Wednesday, March 29, 2023

How to Make Inexpensive Furniture Look Expensive










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.

How to make inexpensive furniture look expensive

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-1980sDated orange stained furniture

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TIP: Replace outdated hardware for an even greater impact.

Refinished vintage-inspired multi-drawer cabinet


how to get the perfect raw wood look


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. 

Metal legs added to antique oak card catalog

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Older outdated furniture is the perfect candidate for makeovers.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.

Rebuilding base of dated dresser

Rebuilding base of dated dresser

Before and after furniture makeover


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!
Replacing dated furniture doors


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.  

Painted furniture makeover



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. 

Replacing dated upholstery

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. 
DIY custom bookcases


DIY custom built in bookcase



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.  

Drilling new holes and replacing furniture hardware

Painted MCM dresser with new hardware


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.  

DIY fluted file cabinet



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.  

adding trim to furniture


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.  
Green painted and aged console table

Pink textured antique dresser makeover


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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