During the summer months, there’s nothing quite as fun and rewarding as visiting a rummage sale and finding an old piece of furniture that’ll be the perfect accent piece in your home. Not only will the used furniture be cheaper than buying new, it’ll also give you a chance to express your creative side by injecting new personality into the old materials.
But unlike you see on today’s popular TV shows, fixing up a neglected piece of furniture can take a lot of time and elbow grease — not to mention a lot of planning. So if you’re really going to turn that chipped, three-legged desk from the 70s into your beautiful workspace, you’ll first need to form a strategy.
Restoring to Perfection
Here are a few tricks of the trades to making old furniture useable again:
1. Clean it up. Whether you’re dealing with a musty, old couch with stained cushions or an oak desk that’s done nothing but collect dirt and grime for the last 20 years, you want to cut down to the original surface so you know exactly what you’re working with.
In some cases, a good cleaning is all you really need. If you’re lucky, you’ll reveal a beautiful original finish that you’re quite happy with.
2. Inspect it thoroughly. Yes, you’re checking for visual imperfections that need to be addressed, but you also want to check for structural integrity. Visually inspect the piece for cracks in the legs and supporting beams. Gradually put weight onto it to check for creaking, rocking, or other signs of weakness.
After this inspection, you’ll have a good idea of what’s salvageable and what needs replaced.
3. Come up with a gameplan. Once you know what’s wrong with the furniture, you can pick out a design. Remember to think outside the box. For example, say you have a chair with a section missing from the seat. While you could get by with patching a missing piece of the upholstery, you could also use that as a chance to add a patch pattern to the entire cushion.
Don’t forget to look around for inspiration! While we have tons of ideas on this blog, a quick search on the Internet will reveal tons of refurbishing tips.
4. Gather your materials. Now that your gameplan is in place, it’s time to make sure you have all the right materials together. If you need to buy anything for the fix, make sure you have excess to account for any mistakes you may have made in your estimates or any mistakes you make during the repairs. Better to have a little extra on hand than to have to take another trip to the store!
Keep in mind that some things don’t require much work at all — if you’re smart about it. Minor nicks and scratches in wood, for example, can be taken care of quite easily.
5. Make your repairs. Before getting to work, make sure you don your safety goggles and respirator mask, if necessary. If it’s your first time working with materials, you may first want to practice on an inconspicuous part of the furniture (or something entirely differently) until you get comfortable with the tools you’re using.
Of course, if you don’t want to put the time and labor into getting a customized piece of furniture, you can head to your nearest Home Decor Outlets. From there or our website, you can sort through a huge selection of affordable furniture that would make the perfect addition to your home!
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