Home Projects

It even has Halloween decorations!

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.

After lighting struck their Texas home, Jeanne and Richard were forced to rebuild their kitchen from the studs. Rather than constructing a carbon copy of what had been lost, they decided to start anew celebrating their love for Danish Modern design and reminiscent of their parents’ open ranch-style homes.Armed with dozens of images for inspiration (including some from AT, which they discovered through their research!

A modern twist on a historic house.

Grab some Modge Podge and food coloring.

A homeowner with virtually no construction experience redoes her kitchen to suit her tastes.

Activated charcoal and aloe are the two darlings of the beauty world right now, showing up in drugstore products, high-end cleansers and DIY recipes alike. This homemade face mask recipe combines the two star ingredients into the simplest skin detox around. Remember those blackhead-removing strips that were so fun as a teen? Consider this their trendy, grown-up cousin. So, what is activated charcoal, anyway?

Old becomes new with these inspiring design tweaks.

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.

If you are anything like me, you often look at your living room and wonder when you are going to get around to making those updates you keep talking about. If that’s the case, let this roundup of Apartment Therapy’s makeover projects inspire you to take up the cause, even if it’s a little bit at a time. 1. Ferren and her husband started with the goal of brightening their space and spent the next year gradually replacing items with pieces that were more to their taste. 2.

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.

Zip ties are just one of those things that seem to have an infinite amount of uses. Obviously, they’re good for tying groups of things together, but that can mean so many things. Once you read these 11 uses for zip ties, you’re probably going to want to buy a huge stash to have on hand. You know how your shower drain only gets clogged on Monday mornings when you’re already running late for a meeting and didn’t shower all weekend?

Finally, you can go camping with your bed.

For $600!

B&W Nautilus speakers are legendary, both for their audio performance and their iconic cabinet shape. No surprise, audiophile loudspeakers like this are for rare and expensive, probably the reason IKEA Hacker, Damir Paco of Denmark, dreamt up a much more affordable DIY version using a trio of IKEA wood salad bowls and some BAREN clothes hooks…The inspiration? The Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus are fashioned after the beautiful marine creature with the logarithmic spiral shell.

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.

Do you have a piece of furniture in your home you love, but it’s just a little too “heavy?” We don’t mean weight-wise (though certainly, it could be heavy that way, too). We mean, visually heavy. A piece that feels like it takes up too much room. Like it knocks off the visual balance of a space. Here are five of the best tricks to visually lighten up a heavy furniture piece and still make it look great.

Living in a house (especially an older house) is a noisy business. Cabinet doors slam shut. Floorboards creak. Doors squeak on their hinges. What to do (besides moving) if you’re a person who loves peace and quiet? We’ve got a few ideas. Most American houses are made from wood, and over time, wood can expand and contract. Squeaky or creaky floors are caused by the wood subfloor separating from the joists beneath.

Now, it's historic AND bold. It sets the tone for the rest of the jewel-toned home.

They went from far-out to fantastic.

Mai’s pantry redo is a treat for the eyes — how many of us can relate to her “before” image? Standard wire shelving, jumbled up goods… essentially a dark hole in the wall that just gets the “keep the door closed” treatment. Come see this simple, refreshing makeover that will inspire you to tackle even the scariest of pantries!

TikTok saves the day again with this DIY art hack.

You can also hang it up on the wall.

apartmenttherappy.com chicago how-to how-to-make-an-ottoman-slipcover--085993> click thumbnails for larger picsProject: Ottoman SlipcoverTime: 2 1/2 hoursCost: $20.00 excluding extra set of legs No question about it, the little straw ottoman is already as cute as can be. It can however, go to work for you doing double, or even triple duty with help from a slipcover and a change of legs.

Long time readers may remember father and small space problem solver Jason who built his daughter Annabelle a stylish crib (above) to fit into a nook that was a few inches too small for a traditional crib. He took charge of his home and made it work for his family. As they all do, Annabelle grew up and was ready for a big girl bed. Here’s how Jason converted the crib into a toddler bed…and then back again when brother William joined the family!

Apple green plush or tweed linen? Each one gives a different lookIt’s true that even a simple change of fabric can change the look of a piece. Take this sofa, the Chet from CB2, which we’ve blogged before. In apple green velvet, the sofa reads nouveau 80s, modern and sleek. In linen, the look is softer and would easily fit in amongst the simple wood pieces we’ve been seeing a lot of.A good upholsterer can: change a straight arm to a rounded or flared arm.

This homeowner calls her kitchen reno's style "modern eclectic." Her tile, color, counter, and floor choices work great together.

Welcome to “The A Line”! In every episode of this new video series, we visit two homes that have an identical floorplan – and see how its inhabitants use the same space in different ways. Today we travel to Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, where two growing families struggle to adapt their space and make room for their changing lifestyles. Ana and her husband have two kids and have chosen to live in their space for a while before they decide what renovations to make.

This is a pearl of wisdom that I received years ago and wanted to bring back right now. When in need of a really simple, nice, natural material desk, use IKEA butcherblock countertop (which is cuttable, sandable, stainable and paintable) and some cool legs (like the Vika Inge style seen here, which has been replaced with Vika Runtorp).

Make a space that can do it all!

Get your floors Halloween ready.

“I think anyone can do a renovation like ours.”

The Parsons table is one where the square legs have the same width as the tabletop, regardless of its other dimensions. Its history is characterized by contradiction: created to be a simple canvas for exceptional materials, its design is simultaneously credited to the famous designer Jean-Michel Frank and to anonymous design students. But is the real story even more muddled?

When Laura Wilson of Velvet Sweatpants Interior Design and her fiancé purchased their 1959 home from the original owner, they knew the home needed a lot of love. They also knew they had their work cut out for them.

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.

We’ve raved about Tibet Almond Stick before — in fact, I first bought one after Maxwell posted about them in 2006. Until now though, I’ve always used mine on lighter wood, like oak. Yesterday, annoyed at all the scratches that have appeared on my dark finish coffee table, I decided to see if, as promised, the renowned stick could get them out, too . . .The Almond Stick is actually a cotton roll soaked in a “secret family formula.

Streamline your home’s energy usage wherever you can? It’s a no brainer, for both your personal finances and for the common good. Simply unplug the vampire appliances sucking you dry, make little tweaks to your mindset, and get your home up to snuff. Just a few little improvements can really bring your numbers down and increase savings over time. Assess Your Home’s Situation: Get a handle on your home’s energy use, and identify what’s needlessly using up resources.

Insects get antsy this season, bugging out over the warmer weather, and emerge from their winter hideouts eager for spring. You’re more apt to share space as they move around and seek out new homes for the season. Instead of warily eyeing them (bracing yourself for a sting or bite), stake your claim and prevent creepy crawlies from winning your turf war.

Spring cleaning is just around the corner. Rather than rallying the mental and physical energy to gather tools and make cleaners right before you start the actual cleaning, get everything ready to go beforehand and stored in the smart and sensible place. Having your supplies organized feels great and makes one less hurdle for you to climb before getting started.

"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.

Create your own autumnal-inspired centerpiece now that fall is finally in full swing.

Personalize your planner to work uniquely for you.

Revamping the exposed brick and the fireplace rescued this living room from its dark motel room roots.

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

Painting a large-scale indoor mural doesn't have to be so daunting. After all, it's only paint!

A little fabric can conceal a lot.

A Los Angeles couple concealed an eyesore using a clever find from IKEA.

Working with the big stuff that was already in place helped this savvy homeowner create her dream bathroom for a lot less.

You can build your own decorations using a little DIY spirit.

The before was nice, but the after? It's a real stunner.

"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!

According to a California real estate agent.

Make your home Halloween chic.

Here's an easy project renters and non-renters can do to spruce up a fireplace for fall.

The builder-grade espresso-shade is long gone from this now-cheery and cozy kitchen.

The house, which has a connection to the Salem witch trials, gets an update that preserves history but increases livability.

Whether by choice or by circumstance, living alone has a lot of advantages. But perhaps one of the most subtle yet saddest disadvantages is sometimes feeling lonely. And though occasional feelings of loneliness are natural, why feel lonely when you don’t have to? There are things you can do to create a home that repels loneliness when you live solo. This is the most important one in my opinion. I think you need to throw your curtains open every day. Let the light in.

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

And a Santa Monica meets Sussex vibe with the founder of Sweet Laurel Bakery!

Casual Halloween fans need not apply.

The "after" is perfect for an imaginative, color-loving kid — but adults will find inspo here, too.

This spooky, large-scale DIY can be done for under $120.

The after is cute and clutter-free thanks to a few DIYS. "In terms of design, think about two or three small changes that will make such a difference," this DIYer advises.

The "after" is a little airy, a little rustic, and very striking.

Almost everyone who has worked on a DIY or renovation project has applied too much torque and stripped a screw head clean. It can feel like a frustrating dead end, especially if you don’t have a specialized extractor kit on hand. But you might be able to remove a stripped screw using a very common household item probably already sitting in your desk or kitchen drawer.Ready to try your hand at removing that stripped screw? Here’s what you’ll need.

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.

Whoever said orange is the new pink was seriously disturbed.

Windowsills are usually nothing more than a space for plants or forgotten tchotchkes, but they provide plenty of opportunity, especially if you can find a way to make them larger. Windowsill extenders may sound like a funky contraption, but they enable you to make more out of the smallest ledges.This can be as simple as scooting a bench or shelf in front of a window or extending your space outside through the use of a window flower box.