11 DIY Projects for Your Living Room

The brown, gray, and aqua color scheme makes a gender-neutral space filled with great ideas you can do.

How to Do It
-- Choose a neutral color for the wall (a creamy latte color works in this living room).
-- Paint all your trim white for a crisp foundation for the pattern and color to come alive.
-- Choose your favorite colors for accents and start shopping around for pillows and fabric you like.

Revamp built-ins for display over storage space.

How to Do It
-- Remove any shelves from the built-ins.
-- Coat the back of the shelves with a three-step Kelly green strie treatment.
-- Install floating ledges and top with display pieces.

This ottoman doubles as a coffee table and the pillows can be pulled off the base and used as floor cushions. Make it yourself out of high-density foam and durable fabrics.

A tailored window treatment without dragging out the sewing machine? Yes, you can do it, and here's how.

How to Make It
-- Cut a 1-x-6-inch board a few inches wider than the bank of windows and cut two 6-inch-long pieces for the returns. Screw the returns to the board.
-- Cut fabric to a height of 10 inches and to the desired width (leaving allowances for hems, the returns, and at least 8 inches for each box pleat) and hem all edges using fusible webbing.
-- Position the board under the fabric, 3 inches from the top hem. Staple the fabric to the board, folding in pleats every 12 to 15 inches and wrapping around the returns.
-- Hide the staples with glued on ribbon and buttons.

Adding fabric bands -- such as this check and solid -- to curtains (especially inexpensive store-bought solid panels) is a sure way to boost style. Sew the fabric band to existing curtains, or use fusible webbing for a quick fix.

A new surround and gas insert can make a once-unsightly fireplace a functional heating source and focal point. The granite is a custom stone kit from an online shop that cuts stone based on measurements you send. To install, adhere to a flat surface with construction adhesive.

These custom photo cubes have six images to share. It's easy to rearrange the cubes to show a new image, or rotate the cubes for a fun collage.

For affordable new furniture, paint unfinished dining chairs and a table with black semigloss paint. For durability, add three coats of polyurethane.

Here's the dish: Glue contrasting colors and sizes of plates together with epoxy or all-purpose glue (clamp them with a belt or bungee cord while the glue dries) and hang with plate hooks in columns on the wall.

A window seat adds seating and storage without adding more furniture. The center section features a lift-up top with storage inside. The strie paint treatment around the bay window makes the dining area feel like a separate room from the living room it's attached to. For playful pillows, embellish with inexpensive belts and buckles.

Can you spot the TV in this picture? It's creatively camouflaged by a wall of silhouette artwork.

How to Make It
-- Choose frames, then photocopy images to size.
-- Tape each image to heavy black art paper and use a crafts knife to cut through both layers, protecting your work surface with a crafts mat.
-- Use spray adhesive to adhere the silhouette to white mat board.