Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » before & after: constança’s ikea flat

enter your email

archives

before and after

March 5th, 2009

before & after: constança’s ikea flat

3291800904_fb72c2db0c_o
d*s reader constança’s beautiful apartment was featured in the spring 2009 issue of ikea family live magazine but i couldn’t resist sharing it here today. constança and her husband brought their lisbon, portugal apartment in pretty bad shape and decided to renovate it and start by painting everything white. to keep things on a budget they bought all of the basics at ikea and sewed everything they could themselves, using ikea fabric. the result is a bright, cheerful home that any budget-friendly design lover would be proud to call their own. click here for more information on the transformation, here for more (gorgeous!) images on flickr, and here to visit constança’s etsy shop. thanks, constança!

[have a before & after you'd like to share on d*s? just shoot me an email with your pictures right here!]

3314375076_f09b8ce13b_o1
3290983301_e7c08c7cbc_o
[images above: constança's bedroom, before and after]

3314375176_cca2f8840f_o1
3314375250_b0d48d94db_o
3290982885_3b0e189460_o
3290982755_627db39fb0_o
[image above: constança's kitchen, before and after]

3314374844_09c87dbc87_o1
3290983633_aafea2bbab_o
[images above: constança's living room, before and after]

	26 comments
Roryjean said: March 5th, 2009 - 12:06 pm	Very cute- I love Ikea for its stylish affordability, especially with the economy the way it is. And what a difference some new shelving and paint can make!

Barbara said: March 5th, 2009 - 12:10 pm	Oooh…I love the pretty blue bedspread and the colorful kitchen. It really pops. Lovely!

Laura said: March 5th, 2009 - 12:18 pm	Ooh i like the see through table in the last shot! I’m guessing it’s ikea too? Lovely.

Cheryl said: March 5th, 2009 - 12:25 pm	I especially love the last picture, what clever storage solutions! The transformation is simply amazing.

Stacey said: March 5th, 2009 - 12:36 pm	Such a fresh after! The shelving in the last pic is magnificent!!

Abbie said: March 5th, 2009 - 12:37 pm	It looks amazing! Unfortunately, I don’t live within 6 hours of an Ikea. I just tried ordering something from them today, and they wanted $244 in shipping for 2 small Alex cabinets! Yikes.

Haddie said: March 5th, 2009 - 1:32 pm	aaah! i die it’s so lovely! that kitchen!

clarityandgrey said: March 5th, 2009 - 1:59 pm	Thanks so much for this b/a!! It’s lovely to see such a practical makeover…makes me feel like I could do it too!

Isa de Paris said: March 5th, 2009 - 2:32 pm	What a beautiful flat thanks to a great swedish friend ;-)

juliette said: March 5th, 2009 - 2:45 pm	Even though I didn’t want to end up with an all-Ikea house when we moved overseas to Germany, we did. But you know what? I’m thankful for the affordability and credit-card financing we were able to enjoy. We didn’t have to wait 10 months to save for a bed frame, let alone a mattress, or closets. Is it our dream home? no, but it’s great for the current situation.

lindsay said: March 5th, 2009 - 2:49 pm	A little creativity (and ikea) go along way!

Homemakker said: March 5th, 2009 - 4:45 pm	Love the mix of patterns on the bed. keeps it from looking too Ikea-y. The kitchen is so fresh and fun!

Cris said: March 5th, 2009 - 6:48 pm	I hate IKEA – How can someone have the whole flat decorated with IKEA bemuses me? Urggh…

christina said: March 5th, 2009 - 8:00 pm	red tile floor=amazing!

ellen said: March 5th, 2009 - 8:36 pm	lovely kitchen!

h.anna said: March 6th, 2009 - 6:47 am	the kitchen is wonderful. i love the colors!

Bethany Rose Hildenbrandi said: March 6th, 2009 - 10:47 am	The tiling in the kitchen is fantastic and I love that you designed around that. Great job!

Tess Mattern said: March 6th, 2009 - 1:51 pm	I love the coffee table in the final shot! Any idea what it’s name would be on the IKEA website? I did a search for coffee tables and it is not showing up.

Annika said: March 6th, 2009 - 4:44 pm	I was wondering about that coffee table also…is it from ikea?

elock said: March 8th, 2009 - 3:42 pm	Looks beautiful, and you completely transformed the space.

Quirine said: March 9th, 2009 - 3:28 pm	I couldn’t help but noticing that not all is Ikea or Portugese…Your iron board cover looks like a real HEMA design – being Dutch I have a good sense for it…Nevertheless as affordable as Ikea, but nicer and more original. Love your kitchen shelves with cute stuff on it!

kim said: March 10th, 2009 - 10:12 am	I like this! I own a LOT of Ikea stuff myself, the trouble is that your home can end up looking like every other home in your street (or entire area, really). So I’ve taken care to mix it up with vintage stuff. This one has a lovely clean look, you can really imagine them living by the sea.

elodie said: March 10th, 2009 - 2:06 pm	I like the kitchen!!!! a lot!!! bravo !! you are a new french fan ;)

Anya said: March 11th, 2009 - 5:04 pm	As a huge Ikea fan for over … decades, must say, your apartment can be on display in some ikea store! :) Great job!!!

ana martins said: March 13th, 2009 - 3:48 pm	esta lindissima…parabens!

ldel said: March 17th, 2009 - 9:56 am	waouh ! bravo ! c’est tout de suite tellement plus frais !!.. particulièrement la cuisine : avec une vraie personnalité ! j’adore.

Write a Comment:

Design*Sponge reserves the right to restrict comments that do not contribute constructively to the conversation at hand, contain profanity, personal attacks or seek to promote a personal or unrelated business.

subscribe to the rss feed

follow d*s on twitter