Modernize Outdated Furniture With 3 Simple Changes

Modernize Outdated Furniture

With just a few simple changes you can modernize outdated furniture. The trick to this makeover and bringing the cedar chest into the twenty first century was removing a couple of curvy details, changing the hardware,  and showcasing the original finish.

The cedar chest never looked better.

A coat of white or whitish paint freshens anything.

The new knobs are a definite improvement over the original.

I bought the cedar chest at an auction.  It cost me $50 by the time the buyers premium was added to my final bid. A little pricy for my budget but it’s a great piece.

You guys might have noticed the curvy details on each end of the front. Take a look at the before picture again. Those things were driving me nuts so I took a hammer, putty knife, and screwdriver and got rid of them. I think they really dated the piece.

I’m not crazy about the curved bottom panel either but I left it as is. I removed the original hardware (never to be seen again), puttied the holes where I removed the end pieces, and stuck painters tape where I didn’t want yucky looking paint edges. When painting a chest like this you can either paint the top edge of the chest or not paint it. I chose to not paint it.

I decided to prime the chest since the raw wood was such a sharp contrast to the stained finish. This way I had a solid uniform color base for the top coat.

The topcoat/paint is a mixture of Martha Stewart Vintage Décor Paint in Wedding Cake and Smoke to make just the palest gray color.

In fact it looks white until you take a look at the paint in a white container. Have you guys ever tried to pick out a white color for your walls? I think there are as many shades, tones, variations of white as there are stars in the sky. Two coats of the gray and I was finished. Next order of business was to select new knobs to replace the original ones.

I first thought I would go with a French Provincial look and pulled out all my French Provincial hardware that would fit the screw holes. No need in drilling more holes and filling old ones unless I had to. When I held the knobs up to the chest after it was painted they looked …..not good. The style just wasn’t working for the cedar chest. I found four more pulls and spray painted them a bronze gold….no go …..no photo either…..sorry.

I was about to give up and head to Hobby Lobby to see what they had when I thought about the glass knobs. I bought them at my favorite junk shop a few months ago not knowing if I would ever use them. I just didn’t see them working on any furniture I would paint. Well, I was wrong. They definitely look modern but also a bit feminine. I like them! What about you guys?

Let’s take another look at the before and after side by side. I think the chest looks 200% better. The top was in such good shape I was able to just spruce it up with Howard’s Feed n Wax.

There was nothing difficult about this project. It was easy to remove the end pieces, change the hardware, paint the chest, and clean up the top. Anyone can do this. Did you read my tips for painting your first furniture project?

Modernize Outdated Furniture with 3 Simple Changes

That’s it for me. Hope you guys liked this project. Any thoughts?

Find the Howard’s Feed n Wax and all of my favorite products on the Petticoat Junktion Amazon page. (Amazon affiliate link, read disclosure here).

See you guys next week .Thanks for being here, Kathy