One of the most expensive purchases that a person will make for their home is furniture. After many years of wear and tear, your furniture will eventually start looking tired and even smelly! You can easily bring it back to life by using some of our furniture makeover tips below. You’ll not only save loads of money, but you’ll be able to transform it into a custom piece like no other!

1. Reupholster in a New Fabric

A tired looking sofa can be given a new life simply by reupholstering it in a chic fabric. Upholstering isn’t that hard of a task and can actually be done yourself by watching a few DIY videos online! The opportunities you have into making your old sofa or chair new again are endless – use any types of fabric you want! An elegant velvet fabric, chic animal print, or even a heavy-duty stain-proof outdoor fabric will last years to come.

Source: Marcus Design

2. Add Tufting

I’ve seen tons of online IKEA sofa tutorials where individuals have brought a plain, ugly looking Scandinavian style sofa to life with tufting. Adding tufting can make a boring sofa instantly look more expensive, and a lot classier. Tufting isn’t hard at all to do and all what is requires is some thick string and the right buttons.

Photo: Elle Decor

3. Give it a Deep Cleaning

Sometimes all a piece of furniture needs is a good, deep cleaning job! If you have used a sofa or chair for many years, chances are there are tons of dust particles, dirt, sweat, and bacteria build up deep inside the fabric and stuffing. The best way to handle this is by hiring a professional to clean your furniture. There are tons of pros like the Melbourne professional cleaners I have used in the past that literally make your old piece of furniture look like it just came from the store!

Source: Keepers Mom

4. Add a New Look with Paint

A fresh lick of paint can work wonders to old furniture and can cover up all kinds of wear, tear, and blemishes. A nice dark stain, or even a bright colored paint color will bring new life to your old furniture and give it a whole new look. Have a group of mismatching vintage chairs? Not to worry, you can make them match by painting them all the same color. It will look like you bought a brand new set of chairs!

Source: Live Love DIY

Frame Pages From a Book

For wall art in a snap, frame pages from one of your favorite classical books. These are taken from Alice in Wonderland’s novel and were framed in luxurious gold and black frames. For maximum impact, arrange the frames in groups of four or six.

DIY Beach-y Seashell Vase

Smothering a plain vase in seashells is a smart way to use up your seashells from your last trip to the beach. All you need to do is slather your vase with a thick layer of grout using a spatula and stick on your sea shells. Let it dry for 24 hours and slather on another layer if you wish between the shells, wiping away with a damp cloth. Seal it with 2 parts PVA glue and 1 part water.

Use Pennies for a Backsplash

Out of ideas for your kitchen backsplash? Now your penny jar will finally come in handy! First make a template for your pennies using mesh backing for mosaic tiles. Use any kind of glue thats good enough to hold metal and start gluing your pennies onto the mesh. Stick on your completed mesh tiles and grout them in place with laticrete epoxy grout in chocolate truffle.

Make a Swing Bench from Palettes

Who knew you could make furniture from palettes? Instead of tossing them out, put them to good use! Check out this easy tutorial to make your own palette swing bench for your front porch or backyard.

Colorful Doily Tablecloth

Here’s a easy way to add a punch of color to your tablecloth – sew on crotchet doilies! It’s hard to come across a affordable table cloth that matches your existing decor, so making one at home is fun, cheap, and easy! Take a look at the tutorial here.

Frame Classical Sheet Music

This is a real easy DIY and it’s super fun to do it! Print out pages of sheet music and make a mixture of seeped mint tea and coffee. Take the tea bag and dab the pages to create a antique or aged look. Your guests will never guess you did it yourself!

Make Candles in a Tea Cup

What a fab way to re-use old, mismatching China! You can pour your own candles in porcelain china cups for a romantic accessory that you can re-use over and over again. These also make great home-made gifts that are easy and cheap to make. Click here for full instructions.

Turn Bottles into Vases

Instead of returning your used bottles to the liquor store for a few cents, turn them into vases! Paint wine bottles in exotic, punchy colors and then paint over an intricate, henna design in a contrasting color. I love the look of orange and turquoise, it gives a fresh, summery vibe to a dining table. Just pop in a few blooming flowers and you’re good to go!

Make a Drift Wood Table in Minutes

Take a trip to the beach and try to find a good, sturdy piece of drift wood. Level the top of the wood and place a sheet of glass or marble on the top for an instant table! Now how cool is that?

Recycling materials you already have is the smartest way to save money, get creative, and be eco friendly! Check out TDS SafeGaurd for more tips on recycling.

Ikea furniture is sleek, simple, basic, and perfect for customization! I’ve made over Ikea furniture in the past by adding mouldings, switching up hardware, and decoupaging, but lately I’ve been in a rut – what’s another way to easily glam up your furniture?

This month, we are SO happy to have partnered with a clever, practical, and ingenious company called Overlays. Overlays are the most easiest, and fun way to add instant glam and style to plain Ikea furniture. They are decorative, pre cut panels made to fit specifically Ikea furniture and can be easily attached to furniture, walls, mirrors, and even glass!

You most likely have one of the popular Ikea pieces such as MALM, RAST, or the BESTA that are looking a little plain and tired. Pop over to the Overlays catalog and choose your furniture model and you can instantly buy one of the panels that will perfectly fit your piece! From the popular Greek key designs, Asian motifs, overlapping circles, and squares – there is definitely one to fit every decorating style.

Applying Overlays is easy; just use your own choice of adhesive like wood glue or even a glue gun. We recommend Liquid Nails 100% Clear Adhesive for glass and mirrors, and Liquid Nails Perfect Glue on wood furniture. You can also use heavy-duty double-sided tape for a temporary solution!

The opportunities for customization are really endless – you can paint your overlays any color you want and layer them on the fronts, sides, or even on the legs of furniture.

Head on over to the Overlay’s blog for tons of ideas and inspiration on how you can customize your furniture to give it it’s own unique look. I’ll warn you though – their blog is addicting and will certainly give you the DIY makeover bug!