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Home › Articles › Furniture › Fabulous Furniture

Fabulous Furniture

Making the Old New

By Kelly Burgess

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Here's good news for those of you on a budget – or for anyone who wants a new look without the price tag that goes along with it – you can get "new" furniture without paying hefty, new furniture prices. The trick is to know how to refresh the furniture you have, keep a sharp eye out for good quality used or "junk" furniture and just to look at things in a new way.

From Old to Chic
The minute I got off the phone with Kelley Taylor, founder of Creating Home Decor.com and author of Hol iday Decorating for Dummies (For Dummies, 2003), I tried one of her suggestions. A friend, who was consolidating for a move into a smaller house after her youngest child left for college, had given me a small cupboard that had been in her family for years. It had beautiful lines but was painted an ugly, dull brown. Following Taylor's advice, I spray-painted it white, let it dry, lightly sanded it in a few places and – voila! – my new "shabby chic" cupboard holds napkins and paper plates in the dining room and never fails to get compliments.

Since I'm no decorator, or even particularly talented in that area, if I can do it, anyone can. Taylor suggests the spray paint as a super-quick method, but says furniture can also be painted with a brush, although she recommends the top coat be done with a sponge brush to minimize paint lines. Taylor highly recommends painting furniture to give it a new look.

"Paint works so well to create an accent piece," she says. "If something has good bones but is just ugly, paint that one piece, and it can give a fresh look to an entire room. Spray paint is nice because it's quick, gets into all the cracks and crevices and is instant decorating gratification."

If you don't want the "shabby chic" look, lightly sand the piece first, and make sure the surfaces are clean and dry. Apply a primer first, then paint. For "shabby chic," skip the initial sanding step and the primer step, and sand lightly afterward.

For a nicer piece of furniture, refinishing is always an option, but Taylor points out that refinishing is something that can't be done in a day and should be researched before attempting.

Slip-on Style

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