If you ask me, old furniture is the best! It has so much history and if you pick just the right one, it has all the potential for a next DIY project. There are so many ways to transform old used furniture. You can paint it, add more knobs and even embellish it. Here are 39 more ways on how you can do so!
1. Dry Erase Board Drawers
Does your toddler turn every wall of your house into his own work of art? If you’re tired of scrubbing away trying to clean his masterpiece, then create a space where he can doodle away. Paint your drawers with dry erase paint and let your little one scribble away. You’ll be amazed how awesome it feels to say: Go ahead. Write on the furniture.
2. Ombre Rolling Bar Cart DIY
TV dinners may not be as cool now as it was back then, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t repurpose your old TV stand into an ombre bar cart. Painting old furniture is one of the easiest ways to give it new life and fit in your modern interiors. To learn how to paint old furniture using the ombre technique.
As you begin your journey in transforming old furniture, get over 9000 different woodcraft plans right here.
3. Office Chair Makeover
Don’t let your guests, mail, and food deliveries get lost in a maze of generic office cubicles ever again with this office chair makeover tutorial. Make your space easily recognizable by choosing a bold pattern to reupholster your chair such as this houndstooth fabric.
4. Queen Anne Settee Makeover
Give your vintage furniture a modern touch with this tutorial. A good reupholstering and a coat of paint will sure turn your antique furniture into a chic statement piece. This settee can instantly turn up the glam in any living room, parlor, or bedroom.
5. Re-upholstered Coffee Table
Painting old furniture can turn your coffee table from an ordinary table at the center of the room to a coffee table that’s the center of attention. Learn how to refinish a table using this tutorial to create this fabulous coffee table.
6. Kilim Rug Bench
Give any space in your home an instant boho vibe with this kilim-style bedside bench. Follow these steps to create your own from old furniture and infuse your home with carefree bohemian spirit.
7. Vintage Campaign Desk
Want to learn how to paint old furniture for a stellar office furniture transformation? Then follow the steps in this post to make your own campaign desk makeover. Bright colors, like this bubblegum pink paint, makes the vintage hardware on this desk pop.
8. Shabby Chic Chair DIY
Get the shabby chic look by reupholstering old furniture such as detailed in this tutorial. Choose fabrics that have soft colors and design to suit the cozy-country-chic aesthetic. You can also look up ways on to how to antique furniture to give it the full shabby chic treatment.
9. Stikwood Headboard
If you haven’t yet heard of Stikwood, then you’re missing one half of your crafting life. This post demonstrates how you can turn your old headboard into chic furniture that looked like it just came out of an IKEA catalog.
10. Art Deco Side Table
Doing this tutorial might be the only time that Math is going to be useful in your life. Take any old furniture and stick on geometric shape cutouts from adhering contact paper. Depending on where you place your shapes, you can make it as art deco or as modern as you want.
11. Mini Drop Cloth Rosette Stool Makeover
Feeling a little Moulin Rouge? Add this piece to your boudoir for a bit of French flair. Re-upholstered using a drop cloth and painted to give it a worn out feel, this stool is instantly turned into an eye-catching vintage furniture.
12. Vintage Side Table
There is a variety of table refinishing techniques that could give your old furniture a vintage vibe. This tutorial will show you how to paint old furniture to make it look like it’s vintage furniture fit for a very hip and modern apartment.
13. Pastel-colored Chair Set
It’s very rare that you’re so lucky as to get a complete set of chairs (or of anything really) when searching bargain or second-hand stores for furniture. A great solution is to make them cohesive by creating a new point of similarity. Like this easy DIY tutorial that did it using mismatched but complementary colors.
Get these pastel spray paints that are perfect for this project!
14. Striped Nightstand
Stripes made a comeback in fashion. The sane goes with furniture design too, as demonstrated in this blog post. If you’re still unsure how to paint old furniture you have around the house, then consider this chic IKEA hack.
15. Retro Burke Chair
How about putting in a bit of Mad Men into your interiors? This awesome tutorial will put Don Draper’s office to shame. Take your vintage furniture and bring into the modern age with this simple DIY.
16. Kiddie Table DIY
No more throwing out old furniture used by your older kids. This DIY project can save you a lot of money by re-purposing old furniture and passed down to your younger kids.
17. Rainbow-Colored School Chair
Forget everything that you’ve learned about how to paint furniture. This DIY throws all that out the door. Make old furniture fun again with the splotchy blotchy painting DIY.
18. Side Table Comic Book Decoupage
Here’s a new way on how to refinish a table. Bring out old issues of your favorite comic books and make a decoupage. You can also amp the nostalgia by using old yearbooks, scrapbooks, or photos.
19. Refinished Table Using Wallpaper
If you’re not too confident painting old furniture, then how about just putting wallpaper on it? Re-purpose furniture much quicker with this technique as shared on this post. It’s also a great way to use up unused wallpaper from previous DIY or home renovation projects.
20. Leather Sling Couch DIY
There will always be that one piece of old furniture that you just couldn’t bear to part with no matter how unusable it has become. Well, this tutorial will help solve your separation anxiety. Repurpose your old couch into a cool leather sling sofa in a few easy steps.
21. Leather Pulls for Drawer DIY
There’s no excuse throwing away perfectly good old furniture. This DIY shows how you can repurpose furniture and save a lot of money simply by changing one of its features. Like this dresser whose handles were replaced by leather straps.
22. Paper-wrapped Chair
Another great idea on how to repurpose furniture quickly and easily – wrap them in a paper. Although this tutorial uses the Modge Podge method, you can also opt for washi paper and just use a waterproof topcoat to seal it.
23. Belted Chair
A quick thrift store jaunt and you’ll have all you need to bring old furniture to the 21st Century. Aside from an old chair, you can also apply this DIY to a bedside or a coffee table.
24.Wrapping Paper Backing
Another wallpaper project for those who want to repurpose furniture. Great for growing families as you can change the wallpaper to fit the design needs of your family. The baby stuff shelf in the nursery can easily be turned into a teenager’s bookshelf with just a change of wallpaper with this tutorial.
25. Cross-Stitched Chair
Who knew you could repurpose furniture by cross-stitching on it? This tutorial will show you an ingenious way on how to use cross-stitching to put some fun into vintage furniture.
26. White and Gold Dresser
If you want to feel extra fabulous in the morning, inspire yourself with this gold and white dresser. This post has the complete instructions on how to dress up your drab dresser into a vintage furniture you’d want to show off.
27. Hot Pink Footstool
Because there is no better way to represent luxury than a hot pink footstool, right? Instead of just a regular old furniture, why not put your feet up on this luxurious DIY of repurposed furniture? Use these instructions to make one for you and for your designer bag. Because, why not?
28. Herringbone Storage DIY
Although storage spaces are for keeping things out of sight, that doesn’t mean that your storage has to hide as well. Create this cute storage for your home by stenciling on a herringbone design on old furniture using the instructions on this post.
29. Book Page, Washi Paper Recycled Coffee Table
That paperback you bought because the cover looked interesting but failed to deliver? Well, don’t leave it forgotten at the back of your bookshelf and instead use it to repurpose furniture as shown in this post.
30. Faux Sheepskin Stool Makeover
Step up your revamping old furniture game with this faux sheepskin stool. The complete instructions on how to turn your old furniture into a piece oozing with Old Hollywood glamor like this can be found here.
31. DIY Faux Marble Table Top
Impress your dinner guests with this faux marble tabletop. Using marbled contact paper to get the marbled effect, no one would ever suspect its old furniture. This post gives you the step by step instructions on how to use simple table refinishing techniques to achieve this look.
32. DIY Stenciled Armchair
If you can’t decide what fabric to use to repurpose old furniture, why not just paint it with the design you want? This tutorial tells you how painting old furniture can be used as a technique when repurposing furniture.
33. Whale Chairs
Although one of the most durable furniture you’ll ever have, metal folding chairs are also the easiest to fall to wear and tear. Instead of just normally painting old furniture to make it look brand new, why not stencil patterns to make them a unique piece?
34. Dip Dyed Wooden Chairs
If you still think that dip dying is just for hair makeovers, then this DIY is here to show you it’s also a technique used to repurpose furniture. A minimalist and modern way to bring old furniture back to life.
35. Bottle Cap Tabletop
Every kid has a bottle cap collection that they eventually outgrow. But you can preserve those childhood memorabilia using the instructions from this post. It also teaches you how to refinish a table in a new way, a skill you can use in future projects as well.
36. Headboard Bench
Got an old bed you just can’t dispose because it has a sentimental value? Why not transform it into a bench? Instructions here.
37. Armoire Bar Cabinet
Turn an old armoire into a one of a kind bar for your home! More details here.
38. Suitcase Drawer
Make your creativity work and ignite wanderlust right at your home with this suitcase drawer. The possibilities are endless! Check out the step by step procedure here.
39. Dresser TV Stand
Make use of your old dresser and turn it into a fancy TV stand. Take out the top row drawers and use it as storage of Blueray, DVD players, and DVR. More details here.
Want to see how to slay a furniture makeover? Watch this video and see how April Bee does it:
Old furniture doesn’t necessarily have to be thrown away. Sometimes, you just need a few supplies and a little creativity to breathe new life into them. Whether you’re a college student dumpster diving for furniture for your new apartment or a recent professional still dumpster diving for old furniture or a homeowner who wants to spruce up your interiors on the cheap, these furniture hacks will help you repurpose furniture from bargain bin to sure win. So as always, happy crafting!