There are many things I wish I had known about earlier in my DIY journey, like the existence of the speed square and all the ways it can be used to make building something easier. So what is a speed square? A speed square is a very inexpensive tool ($5-50) that takes up hardly any space - it is actually a triangle that has many markings and a lip along one edge. It is very unassuming...
Any fellow IKEA lovers out there? If I'm stuck trying to find a solution for a particular problem I'm trying to solve for a room or an apartment I'm "engineering", a stroll through IKEA always spark some ideas, including some creative IKEA hacks. Over the years, I've made my fair share of IKEA hacks and I thought it would be fun to make a video sharing my top ten favorite ones I've done. Here's...
This was the first video I published on my YouTube channel "Engineer Your Space" over 12 years ago. I did this project in my 450 ft2 NYC studio apartment (watch full tout here) to create an entryway area and a separation to my bedroom area. It's so great that IKEA still makes BILLY bookcases and that this DIY bookcase room divider is still relevant 12 years later. The one thing that I would...
I've been thinking a lot lately about whether or not it always makes sense to DIY projects. Don't get me wrong, I love to build things but given all the time/skills, tools, materials, and supplies needed. However, I do think it's worth doing the exercise of asking yourself what is the true cost of DIY'ing and comparing it to what it would cost to purchase something instead, or have someone else...
Do you have a small kitchen? If you do, you understand how precious counter space is, especially when it's time to do the dishes and you have to set them down to dry on the counter - it leaves very little room for anything else.This particular kitchen is only 25 ft2 and barely any counter space, so when I realized that the shelf above the sink was only attached with brackets and a couple of...
My friend's tiny rental kitchen (it’s only 5ft x 5ft!) was very drab and didn't match his style at all. So he asked me if I could give it the "engineer your space" treatment to give his rental kitchen an industrial rustic look with some organic elements. I love a challenge so I said yes! The very first thing I wanted to do was add a dramatic black tile backsplash to set the tone for the space....
My rental apartment has a small kitchen and though it has a lot of storage, it doesn't have a lot of it that's within easy reach (I'm short!). But it does happen to have a gap between the fridge and the cabinets so I decided to make use of that wasted space and convert it into a pullout pantry. There's many types you can buy, like this one, but I thought it would be more fun to make my own DIY...
Whether you rent or own your home, there isn’t always the option to rip out existing floors to replace them with something more updated. That was the case for this tiny 5ft by 5ft kitchen - it’s so small it doesn’t even have a stove or oven! It’s also a rental studio apartment, so no permanent changes could be made to the kitchen. However I didn't let that stop me from updating the entire...
This is the story of an epic kitchen makeover that took months to finish. The kitchen in question is a tiny 5 ft x 5 ft room in my friend Alex’s studio apartment. Not much personality and no stove, oven or dishwasher. It’s also a rental apartment, so no painting walls, or making any holes in the walls either. The perfect Engineer Your Space challenge - the more constraints I have, the more...
I love my cat but not the cat litter box. After 19 year, I have finally found the perfect cat litter and cat litter box set up that makes it a lot less of a chore and almost eliminates all that cat litter being tracked all over the floors. And best of all, I didn't have to buy a new enclosed cat litter since I was able to reuse and hack my IKEA bench for this project. Hope you like it and if you...
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