My Best DIY Makeovers and Projects of 2025!
December 31, 2025
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A year-end recap of my favorite DIY projects of 2025!
This is one of my favorite posts of the year, both because it's fun to look back and see what I've accomplished in the house over the past 12 months, and because it makes me feel very productive. 😂
This time, I gathered my favorite DIY projects from each month.
If you're anything like me, the new year brings new energy and motivation -- hopefully these updates will inspire you in 2026!
January: Revitalizing old furniture
This dresser revamp was one of my favorite projects -- it was so easy and I only had to spend a few bucks to give our entryway a completely new look.
For years we've had this long Everett table in our foyer, and it was lovely:
I've been on a mission to replace or update some of our more farmhouse-style decor (on a budget) with more traditional options, and this table was one of those.
As pretty as it is, I wanted to simplify the look in this area a bit.
So we dragged down a vintage dresser from our son's room and fell in LOVE with it in this space:
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The dresser needed a little love though, and I shared how I gave it new life with very simple and inexpensive updates. No staining or painting needed!
These are great ways to refresh any old wood furniture in your home.
I've always loved this piece and I'm so happy it has a more prominent spot in our home now!
February: Dining buffet makeover
In February I tackled another furniture makeover, but this one was waaaaay more work. I love how it turned out though!
You know when you say something out loud, like "This is going to be so easy!" And then everything goes wrong? Well, that's how this one ended up.
The whitewash look on our dining buffet was blending in a little too much for my taste, so I had a makeover in mind:
I decided to go with a dark, dramatic wine-colored paint called Rojo Marron, which we also used on my husband's office walls.
I LOVE this color:
Not only did this deep color take a lot of paint, but along the way, I made more updates, like adding trim to the doors and metal hardware accents to the top.
It is one of my favorite pieces of furniture in our home now!
We later found the deal of the century on this gorgeous secondhand wood dining table as well:
This room has come so far in the past few years!
March: Color-drenched hallway
I loved that wine paint color in my husband's office so much that I carried it into a small hallway near that room in our basement.
This is how the hall looked before:
And now, after color drenching the hallway:
Well, technically it's not a proper color drench just yet...I still need to paint the ceiling. It's been on my list since March. :)
I share some helpful painting tips and my advice for doing this kind of paint treatment in a room.
April: Main bedroom updates
A couple of years ago, I did some significant updates in our bedroom to brighten it up. Mainly installing some beautiful tongue and groove planks along the bottom of the previously very dark walls:
After a while, I was craving a bit of contrast in this room -- I had gone almost too light and neutral for my taste.
I hung some gorgeous dark green blackout drapes (and used ceiling-mounted drapery tracks that I LOVE) that added so much to this room:
A few other inexpensive tweaks like new artwork finished it all off, and we absolutely love this cozy room!
My plan was to tackle a tray ceiling makeover this year as well, but I got distracted with other projects. This year for sure!
May: Staining a fiberglass door
By May, I was in beast mode, working on tons of projects around the house to prep for our son's high school graduation party.
Our fiberglass front door was stained when we built our home, but I don't think they prepped the door well. Over the years a lot of the stain had either worn or chipped off the door:
The process to restain our fiberglass door was a little more laborious than starting from scratch, but the end result was so worth it!:
In the end, it really does look like real stained wood. I get asked about our "solid wood" front door all the time!
June: Teen closet makeover
In June, I finally worked on our son's closet makeover...after years of thinking about it! He needed better storage and space planning.
He has a walk-in closet, but the setup wasn't working well for him:
We really wanted him to have drawers for folded clothes in there as well, but dressers took up way too much room.
I started by removing all of the wire shelving, and we got to work building and installing the awesome Ikea Pax closet system:
When that was done, I added some final touches like paint, wallpaper, and a gallery wall with some of his collected art on the empty wall by the door.
This functions SO much better, and he's kept it pristine! (OK, he's been at college most of that time, but still.)
July: Evening backyard and patio tour
I worked on our backyard and patio for weeks to prep for the graduation party in June.We absolutely love this space, and it was the perfect spot to host friends and family who helped us celebrate.
After the party, I shared an evening tour of the patio and yard, including my new raised garden area: 
After all that work, it was so great to just enjoy these spaces for the rest of the season!
August: Affordable and fun accent lighting
A couple of years ago, I was focused on finishing our basement kitchenette and bar project that had been in the works for a while.
It turned out even better than I hoped, and we've thoroughly enjoyed this space! One little addition I wanted to add was my favorite fun accent lighting that is also super functional:
The area over our sink in that room was so dark, but because of our HVAC system, we couldn't add any overhead lighting. This product can be added almost anywhere you have an outlet, and has SO many custom options.
I also added some additional molding to dress this shelf up a little (and hide the lighting).
September: DIY decorative wood riser
In September, I worked on a quick little project that didn't cost me much at all...I think I used scrap wood for most of this project!
I've always loved the decorative wood risers I see at HomeGoods, so I decided to make my own. It's the perfect spot to hold snacks in our basement bar:
I hoard my scrap wood, so it's nice to use it for projects once in a while!
October: My home office reveal
My office was another loooong project that I finally finished up this year! The final result is so cozy, and I've surrounded myself with so many things that I love.
This is how my home office looked shortly after we moved in:
Shortly after moving in, I built the wall of bookcases, but after a few years I wanted to make additional updates.
I painted the bookcases all one color (Vintage Vogue by Benjamin Moore), hung grasscloth wallpaper and then installed library-inspired molding treatment around the bottom third of the walls:
It's been wonderful to work in this room! You can see a full tour of my home office and all of the DIY projects I worked on here.
In October, I also shared a huge eight year before-and-after tour of our home!
December: Revitalizing old Christmas decor
I'm skipping November, because I spent most of my time decorating our home for Christmas. When that was done, I moved on to more minor DIY Christmas decor makeovers.
You can see how I transformed all of this holiday decor with spray paint and Rub 'n Buff:
The last pic is the sleeves of our battery-operated Christmas tree candles -- that was the simplest and quickest makeover, but was probably my favorite! I just love how those turned out!
December: Beautiful DIY range hood
December was a twofer, because in the thick of the holiday season and hours before hosting a Christmas party, I decided to tackle a DIY project I'd been thinking about for months.
Years back, I installed a decorative range hood over our stainless steel vent:
It was definitely an improvement, but I knew I could add a lot more character to our kitchen with a few updates.
I removed a small portion of trim from the bottom and added decorative molding to create a prettier hood with a lot more dimension:
The brass tipping rail and shelf turned out just as I had hoped. I had so much fun decorating this little spot for Christmas. It looks SO much better, I wish I had done this sooner!
Those are my best DIY makeovers of the year! It's been a blast, yet again.
I have to say, I am SO happy to say goodbye to this year. I don't usually say that, but it has been a lot. :)
The blessings have far outweighed the bad, but I am definitely looking forward to a fresh start in the new year.
As always, I appreciate you following along if you've been here for a while! And if this is your first time reading, I hope you will visit again! I'm only able to share these projects because of all of you, I am so very thankful.
I hope you have a very safe and happy New Year!
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