Jason Loper

We’re certainly no strangers to the versatility of the Ikea Rast around here. I even put together a post about The Endlessly Adaptable IKEA Rast Dresser last year. This $35 dresser is a DIYer’s dream and I love continuing to discover new variations. Anna took the simple little dresser and turned it into a classic nightstand…Anna recently shared her Rast customization on her blog, Take the Side Street.

We’ve been following along as Dana and her husband sold their old house, moved into an apartment, and rebuilt a small house — all while also welcoming their third child. I’m sure this master bathroom update is a great indication of how the rest of the house has come together. Dana and her handy hubby, Steve, worked with what they’ve got in this small bathroom.

We got a sneak peek into Greg and Ashley’s bathroom remodel back in April, when the couple was still in the thick of the project. After checking in on their progress, we discovered that the bathroom is now ready for a full unveiling!Greg and Ashley have been tracking the progress of their house renovation on their blog 7th House on the Left. When we peeked in at their bathroom last April they had just finished ripping out all the old stuff and installing the new tile and vanity.

The molded plastic rocker, whether the authentic Eames variety or one of the many replicas, is a definite design classic. Originally designed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1948, we still see these stylish rockers in a lot of house tours and kids rooms today. To get the look in your own home, check out our resource list for this iconic rocker after the jump…Authentic Eames Rockers Authenic Eames Rockers are made in the USA by Herman Miller. Their shells are made from recyclable polypropylene.

It was a little over a year ago that this little file box came home with me and received its first makeover, going from a dull gray to a vibrant yellow. A lot of things have changed in my apartment over the past year, so it’s time for the file box to get another makeover…When I painted this file box last year, yellow was the perfect color. It suited the room where it lived, and I’ve always been partial to the color of the sun.

Before and afters are some of our most popular posts. And for good reason! Who doesn’t love to see the evidence of a makeover, often performed on a tight budget? Gathered together for your weekend viewing pleasure, here are 20 of September’s best makeovers …• Before & After: Connie’s Ugly to Unbelievable Dresser• Before & After: An Eames Lounge Knockoff, Transformed• Before & After: Free Vanity Mirror Totally Transformed!

For some reason bedrooms seem to be left as the last room in the house to be decorated. I’ve seen it a lot in friend’s houses and House Tours. I am definitely guilty of neglecting my own bedroom, as you can see in this before photo. I am the first to admit — that room is hella ugly! But in two days I was able to take this room from a decorating disaster to delightful with a couple coats of paint (and some major purging).

Reusing old drawers as shelving is something we’ve discussed here a few times before. In fact, you may recognize one of these drawers from a post on the subject. While I’ve been using drawers as shelving for a couple of years, I wanted to take the concept to the next level.I had already been using one of these drawers as a wall shelf in my bedroom and when I gave the bedroom a makeover, I wasn’t sure whether I would use the drawers again.

The washer/dryer hookup in our apartment is perfectly located right off the kitchen and close to the dining room, where we do all the laundry folding. Since this is our first apartment with laundry inside the unit, we’re quite happy to have it so centrally located. Although the location of our little laundry closet may be nearly perfect, the presentation leaves a lot to be desired. Those louvered bi-fold doors have got to go!

When I saw this little file box at a Salvation Army, it practically called to me from across the store. “Jason,” it called out to me, “please take me home and give me new life. I’m only five dollars!” How could I possibly pass it up?The original gray finish on the file box had definitely seen better days. Even after a thorough scrubbing, the finish was marred with years of tape and dings and scrapes. Nothing a little spray paint won’t fix!

This brass chandelier may have a lot of life left in it but it’s definitely a bit dated. Of course, that’s nothing a little paint and patience won’t fix!Reviving an old, dated piece is always the greenest option versus replacing it altogether. So I’m delighted to see that Diane, over at In My Own Style, was able to modernize this dated brass chandelier.

When Alissa received this lamp as a hand-me-down from her grandparents, she loved the shape but not the dated brassy finish. Spray paint and a little imagination to the rescue!I see what Alissa means about the shape of this lamp — now that it’s painted! I admit that I was too distracted by the old brassy finish on the lamp to appreciate its finer qualities! Now that its been painted white I love it — especially that tall finial!

At left, the affordable and handy Fräck mirror from IKEA. I’ve had one hanging in my bathroom for a few years and, now that I’ve seen what Daniel was able to do with his, I’m looking at mine in a whole new light… A whole new light! See what I did there? Daniel, from Manhattan Nest, is responsible for this brilliant IKEA hack. He was also kind enough to give us step-by-step directions on his blog so we can make one for ourselves!

This long, dark hallway was not being helped by the saltillo tile, ugly light fixture, and dark trim. But after stripping away all those dated features in the hallway, it’s now a lighter, brighter, and more welcoming space…We saw this snazzy before and after over on To the Moon and Back — a great little blog documenting a home’s transformation. This project is a true testament to the power of simple changes.

Nicole picked up this dresser as part of a three-piece set. The other two pieces, matching nightstands, got their own makeovers but Nicole wanted to do something a little different with this dresser. Check out the results after the jump…As Nicole reports on her blog, Scrap Me Baby, the dresser was in great condition structurally so it really just came down to a matter of painting it. Giving this dresser the black-and-white treatment makes great use of the piece’s details!

Linda has a lovely home, outdoors and in, but her entryway was not feeling very welcoming. Besides being on the bland side, this entryway was also seriously deficient in functionality. Fortified with a whole lot of DIY ambition, Linda turned the entryway into a welcoming (and useful) space…As you can see in the ‘after’ photos, Linda went with a more dramatic palette for her entryway.

This chest of drawers was plucked from an alley near some student housing. In its original state, it was a bit boring and beat up. That’s nothing a little paint, paper, and elbow grease can’t fix…Diana over at Fine Diving saw the potential for new life in this dresser. She started out with this gorgeous patterned paper from Paper Source, which she used for the drawer fronts.

I love the story of this chair makeover, largely because it sounds a lot like my own DIY projects — an equal mix of inspiration, serendipity, and hundreds of staples…Back in mid-November Christine, of Bijou and Boheme, blogged about picking up these lovely-lined but shabby (and pink!) chairs, along with an inspiration photo of similar chairs covered in fur. Then Christine lived with the chairs while she decided what exactly she wanted to do with them.

Jill picked up this old dresser for $25 with the intention of refinishing it as a gift to her brother. In order to match some of the other furnishings her brother already has, Jill decided to go dark with this blond dresser…After removing the old handles from the dresser and doing a little patching, Jill stained the dresser a bit darker. To further modernize the piece she replaced the old handles with new, shiny drawer pulls.

We love it when readers send us their projects to be featured. Kelly emailed us about her fabulous kitchen makeover, taking it from the dark and dated room you see above to the bright and updated space you can see after the jump…When Kelly and her husband bought their 100-year-old house that needed renovating, she was thrilled to get the chance to design her dream kitchen. And a dream kitchen it is! Kelly had the old kitchen torn out and started fresh.

Sean has been transforming his white box of an apartment into a stylish and personalized home. In one of his recent blog posts Sean shows off this DIY bathroom lighting makeover that works around an existing awkward location in a creative way.This lighting over the double basin sink in Sean’s bathroom was unattractive – both as a light fixture and in the shadows it cast on the folks under it.

Well hello there, ugly old dresser. You have some mighty fine bones but oooh boy are you a dated mess. Time to grab the paint and transform you into something more modern!The folks over at Young Nesters were in need of a sideboard for their dining room. After searching in vain for an affordable option, they spied this old dresser in a grandmother’s basement and, since it was free anyway, decided to try their hand at an ombre makeover.