Many of us have been faced with the issue of fitting an old piece of furniture into our new life, and have wondered if it’s at all possible…the garage-sale wingback chair, your very first sofa, Mummy’s old dining room set or in this case a hand-me-down chaise longue. The easiest and most elegant solution is…Update, to breathe new life into old pieces.

Very often our old pieces do not fit into our new modern design, and end up sticking out like a sore thumb; however, many of these old pieces can be given a fresh new look with modern updates using fabric, hardware and paint/stains.

* Rip the old tapestry off the old wingback and re-cover it in a bold modern print

* Trade in the floral fabric on your old couch, for a fresh modern solid fabric

* Re-stain woods and re-upholster the seats of old dining room chairs and maybe take it even a step further and replace carved spindles for sleek modern poles

* And the old chaise, of course, re-upholster it; but in doing so, how about removing all the tufting and buttons, because that look doesn’t really say modern, and the old grey wood trim; how about a fresh mahogany stain? That’s exactly the remodel today’s project underwent, because it just did not fit in with the new look my friend was going for in her home, so we used a bright yellow ultra suede to add colour to the furnishings, and went with a dark stain, to go with the rest of the wood pieces in the house. The result was simply marvellous, and the sitting area was transformed from a sour point to a focal point. A new area rug and artwork completed that space.

So just by having a keen eye and thinking outside the norm, you can breathe new life into your furniture and make the old…new!