How You Can Revamp Old Living Room Furniture

Refinishing old and worn furniture by yourself can save you a lots of money rather than taking it to a professional. And if you love DIY projects, this can be a fun and satisfying project too. Those tatty pieces of furniture that you find at auctions, car boot sales and antique fairs can be made to look like new with some creativity and TLC. You can also buy cheap living room furniture and add your own unique twist to it. Here are some ways to revamp your furniture.

Painting

This is probably the most popular way to revamp your furniture. It is easy to do and you have an almost endless choice of colors to match your furniture. You can use spray or brush on paints, and try on various glazes to produce a different effect. By using a bright and bold color, you can turn any simple piece into something modern like the Baby Spire Chair by Zuo Modern.

Repurpose

You can turn old windows or doors into tables; add legs to a metal storage box to make a side table, or upholster a wood create to make a foot stool. Many bigger items made of wood, like box shapes, can be turned into other useful products for your home.

Stencils

Purchase various stencil designs (throw in your own design), stick it into your furniture, and paint over it. This is a very versatile technique because practically any pattern that you want can be achieved. You can go with polka dots, stripes, chevrons, and even floral like the Tan / Beige Flower Fabric Storage Ottoman by Monarch Specialties.

Refinish

This is where you re-do the finish that is already present on the furniture. This is usually a method used on pieces where the wood grain does not show and is simply varnished. What is used in the top coat is either penetrating oil, or layers of lacquer or polyurethane varnish.

Upholstery

You can add new foam, batting or fabric layers onto something like a sturdy coffee table to transform and repurpose it into a stool. You can also reupholster an old chair, footstool and chaise lounge that already have the padded seating to refresh and update it. You can also try tufting and create a pattern of depressions all over the upholstery like the Oldschool Chesterfield Sofa by Innovation Living.

Lining

For something that is a little easier, you can consider lining your furniture, like the inside of the drawers, using wallpaper, wrapping paper, maps or fabric and then using decoupage techniques to add an interesting design or feature to the piece.