If you’re giving yourself a fresh start for 2019—new haircut, workout routine, healthy habits—give your furniture a New Year’s refresh with these 20 tutorials that will restore, revitalize, or totally redo your favorite wood, metal, leather, vinyl, marble, and upholstered pieces.
Wood
(Image credit: June Bhongjan)
Strip It
How To Strip and Refinish Wood Furniture
If you find yourself in possession of a piece that has potential, but its wood is buried under layers of paint, bring out its natural beauty and let it shine.
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Polish It
How To Polish Wood Furniture
Restore the finish of beloved wood pieces with a good polishing. This post includes instructions for polishing furniture that just needs a refresh as well as pieces that need a deeper conditioning preceded by a light stripping.
(Image credit: Sophie Timothy)
Oil It
How To Oil Your Wooden Furniture
Prevent drying and cracking by regularly applying a coat of the delightfully named Feed-N-Wax wood conditioner.
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Paint It: Wood
How To Paint Furniture for a Professional-Looking Finish
Want painted wood furniture with an absolutely perfect silky-smooth finish? Follow every step of this tutorial to the letter and your final product will look fabulously professional.
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Paint It & Distress It
How To Give Furniture a Distressed Painted Finish
But sometimes you don’t want your furniture to have a perfect silky-smooth finish! Follow these thorough instructions for a charmingly distressed look.
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Stain It
How to Stain Wood & Give New Life to Old Furniture
Stain can seem a bit mysterious and intimidating, but it is an incredible substance for achieving subtle and sophisticated results.
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Adorn It
How To Upgrade Drawer Knobs, Pulls, and Handles
This post covers everything to keep in mind when it’s time to upgrade your hardware and even includes instructions for going from a knob to a handle (or vice versa).
Leather & Vinyl
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Clean It: Leather
How To Clean Leather Furniture
The secret ingredients behind clean leather furniture are lemon juice and cream of tartar.
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Condition It
How To Condition Leather Furniture
In the same amount of time it takes to complete a 10-step skincare regime, you can moisturize and revitalize your leather furniture.
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Plump It
Sofa Solutions: How to Plump Up an Old, Saggy Sofa for Under $30
This is one of the smartest tutorials with the most bang for your bucks. Check out the before and after photos—the sofa goes from looking saggy-baggy to luxuriously plump.
(Image credit: Katie Steuernagle)
Paint It: Leather
DIY Project Test Lab Results: We Painted a Leather Sofa and Here’s What Happened
For just $13.50, this sofa went from the wrong color to the perfect shade of brown, and the feel of the painted surface is indistinguishable from that of the original leather.
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Spray Paint It: Vinyl
How To Spray Paint Vinyl Upholstery
Vinyl spray paint is a marvelous invention! I found the perfect dining room chairs for a song—well, perfect except for the fact that the seats were a muddy beige vinyl. Now they’ve been spray painted black and they look like high-quality black leather.
Upholstery
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Clean It: Upholstery
How To Clean a Sofa
No matter what other measures you’re taking to refresh your sofa, cleaning it thoroughly is the place to start. Ideally, this job would be tackled every three months, but it’s never too late to start. A vacuum with lots of attachments is the best tool for the job.
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Clean It: Velvet
How To Clean Velvet Upholstery
Velvet requires a little extra care, so clean it carefully with a refreshing mix of lemon juice and baking soda.
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Defuzz It
Shave It & Save It: How To Give Your Upholstered Furniture a Second Life
For just $12.99, you can give your upholstered furniture—and sweaters, and so on—a new life. Give them a quick shave and they’ll look polished and fresh.
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Reupholster It
How To Reupholster A Seat Pad
Replace worn out and/or unattractive fabric—or add cushioning and comfort to a hard wooden seat—with this easy tutorial.
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Cover It
How To Make Super Quick & Easy Drawstring Seat Covers to Update Outdoor Furniture
Will warm weather into existence by tackling this project now. The drawstring nature of the covers make it easy to swap them out when they get worn—or you get sick of them.
Metal
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy )
De-Rust It
5 Tried & True Methods For Removing Rust
Before doing anything else to metal furniture, you’ll want to remove as much rust as possible; one of these five methods will be perfect for your project.
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy )
Spray Paint It: Metal
How To Spray Paint Metal Furniture
When in doubt: spray paint it! There’s nothing more satisfying than giving an old, battered metal piece a shiny new coat of paint with a perfect finish.
Marble
(Image credit: Ashley Poskin)
Clean It: Marble
How To Remove Stains From Marble Surfaces
If you’re lucky enough to own a marble-topped table—or if you find a marble piece at a thrift store that’s cheap because of stains—help it look its best with this hydrogen peroxide and ammonia treatment.