Revive Your Room’s Look in Just 5 Steps

It’s a common issue — your room doesn’t feel terrible, just flat or not quite pulled together, and you’re not sure how to fix it. If this sounds familiar, your room is probably due for a refresh. Rather than replacing everything (too costly), focus on polishing up what you have and making smart choices about spending on new things. Check out this five-step solution of removing, refurbishing, painting, shifting and shopping your way to an improved room.

1. Remove

Before you add anything new (including paint), your first step should be to take away anything that is detracting from your room. Remove any furniture that’s dated or really far gone, decorative items that have lost their appeal and items that belong in other rooms and are cluttering up this one. Now is also the time to remove dust bunnies from under the couch and grime from the windows. Pare back and make what’s left as decent looking as possible.

2. Refurbish

Once you have edited the pieces in your room, it’s time to look at what’s left anew. It can help to invite a design-savvy friend over to help at this stage, but even taking photos of the space and looking at them yourself somewhere else (at a café, over a cup of coffee) can give you perspective. The goal in this step is to find at least one piece with good bones to refurbish.

A few refurbishing ideas:

Have a chair or bench reupholstered.

Paint a mirror frame.

Shorten the legs of a desk to turn it into a coffee table.

Add casters to a table.

Paint the legs of a chair or table.

Paint the drawer fronts of a chest.

Change out cabinet knobs.

Add decorative trim to an ottoman, a lampshade or curtains.

Refurbishing can also mean having something made, like slipcovers, to cover your current furniture and make it feel like new. When you are having slipcovers made, consider increasing the length slightly to cover the feet of your sofa or chair — sometimes this subtle shift can make a big difference in how a room feels.

Continue reading Revive Your Room’s Look in Just 5 Steps

Revive Your Room’s Look in Just 5 Steps