How to update old furniture with your own hands

High-quality reanimation of old furniture is a simple but very interesting job that absolutely everyone can handle. To solve this, at first glance, a very large-scale and time-consuming task, you just need a creative mood, a great desire and a sufficient amount of free time. In this article, we will tell you in detail how to update old furniture with your own hands, and what tools can come in handy during such work.

Benefits of remodeling old furniture

Most of the old furniture filling the apartments of residents of Russia and the CIS came to us from the times of the Soviet Union. All kinds of walls, cabinets, sofas, chairs and kitchen sets are famous for their amazing strength and extremely long service life. By redoing such furniture, you will receive a quality product that brings a touch of originality to the overall design of the apartment and a particular room.

Among the advantages allocated to the resuscitation of the products of the Soviet furniture industry include:

• headsets produced by factories of the Soviet Union are extremely reliable;
• there are practically no decorative elements on old furniture, so it will be quite simple to update such a product;
• you can add service life to cabinets and stools, thus, without forcing yourself to get used to new, possibly uncomfortable headsets;
• the updated furniture goes well with the retro-style interiors;
• antique furniture is a win-win and very original option with which you can create a unique design for a cottage or apartment.

You can solve the issue with various products of the furniture industry of the last century on your own, without using the services of craftsmen and carpenters. It is very simple to make new furniture out of old furniture with your own hands: to perform such work, you need to decide in advance on the design style, as well as prepare a set of necessary tools.

Interesting examples of renovation of old furniture

Beautiful furniture made of quality wood is one of the main signs of luxury and prosperity. In order to give an initially high-quality headset a presentable appearance, you can use one of the following techniques (or a combination of them):

1. Replacing fittings is an easy way to renew old furniture without any instructions or explanations. Matching handles for nightstands and dressers are ideal for adding style and freshness to an important piece of furniture.
2. Decorating with moldings or stucco moldings is a good option for lovers of retro-style interiors.Today, there are huge catalogs on the Internet that allow you to choose a high-quality decorative product that is used to attach it to the surface of a restored object.
3. Updating a surface, changing colors or textures. The most effective solution, realized with varnish, paint or film.

Renovation of the old Soviet wall

The old Soviet wall is a piece of furniture that is present in the house of more than 70% of the citizens of the former Soviet Union. These, in their own way, amazing products have unique durability. Unfortunately, such furniture cannot be combined with modern trends in interior design. In addition, during the operation of the headset, it can get the effects of external wear. All sorts of chips, scratches and scuffs will spoil a single image of a quality item.

It is possible to cope with all the negative consequences of long-term operation with the help of correct restoration. To rework furniture with your own hands, namely, an old Soviet wall, use the following guide:

1. Disassemble all pieces of furniture that make up the headset wall.
2. Remove fasteners and hardware.
3. Clean exterior surfaces by removing old paint and deteriorated finish.
4. Get rid of cracks and chips using specialized materials such as paint or primer.
5. After the primer has dried, sand the surface.
6. Paint the surfaces to be restored and then apply a layer of matt varnish.
7. Assemble the wall, remembering to update the hinges and fittings.

Restoration of an old bedside table

An old bedside table is a great thing that can be used as an example to show all the benefits of the process of restoring old furniture. Soviet oak cabinets are extremely durable and very reliable things. Modern processing will give the old cabinet the charm it needs, and will allow you to continue using a high-quality, but now beautiful and stylish item. Moreover, restoration work does not require any unique materials, it is enough to purchase a self-adhesive film, putty, paint and varnish.

1. Examine the cabinet for visible flaws: defects, chips and scuffs.
2. Eliminate the found deficiencies with polyurethane foam and primer mixture.
3. Wipe the cabinets from dust, carefully removing all dirt.
4. Disassemble the cabinet into pieces, then sand all the elements with sandpaper.
5. Apply the putty to all areas of visual imperfection.
6. After the putty dries, acetone is applied to the bedside table - it should also harden.
7. Upon completion of processing, the details of the bedside table are covered with a self-adhesive film.
8. The final stage is the repair of decorative elements and the final assembly of furniture.

How to remodel an old sofa

The question of how to remodel an old sofa is the one that dominates the minds of property owners more often than others. Such thoughts are promoted by the factors of economy (modern sofas can cost astronomical money) and practicality - old furniture can have a huge margin of safety, differing in an extremely unpresentable appearance.

The procedure for restoring and restraining an old sofa includes many aspects that can only be dealt with if you have the appropriate experience:

• disassembling the sofa into separate parts: pillows, sidewalls, backrest, mattress, etc.;
• getting rid of old upholstery;
• cutting out new upholstery from high-quality modern fabric;
• close-fitting;
• assembly procedure in reverse order.

Repair and restoration of old chairs

Of the entire list of home furniture present in every apartment or private house, ordinary chairs experience the greatest operational load. Such, undoubtedly, important decorative elements are regularly exposed to all kinds of mechanical stress. Due to the systematic and not too careful attitude, the chairs lose their appearance and simply break. However, the restoration of such furniture is an extremely simple process that even a novice master can handle.

The most common reason for discarding old chairs is a leaky seat. Instead of carrying furniture to the trash heap and spending money on buying new things, try updating the breakdown:

1. Remove the broken seat surface from the surface of the chair.
2. Cut a piece of plywood or heavy board to fit your seat.
3. On the trimmed base, you need to stick foam rubber, the thickness of which does not exceed 3-4 cm.
4. Secure the base stock to the chair by installing fasteners around the entire perimeter of the part.
5. Stretch the upholstery, securing the almost finished seat with a cloth.
6. Secure the fabric with a construction stapler and sturdy furniture staples.

Once you are concerned about changing the seat, try to think about how you can reinforce the structure. By adding a few additional brackets, screws, confirmations or washers in the right places, you save yourself the trouble of re-restoring the same item.

Banner of old upholstered furniture

Almost every owner of square meters, sooner or later, is faced with the need to rebuild old upholstered furniture. By changing the upholstery, you can transform a sofa or armchair, giving an important element of the interior a fresh, clean and tidy look. This work does not require any complex tools. All you need is desire, some experience of working with your hands, as well as:

• upholstery;
• construction stapler;
• reliable metal brackets;

The whole process of restraining old upholstered furniture is divided into several main stages. One should not think that such work can only be done by experienced craftsmen; even a person who does not have outstanding production skills can cope with it. Naturally, during the constriction, you need to observe the utmost accuracy and caution, without hurrying and not making hasty movements.

1. The first stage is the dismantling of old furniture. If you decide to stretch the sofa, remove all pillows, bolsters and other decorative elements from it. Using the necessary tools, separate the wall and sides.
2. Next, the seat is dismantled from a solid structural base. Parts that are used as fasteners should be stored in a separate container so that you will not lose the necessary bolts, screws and screws.
3. Removing the old upholstery from a used seat is done with a simple flat screwdriver. After removing the worn fabric, do not rush to throw it away, because it can serve as a good full-size pattern.
4. Before the wrapping step, carry out all the necessary repair and cleaning work. Retighten old bolts, remove debris, dust and other contamination.
5. The upholstery process begins by attaching the upholstery to each individual piece of furniture. We stretch the upholstery on the seat, backrest and sidewalls, being careful not to tear or spoil the new fabric.
6. We assemble the sofa by performing the disassembly procedure in the reverse order. The renewed fabric must be secured with construction staples using a special furniture stapler.

You can buy upholstery fabric at the store or sew it yourself. However, you should take on such an occupation only if you have the appropriate tailoring skills. You can prepare a furniture design with your own hands at home, but the implementation of the fabric idea should be laid on the shoulders of professionals, for example, employees of the nearest atelier.

Varnishing old furniture

Another effective way to give a second life to any old furniture is varnishing. The lacquer surface, applied a dozen years ago, always has a worn out, sloppy look, diluted with all kinds of chips and scratches. You can clean up the old operating composition using:

• chemical compositions;
• construction hair dryer;
• coarse sandpaper;
• grinder with a grinding disc.

After carrying out all cleaning activities, a layer of primer is applied to the piece of furniture. With its help, all invisible roughness, large chips and shallow cracks are masked. After applying and drying the primer, the furniture is again cleaned with a fine emery cloth.

The varnish should be applied with a special swab or paint brush. Please note: the varnish is applied in two or even three layers, and after each new coating, the furniture must be dried with high quality. You need to do the work in a prepared room: save the room from drafts and direct sunlight.

Converting old furniture with craquelure

Craquelure varnish is a modern material used for the restoration of old Soviet furniture. Today, in specialized stores and shopping centers, you can find many varieties of this composition - all colors, decorative effects and additional shades.

Plain craquelure is applied in a thick layer, over the base paint, and then covered with another color to highlight the characteristic pattern. Craquelure varnish forms a unique pattern in the form of a network of small cracks - it is almost impossible to repeat such an image using an ordinary dye composition.

Video: restoration of the old Soviet wall

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