Discount Living Room Furniture — How To Select And Spruce Up Used Furniture
If you’re looking to buy discount living room furniture, a good idea is to scour thrift stores, yard sales, estate sales and auctions for used furniture that you can fix up and make your own. But in order to get a truly good deal, you need to know what to look for.
Take a good look at the material the furniture is made of. You want to be sure the piece you are buying has what designers call ‘good bones’. A wall unit that is made of particle board just isn’t worth fixing up…you’d be better off buying one new at a discount living room furniture store.
Make sure you sand any wooden furniture before you paint or stain it. There are many different techniques you can use to make the piece your own, or to compliment the look of your living room. You can create an antique finish, decoupage, crackle finish, or just paint or stain it any color or tone you want. whatever you do, always seal it with polyurethane afterwards to keep the finish protected.
For sofas and chairs, you can take them in to be reupholstered or you can do it yourself. Use a large quilt, sheets, or a large piece of fabric and hold it in place with pins or staples. To tuck it in to the back cushions, use a broomstick to hold the material in place. Or, buy a slipcover and add a few throw pillows.
You can hide worn arms with placemats or table runners, simply tacked in place. Use the same fabric to make matching pillows. You can also use trims like nail-heads or braiding to hide small imperfections. Also check out the legs,…you can change the whole look of a couch by changing the legs. If the couch has a skirt, remove it and add a set of modern looking legs.
For coffee and occasional tables, you can easily fix up a worn or ugly top by covering it with ceramic tiles in a mosaic pattern. Just place the tile on the top, add molding to the sides, grout and then when it is dry wipe the tiles clean. You can use anything really to cover the table top…decorative paper, pictures, pages from a poetry book, really anything you can think of. Put everything in place, and then use a piece of glass cut to fit the table to protect everything.
Choosing used items is an ideal way to get discount living room furniture that is of good quality. As long as you don’t mind doing a little bit of work, you’ll find some real treasures that you can make your own, and save a bunch of money in the process.
