Have you ever visited a friend's house and been jealous? I spent the holiday with such a couple and tried my best to keep the inner demons at bay while walking through their newly decorated apartment. It didn't help that all of my favorite elements were DIY, upcycled and thrifted, which means everything came in extremely under budget but I got over it by reminding myself that the male half of this duo is a professional woodworker and I am not, and that I at least have something really good to share with all of you. Welcome to Kate and Evan's apartment.

Here we have the living room: all thrifted or Craigslist'd. Of special note are the two chairs. The one on the left came from a local junk store and Evan took the original metal base off and replaced it with a wooden piece he scored on eBay. The chair on the right came from a thrifting trip of Kate's and mine that I am still kicking myself over. Kate spotted the ugly leather green chair first and flipped it over while I pulled out my phone and Googled the manufacturer: Ward Bennett for Brickel Associates, listing for upwards of $800 on various websites. She bought it for $7 and recently got it dyed white for $90 by a woman advertising her services on Craigslist.

The duo put in lots of work in the kitchen, removing all of the cabinet doors and sanding and painting their MDF cabinets. They even hung an IKEA Expedit on the wall (soon to be painted the same blue as the open shelving) for extra storage and the bar in the second photo was built by Evan in less than a day.

The coup de grâce that pushed my envy to boiling points are these dining room chairs. For $7 apiece at the junk store and $13 worth of wood and spray paint, Evan transformed them to polished and modern seats worthy of very fine dinner parties. He offered to share the how-to when he saw my jaw drop for the fifth time.

1. Unscrew all of the seating pads until you are left with a metal frame. If your chair is the exact same shape-- this model is available in lots of thrift and junk shops-- you will have to pry off the vinyl top to get to the screws holding the back in place. Save the screws and set aside.
2. Do a mock up of your seat and backrest with cardboard, taking note of where you will need to use screws and write down your measurements. 3. Purchase wood and have it cut to size at your local hardware or home construction store.
4. Finish the wood with a polyurethane wood sealer.
5. Sand the frame with a green Scotch-Brite pad and wipe down with mineral spirits.
6. Spray paint the frame.
7. Attach the wood to the frame and marvel at your handy-ness.

Thank you Kate and Evan! If you have a great home or apartment and would like to share it with ReadyMade readers, shoot me an email.

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