Most people don’t know that old furniture and home decor items that have been forgotten can be used in more ways than one. These 20 furniture flips and restorations show that with the right tools, you can fix almost anything. Don’t throw away that wobbly chair or scratched-up dresser just yet. Look at what these people did with theirs. The biggest surprise isn’t always the makeover itself. It’s what’s inside.
Material: oak; stuffing: horsehair; made in the late 1800s. Some wooden parts are missing, and the decorative overlays are missing.
The frame doesn’t shake too much, and the spring block feels fine. That means we won’t have to take everything apart.
I took the horsehair off the seat, the armrests, and the soft part of the backrest first. I took out the nails and cleaned off the paint. You can see all the damage from the nails and past use better without the paint.
I went above and beyond and found three packs of 200 birch toothpicks each. I got 1,200 by breaking each one in half. They were all dipped in PVA glue and then put into the holes. This was necessary to strengthen the wood, and it was useful later when I worked on the upholstery.
I carved and fitted oak leaves, drilled out the holes from the screws, and put in dowels to make up for the missing decorative parts. I made the putty and used it to fill in the small holes. Put the frame together with glue and filled in the gaps.
I put on coloured oil, then used an abrasive sponge on the raised parts, and finally, I put on a second layer of oil that was clear. In the end, I got a feeling of depth and age.
My husband found two Viennese chairs in the trash and brought them home. He said we could fix them up and paint them again, and they would look brand new. He took them up to the balcony and began to look at them.
“Mary, come here quick!” he yelled to me about 20 minutes later. I ran out to the balcony and saw my husband with a chair leg in one hand and a stack of coins wrapped in paper in the other.
The previous owners must have hidden a stash inside the leg of the chair and then forgotten about it. It’s too bad that the surprise was only in one leg.
I found an old nightstand in Grandma’s attic and changed it. Had to take off a lot of paint!
This isn’t furniture anymore! It’s a piece of art! © Renee_152 / Reddit
This work makes me very proud!Added some contrast to make the wood grain stand out.
From trash to a treasured family heirloom. This is really shocking! Good work!© LowerEngineering9999 / Reddit
This display case used to be the top of an old cupboard. We turned it into a beautiful cabinet for the wall.
beautiful cabinet for the wall.
There were a few things that needed to be done to keep its old-world charm. We carefully filled in the old lock holes on the side glass doors so that the new hardware would fit. A new key and catch were made for the solid front door.
The back panel was painted to match the wall in the kitchen, which made the cabinet look like it was floating. The following problems were fixed during the work: the veneer on the top of the display case was peeling, there were door marks on the bottom, and the hinge sockets were worn out.
They were selling this chair for $5. More specifically, they wanted to find someone who would take it to the dump for that price.
The armchair’s upholstery was in very bad shape. At some point, it had already been reupholstered. The armrests looked bad because careless owners had screwed bolts into them. There was nothing to talk about.
My younger sister’s husband and I made handles out of oak, sanded the chair’s legs and frame to get rid of the lacquer, and got them ready for oil and wax treatment. I don’t know how to fix things like this, but here’s how it turned out.
That’s all there is to it. The great-grandchildren will fix it up next time.© Hasselhoff / Pikabu I have two of these cool old nightstands.
I took off three coats of paint to find walnut veneer on the drawer faces, and then I finished them with Danish oil. You took the old base apart and used the pieces to make new ones. I painted the rest after I realised this used to be a desk. I got some new hardware, and there you go! I feel good about this one. What do you all think?
I gave my mom this dressing table stool that used to belong to her grandmother. One of my all-time favourites.
These sad, boring bedside tables really needed some love and colour!
This one was a lot of fun to paint loosely! People have different tastes, and I have to admit that mine can be pretty strong!
I saw a neighbour in the stairwell who was about to throw away a small cabinet. There was some pretty furniture peeking through the thick layer of paint on the cabinet, which was a bright green colour. And since my neighbour had a hard time dragging it, the wood was clearly good.
I asked her if she could give me the cabinet, and she was happy that she didn’t have to throw it away. I looked up how to get paint off wood on the Internet at home, bought everything I needed, and cleaned it up. Yes, I was right! The cabinet was a real find, with carved details and good quality.
I ran into my neighbour again not long ago and told them that the cabinet was great. She asked to see it, and when she did, she started yelling for it back! I asked for some time to think about it. I hope we can come up with an easy answer that works for both of us.
I bought a table, took off the old finish, sanded it down, and made it shorter. It took a week.
I’m crazy about it! It looks great! The way you’ve decorated it makes it look like a picture from a magazine. This table is so beautiful.© ronfstampler / Reddit
I didn’t have to pay anything for this dresser. This is how I fixed it.
I paid $10 for this cane table. It was really dirty, but after a good cleaning, it looks totally different.
The vertical pieces on the drawers are paint stir sticks that you can buy at Home Depot.
I usually use 150 or 180 grit sandpaper to smooth them out. If I want raw wood, I’ll sand it down until I get to the natural wood. But if the piece isn’t all natural wood, be careful not to sand through the veneer. I clean it first, then fill in the damaged areas with wood filler, and finally I sand it with 150,180 grit sandpaper (just to give the paint something to stick to).
After that, I put on primer.Then, just to make the surface smoother, lightly sand it with 220 (with your hand, not an orbital sander). Then get to work!
I use 220 or 320 grit sandpaper after the first coat of paint to get a smooth finish. The second coat. A third coat if necessary. Finally, a top coat. I usually put on three coats of top coat (varathane).
Art deco-style vintage fireplace chairs from the 1920s made of mahogany.
For about a year, this couple had been waiting for their chance. We had to make some parts again because they got lost over time. I worked on this project for almost two months, but the end result was worth it.
So pretty! The fabric fits well and is in style.© Tusynda / Pikabu
A piece of furniture that my wife and I worked on together
The stains didn’t match exactly because the wood was different, but I still love it. There was a lot of interest, and it sold quickly.
Are your friends unsure about getting new furniture? All you have to do is show them these chairs!
This work could be shown. The client gave the covers the material they needed. They used oak stain and cherry-colored oil on the body.
I bought this company of ugly chairs for $2 each last summer.
Someone had “restored” these poor people in a cruel way that they thought was beautiful. They painted them with silver and gold paint, glued on some rags as makeshift cushions with PVA glue, and tied them with a pretty ribbon to the backrest. The chairs were unstable, and the legs were coming out of their joints.
I started the revival by taking them apart, sanding them down to the bare wood, glueing them back together, and then applying two coats of a water-based “rosewood” stain. After that, I put on an acrylic clear coat with a semi-matte “satin” sheen and finished with a final coat of matte alkyd-urethane varnish. I put hessian on the seats again.
Brought this beauty back to life. It has become a regular part of our home.
I saw that someone was giving away an old dresser for free on the internet. It was, of course, dry, and the bottom drawer wouldn’t open. But my husband can do a little bit of everything. We went and got it.
It took my husband a week to get the drawer open. We opened it up and found an envelope with some old pictures inside. We called the woman who gave us the dresser, and she came right away.
The pictures were of her grandparents when they were young, as it turned out. She thought she had lost that envelope, but it was right there. She was so happy!
Some pieces just need the right person to see how good they could be. These flips show that something that looks old and worn on the outside can be worth a lot more than anyone thought, even in real life.
Have you ever fixed up an old piece of furniture or found something you weren’t expecting inside? Let us know in the comments!
Check out these changes that will change how you see everything for more stories about old things that got a second life:
