Upcycled Furniture Ideas: 5 Easy DIY Revamps for Wooden Furniture
Are you inspired to upcycle a piece of furniture?
Statistics show that 21% of Americans upcycle items. Upcycling not only reduces waste, but it can also land you with a custom, unique piece that nobody else has.
Upcycling takes some time and effort, so it’s important that you strike on the right idea for your piece. Otherwise, you might sink in hours of work, only to be disappointed with the end result.
Not sure what to do with your piece?
Keep reading for a few easy upcycled furniture ideas to try.
1. Utilize the Power of Paint
One of the easiest ways to breathe new life into an old piece of furniture is to give it a smart new paint job. The beauty of painting wood furniture is that you can pick from an endless selection of paint colors and find a shade that suits your home and design style.
Painting is also a relatively fast way to upcycle wood furniture. You will need to clean up the piece, sand it, and apply a primer before painting. But you won’t need to sand the item down to raw wood.
If you want to skip sanding and priming, you can even opt to apply a chalk-based paint and then apply a coat of sealant.
Painting is also one of the best upcycled furniture ideas for pieces that are going to get a lot of sunlight, such as upcycled DIY outdoor furniture.
2. Strip Down the Piece and Apply a Stain of Your Choice
One of the best things about wooden furniture is that you can also completely recondition it by sanding it down to bare wood.
If you go this route you can also get rid of things like scratches and stains. The only drawback is that completely sanding down wood furniture isn’t a quick process. If you’re wondering how to upcycle wooden furniture quickly, then painting might be a better option.
You can also speed things up by using a paint or finish stripper and then going in with a sander.
Once you have stripped and sanded off all paint, varnish, or sealant, you can go ahead and stain the piece to the shade of your choice.
3. Go for the Distressed Look
If you love a shabby chic or farmhouse design style, one of the best upcycled furniture ideas to implement is distressing your piece.
There are a lot of different ways you can go about this, but one of the easiest is to simply repaint your wooden furniture piece and then lightly go over it with some sandpaper or steel wool.
4. Combine Paint and Staining
If you’re going for a fresh modern look, another fun way to upcycle wood furniture is by doing a combination of paint and staining.
For instance, if you have a set of wooden drawers, you could paint the sides, top, and drawers frames, and refinish and stain the drawer fronts for a two-toned look.
5. Get Creative With Decoupage or Stencils
Do you want to add some personality to your wooden furniture piece? If you love patterns, you could also consider getting creative with decoupaging or stencils.
If decoupage or stencils aren’t your thing, you can also carry out the same concept using wallpaper.
These crafty upcycled furniture ideas are a great way to more interest to a piece and make it a little funkier than your average wood furniture item.
Don’t Have Time for These Upcycled Furniture Ideas?
Upcycling wood furniture can be fun, but it can also be a lot of work. If the piece had a few stubborn layers of paint or sealant, or a very deep-seated stain, it can take you hours to fully sand down a piece.
Don’t believe us? Stats show that DIYers spend an average of 22 hours longer on projects than expected, and more money than they anticipate.
If you want to make customizing wooden furniture a breeze, the easiest way is to start with a raw piece.
Here at Unfinished Furniture of Wilmington, we specialize in supplying raw, unfinished pieces at affordable prices so you can customize them any way you wish.
Ready to put your upcycled furniture ideas into practice, minus the hard work? Browse our online store today to pick up the perfect unfinished piece.