Tips, tricks, and ideas on updating dated, secondhand and inexpensive furniture into expensive one-of-a-kind pieces!
Whether you want to update a piece of furniture you already own or you're in search of affordable furniture that you can transform into a beautiful customized piece.
These tips and ideas will help you save money and turn ordinary inexpensive furniture into expensive-looking one-of-a-kind pieces of art.
EIGHT WAYS TO UPDATE FURNITURE FOR THE PERFECT HIGH-END LOOK!
1. REMOVE DATED STAIN AND FINISHES
You know what kind of stain I'm talking about. The orangy color that's often flyspecked and sealed with glossy shellac or varnish. This finish tends to instantly date furniture and make you think of the 1970s-1980s
The good news is, these dated furniture pieces are typically very well-built and made of solid wood. This means they can easily be transformed and given a high-end makeover by sanding and creating a raw wood look, refinishing, or painting.
TIP: Replace outdated hardware for an even greater impact.
2. ADD LEGS
Attaching legs, wheels, or feet is a great way to add height and give furniture pieces a polished and custom look. Hairpin legs, metal sofa legs, caster wheels, and various styles of wood feet are wildly available and easy to attach.
FURNITURE FEET, LEGS & WHEELS
3. REMOVE AND OR REPLACE DATED FEATURES
Older outdated furniture is the perfect candidate for makeovers. They're usually extremely affordable and readily available at secondhand shops, on Facebook Marketplace, and at yard sales. They often have very curvy and dated features, but those can be easily removed or replaced.
Basic and inexpensive wood boards can be used to rebuild furniture bases and curvy, arched, and decorative doors can be cut out and replaced with glass or rattan.
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SOURCE: Date Server Before and After
I love how Sierra from Restless and Refurbished completely transformed this dated bookcase into a beautiful custom piece of furniture. It doesn't even look like the same piece!
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4. A FRESH COAT OF PAINT
Sometimes it doesn't take more than a couple coats of paint to drastically change the look and style of a piece of furniture.
SOURCE: Vintage By LHOF
5. REPLACE DATED FABRIC
Authentic vintage fabric and textiles can be timeless and valuable. They can also be dated, haggard, and completely out of style. Replacing dated and damaged fabric with fresh timeless styles and materials can drastically transform the look of upholstered furniture.
Some of my favorite fabrics for a high-end look are leather, Italian textured boucle, linen, canvas, and mudcloth.
TIP: In addition to replacing upholstery, consider sanding and refinishing wood or conditioning the current finish with either Restore-A-Finish or Old English. Either option can drastically improve the look of dated or damaged wood.
Beautifully reupholstered furniture by Charles & Marie Upholstery
6. ADD DOORS AND/OR TRIM MOLDING
Custom bookcases and built-ins can be very expensive. Give basic and affordable alternatives a custom look by creating arches and adding doors, trim, and decorative molding.
Don't forget the back and inside of the bookcases too.
Wallpaper, beadboard, or pole wrap are great materials to spruce up and add interest to the inside, and backs of bookcases.
7. REPLACE HARDWARE
Out-of-style hardware can easily date and devalue furniture. Replacing dated hardware with solid, good-quality knobs and pulls provides an instant upgrade. Changing hardware placement can provide an even further high-end upgrade, especially when high-quality hardware is used.
My personal favorite hardware styles are round modern knobs, bin pulls and top edge pulls in matte black or brass.
SOURCE: Light Gray and Black MCM Dresser
8. ADD TEXTURE WITH FLUTED DETAILS
I love adding texture and creating dimension throughout my home and that includes DIY furniture pieces. Texture can be created using various painting techniques or by adding fluted trim or ornamental molding.
SOURCE: DIY Fluted File Cabinet Makeover
One of my favorite talented furniture artists who creates incredible one-of-a-kind pieces full of texture is the amazing Courtney Weisel of Steel Birch Studios.
9. LAYER PAINT
I don't do a lot of paint layering, but a super-talented friend of mine, Jen Green of Green Spruce Designs, is a master of blending, mixing, and layering paint to create beautiful depth and texture.
Depth can be added to painted furniture by using dark wax or glaze, layering various shades of paint, or using sponges, stiff brushes, or nappy rollers.
SOURCE: Green Spruce Designs
Have you noticed a theme?
Most of the furniture makeovers include a combination of updates to create unique and beautiful pieces out of ordinary inexpensive and secondhand furniture.
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