My favourite furniture hacks

My book Furniture Hacks has been out for just over a year now, wow that time went fast! In that year my second book Crafting with Mason jars got published as well and I'm just finishing up the 3rd one Making concrete pots, bowls and platters.  My bookshelves are slowly filling up ;)

The Furniture Hacks book has detailed tutorials of 35 makes for your home, from small projects like driftwood door handles to big builds like a window shutters. You might have seen some of the projects appear on this website and my social media. Over the last year I've done lots more hacks so I thought for this weeks post I round up my favourite builds from the book and my website from the last year.

Here you go my favourite Hester's Handmade Home Hacks!

Of course I have to start with the hack that kickstarted everything, the website and the books, my Ikea Malm bed four poster hack. This is also one of the most watched video's on my Youtube channel, slightly cringe worthy as it was one of my first video's and I think my camera and editing skills have come on a bit since then. Unfortunately I don't have the bed anymore :( It didn't fit in my new home but don't despair I just gave the bed frame another makeover, a second hack so to speak, and I will post that video soon. Two of the four poster stand have be turned into an outdoor table so they have been hacked again too :D

Click the image for the video tutorial of the four poster bed or here for the blog article or you can find a more in dept tutorial in the Furniture Hacks book.

These are two of my favourite projects from the Furniture hacks book. The chair was super old and ugly one that I picked up in a reclamation yard for a tenner. A new seat and a lick of paint transformed it into my fav dining chair. The curtains on the right I made for my old house. My auntie donated me meters of plain cotton she had left over after a fair. I made them into curtains and dipped the bottom into blue dye to add a hint over colour. I love how the blue fabric puddles on the floor. Find the tutorial for the chair and curtains in my Furniture Hacks book.

I really liked the simplicity of the wallpaper hack, find a great looking patterned paper and just fill in some of the blank space with paint or washi tape. Click the image to see the tutorial video.

Another one of my favourite simple makes was this side table. A tree slab with little legs picked up at a reclamation yard, this table didn't cost me more them £5 a bargain and you can make it in 30 minutes! Click the image to see the tutorial video

These two are my favourite big builds in the new house. I wanted to do an Ikea Ivar hack for ages, every house I ever lived in had an Ivar storage unit and I thought it would look fab with little doors. I like how the open bottom part gives the big bookcase an airy feel and the bear, love the bear! It's a magnetic wallpaper that I can also use it as a notice board. For the tutorial video click the image and for the blog post click here.

My other fav is the kitchen makeover. I didn't had much money to spend on the kitchen but did want to drag the outdated units into this century so I clad them with plywood. I love their simplicity, and the handmade leather handles really finish the look off perfectly. The whole kitchen makeover is split into several videos, for the plywood tutorial click on the image. For the leather door handles click here, for the wallpaper backsplash click here and the painted (yes it is paint!) countertops click here.

The marble desk is where I'm typing up this blog post at the moment. It's a very old table I had for a while and with some marble vinyl it got a new leash of life. Click the image to see how you can make your own. The cushions I use on my garden lounge set, they are made from old pairs of jeans. The pompom trim adds a bit of colour to the garden but the blue jeans tone keeps the look from being to twee. Click the image to see the tutorial video.

I'm a big magazine addict and have stacks and stacks of interior, fashion, travel and craft editions so what better to do then use them in a hack? This is a project from the Furniture Hacks book but there is an instruction video on my Youtube channel as well. Click the image to see how you can make your own. The bed hack on the right was build out of frustration. The bed in my spare room is a divan bed, cheap to buy but very badly designed for people that have to use every bit of storage space in their homes. Divan beds are big square frames covered in fabric, all that covered up space can be used as under bed storage! So I sliced open the bed and covered it in reclaimed wood. Click the image to see how I did that.

What do you think of my round up? Are these some of your favourite Hester's handmade home projects as well? Have you made any or which one would you be likely to give a go? I would love to hear.

Still not enough of Furniture Hacks? Have a look at this video on how the book came to be, see you all next week with a new hack!

xx Hester

Four poster, dip dyed curtain and magazine table photo's by James Gardiner for Furniture Hacks, Cico Books. All other photo's and video's by Hester van Overbeek.