So simple, yet effective.

When I found Lexi Adams’ dresser transformation, I pounded my forehead – why didn’t I think to do that? Here’s the Before and After and the scoop on the fresh look this Brooklyn, NY photographer got with a little paint, elbow grease, and good advice from Dad.

HomeWorkshop (HW): Are you a design-diva, big into DIY and decorating, or was this [...] Read more »

Our Contributors here at HomeWorkshop.com are a talented tribe of design doers, and I am amazed daily at their creations. Excitement abounds today as I announce that our maven of makeovers and wrangler of reuse has published her first Ebook!!

Diana Durkes put her sandpaper, paintbrush, camera and keyboard into overdrive, and Secondhand Shabby, her 90-page downloadable Ebook is here!! Inside, Diana demonstrates how to:

“Give new [...] Read more »

by GraceAnn Simoni

Here’s some great advice for the upcoming holidays, from Contributor GraceAnn Simoni. An Interior Redesign and Staging Specialist and Instructor from the Chicagoland area, GraceAnn shares with us budget tips and advice for decorating with your existing furniture and accessories.

And so it begins….

Can you believe it? Thanksgiving—the first big Holiday of the season—is right around the corner. I love this holiday, [...] Read more »

Some makeovers are pure genius. Like this pair of forlorn patio chairs that Jen at Fresh Crush transformed. Take a peek.

Before:

After:

Is fan-tab-u-loso a word???

This project is a lesson in looking at a piece of furniture with the attitude of

‘What can it be?’ rather than focusing on ‘What is it?’

Jen looked beyond the patio persona, and made her chairs living-room worthy.

And many DIY’s hit [...] Read more »

A Classic Takes It

We asked for your stories of the best color you ever painted something, and wouldn’t it make sense that the Challenge winner used a classic beauty?

Yup. Debbie Perkins’—first furniture makeover ever, painted in a rich, punctuating black—just won the Challenge! Here’s her makeover photo and comments:

“I’m new to painting, but I found some cheap end tables in the classified ads that [...] Read more »

by Diana Durkes

Here’s an original project idea for baby’s nursery. It’s DIY time, with furniture and accessories makeover specialist, Contributor Diana Durkes. Diana gives “New Life to the Tossed and Found” at her blog, Fine Diving.

I came upon this sweet cupboard at a house sale last month. It was a lesser piece among a houseful of pretty, practical antiques. Many had sold, but [...] Read more »

by Lia Fagan

Interior Designer Lia Fagan is back – and another castoff piece of furniture is the better for it. Enjoy Lia’s guest post, and the transformed Deco diva, ‘Victoria’.

I rescued Victoria from a local reuse centre…rows upon rows of withered souls just looking to be brought back to life.

“My, you’re a long way from the salon.”

She was in great shape structurally, but was [...] Read more »

by Lia Fagan

Here’s makeover motivation for the weekend, from my new Canadian friend, Interior Designer Lia Fagan. (I seem to make lots of Canadian friends—must be the hockey gusto.)

Lia can spy neglected furniture cowering in the corner of any second-hand store; and she has the beauty kit to give it new life – literally. Enjoy this guest post from Lia, where she introduces us [...] Read more »

Designer DIY

by Mari Robeson

Design Junkies, we are in for a treat! Today, designer Mari Robeson joins us as Interior Design expert and Contributor. I am thrilled with the colorful and creative stories Mari has planned for us, about what we’ll learn from her, and how inspired we’ll be. Learn more about Mari at her Web site.

Photographs by Jenny Malott

Have you ever planned a room and [...] Read more »

Transform IKEA Seating in Tricia Guild Style

Tiring of that plain-vanilla IKEA armchair? Or when the neighbors come for dinner, does that pasta stain make you shuffle your dining chairs?

Check out the slipcovers from Stockholm, Sweden-based BEMZ, which are designed to fit most IKEA chairs and sofas – even discontinued models. And now, you can adorn your furniture with the innovative patterns of Designers Guild.

For [...] Read more »

Designing and remaking upholstered furniture, and combining it well in a space, is an art.

Designer Heather Hilliard is brilliant at it, as evidenced by her living room design for this year’s Marin Designer’s Showcase.

Photographs by Michele Lee Willson Photography

A classical room with grand proportions, Hilliard wanted it to feel “luxurious and refined but understated” and to function well for both formal entertaining and casual [...] Read more »

In our neck of the woods at Lake Tahoe, Memorial Day Weekend is prime yard sale time. Is it the same where you live?

Each year I look forward to driving through the neighborhoods, seeing what’s tucked under the towering pines and firs, and snapping up bargains. This time, our oldest daughter — nine years old — was up early, and pumped to go on [...] Read more »

By Angela Min

Today our new Kitchen and Bath Design Expert and Contributor—Angela Min—joins us! Happily, the pencil is being tossed only over the kitchen island, as Angela is taking over writing duties for her design co-conspirator at The Kitchen Designer, Susan Serra, CKD.

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Breakfast rooms are often the afterthought of the kitchen, a “leftover” space often neglected by both homeowners and designers alike. But what a [...] Read more »

I learned about the most fascinating design niche recently, when—through trusty Twitter—

I met Thatcher Wine of Juniper Books. Thatcher specializes in the design of home libraries for homeowners and designers around the country.

We’re not talking the cabinetry here – we’re talking the books.

I asked Thatcher a few questions and I think you’ll enjoy his answers. He’s given me volumes of ideas for my collection.

HomeWorkshop [...] Read more »

by GraceAnn Simoni

It’s the time of year when so many people put their homes on the market. So I asked Contributor GraceAnn Simoni to share some home staging tips and advice, and some telling Before and After photographs of her work. GraceAnn is a an Interior Redesign and Staging Specialist and Instructor from the Chicagoland area.

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Home Staging – When should it start?

When the listing is [...] Read more »