our final before & after of the day (stay tuned for a new “we like it wild” post next!) comes from rachel of southern exposure. rachel recently made over her guest bathroom with pretty incredible results. after converting a small hallway bar closet into a shower, rachel had her contractors build a custom vanity and stain it a light blue-gray. the old mirror was reused (with a new frame) and a light from pottery barn was hung above a new sink and faucet from lowes. the rubber floors (see rachel’s post for more before shots) were replaced with marble tile from a local stone shop, and the marble theme continued on the walls with tiles from home depot which were cut in half and placed in a brick pattern. i think the new result is sophisticated and stunning- well done, rachel and contractor team!

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this next before and after comes from one of my favorite makeover queens, barb blair at knack studios. i love the way she updated this wooden dresser with a weathered green finish. i know paint is not for everyone (if you have non-paint makeovers, please send them!) but i love a good update that gives an old piece of furniture new life in someone else’s home. thanks to barb for sharing!

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this before & after comes from interior designer matthew lanphier in los angeles. he worked on this budget dining room makeover in chicago, focusing on keeping things as affordable as possible. matthew removed the wallpaper, repainted the walls, reupholstered chairs in sunbrella fabric (to prevent fading from the sunny windows), and then redid the chairs by sanding and spray painting them (professional refinishing wasn’t in the budget). matthew calls the new look “tailored, yet whimsical” and i love the way everything feels clean, fresh and modern. great work, matthew!

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today’s first before & after belongs to david van alphen. inspired by modern shed, david decided to build his own version for $2500 (a $7500 difference!). now he has a place to hang out that’s weather-proof and cool. click here to see more photos of the process- great work, david!

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CLICK HERE to see ibabe’s bathroom makeover after the jump!

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this next before & after comes from jelena of poppyseed creative living. jelena recently left her 9-5 corporate job to pursue a career in design and refurbishing found furniture, and this beautiful yellow dresser was one of her recent projects. after cleaning up the frame, jelena applied a coat of yellow paint and distressed the finish to give it a more aged feel. the original hardware was replaced with knobs from anthropologie and voila! a new dresser ready to go to a good home. great work, jelena!

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

robbi lindeman of salt labs in detroit decided to upgrade a simple $12 ikea frosta stool with some playful decals. robbi applied image transfers to the stool with a solvent and then sealed the seat with a clear coat finish to match the sheen on the legs. this would be such a fun project to use in a child’s room- and on a wonderfully low budget. great work, robbi!

designer will means has already shown us the beautiful before & after work he’s capable of, so i was excited to see another email from him in my inbox. will picked up a pair of old library chairs for $15 and decided to revamp them. after stripping the chair down, will refinished the frame and repainted it with this dramatic new look. i love the way the wood grain peeks out from under the new white coat. great work, will!

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

designer autumn clemons of design*dump recently redid this den/office with some very clever detailing. after repainting the room, she added a beautiful wooden inlay to the floor and great detail to the ceiling with decorative molding. click here to see more on the project (including the floor inlay process). thanks for sharing, autumn!

today’s before & afters are starting off with a backyard transformation from designer kristen james. kristen and her husband made over the yard behind their 1950s lakewood, california home with their own two hands. i love the way they created a covered seating area and pergola to cover it- it’s going to look so beautiful when all the plants start to mature. thanks to kristen for sharing!

[have a before & after you'd like to share on d*s? just shoot me an email right here with your (low res, please!) images]

*quick note: before & afters have been a little slow/light over the past 2 weeks, but i hope to have them pick back up next week.

CLICK HERE for kristi’s cat bed conversion and michelle’s jewelry frame makeover after the jump!

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when it comes to bathroom makeovers, i tend to prefer something light, bright and airy over something darker. but lately i’ve found myself oddly influenced by some of the cooler restaurant restrooms around brooklyn. a lot of the new hipstery restaurants tend to have dark, moody bathrooms with a vintage feel and it makes me want to turn my bathroom into something dark and a little more masculine. i have a feeling ac would dig that, so when i got an email from nadia haddad about a recent bathroom makeover she did for a friend, i thought it would be a great example to illustrate that darker style.

nadia’s friend inherited a seriously pink bathroom, but was looking for something a bit different, so nadia repainted the walls, added dark wainscoting and installed some seriously cool lighting fixtures, along with a few vintage accessories (love the abe lincoln print). i love the new wallpaper and, despite having a soft spot for pink bathrooms, love the new link in here. thanks to nadia for sharing!

[have a before & after you'd like to share on design*sponge? shoot me an email right here with your (low res please) images]

this amazing before & after comes from RISD professor wendy seller. along with fourteen other artists, wendy converted an old elementary school into beautiful live/work studios called “the claflin school studios” in newtonville, mass. this particular section is wendy’s space, which took her six years to build (between 1988-94) single-handedly. i can’t get over what the space looked like before and how much she’s transformed it into a livable space- great work wendy! [and thanks to anne for sharing this!]

[have a before & after you'd like to share on design*sponge? shoot me an email right here with your (low res please) images]

CLICK HERE to see nina of swanky swell’s loveseat makeover after the jump!

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today’s first before & after comes from salt lake city decorator caitlin creer. she loves retsoring and remaking vintage pieces and recently finished this chair with a green and white fabric from kelly wearstler. after the jump there’s another green and white chair makeover and a yellow chevron studio update so be sure to click “read more” below.

[have a before & after you'd like to share on design*sponge? shoot me an email right here with your (low res please) images]

CLICK HERE for tess’ studio makeover and kathy’s chair makeover after the jump!

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