today’s second before & after comes from d*s reader karolina strandberg of sweden. she’s been taking on the renovation of her beautiful home in the woods and i’m loving every bit of it. oh man, to live among all those beautiful trees in a bright white house like that. thanks for sharing, karolina!

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CLICK HERE for more before & after images after the jump!

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i’m kicking off before & after day with this fun bedroom makeover from d*s reader georganne. after moving into a new home in madison, wisconsin georganne decided to overhaul her bedroom with paint, a decorative wall pattern and an ikea dresser makeover inspired by this project! i think the result is fantastic- great work georganne!

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

when it comes to before & afters, it’s hard for me to resist a submission with a good pet shot. and these photos from d*s reader charlene in cape town south africa are pretty darn irresistible. charlene’s cat “socks” is modeling her recent chair renovation- which began as a rather worn bubble chair and ended up as a chic red floral piece. clearly socks approves, and so do i. great work, charlene!

today’s final before & after comes from annie at ultra vroom. annie’s office corner was in desperate need of an upgrade so not only did she makeover her little office patch- she built a new desk from scratch! i love the dark wood against the clean white legs- and it certainly beats the tiny ikea table in the before shot! you can read more about annie’s project right here- thanks, annie!

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

*stay tuned for a fantastic diy wedding bouquet project from studio choo next at 2pm!*

this first before & after comes from rebekah of wild ink press. i’m always talking about the virtues of chalkboard paint (especially “mercantile red” by hudson paint) and love this simple fridge makeover rebekah completed for her home. it’s such a great way to showcase her children’s artwork directly on the fridge, rather than clipped onto the fridge. click here for rebekah’s full project instructions (and more images)!

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

this little jewel of a closet makeover comes from heidi kenney of my paper crane. heidi recently swapped bedrooms with her older son to give him more room (such a sweet mom!) and was trying to tackle the odd corner closet in her new space. the closet was too narrow for a single hanger to hang inside with the door shut so they removed the door, wallpapered the closet and created new wooden shelves to keep their books organized. great work, guys!

d*s reader katie lewis made turned this sad office chair into a happy place to sit by updating the frame with white paint and adding a sunshine yellow striped fabric. total cost including the chair? $7. great work, katie! click here for more details on her project.

today’s second before & after post is all about the hard work of three talented women who changed great found and secondhand finds into fresh pieces of furniture. up first is designer kristen f. davis, whose home was on d*s this past june. kristen bought this heaven wooden piece second hand and used leftover paint she had sitting around to give it a face lift. then, inspired by the patterned paper people have been using on befoe & afters, decided to add some pattern to her piece. but rather than using paper, kristen hand painted the dahlia flowers on with a paint pen- and voila! a custom piece of furniture she’ll have with her for years to come. great work, kristen!

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CLICK HERE to see 2 more makeovers (kat’s hutch and laura’s desk) after the jump!

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today’s before & after comes from designer stephanie gahm and her husband, photographer and director, taylor gahm. at the beginning of 2009, this daring duo quit their jobs and decided to spend the year traveling and investing in their marriage. they bought a 1977 13′ scamp trailer and renovated it all on their own, from the frame up! here’s a list of the jobs they tackled:

* repairing the actual fiberglass structure
* refinishing and repairing fiberglass interior
* new flooring
* refinished and repaired ensolite interior walls
* custom cabinet doors and new hardware
* new mini fridge
* new track lighting with dimmers
* new electric wiring
* flat screen TV with cable wiring
* built in drawer storage system
* new upholstery and curtains
* new sink plumbing
* new AC window unit
* new camper potty and cabinet that we affectionately call the bathroom

when they were finished they a sweet modern home to take with them while traveling across the country together. you can read more about their adventures (and the makeover) right here, and see more pictures of their trailer makeover right here! thanks stephanie and taylor!

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

when this first before & after came into my inbox yesterday i just smiled. finally, a great piece of wooden furniture that wasn’t painted, but was instead restored and waxed to its natural beauty. most of the time i don’t have any problem with painting furniture if it’s in poor condition, but this piece from d*s reader alejandra was over 100 years old and belonged to her great grandmother. alejandra sanded the piece down a bit to remove the damaged varnish and then used a transparent wax to seal and protect it. for a little extra touch alejandra added a bit of flowered fabric that belonged to her grandmother (such a sweet touch) to the inside of the desk. i love all the generations of women present in this desk- it’s such a great piece to have in your home. thanks for sharing, alejandra!

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

this lovely chair makeover comes from julie at hazel & hunter. she used one of my favorite fabrics from heather at skinny laminx to spruce up this junk shop sewing chair. the frame was in great shape so julie made a new cushion for the back, scrapped the old worn vinyl and recovered it with heather’s fabric. voila! a great new chair. if you’re interested in buying julie’s updated chair, it’s for sale on etsy right here. thanks, julie!