Large-scale art is a coveted solution for anchoring a big blank wall, but spaces with XL canvases are more commonly found on inspiration boards than in real-life homes. Why? Large art is expensive. Even at a big-box store like West Elm, you’ll be pressed to find an oversize piece that’s less than $200—and that’s for something mass produced. Forget it if you want a work that’s totally original, right?

Wrong. You’ll simply need to play the role of artist instead. I had a boring white wall above the sofa in my living room and spent months sifting through potential options online, but nothing seemed to fit my style or budget parameters. I wanted to spend about $100 if I could help it, and I envisioned something patterned but still minimalist. Then I got an idea. 

I used painter’s tape to map out the exact size I wanted on the wall (40-by-45 inches) and took those measurements to Home Depot, where I asked a pro to custom-cut a panel of plywood accordingly. Later that day, I picked out a sky blue fabric accented with trios of navy stripes (it just so happened to be on sale at Joann Fabrics) and found a thin batting to go between the textile and the plywood. With help from my mom and dad, we laid out the batting, then the fabric, so it was even on all sides of the board, and dusted off a well-worn staple gun to hold everything in place. Within a day, I had personalized, oversize art for just $60. 

In case you need more ideas to mull over, here are five other DIYs to consider if you’re determined to have large-scale art in your home for less. 

Shop Your Linen Closet

Designer Natalie Tredgett’s London home is full of colorful and clever details, but her choice to hang a quilt behind her daughter Zoe’s bed is especially original. “The color combination is very her; she even dresses like that!” says Tredgett. Given that this is a spot that’s often reserved for a headboard-and-artwork combination, choosing a quilt to act as both creates a cozy yet unexpected alternative. If you’d like to emulate the look in your own bedroom, it could be as easy as sifting through your linen closet for contenders. 

Go Your Own Way on Canvas

Even if you only took one drawing class in your life, there’s a good chance you could do something interesting on a large blank canvas if you so please. “What is that phrase? If you can’t make a good painting, make a big painting,” says creative director Jonathon Burford, who uses they/them pronouns. Burford and their husband, Jesse Rudolph, of Ome Dezin showcase their creative eye throughout their L.A. home, but the art in the kitchen is pretty yet comical: It’s a still life of the exact objects found on a shelf directly below it. Do the same with your own collection and see if guests notice. 

Hang a Small Rug or Other Eye-Catching Textile

Nisha Mirani and Brendan Kramer live in a New York City home with quite a few not-so-subtle hints that they own textile brand Sunday/Monday. They have a number of rugs on the floor, of course, but they’ve gone the extra step of hanging them on the walls, too. It’s an ideal solution if you want to enliven a vertical spot with color and texture, or you fell in love with a mat that isn’t the right size for your living space. “If you have a large collection of textiles, you probably can’t put them all out on your floor or your bed, but the wall is a great place to display them,” Mirani says. “The fabric gets to breathe there, too.”

Do a Digital Download

This is another route I’ve taken in my own home to save a few bucks: I buy a digital download in the scale I need and then frame it using a budget-friendly find from the likes of Target, IKEA, or thrift stores. There are countless options available on Etsy, but I also have Jenny Komenda’s Juniper Print Shop bookmarked. 

Frame Whimsical Wallpaper

When interior designer Judith Achumba-Wöllenstein moved from London to a larger home in Brighton with her family, they set about furnishing their dining room with a mix of DIYs, eBay steals, and a singular vintage splurge. When it came to art that could complement her Brutalist table and architectural chairs, she turned to Belarte, a Swedish company offering mural wallpaper. The designer adhered the print to a pair of MDF panels framed with precut moldings. 

The post I Couldn’t Find Affordable Large Art, So I Made My Own for $60 appeared first on domino.

When we ask renovators about what inspired them, they often reference an Instagram post they saved or a cool hotel they visited. But Leah Hodson’s bathroom makeover began much closer to home. Er, technically, it began at her old home.

When the U.K.-based DIYer behind @thestanleydiary moved in December, she was especially sad to leave behind her “perfect bathroom,” which was almost entirely covered in marble tile. The best spot in her new house to re-create the look was the powder bathroom: It was a blank canvas—albeit one with lots of quirky ceiling and wall bump-outs. 

The only difference this time was Hodson didn’t want to use actual marble. “I’m not quite ready to take on tiling just yet with two toddlers running circles around me,” she says. Hodson also wasn’t interested in spending thousands of dollars on a bathroom upgrade, so instead of browsing the stone yard, she found herself Googling Calacatta Viola marble–inspired mural wallpapers. Belarte Studio proved to have the most realistic option. “Everyone who has seen it in real life can’t believe it is wallpaper,” says Hodson. 

The Supplies 

• Wallpaper
• Wallpaper adhesive (Hodson used a U.K.-sold product by Anaglypta)
• Wallpaper smoothing tool
• Scissors
• Box cutter
• Wood molding of your choosing
• A level
• Liquid nails
• Clear acrylic backsplash 
• Brass screw caps

Calacatta Marble, Belarte Studio ($6 per square foot)

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Ultra Clear Strippable Wallcovering Adhesive, The Home Depot ($9)

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Step 1: Find the Start Line 

Because Hodson’s mural wallpaper is so bold and the powder room is so small, she felt swathing every inch in the faux marble design would make the space feel minuscule. So as a compromise, she decided to only cover three half-walls and one full wall. Because the back toilet wall was getting the full treatment, she decided to begin there. First, she drew a line down the middle of the wall, so she would know where to align the two seams of the separate wallpaper panels. (Over time, wallpaper can slide and reveal the gaps between sections, and if said gap is situated in the middle of the room, it will actually be less noticeable than if it were off center.) 

Step 2: Paste and Stick 

While peel-and-stick treatments are popular among DIYers, the design Hodson fell in love with requires you to coat the wall first. Using a paint roller, she dipped it into a tray of paste and then rolled the adhesive onto the wall. “I found this gave more even coverage than a brush, which I’ve previously used,” she says. 

Step 3: Patiently Work Around Bump-Outs

The tricky part came when matching the panels on the full wall with those on the half-walls. This is when the sharp box cutter and time-tested rule of “measure twice, cut once” came into play. Hodson made sure to line up the sheets on the pipe box perfectly so the veins in the faux stone looked like they were all one piece. 

The area around the vanity unit gave her the biggest headache. Hodson accidentally cut the wallpaper too short, forcing her to cut a small sliver piece to hide the gap. “Which took far longer than I’d have liked to get right, but I’m glad I did, as it is barely noticeable,” she says. 

Step 4: Give Yourself a Seamless Border

For the surfaces only covered partially in wallpaper, Hodson installed wood molding around the top edge, first using a laser level to make sure the border would be a straight line. Then she applied the wallpaper from the top of the baseboards to the bottom of the wood molding. The trim piece gives your eye a natural end point. 

Step 5: Protect the Splash Zone

Even after refreshing the tired-looking vanity with a no demo hack involving precut fluted MDF and liquid nails, Hodson was left with a problem: preventing the wallpaper behind the sink from becoming damaged by moisture. 

Cue CutMy. She took the brand’s 6mm acrylic sheet (it came precut and predrilled) and made a backsplash, complete with brass screw caps that cover the drill holes. The invisible barrier allows the faux stone to still shine through. 

The post This DIYer’s Powder Room Is Covered in Calacatta Viola Marble—Or Is It? appeared first on domino.

The entrepreneur in Brook Perdigon wants to spend her days answering emails and getting shipments out the door of her Los Angeles studio-slash-warehouse. But there are times when her inner artist takes the reins, begging her to make something completely unrelated to her business, Brook Perdigon Textiles. “There’s so much structure involved in putting a collection on the market. Sometimes I just want to create for the sake of creating,” says Perdigon. Where does she channel that energy? Most recently, it went into reimagining Hay’s beloved $69 rice paper shade. 

Before Perdigon began designing bolts of fabric plus wallpaper and pillows, she painted (in fact, she graduated from college with a B.F.A. in painting). So Perdigon always keeps a set of brushes and watercolors within reach at her desk for moments like these. “For the longest time, I let the pendant sit; I didn’t know what to paint on it,” she recalls. Eventually, she decided that she just had to start somewhere—plan or no plan. “I was like, I just want to go home and have made something. The ideas don’t have to be perfect,” she explains. In just 40 minutes, Perdigon had a totally transformed light fixture on her hands. 

The Supplies

• Hay’s rice paper shade 
• Variety of different-size paintbrushes
• Gouache or acrylic paint
• Paper towels
• A glass of water 
• Good music or your favorite podcast 

Hay Rice Paper Shade, DWR ($69)

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Step 1: Paint Vertical Stripes

Perdigon started by simply painting blue vertical lines all the way around the sphere. At first, she used her skinniest brush, but dipping the brush in her palette so often got old fast. To pick up the pace, she switched to a larger brush that could hold more paint. Forget drawing perfectly straight lines on a ball—”it’s impossible,” she says. And expect the color to bleed a bit because the paper is so thin. Call it perfectly imperfect.

Step 2: Change Directions

To make the wonky vertical lines look a little more purposeful, Perdigon added horizontal ones. This didn’t stop the color from bleeding, though. “I was trying to hide the mistakes as I was creating them, but then that got really fun,” she says. Some lines were going to be thick and dark and others were going to be light and thin, depending on how much paint was on the brush. Perdigon didn’t overthink it, and neither should you.

Step 3: Get Things Squared Away

Then Perdigon began to fill in some of the squares at random. In her eyes, irregularity is what ultimately makes a textile pattern interesting: When your brain can’t spot a noticeable repeat, it wants to keep looking. Why wouldn’t the same be true of a painted paper lantern?

Step 4: Let Go

The best part about Perdigon’s impromptu paint project is that it doesn’t live in a drawer atop a pile of papers now—it hangs proudly over her desk. “The exercise of moving forward creatively without a plan or goal or anything was so liberating,” she says. It’s a reminder that even when her expectations and the results don’t align, it can still result in something beautiful.

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When Liz Mundle moved into her boyfriend’s 500-square-foot apartment, the pair was prepared to make some serious storage compromises. The one thing they weren’t willing to budge on? Their books, which had to be easily accessible at all times. 

The big blank wall at the bottom of the stairs was the perfect spot to line up their favorite titles. The problems: The floors are uneven and there’s a bulky radiator smack-dab in the middle of two windows, ruling out any storage solutions that stand from the ground up. “As renters without an idea of how long we’ll be in the apartment and no interest in forfeiting our deposit, splurging on custom built-in bookcases wasn’t an option,” says Mundle. The duo also wasn’t keen on the idea of drilling dozens of holes in the wall to hold up a bunch of separate brackets (a spackling nightmare come move-out day). The fix: The Container Store’s Elfa Easy Hang shelves. 

Mundle had used different variations of the shelving system in her past two apartments, so she knew they were rental-friendly (the only part mounted to the wall is the very top track) and affordable. Minus the $700 they splurged on the wood boards, the system rang in at $365. “When I did research on custom cabinetry, $3,000 was the bare minimum,” she says. Cue the perfect weekend project! Mundle walks us through the installation steps, below.  

The Supplies 

• White Elfa Easy Hang Standards 102” x 6 = $147
• White Elfa Solid Shelf Brackets 10 ½” x 36 = $152
• White Elfa Solid Shelf Brackets 14 ½” x 6 = $30
• White Elfa Clip Bookends x 5 = $35
• White Elfa Easy Hang Top Tracks 56″ x 2 = $28
• Toggle anchors = $32
• 12-by-1-inch boards, cut to fit = $700
• ⅜-inch drill bit 

Step 1: Map It Out

In order to calculate how many brackets she would need, Mundle measured all of the different distances on the wall (ceiling to floor, top of windows to top of ceiling, bottom of windows to floor, and the space in between the windows), jotting each down on a rough sketch of the space. At this point, she also calculated how far apart she wanted the shelves to be from one another: 10 inches between the two top planks, 12 for the middle slabs, and 14 for the lowest shelves. “I wanted to create the illusion that the ceilings are taller than they actually are,” she says.

50″ Elfa Updated Top Track White, The Container Store ($18 was $25)

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Step 2: Cut the Shelves

The couple’s construction journey officially started at a lumberyard in Gowanus, Brooklyn. To achieve a streamlined look, they decided to splurge on 1-inch-thick clean pine versus 1/2-inch knotty pine, which was almost half the cost. “My eyes popped out of my head when I saw the quote,” says Mundle. The investment, though, was worth it: They handed off their measurements to the carpenter, waited 40 minutes, and took their freshly cut planks back home in an UberXL. 

Step 3: Drill the Holes 

The biggest pro of the easy-hang shelves is that there’s minimal wall damage involved (all you need to drill are the holes for the very top track—everything else hangs from that). To do this, you’ll need a ⅜-inch drill bit to ensure the openings will be large enough for the toggle bolts, which anchor for the shelf screws and can support more than 200 pounds of weight. The trick is making sure all the holes are level with one another and spaced out about 6 inches apart. To do this, the pair held up the shelves next to the wall, as flush and straight as possible, and marked the spots with a pencil. Next, they drilled the holes and screwed in the toggle bolts—very carefully. “If one is even a little bit off (like a quarter inch), it’s hard to get the screw in there,” explains Mundle. 

60″ Elfa Hang Standard, The Container Store ($24 was $34)

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Amoolo 3/8″ Metal Drill Bit Set, Amazon ($20)

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Toggler Snaptoggle Drywall Anchor , Amazon ($20)

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Step 4: Install the Shelves 

Once the bolts were in, she installed the top track and screwed it in. The vertical attachments that support the brackets are even easier to attach. These pieces hook onto the track at the very end and slide across it. Finally, the brackets that support the wood shelves hook into the attachments.

10-1/2″ Elfa Classic Bracket, The Container Store ($7 was $9)

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Step 5: Style Away 

Rainbow bookshelves are cute, but Mundle organized her books with function top of mind: Titles that get the least use (like her boyfriend’s law school textbooks) now live at the very top, while prized cookbooks enjoy a spot front and center by the stairs. “I never have to pull up a chair or stool to get them,” she says. After sitting in boxes for a good five months, her favorite reads can now breathe a little easier—and thanks to the shelves, so can the couple.

Elfa Clip Bookends White Pkg/2, The Container Store ($8 was $11)

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The post The Container Store Shelving That’s Seen This Renter Through 3 Apartments appeared first on domino.

The simplest way to update your kitchen cabinets without replacing them is to paint them. But just because it’s not complicated doesn’t mean it’s cheap. According to HomeAdvisor’s latest 2021 data, it will run you an average of $700, with labor costing between $20 and $50 per hour. The only real way to avoid that expense is to tackle the job yourself. 

So we are looking back to all the expert advice we’ve received, plus some fresh intel from Paul Baik, senior product manager for Behr Ultra and the company’s specialty products. Here’s a few quick tips for how to paint kitchen cabinets like an absolute pro, from the best sealers to the must-have tools. 

The Best Primers for Painting Kitchen Cabinets 

Priming is essential in creating a smooth, uniform surface that is ready to accept a top coat, so you definitely don’t want to skip the step or skimp on a lackluster product. For wood cabinets, Baik suggests starting with a stain-blocking primer that is acrylic based (so it adheres nicely) and mildew resistant.

When it comes to tricky laminate cupboards, opt for a primer that’s designed for intense bonding, like Behr’s Bonding Primer and Sherwin-Williams’s Extreme Bond Primer—picks that are made for tough-to-paint surfaces. It’s important to use an undercoat in the same tone as the door color to get a saturated result, especially if you’re going from light to dark.

The Best Paint for Kitchen Cabinets

The best type of paint for kitchen cabinets is an oil-based enamel or a hybrid alkyd enamel paint in either a semigloss or satin finish, which levels nicely (meaning you won’t see any streaks from your brush) and is superdurable. Two coats, depending on the color you’re going with, should do the trick. 

According to designers, Farrow & Ball’s Modern Eggshell and Estate Eggshell options are a must-try for kitchen cabinets. The former has a 20 percent sheen that is ideal for durability and cleanability, according to designer Gillian Segal. Here’s a brief list of tried-and-true brands:

• Farrow & Ball Modern Eggshell
• Benjamin Moore Advance
• Behr Premium
• Sherwin-Williams ProClassic
• Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane
• Valspar Oil-Enriched Enamel

If you’re working with laminate and IKEA cabinets, avoid full gloss, as it will cause imperfections to shine. You can also use a matte Chalk Paint product for these types of doors after you’ve given them a good sanding and cleaned off any debris. 

How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets 

Step 1: Remove Everything

It might go without saying, but start by taking all your dishes, glassware, and pantry goods out of the cabinets. While some DIYers have gotten by without detaching the doors (Ajai Guyot claims it was easier to paint them on their hinges), most pros suggest taking the extra step, as you can more easily use a roller or spray gun when the panels are lying on a flat work table. Psst: As you unscrew each door, be sure to keep track of which one goes where (you can number them near the hinges with a marker), as it’ll make the reinstallation process a breeze. Finally, cover up the countertops, floor, and walls around the cabinets with rosin paper or plastic tarp to protect them from any unwanted splatter or dust.

Step 2: Create a Smooth Surface

Wipe down your cabinets with a de-glosser solution, then scuff up the boxes and fronts with a medium sandpaper (100- to 150 grit), as it will help you get an even consistency. A random orbital sander tends to be best for the job, as it doesn’t leave many noticeable swirl marks in the wood. Wipe away any dust and apply a fast-drying primer, which will conceal imperfections.

Step 3: Paint Away

Once that’s done, you can move on to the fun part: paint! It’s important to paint wood in a dry environment, preferably where you have plenty of access to fresh air, to prevent moisture from impacting the material’s integrity. Here are some tools to have on hand, according to Baik: 

• A fine-bristle brush (100 percent high-quality nylon works best)
• A mini ¼-inch roller 
• An airless sprayer: .013-inch to 015-inch spray tip, 60-mesh filter
• Optional: 400- to 600-grit sandpaper to use in between coats to allow the next layer to adhere smoothly

Use the brush for small corners and details, and the roller for the main face of the panels. (Just be sure to follow that up with a brush to get rid of roller marks.) Let each coat dry thoroughly (about 24 hours), before lightly sanding and applying the second round. Once the second coat dries, reattach the door and drawer fronts and soak in your newly revamped space.

The post How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets, From Unfinished Wood to Tricky IKEA Laminate appeared first on domino.

Like most of us, food stylist and recipe developer Diana Yen has a visceral reaction when she thinks about bifold closet doors. She can practically hear the squeaking of the slow-rolling track and feel the hard yank it takes to pry each side open. “Growing up, they haunted me because they always had the louvers,” she says with a laugh. “I thought they were terrible.” But when Yen bought her house in Ojai, California, and realized her bedroom closet didn’t have any doors at all (the dorm vibes were strong), she decided to give the thing she’d once hated most a second chance. “I had all this stuff on Pinterest, looking into IKEA hacks and European-style doors, trying to figure out what to do,” she recalls, “and I realized a bifold was the most cost-efficient.” The custom closet designs she had briefly looked into were in the $10,000 ballpark, but transforming a set of simple bifold doors from Home Depot took less than $500 and a weekend to complete.  

The Supplies

• Bifold doors
• Flexible molding
• Caulk
• A pencil
• Scissors
• Chalk paint 
• Hardware of your choosing 

36 in. x 80 in. White MDF Interior Closet Bi-Fold Door, The Home Depot ($428)

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Gaahing Wall Molding Trim Chair Rail Panel Moulding, Amazon ($20)

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Step 1: Map Out Your Path

Yen’s inspiration came from—where else!—Instagram. Her Italy-based friend Jayne Henderson posted a carousel of cool-looking doors and one of them with a squiggle outline caught Yen’s attention. “I was like, wow, I feel like that molding gives a poetic touch and makes it elegant but still kind of whimsical,” she says. With a pencil, Yen traced wavy oblong shapes onto each of the door panels, totaling eight undulating silhouettes. 

Step 2: Peel and Stick

“I felt like a cheater because I got it from Amazon,” Yen jokes about revealing her creative hack: peel-and-stick flexible molding. She slowly ripped away the adhesive backing and applied the bendy trim over her pencil lines, then used scissors to cut the ends when she was ready to move onto the next shape. “It was basically like one big sticker,” she says. 

Step 3: Seal the Deal

To hide any visible gaps, Yen coated the edges of the molding with caulk and then went over them with a sanding block, ridding the surface of any putty residue. Finally, she swathed them in white chalk paint (no primer necessary). “I wanted a matte, softer finish so that it would accentuate the molding,” she says. As the doors were drying, she propped them up near a wall and, in that very moment, another genius idea struck her: These doors would also make chic room dividers. But that’s a project for another day.

Step 4: Double Up on Your Hardware

Embellishing is nice and all, but if you really don’t want bifolds to look like bifolds, add four knobs to the fronts instead of just a single pair. Yen added two dainty brass knobs to each side, creating the illusion that they all swing open rather than slide.

Step 5: Hit the Track

When it came to mounting the doors, Yen called in her contractor. Her fear? That they wouldn’t sit flat if she were to attempt to lock them in place herself. The splurge was worth it: Her staring contest with her clothes is finally over.

The post All Your Basic Bifold Closet Doors Need Is a Little Squiggly Molding appeared first on domino.

Natasha Lyon, the creative force behind U.K.-based Appreciation Project, meticulously revamped every corner of her kitchen only to be left with a sad view when she looked out her brand-new windows. The long-neglected backyard was barren with the exception of one big tree, a cracked concrete patio, and an unusable flower bed. Suddenly, she realized her reno was not yet complete. She had to tackle the outdoors, too. 

When Lyon finally embarked on her quest, it led her to an unexpected treasure: an affordable, off-the-shelf garden shed with whispers of a Victorian orangery. Braving the British winter, Lyon dedicated a season to crafting her dream garden retreat. Nearly a year later, the space has morphed into a treasured hideaway, shielding her from the boundless energy of her children, and has provided solace to her husband when unanticipated rainstorms have rudely interrupted family barbecues. Here’s how she brought it to life.

Step 1: Prepping the Stage

Before the charming retreat could take root, Lyon faced the task of removing an impractical flower bed, thereby extending the garden by an additional 5 feet and creating the much-needed space for the shed’s concrete foundation. To stay within her set budget, Lyon creatively repurposed slate tiles from a previous kitchen renovation to cover the concrete base, turning what was once discarded material into a cost-effective and environmentally friendly flooring solution. This ingenious approach not only aligned with Lyon’s commitment to minimizing waste (a fundamental principle of Appreciation Project, which started as a dried floral bouquet shop) but played a key role in sticking to the project’s financial constraints.

Step 2: Building the Bones

In Lyon’s pursuit of an enchanting escape, she stumbled upon a uniquely designed shed online for roughly $2,200 that had a whimsical pointed roof and arched windows. This particular structure came exclusively in flat packs, requiring every piece to be meticulously assembled. She enlisted her trusted carpenter, who proceeded to tell her he could have easily built it from scratch. But for Lyon, there was no turning back. “I love it exactly as it is,” she says. “I wouldn’t have changed a thing, apart from the quality of the wood, perhaps.” 

Step 3: Adding a Rainbow of Colors

When selecting paint colors for the garden house, Lyon carefully considered its visibility from her main home. Despite her husband’s initial reservation, she convinced him to embrace a red hue on the exterior, pairing it with powder blue on the inside, a color combination that has become an unintentional signature inside Lyon’s home. To help her navigate the winter painting process, she chose Little Greene’s outdoor paint in the shades Baked Cherry and Sky Blue for its quality and built-in primer (a major time-saver). When it came time to paint the floors, Lyon didn’t have to trek all the way to the store: She reused leftover paint (Farrow & Ball’s De Nimes) from a previous hallway project. 

The inspiration for the window film came from a past client project, where Lyon hadn’t had the opportunity to utilize it; it’s available in various colors and sold by the meter. She carefully cut and arranged the film, using soapy water and a squeegee to adhere it and a credit card to smooth out any air bubbles. But she didn’t cover every last square. By leaving parts of the glass untouched, Lyon ensured an outside view: “Our kids and their friends have named it the Rainbow House.”

Step 4: Cultivating a Cozy Atmosphere

In case she ever needs to use the shed for storage, Lyon chose to bring in two chairs rather than build out a permanent bench. She initially intended to reupholster the ’70s pieces (which she scored on Etsy), but the fabric turned out to be in pristine condition. Preferring a gradual decorating approach, Lyon slowly “shopped” her own home, eventually pulling a side table she once used for styling shoots. “My husband jokes that my side tables have side tables,” she says with a laugh, emphasizing the delightful reuse of one in her garden retreat. The cringe Lyon once felt when she looked out her kitchen window has been replaced with a smile. 

The post Colorful Window Film Will Convince You It’s Always Summer in This Designer’s Tiny Backyard Shed appeared first on domino.

Even though our closets hold some of our most important possessions, we inevitably end up neglecting them. So we’re asking clever homeowners and renters to share their time-tested organizing methods that really (really!) work in our new series, Reclaim Your Closet.

When Toronto-based designer Gabriella Borg ripped out a section of floor-to-ceiling cabinets in her kitchen to make a wider walkway, she was left with a problem: She no longer had a pantry. The nearby stairwell, which never got much use, became her saving grace. “It’s a bit of a weird space, but I thought, how can we make this more functional?” recalls Borg, who, with the help of her partner and a $170 IKEA shelving unit, turned the once-purposeless nook into her dream walk-in pantry. 

The Kungsfors shelving system’s price tag was a major draw for Borg, but so was its modular design. The couple personalized the piece by adding more wood shelves to the stainless steel frame, as well as a grated pot rack with produce baskets. “You can ultimately reach everything you need,” says the designer. 

Level to the T

Knowing that the unit would end up bearing a lot of weight, the pair took their time with the installation. “It’s easy to put together, but that doesn’t mean you can be loose with it,” says Borg, who used a leveling cross-line laser to make sure the vertical and horizontal brackets were perfectly aligned, double-checked for studs, and used deep anchors to secure the mounted pieces. “We didn’t want it to tear the wall down.”

Experiment Before Making Any Big Decisions

Borg measured her tallest cans to figure out the exact spacing and placement of the shelves. “Before I had the opportunity to make my own pantry, I never realized how annoying it is to lift big, heavy jars from the top shelf,” she says. She strategically placed the bulkiest items on the lowest surfaces. Then she put cans and labeled jars at eye level so no one ever has to guess what they’re grabbing. Decanting baking staples into clear containers makes it easy to keep track of which ingredients she’s running low on.

Don’t Forget Your Tools

Right next to the stair landing is the grated rack that houses all of the couple’s pots, pans, and strainers. Borg opted for two different types of hooks: standard S-shaped ones with a low profile and deep ones that are more suitable for stacking. She also mounted four IKEA spice racks, which can be easily accessed from the next step.

“Not everything’s perfectly lined up, which is on theme for our pantry,” says Brog. “It’s organized chaos.”

The post How a Designer Turned a Wasted Room Into a Walk-In Pantry for $170 appeared first on domino.

Whenever I enter a new space, my mind goes into overdrive, gathering inspiration and envisioning changes. But there is one particular area I’ve always wanted to get my hands on: my mom’s laundry room, purely for the challenge it brings. Everything in there is competing for attention; there’s a toilet, a still-working microwave from 40 years ago, a fridge covering an unused back door, and a washing machine. 

I (delusionally) gave myself 10 days to complete this renovation. While my incredible mom was speaking at the World Health Organization in Switzerland, I took over her home with a tight hour-by-hour schedule that I thought would see our timings align. But unfortunately, what I didn’t consider was life. My rock-star 98-year-old grandfather was assisting in the initial stages, but on day eight, he had a stroke. It was tools down for some weeks. 

As he recovered, a turn of events saw Project Laundry become a family and friends affair. Even with the help, there were still some bumps, like when I flooded the place after drilling into a water pipe. But eventually, we got there, and it’s all the more special now that my grandpa’s been able to see it in person. 

Paint Directly Over Wall Tiles

The pink tile just had to go, and with limited time and budget, I turned to paint. When painting tile, don’t skip the preparation, as it will affect the final result and longevity. I used TSP (trisodium phosphate) to wash the surface before lightly going over it with a 180-grit sanding block. There are kits on the market, but a painting expert recommended using a boat-grade product that won’t rust or get moldy around moisture. The first coat of primer had me worried (as it looked incredibly blotchy and left a pale pink hue), but thankfully I trusted the process, and after the two coats of paint went up, the space was immediately transformed. 

DIY Doors for an Easy Custom Look 

I’m a big fan of IKEA’s kitchen base cabinets and have used them for various projects. It’s the doors where I like to get creative. I kept it simple this time around by making Shaker-style doors out of plywood sheets and MDF trim. But simple still has its complications. All was good until I realized my ½-inch plywood was not thick enough to cover the hinges, so I ended up having to add another layer of backing (from MDF scraps) to thicken it up. 

Repurpose Your IKEA Cubes 

Chances are you or someone you know has cube storage. After moving the refrigerator into the corner closest to the door, I stacked two of the boxy Kallax shelving units to create upper cabinetry. To make them look legitimate, I customized the doors, this time with a slatted wood design. I started with four sheets of ¾-inch-thick MDF (I learned from my previous mistake) and used a table saw to cut the thin strips of wood. From there, each strip was glued and nailed to the front with a constant space between each piece. Unfortunately, the result wasn’t dead even, so the slats don’t line up perfectly. Another regret of mine was not adding a backing to the cubes before installing them. Peel-and-stick wallpaper, anyone? 

Turn Old Furniture Into Floating Shelves 

Repurposing was at the forefront of Project Laundry, so when my grandmother suggested recycling wood from a headboard I’d made when I was 15, I was in. My grandpa and I had the best day breaking it all down to the studs before taking those pieces to build the framework for the floating shelves. But as I drilled the final hole in the wall, a small disaster struck: I hit a water pipe. Thankfully, the plumber was able to come quickly and patch it up, and all that remained was adding 3-millimeter-thick plywood sheets to the frame and applying a light stain. 

Don’t Overstuff Your New Space

Before I build anything, I like to ensure there’s room for growth. If you fill it up right away, and with no organizational plans, before you know it, it’ll be just another space to store whatever. With my label maker in hand, the base cabinets became a spot for home-cleaning supplies, while the top cubes felt perfect for bakeware and other lesser-used cooking items. Most important, both spaces have open and empty areas for future growth, and even though my mom didn’t get that 10-day HGTV-like reveal, she gained a super-functional multipurpose room that she loves.

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If you want more storage in your bedroom beyond your dresser, the nightstand is the place to make it happen. The problem is, they can be sneakily expensive. The Componibili by Kartell that Domino editors know and love, for instance, is $345, while designer-made pieces, such as McGee & Co.’s Huxton nightstand, land you in the $1,200 range. Like anything else, when our first few ideas all come in way over budget, we turn to IKEA and ask ourselves: What has hacking potential? Turns out, a lot of the brand’s simple nightstands can be transformed into something luxe-looking with a little imagination. Here are a few of our favorite IKEA nightstand hacks that are like something out of a dream. 

The Fluted IKEA Rast Nightstand Hack

Instead of investing in a traditional nightstand for her daughter’s bedroom, blogger Ryia Jose turned a small IKEA Rast dresser into the exact piece she needed for a total of $75. Ditching one of the drawers to make way for an open shelf, Jose then clad the whole thing in fluted molding. To fill in any small gaps between the pieces of reeded trim, she filled the spaces with a bit of caulk and then painted the whole thing in Mount Etna by Sherwin-Williams.

The Woven IKEA Nordiska Nightstand Hack

Lita Lee’s dream nightstand was the Anderson side table by Amber Lewis: It has a stained oak finish, carved drawer pulls, and a rope cord shelf. The issue? It costs a cool $4,500. So Lee went the DIY route, combining the Nordkisa nightstand and a generous amount of hemp string to weave her own version. 

The Retro IKEA Malm Nightstand Hack

After seeing how contact paper could transform something as major as ugly kitchen countertops, Overice founder Meijun Li thought: Why couldn’t it do the same for a basic Malm nightstand? The project only cost her around $50, but it took five hours to cut the corners of each drawer with a hacksaw and round the edges with sandpaper before carefully cutting two blue ovals for the drawers.

The IKEA Glattis Tray–Turned–Nightstand Hack

In need of a thin, low-profile nightstand to fit in the tiny nook next to his bed, designer Malcolm Simmons built a sleek one by attaching a marble lazy Susan and IKEA Glattis tray to a 30-inch-long iron pipe and balancing them with a marble utensil-holder base.

The Antique-Inspired IKEA Hemnes Nightstand Hack

While the bones of this two-drawer piece are the same as where they started, the doors gained a chic addition in the form of pine chair rail molding. Cutting the trim requires miter shears, but beyond that, twin sisters Sara and Melissa used the obvious: primer, paint, wood glue, and brass knobs.

The Scalloped IKEA Hemnes Side Table Hack

After removing the bottom shelf from the Hemnes nightstand, Jen Brake of Half Painted House primed it with Zinsser BIN (it’s the best base layer for laminated furniture), painted it pink to match the wainscoting, swapped out the drawer knob ,and tacked on pre-made scallop edging from Nook. 

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