In general, I’m a pretty big cheapskate and am when it comes to renovating a house, you’re basically throwing your money out of your windows every day. So it feels extra good to save a little on house projects. Of course, I was also a kid who grew up watching Supermarket Sweep, and now as an adult I dream about doing the same in a Home Goods. So there’s a balance when decorating between using things you already have and bringing in those fun new pieces. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to mix old and new furniture when updating a space.
Since I’ve been working on redoing my office I’ve needed to buy certain things: a desk, a bookshelf, a rug. They were all things I didn’t have before and so there was no way to really get around them, but I’ve still been looking for ways to work with what I’ve got.
The prime example in my office is this chair. You may recognize it as an “Ikea classic”. We’ve had this for almost 8 years now and it had already been living in this catch-all room for a while, mostly just collecting dust. Once I repainted the room I was feeling a little extra “blah” about it. Would I have loved to swap it out with something new and fresh? You betcha. But I know that in reality this chair won’t be getting a ton of use in my office anyway, so i decided to try to work with it.
If you’re struggling with whether to replace or keep an old item when re-doing a room, here’s the list of questions I run down to determine whether to keep it or replace something:
Is it still needed?
If you no longer need it and it will literally just be taking up space, maybe it’s time to let it go. I hate clutter, and have found it a main cause of space issues, so sometimes it’s best to donate or sell it and gain the space instead. But if you will just end up replacing it with something new, take a second look at it.
Does it clash with your updates?
If your item is hot pink and you’re transitioning to more calmer, neutral tones, you might look to update it. Sometimes you can swap a chair cover or repaint a piece to make it work, but some pieces aren’t able to be easily updated. Maybe that piece could find a new spot in the rest of your house, or maybe a friend would love it instead!
Can it be updated to work?
I realized with this old chair of mine that it might just need a little accessories update to make it feel like a part of the new vibes I was going for. Sometimes you can get away with a new coat of paint or a new couch cover to transition it with your room. If the piece overall works with your space, look for those little ways to swap, paint, or tweak to make it work.
My last tip for mixing old and new furniture is to take a good look around your house before you go shopping for something new. More than once I’ve found that a piece of furniture that was “okay” in one spot turns out to be amazing in a new spot. Shop your house before you shop the stores!
So what did I end up doing with my chair? It turned out to be as easy as swapping out the pillow for a new one! To be honest, I didn’t think it would be so easy, and I ended up grabbing this pillow as sort of an impulse buy, not even sure if I’d like it, but it ended up saving the day! So instead of spending $100+ on replacing the entire chair, this $20 pillow from target was just the change it needed, and honestly am so happy I didn’t waste the money – I love it!
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