step was a coat of wax to give it a nice glow. See more at Kate’s Creative Space. Thank you Kate!

Leslie found this neglected 1960’s hutch in a thrift store — shoved in a corner and piled with stuff. She could see its potential — how well made it was but she didn’t like the dull brown wood. Says Leslie, “Colors are my thing, and I could see this fantastic piece could use some cheering up.” Wow! Cheerful, indeed. Leslie’s color-blocking choices sure aren’t for the faint of heart. She’s proven herself a true color-lover.

Jamie took one look at this plain lamp and imagined a world where it was a cool, woven statement piece. Want to see how this creative chica did it? Jamie says: Balsa wood is a crafting miracle. That’s pretty much all you need for this shady craft. I used 7 strips of balsa wood and painted them with in different shades of watered down brown acrylic paint. I cut the wood with scissors and hot glued it to my plain white shade. It’s that easy! See more DIY goodness at C.R.A.F.T.

Irina had a few extra things taking up space in her garden so she found a way to transform a boring brown shed, an old bed and an IKEA side table into a wonderful surprise for her daughters. She gave the inside of the shed a coat of white paint and made the side table into an adorable play kitchen by adding silver coasters and knobs. The bed frame transformed into a comfy bench for playroom naps or lounging.

Mia’s kids scribbled on her microfiber sofa with an extra-strong, “rub a dub” Sharpie which is marketed as, “stays permanent through washing and dry cleaning.” But instead of getting mad (well, she was probably a little mad), she found an easy way to hide the marks, while including a clever nod to the makeover’s inspiration. From smudged scribbles to lyrical script! Now, it looks like a glam accent rather than a messy accident.

This space-starved NYC couple is practical about their design choices so when the time came to furnish their first nursery (congrats!), they were horrified at the choice in baby furniture — most of it was insanely expensive and huge. But thanks to some lucky thrifting, great directions from Honey And Fitz and a very handy husband, Alison got the perfect, customized rocker on the cheap!

It was time for Danielle to update her 2-year-old son’s space from baby blue nursery to little boys room. She found this dark brown laminate nightstand on Craigslist for just $10, and knew it had serious potential. She painted the entire surface with Martha Stewart’s Driftwood Gray then used painter’s tape to add the adorable white stripes. Danielle says: I normally remove the old dated hardware when refinishing furniture. But I loved these handles.

Maria in Argentina tells us that she recently started restoring furniture, but based on her skills with this slipper chair, we’re wondering if there’s a bit of a language barrier. Did you mean, “I’m a reupholstery genius,” Maria? That’s one sexy slipper! We love the neutral yet textured fabric Maria chose. From Maria: It’s exciting to undress and dress furniture. I like reaching the bones, the roots of a piece.

Rafal bought and moved into this 1925 house in the spring and, while it was structurally sound, it needed a cosmetic overhaul to really add some curb appeal. From Rafal: I really wanted to clean up the appearance, so we ripped out the old windows and doors and repaired and repainted the stucco and trim. The colour palette chosen ended up with a neutral warm-gray, bright-white trim, and finally accented by a punch of burnt orange for the door.

When Paul and Erin found this antique armoire on Craigslist, they knew they had to save it from its current state of Shabby Chic hell. And rescue it they did. From Paul: Shabby Chic is all the rage, take a beautiful piece of antique furniture and slather it in latex paint, then rub some of that paint off to make it look antique. In other words, take something that looks like an antique, cover up all the real signs of age and then make it artificially look antique. Still not make sense?

Plenty of people redo old furniture to give it a second life but most of them don’t transform their former changing tables into super-chic, almost unrecognizable pieces. Claire did. From Claire: This particular DIY dresser makeover project is extra special. It’s a very common pine dresser; you’ve probably seen a million of ‘em. I have too. But this particular dresser was my childhood changing table.

Mary’s brother made this TV stand for his 8th grade shop project in 1983, and her mother’s been using it ever since. Looks like it’s ready for the next 30 years! From Mary: My mom asked me to paint it for her but wasn’t specific on the color, she trusted me to pick it out. Since her favorite color is yellow, I chose this bright and cheery shade. I also bought new hardware with an oil rubbed bronze finish and added a shelf inside to store her books and magazines.

Merrill loves the organic, natural look of tree stumps as end tables, but doesn’t love the price: individual tree stumps can cost hundreds of dollars. Luckily crafty Marril decided she could pull this off on her own. From Merrill: After tracking down some free tree stumps in good condition, the rest was a simple process. The bark was ripped off with a hammer and chisel and the stumps were sanded. Four coats of polyurethane were applied to finish them.

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

Laurel originally purchased this tall IKEA cabinet as a storage solution to be tucked away out of sight; but after a move, she needed it out in the open. So she endeavored to make this big brown box into something that she’d want to look at! From Laurel: I had discovered a seller on eBay, Victoria_larsen_stencils, that sold stencils designed not to be used with paint, but with joint compound.

Happy Halloween Eames lovers, get ready to jump out of your skin. Denny happened upon this Eames DCW chair at an abandoned house in his neighborhood so he took it home and gave it a makeover you won’t soon forget. Boo! Okay purists, before your hearts stop, let’s hear what Denny has to say: The chair was damaged, the lamination was separating in the seat and there were water stains down the legs.

When Chelsea came across this vintage dresser, she knew right away that it was destined to become a fixture in her home. The dresser was in rough shape but after a little bit of rehab and a lot of wood putty, she’s proud to show off her creation. From Chelsea: The mint color is Lowe’s Olympic Paints Sweet Pea and it’s the perfect shade of true mint green.

Leslie loves all things 1960’s so when she saw this 1965 Henredon sofa at a thrift store, she had to have it. From Leslie: I could not find an affordable icy blue velvet to redo the sofa in (fabric was discolored with age and faded in spots), but I did find this amazing black swirly velvet-like fabric that gives it so much interest. And such comfort! My upholsterer did a perfect job, reusing all of the original padding because it was in amazingly good condition.

When Lara’s family bought their 1949 custom cape, the previous owners had lived there for 50 years and done virtually no upgrades. Says Lara, “The kitchen required so much work it was almost paralyzing.” The yellow wood cabinets were warped, the formica counters were peeling, the tile was troubling and the lack of workspace unworkable. Nonetheless, she knocked it into the 21st century.

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

A lot can happen in 100 years. Things like the road in front of your Seattle home gets really busy and dangerous. So Courtney came up with a pretty genius solution. She gave her home the ‘ole flip-flop, making the back, the front! Says Courtney: We tried to respect the architecture and make it look as though our “new front entrance” was the original entrance. We also re-landscaped and redesigned the flow of the outdoor spaces as a part of the effort.

Usha was attempting her first upholstery project and wanted a cheap-o chair in case it went horribly, horribly wrong. She found this armchair on Ebay for £12.50 and got to work. Wow! What a feat for a first-time upholsterer. From Usha: It took me a week to strip the old upholstery (and all those staples!), a further week to plan the project and alter the curved shape of the wings and arms to give the chair more modern lines and more than four weeks to complete the upholstery.

Megan fell hard for a semi-circular, midcentury tufted sofa she spotted at her local coffee shop but when she tracked down the source, the retail price was an unfathomable sum, only slightly less than the down payment on her house. Yikes! Once again Craigslist saves the day.