Furniture Before & Afters | DIY, Hacks & Restorations

The lessons learned here? New hardware can work wonders on old furniture, your nightstands don't have to match exactly (or at all!), and creating a custom stencil can be a great way to create a one-of-a-kind look.

This built-in project helps keep a family of five highly organized.

When one blogger found this chair at Goodwill, she could envision it in her daughters' bathroom — just without the red paint.

"I got this project done within a week of thinking of it because I was just so excited about it," this DIYer says. "It didn't take long at all to install. I did it all by myself with no help — that's how easy it was!"

For under $100!

Patching, painting, and sanding turned this crusty dresser into a modern showstopper.

For $180!

Nancy from Marcus Design took the Rast dresser from IKEA and DIY’d it into a Dorothy Draper-inspired Hollywood Regency accent piece for her bedroom. Check out her step-by-step instructions and try this at home! Nancy’s first step was to prime the surface of the dresser and spray it with two coats of black lacquer spray paint from RustOleum.

Anthropologie’s Ordinal Dresser is one popular piece of furniture — so much that this is the second dresser makeover we’ve seen based off of it. The first one was a low, six-drawer version, but this one will have you thinking twice about which dresser is the original, and which is the knock-off. It’s hard to believe, but the above dresser was made to look nearly identical to the Ordinal, all for only $30!

Almost two years ago, I wrote about reducing the visual noise of this glass-door bookcase I use for DVD storage. Though not ideal for this purpose, the piece has sentimental value because it belonged to a neighbor/surrogate grandmother who has since passed away. My original effort to reduce the visual noise using paper I had in the house was successful, but never really made my heart sing.Skip ahead to last month when I found this beautiful inspiration image from Elle Decor.

Here at Apartment Therapy, we love a good before & after. Although many of our before & afters feature down-on-their-luck furniture pieces rescued by enterprising DIYers, some of my favorites are the projects in which a whole room is transformed. Check out some of the best makeovers of 2013. TOP ROW: 1. Before and After: Bri Emery’s Living Room Makeover 2. Before After: From Boring Bedroom to Chic Shared Space 3. Before After: A Blank Wall Gets Shelved 4.

Renovations often produce dramatic results, but that doesn’t mean you need to rip out floors and knock out walls to make a statement. Let’s look at some of our favorite big, bold, and beautiful Big Reveal transformations, using just the power of paint and decor. Re-edited from a post originally published 9.27.

During Meredith Svoboda's final walk-through of her Nashville home, she photographed the dining room, "dreaming of the life I could bring to this room," she writes.

"There's nothing like that instant gratification feeling of completing a project like this over a weekend," this YouTuber and DIYer says of her two-day project.

These five spaces embrace eye-catching murals to give you just the inspiration you need. 

"We were in the process of renovating our whole bathroom and really wanted a wooden vanity, but the ones we liked were all out of our budget," this homeowner says. IKEA hack to the rescue!

"I love the classic look and the added closed storage," this DIYer says of her innovative railing swap.

From chair rail moulding to a custom headboard, this dreamy bedroom redo has tons of DIY projects to copy.

The eight-week challenge will help you start — and finish — the project you've been dreaming about.

A dresser in the kitchen?! This DIYer proves it's absolutely a good idea.

The end result looks like a much more expensive piece of furniture that would fit in with a ton of different home styles, from traditional to modern farmhouse.

The new scalloped shelving is a must-see!

What was old is new again.

This primary bedroom has luxe-looking details for less, thanks to some ambitious but well-executed DIY projects.