Do-it-Yourself Home Makeover

How to do a home makeover for a fraction of the cost.

ByABC News via logo
May 8, 2009, 5:35 PM

May 9, 2009 — -- Everyone gets them in the mail, but most don't bother to open them up. Those furniture catalogs with big-ticket items aren't in most family's budgets, but do fancy furnishings always have to come with premium pricetags?

D-I-Y expert and professional artisan Michele Beschen doesn't think so.

"Furniture catalogs are great," says Beschen. "You can look at the page and decide. Can I build this? Where can I get this? Are there some materials in the room that I maybe already have around the house? It's one-stop design."

"GMA" Weekend challenged one family to pick a room from a furniture catalog and recreate it on a budget, and with Beschen's expert advice.

Alex and Krystal Hatfield from Urbandale, Iowa, are closer than most teenage sisters: they share a room and a tiny double sized bed.

The sisters scoured expensive furniture catalogs and picked their dream bedroom. Using supplies from around their house, a garage sale, and a home improvement store, Beschen taught the family how to makeover their room, D-I-Y style.

The Hatfields were able to recreate the catalog's expensive room for only 1/7 the cost. That's like buying the whole room at an 85 percent clearance sale!


PRICE BREAKDOWN

Total: DIY: $796.72Catalog: $5,584.58

Bllueprints of the Hatfield's new room.

Dual Twin Bed Instructions

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Closet Turned Dressing Room

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Work With What You Have Ideas

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Free Standing Cabinet
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Check out more ideas from Michele Beschen