Do you know when it is worth saving the sofa or dining room chairs you inherited from your grandmother, or when it is time to say goodbye? Are you keeping them for their sentimental value or does the furniture have intrinsic value? Can the sideboard be refinished or painted to work with your decor or is it just a placeholder until you can afford something of your own choice?
When it comes to upholstered furniture such as a sofa or club chairs there are many qualities out there. Older furniture that you may have inherited or bought second hand may oftentimes, because of its age, have been made by hand and with sturdier materials. Casegoods such as bookcases, sideboards or a desk will likely be solid wood if they are older and can therefore handle being refinished. Today solid wood is still widely available but there are many companies mass producing good-looking products that are high style but low quality and low cost.
So how do you know when to keep and restore and when to start fresh? And when purchasing your own pieces are you thinking about short-lived pieces to keep your home updated with the latest trends but the items will then be switched out in a few years? Or long-term pieces that can stay with you forever?
A good quality, solid construction sofa or chair is worth reupholstering if you like the style. An upholsterer can look at the piece and determine if the quality of the frame is good and therefore if it is worth reupholstering. If the style is still current then selecting a new fabric can make the piece look completely new. A good upholsterer will strip down the upholstered piece to the frame and add new padding and cushion fill as necessary. When completed you will essentially have a new furniture item!
You can purchase a new sofa roughly in the range of $600-$3000. That is a large price range but as with fashion the price is dictated by both the quality and the label. A medium to high range sofa will last about 10-15 years and can often be reupholstered. A sofa on the low end will start to show its age sooner with cushions thinning out and sagging and it will not be able to be reupholstered but rather need to be replaced.
For a wood piece of furniture refinishing or painting can make the piece look like new. If the wood is quality and in good shape then you can choose to have it professionally refinished. If you have patience and the drive to do it on your own then you strip it down and refinish it yourself but be aware this is not an easy job. In order to get the new stain to adhere to the surface the wood needs to be stripped completely before applying the new stain. Then the new stain is applied and finally covered with a top coat to protect it.
For pieces with lesser quality wood, painting is a good option. Since you will not see the grain of the wood through the paint it does not matter if it has knots or a grain that you don’t like. If you have mismatched pieces painting them and updating the hardware is a great way to tie everything together.
New painted furniture is very trendy but keep in mind that if the paint chips it will be difficult to touch up and you will see the wood or other material underneath. The same is true for mass-produced, low-end wood-stained furniture. In a solid wood piece the stain seeps into the wood and can be touched up if necessary. On a lesser quality finish the stain often sits on the top and therefore trying to touch it up does not work as well.
When it comes to furniture take a closer look before you cast it away. If you like the style and the quality is good you can often get the equivalent of a brand new piece at a fraction of the cost! With a little effort, selecting new fabrics or paint and stain colors, you can transform your outdated furniture into an updated treasure that you and your family will enjoy for many years to come.
By Shoshana Halpert
