Home dwellers can reveal great creativity when confronted with less-than-ideal conditions such as a tight budget, a small space or a dull rental. Even the most mundane and unexpected items — FedEx boxes, mason jars, metal salad bowls and wine bottles — locate instant lives as decoration in their palms. Have a look at these 20 creative DIYs and get inspired for another weekend project.
Andrew Snow Photography
1. Salvaged storage for basement appliances. This old, peeling door was cut into three separate hinged sections to fit to this basement kitchen nook. The sections open to show the fridge, freezer and microwave.
See this house: Creative Moves Turn a Toronto Basement Into a Fashionable Lease
Emily Campbell
2. Flying-carpet coffee table. The illusion of the wonderful flying-carpet table adds a small bit of magic to this DIY-heavy apartment. A small Persian rug rests along with a piece of plywood. Once removed, the plywood reveals a small wooden coffee table with a built-in wine cooler.
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Megan Buchanan
3. Wallpapered stair risers. Leftover background and vintage address numbers pasted onto this Vancouver staircase risers make for an enjoyable, interactive way for your homeowner’s young kid to learn how to count.
See this house: Quirky, Colorful Vancouver Heritage Home
Rikki Snyder
4. Colorful cardboard-box wallpaper. A collection of old FedEx boxes went to great use with this wall covering — each box was cut into several shapes, layered onto the wall and hands painted.
See this house: An Antique Cape Cod House Explodes With Color
Shannon Malone
5. Outdoor-friendly wine-bottle light fixture. This homeowner created an outside light fixture out of wine bottles along with a steel bar. Edison bulbs alternative with tea lights for additional charm.
See this house: Eclectic, Artistic Rented House in Ojai
Andrew Snow Photography
6. DIY salad-bowl sink. A hardy stainless steel salad bowl fit the bill for a modern and very affordable sink in this home. The base of the bowl was drilled through for the pipes.
See this house: Creative Open-Concept Home in Toronto
Valerie McCaskill Dickman
7. Free-form wallpaper replacement. This homeowner took a while – and money-saving approach to her wall decoration — instead of hanging background, she painted a simple circular design, inspired by a favorite designer.
See this house: Budget-Friendly Bohemian Ranch in Dallas
Chris A Dorsey Photography
8. Salvaged wood seating. This awkward space instantly turned into a cozy corner with some salvaged wood joists, cut to size and wedged into place.
See this house: Artful Restoration for a Brooklyn Brownstone
Sara Bates
9. Freezer-paper wall therapy. This couple came up with a smart and cost-effective solution due to their plain walls. After cutting and ironing 550 circles of freezer onto the walls, then they added a coat of paint for a brand-new appearance.
See this house: DIY Efforts Vary a South Philly Row House
Amy Renea
10. Built-in CD rack storage. You need to get creative when you’re moving into an old pretzel factory. In search of additional storage, these homeowners put in Ikea CD racks in between the wall studs, creating four additional cabinets in their very long hallway.
See this house: Converted Pennsylvania Pretzel Factory
Lindsay von Hagel
11. Custom Southwest stencil artwork. This Dallas couple custom made a Southwest-inspired stencil for their own dining walls. Several colors of purple create a dazzling ombré effect.
Watch this house: Colorful Hand Painting Bedecks a Creative Home
Julie Ranee Photography
12. Easy and very affordable bulletin board. In search of a means to maintain her family organized, this homeowner snagged a huge pinboard from a school auction for $1, sawed it in half and coated it in fun fabric with a lively pattern.
See this house: Glowing and Eclectic Ohio Family Home
Heather Merenda
13. Stacked-lampshade lighting fixture. Plain-Janelampshades acquired new life in this homeowner’s artful lighting installation. Each lampshade is stacked on top of another, and the whole thing is lit by a series of low-wattage bulbs.
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Corynne Pless
14. Pinned-up-paper wall therapy. Textile designer Kate Roebuck couldn’t bear to have too many white walls in her Mississippi rental. Green printed paper rolls pinned to the wall act exactly like background, without the hassle.
Bonus DIY: Roebuck also made the glittery chandelier cover shown to hide an unattractive existing fixture.
See this house: Artful Character Colors a Textile Designer’s House
CM Glover
15. Undermounted mason jar storage. Mason jars make for a smart storage fix in this crafty home. Mounted under small floating shelves, the jars are easy to twist out and in — ideal for a sewing room’s small odds and ends.
See this house: Craftiness and Colour in 3 Charming VIrginia Spaces
Shannon Malone
16. Simple sticker wall artwork. What child would not want a giant sticker album on the bedroom walls? Butterfly stickers cover the walls of the woman’s room for a wall remedy than could be easily added to or replaced.
See this house: Hip, Historic Victorian in Santa Cruz
Holly Marder
17. Custom Expedit room divider. Maybe the most astounding Ikea hack ever, this retro DIY shelving unit and room divider is created completely out of Ikea Expedit shelves, MDF panels and plastic foil.
See this house: Plastic Is King in an Out-of-This-World Home
Esther Hershcovich
18. Doorknob coatrack. Rather than hanging hats and clothes on his house’s doorknobs (like so many of us do), this smart homeowner left a coatrack out of black porcelain doorknobs and a scrap of wood.
See this house: Ecofriendly and Salvaged Style in a Montreal Triplex
Heather Merenda
19. Contact-paper wall artwork. Using an overhead projector, this bunch traced letters out of a photograph onto shelf-liner paper. They’re tenants, along with also the touch paper may peel off easily whenever they proceed.
See this house: Passionate Repurposing in a Heritage Home
Lucy Call
20. Wooden-crate wall closets. Wooden crates like these are simple finds on Craigslist. These crafty homeowners chose to make the most, installing several on their bedroom wall for practical storage.
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