How to Easily Give Your Furniture a Modern Update for Under $50

Well, here we are! One week away from the New Year, New Room Refresh Challenge Reveal! The Dining Room is in shambles as we speak but there is light at the end of the tunnel! My dad and I have been working tirelessly on our unplanned Dining Room table project and I can not WAIT to share the final results with you! We also checked the box on another “unplanned” furniture project. But this one was a fun & incredibly simple one. Today, I’m sharing our Dining Room Buffet project and How to Easily Give Your Furniture a Modern Update for Under $50!

To stay up-to-date on this year’s challenge, be sure to follow along each Tuesday right here! All NYNR Refresh Challenge posts can be found here [this year & previous].

week 1: Dining Room Design & Plans // week 2: Stylish Buffets & Sideboards for Your Dining Room // week 3: Dining Room Progress // week 4: How to Update Your Furniture for Under $50 // week 5: The Dining Room Reveal

You might be thinking, “uh oh”. TWO unexpected furniture projects?!

Not exactly ideal when you’re talking about a one month challenge where there wasn’t really any DIY in the plans!

I shared several Dining Room Buffet options in this post here as well as the details of the one I purchased. 

It arrived and I loved almost everything about it. The depth [which was my main concern given the narrowness of the room] was perfect and I loved both the solid & glass doors, but it was a little shorter than I expected.

And since each section varied in height, the two ends were especially short.

It was all put together and I really was digging the look, but it was lost on the wall. It’s not very wide either, so it just felt itty bitty in the space.

Well, instead of disassembling the entire buffet and begrudgingly shipping it back, I decided to take a peek on Amazon to see if I could swap out the legs for something taller.

Turns out…I absolutely could 😉

HOW TO EASILY GIVE YOUR FURNITURE A MODERN UPDATE FOR UNDER $50

Not only could I buy longer legs for the buffet, but I could also select some a bit more stylish. 

When I landed on these gold dipped metal furniture legs, I was sold.

Although I did order 4 other sets to compare them to!!

If you have a piece of furniture you’d like to update, here are a few tips. Any piece of furniture can easily be updated with this DIY hack!

SUPPLIES FOR A QUICK MODERN FURNITURE MAKEOVER

• piece of furniture [anything works! – chair, ottoman, table, buffet, dresser, etc.]
• set of furniture legs [these are the ones I used]
• screws
• drill
• drill bit

DIRECTIONS FOR A QUICK MODERN FURNITURE MAKEOVER

First, look at the type of legs currently on your furniture piece and how they are attached.

Take measurements & determine the height [and style] of legs you want to install.

For example, my buffet had 8 legs that were 5″. I wanted at least a few more inches of height and a sleeker, more modern style. The gold touch was icing on the cake. They came in sets of 4, so I ordered 2 sets for a total of 8 new legs.

The current legs were attached by 4 screws, so I needed to find legs that could be installed similarly. Not the single screw option that many furniture legs have.

Sort of boring, right?!

Carefully turn your piece of furniture on it’s back or side and remove the legs.

Although my new legs did have 4 screw holes, they unfortunately did not line up, so we had to drill pilot holes into the bottom of the buffet for the new screws to be drilled into.

Attach new legs using a handheld drill.

Flip piece upright on it’s new legs and voila!

See how I gained about 3″ with the new modern legs?

A simple update for under $50. Such a great option for an old piece of furniture you want to breathe new life into!

They really are pretty 😉

It honestly looks like a completely different buffet. Its sleek and modern and exactly the height ideal for serving off of it.

I can’t wait to be able to host in this space!

And since we only have one week left until the Reveal, let’s see where I’m at with my to-do list…

DINING ROOM PROJECT TO-DO LIST:

• swap out light fixture – ordered! Being delivered on Thursday and installed on Friday
• hang curtain rods & panels – one rod & 2 panels are up, so only 2 more windows left to go!
• add dining chairs – delivered & assembled, but waiting on 2 more to make a total of 8
• add a buffet to the main wall & style / accessorize – assembled & in place! // still need to style
• determine wall art / mirror for the wall – in progress
• add a rug – ordered, waiting on delivery
• miscellaneous purchases / DIY projects:
  • Refinish Dining Room table – in progress, should be completed by Wednesday. I’ll share all the details in a later post!
  • swap out the legs on the buffet – done!!
  • ______________

Now be sure to go and see what my friends are up to this week! I know everyone is hard at work right now. We are in the home stretch!!

Casa Watkins Living // Delineate Your Dwelling // Domicile 37 // House by Hoff // Iris Nacole // JZ Holmes // Live Pretty On A Penny // Love Your Abode // My Eclectic Nest // Our Fifth House // This Is Our Bliss // Up To Date Interiors

For more Dining Room ideas & inspo, click here and for all of the posts in my past NYNR Refresh Challenges, go here!

2020 // Shared Boys’ Bathroom 2019 // Big Boy Room 2018 // Kitchen Refresh 2017 // Playroom Makeover 2016 // Master Bedroom Update

Have a great day!