5/15

10 Easy DIY Makeovers (with Major Wow Factor!)

D.I.Y. Project, Home Decor, Round-ups
By Elsie Larson

10 EASY DIY Makovers via www.abeautifulmess.comThis post has been brewing in my brain for a while. We do a lot of projects around here. Many are easy, most are budget-friendly, but once in a while this extra magic happens when it’s both AND high impact too! Today I’m here to talk about these kinds of X-factor DIY projects. It’s nice when they’re ridiculously easy OR practically free…or when the stars align, both!

With that said, I’ll take moderately easy and pretty inexpensive too. I’m not picky. 

My Top 10 Easy DIY Makeovers 
*Use these as a jumping off point to create your own perfect-for-you versions! 

Paint it white1. Don’t like it? Paint it white!

Once you join the wonderful world of home ownership, there are no rules except for the ones you impose on yourself. If you don’t love it, change it! It’s your home. It makes me sad when people live with things they don’t like. Laura’s white-painted fireplace is a great example! It’s not gonna be for everyone, but she hated it and now she loves it. #chooselove

By the way, it doesn’t have to be white! I love all the paint colors (OK, OK, mostly just gold, yellow, turquoise and some occasional orange or pink). White is just my go-to because it’s timeless, matches everything and quickly brightens up rooms. 

Stamp or stencil a wall2. Stamp or stencil a wall. 

I love this stencil pattern that Mandi used in her bathroom. We’re big statement wall fans here and most of ours were done by hand! (see them all here)

While I wouldn’t necessarily file all these walls under “easy” (some took a whole day to apply), they are super inexpensive and create a huge visual impact. These walls make excellent weekend projects! 

Paint upholstery3. Paint upholstery! 

You heard me correctly. If a piece is “too far gone” and reupholstery isn’t an option, don’t be afraid to paint your fabric. Next time I try this I am going to try a pattern instead of one color all over. If you just have a few stains, add dots! 😀 

Add a surprise pop of color4. Add a surprise pop of color! 

This is one of my favorite things we did in my kitchen, and then Emma did it in her kitchen too (the true test, right?). It’s so simple, but it really added a lot more personality to my old painted kitchen cabinets. 

Line your shelves5. Line your shelves!

I loved Rachel’s clever, custom bookshelf lining. It completely brought that room to life (and was the perfect renter-friendly option too). Lining shelves is a great way to make a space feel more polished and pulled together with minimal supplies and commitment. 

Another fun solution we found was adhering fabric with rubber cement. I recently removed the fabric after more than a year and it didn’t leave any marks or residue. 

Highly recommended! 

Tie it together with color6. Make thrifted pieces match with color! 

When we first moved into our current home, we had tons of expenses, and new chairs for our 8 seat table were not at the top of our priority list quite yet (plus I couldn’t decide which chairs I even wanted).

I decided to thrift inexpensive, mismatched chairs and paint them all yellow for a quirky (but still matching) look. The result was super cute! We used these chairs for over a year before purchasing a matching set and still have many of them in our house now (randomly scattered throughout rooms).

A lot of you even thought the yellow chairs were cuter and have commented that you miss them. I highly recommend this method for stretching a tight budget or just adding fun color to your dining room! 

Reinvent a %22nothing space%227. Reinvent a “nothing space”. 

We all have them. Perfectly good spaces, hallways, maybe even rooms that aren’t being used to their full potential. 

Our mudroom organization is a great example. Just by adding a few hooks and some stained crates, we created a cozy space that holds most of our gardening tools and random things that we do not want to misplace, like our dogs’ leashes. 

Find those unused spaces in your home and optimize them with a quick, inexpensive makeover! 

Print it big8. Go BIG. 

When it comes to wall art, bigger is most definitely better. We love a good gallery wall, but there can become such a thing as “too many gallery walls”. Plus galleries are much more expensive because, in addition to whatever art you curate or photos you print, you have to buy frames for all of them. 

When you find those spaces that need something big, consider blueprint copies. I have several in my home and love the scale and neutral texture they add to my rooms. Here Laura took it a step farther by framing hers in a neon yellow frame. SO cute (it’s even CUTER in person). 

Half paint a door!9. Half-paint a door or wall. 

I’ve seen half-painted walls all over Pinterest and I love the look. This door in my office only took a couple hours and adds SO much to the space. I would definitely do it again! 

When in doubt... use tape.10. When in doubt, use removable tape! 

This washer/dryer makeover still makes me smile every day. It was super easy to install and has aged perfectly (or would you say, “hasn’t aged at all”?). Either way…I would definitely recommend this for anyone wanting to customize a boring appliance. The sky’s the limit as far as patterns you can create! 

Here are a couple fun temporary decor ideas we did using washi—a graphic heart and a striped doorway. I took the doorway stripes down while we were shooting our book and have regretted it ever since. 

The fun thing about using tape to create pattern is that it’s usually completely removable, so if you’re like me and you’re afraid of changing your mind, that takes some pressure off. 

One more makeover that I haven’t personally done is removing a skirt from a couch! This one is extreme (nerd glasses status) because the couch looks old and “bad vintage”, but just by ripping off the skirt, it looks younger and cooler. So if you see a cute vintage couch with a hideous skirt, just take a closer look and see if you could remove it yourself! 

Thanks for reading, guys! If you have any awesome makeover experiences, I would love to hear them! xx. Elsie 

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