DIY Furniture Tips that you’ll be Grateful for
I love to DIY furniture guys
It’s been something that I’ve been doing in my spare time for years now.
Afterward, check out this post covering the tools DIY beginners should have in their toolbox, including what tools are unnecessary and a waste of money.
It’s a great tool guide for ANY level of DIY enthusiast/ furniture rehab addict like myself, not just beginners.
You can take a look at it afterward if you’re interested.
Anyway, as I was saying…
I get so excited when I find a beat up, forgotten, the left-for-dead piece of furniture lying somewhere in an alley or beside a dumpster that I see could have a second life,
with just a little bit of a DIY makeover
Furniture at the stores can be SOOO expensive,
Hundreds even thousands of dollars sometimes.
I’ll go into love Home Goods just to look around and easily spend a couple hours just wandering the lanes.
Let’s be honest, if you and I were incredibly rich and had money to blow we’d probably go nuts!
Being as that’s not the case I use those furniture isles as inspiration for my own creations instead.
Deciding where I’d place something, how I would decorate it, and then start to daydream about how it would inspire me to redecorate all areas of my house from that one single piece.
Is that weird or does anyone else do that?
Then my mind seamlessly moves to wondering how I’d replicate it in a DIY project what, materials I would need and the process I would use to do it.
There’s almost always a way to replicate the version you find in stores or see on Pinterest
Usually for much less than it’s sold for in the store,
There’s the tradeoff of the amount of time you have to spend to make it look that way of course.
How much time are you willing to give away?
In my opinion, every minute spent on a DIY is usually always worth it.
The feeling I get when I finish a DIY I’m proud of and finally get to display it somewhere in my house can’t be beaten.
Try it for yourself
If there are pieces of furniture in your home now that you’ve been itching to toss in the trash, try to think of a way you could DIY it.
Use Pinterest for inspiration.
Scroll through your feed and if there’s something that catches your eye, try to think if there’s any way you could make a knockoff version of it with a piece you already have.
If this interests you and you don’t have a piece of furniture that you want to play with
You can also try finding furniture on the side of the road or check the free section on Craigslist. I’m on the Craigslist free section religiously
There are a few rules I always try to keep in mind before starting the hunt
Now that I’ve ranted a bit, I’m finally going to share them with you now!
- Pick Solid Wood Pieces
Wood is expensive material, it’s also a quality material
People prefer furniture to be made of solid wood than furniture to be made of compressed wood chips.
the furniture that is actually worth the work to revamp should be made out of solid wood.
There are more pieces of furniture than you’d expect, that look like wood but are actually covered in a vinyl wood print or a resembling wood pattern, so be careful.
- Have an idea of what you’ll Do to the piece
I’ll admit, I’m kind of a hoarder when it comes to furniture,
so if I find a piece of furniture that I like I’ll usually pick it up and if I don’t have a specific plan for it already in my head than it might sit there untouched in my garage for a long long time.
My boyfriend really loves this as you can imagine.
This isn’t really a hard rule
if rehabbing furniture is something you want to turn into a business and you have the space to store multiple pieces somewhere than I think it’s totally ok to take things without having a set plan.
If this is the case then it leads me to my next rule.
- Only pick items that appeal to the masses
If you’re planning on flipping these pieces for a profit focus on furniture you know will sell easier.
Meaning don’t grab something that looks more like a piece of abstract art than it does a functional item.
You’ll cut the number of people who could be potential buyers into a much smaller number
Resulting in a harder flip and slower return on investments made towards project materials.
Look at furniture pieces that are trending on Pinterest, or on tv and keep those in mind when on the hunt.
- Try to pick non-smoking items
Even if you strip the paint on a piece or sand it sometimes the smell of a previous owners smoking habits or lingering scent of a cat can stay locked into the piece for a while.
When deciding on a piece, try to see if you can identify any odd smells coming from it before you bring it into your home.
Keep in mind though that older pieces may just have a dusty or peculiar smell to it because it’s been through some years, something like that is ok.
- Avoid Crazy Colors
Similar to number 3 on today’s list.
If you’re planning on trying to sell your DIY furniture don’t paint a dresser or nightstand a bright green color.
Unusual colors can come across as tacky and look more like a toddlers art project than a piece that you spent the time to make look professionally done.
Often times a nice stain to accentuate the grain in the wood is a good option to go with or an off-white.
Colors like these will make it more likely to blend into the greater number of peoples home.
There are a few colors that I tend to gravitate towards when painting some of my pieces.
- Hardware goes a long way
Don’t underestimate the effect that a nice piece of hardware can add to a piece.
Sometimes switching an outdated knob for a sleek modernized pull or farmhouse style handle can make all the difference, that you wouldn’t even know it didn’t come off the floor of a furniture store.
With that in mind,
if you do decide to swap out hardware keep the old, there may be a piece later on that would pair well with it someday.
Hardware is also one of those things that can be pricey
Trends change over time what’s outdated now tends to come back into style in the future.
Okay DIY friends, I hope you found this post helpful. Leave me a comment below if you enjoyed today post.
Comments give me a good insight into the content you find most helpful. So I can continue to make relevant posts or adjust if necessary
Thanks for joining me on the blog today. Are there tips you’d like to share with the blog family on furniture rehabbing or DIY tips in general?!
Leave that in the comments below too, sharing is caring!
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