Is your furniture looking a little worse for wear? Or did you recently inherit some old, beaten-up furniture? Are you looking for a new project to showcase your skills? No matter how beaten up your favorite pieces might start to look, there are some easy hacks to make your furniture look brand new again.
Re-staining a Piece
A familiar hack people use to make their furniture look new is to strip away old stains or paint. By removing old paint or varnish, you will see the actual natural grain of the piece of furniture.
You can then sand everything nice and smooth if necessary. Then, either re-stain the piece to your desired color or simply apply a coat of clear polyurethane. Polyurethane can provide a hard, durable finish while still giving the appearance of wood. In any case, if you’re looking to give your favorite wood piece a new look, re-staining is an excellent way to go.
Painting a Piece
If you’re not interested in stripping and staining a piece, you can also paint it. Paint can be a great way to transform furniture quickly and make it look great. It’s also usually cheaper and less labor-intensive. Choose a color that coordinates well with the room you want to put the piece in and have at it! Who knows, you may enjoy it so much that you decide to make some bold changes to some of your other favorite pieces.
Reupholstering a Piece
Reupholstering a piece—such as old chairs or sofas—can be a great way to transform that ratty piece of furniture into something you’re proud of. If the furniture’s frame is solid and in good shape, there’s no reason to get rid of the whole thing.
Reupholstering is a cheap way to save the piece, and you can usually get low-cost fabric. If you don’t want to reupholster by hand, you can use a pneumatic upholstery stapler to simplify the process. Use the tool to attach your gorgeous, new fabric quickly and effectively. Pick out a fun print or color and enjoy the new look!
Repurposing a Piece
The list of easy hacks to make your furniture look brand new again wouldn’t be complete without repurposing a piece. Sometimes, you can completely change the purpose of a piece. Maybe you take a bed frame and turn it into a bench. Or perhaps that vintage dresser would make an incredible bookshelf.
Either way, the options are as limitless as your imagination with a bit of creativity and effort. Remember, you’d likely throw out that old piece of furniture if you don’t try to repurpose it, so don’t be afraid to experiment!