Many of us have collected pieces of furniture over the course of years, leaving us with a hodgepodge of furniture. We end up with furniture items that don't go together, they are outdated, or broken. If you look at items of furniture in your home and sigh in disappointment, there is hope. There are endless opportunities for those old and odd things. Before you call us to haul away those old pieces of furniture, think through your options before you decide to toss them out.
1. Upgrading Your Old Furniture
Upgrading an item could mean a whole new life for it. It may be something as simple as a new coat of paint. If you are working with solid wood pieces, maybe a new stain will help it blend in with the rest of the furniture. The internet provides an endless sea of instruction on how to strip stain from wood, replace drawers, create a vintage finish and anything else you might need. If you can’t or don’t want to do it yourself, look into furniture repair shops. You can easily have a couch reupholstered to bring its style up to date, or have the wobbly legs on the dining room chairs reinforced.
Couch Restoration
See Pinterst couch repair and restoration ideas to get that old couch looking new.
Dresser Restoration
See Pinterest to get ideas on what to do with that old dresser and create a dresser to match your bedroom style just right.
Table Restoration
See Pinterest to get ideas on restoring the dining room table.
Fontana Dresser Before Vintage Makeover
After - See White Vintage Dresser from North Country Nest DIY walkthrough
2. Recycling or Repurposing Old Furniture
Recycling or repurposing old furniture has developed a cult following, leaving us with millions of ideas for creating new, unique, pieces out of old furniture. If you can’t see how that old piece of furniture might be upgraded to fit into your home decor, then consider how it might be turned into something that will. You can make a new bookshelf out of that dilapidated table, or a beautiful hall tree out of an outdated dresser. Use your imagination here; figure out what you could use, then decide on colors, patterns and get clever. If you're looking for inspiration try some of these ideas.
Repurpose Doors
See Pinterest to get ideas on creating something new out of an old door; from tables, shelves, racks and much more.
Repurpose Bookshelf
See Pinterest to get ideas on doing something new with that old bookshelf. From simple upgrades to creating something entirely new. Don't break it down and have it hauled away to the landfill; invent something new!
Repurpose A Dresser
See Pinterest to get ideas on taking that old broken dresser and create shelves, wine racks, mud closets and much more. Don't throw it out, redesign!
Repurpose an Entertainment Center
See Pinterest to get ideas on taking that old ugly entertainment center and turning it into something that will impress.
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3. Selling Old Furniture
Another option for getting rid of old furniture is to sell it. Yard sales are good places but they take up a great deal of time and energy. The internet provides a wider market for your goods and is considerably easier. While Ebay is a go to for many used items, you might consider other options first, shipping furniture can be difficult and costly. Craigslist is a customary location for local furniture shoppers. Draft your description well, it will determine how your piece is shown to others. Facebook Yard Sales is another great option. Buyers tend to be more reliable on Facebook than on Craigslist, just search your location and “yard sales” to find the right group for you.
Make sure you have read and understand the rules of any online site, you don’t want to be blindsided by surprises, such as delivery requirements.
Craigslist
Craigslist is fast and easy to sell unwanted furniture. All you need to do is take a photo of your furniture, uploaded it and post a description. Many times people will arrange to come to you to haul away your furniture and leave you with cash.
Facebook Yard Sales
Joining local Facebook Yard Sale groups will allow you to quickly and easily communicate with people in your neighborhood who are looking for furniture you have.
Sell on eBay
eBay allows you to upload your old furniture to a worldwide system where your items sell to the highest bidder; you can also choose to sell your items for a flat price. Upon sale you will be expected to ship the item in a timely manner. Therefore this platform isn't ideal for large furniture unless they are considered collectable or antique.
4. Donating Furniture
If you don’t have the time, tools or interest to upgrade or repurpose old furniture, consider donating those pieces to your community. Donation centers are spread throughout the valley. They work with families that will put your old furniture to good use. You could easily provide be a new couch for a young couple just starting out, or a dining table for a family to sit together. Many donation centers will even provide pickup services. Donating your old pieces is a simple way to make a big impact in someone’s life.
AZ Junk Furniture Pickup in Phoenix
AZ Junk Removal will schedule a furniture pickup, same day, and drop it off at the nearest donation center or supply it to someone who would be glad to give it a new home.
Goodwill Centers in Phoenix
Goodwill has over 20 locations in the Phoenix metro Phoenix area with 24-hour dropoff and pickup services available. Pickups can be challenging to schedule and items to be pickuped must meet certain quality criterias.
Salvation Army in Phoenix
There are 4 dropoff locations throughout the Phoenix area. The Salvation Army also offers a pickup service.
St. Vincent De Paul in Phoenix
St. Vincent De Paul has seven locations throughout the Phoenix area. You are able to drop off furniture at any of these thrift centers. They also offer a pick up service.
Old Couch & Sofa Restoration Guide
Is your old sofa suffering from neglect? Years of abuse, sagging sofa syndrome, or any of the other thousands of ailments that afflict all old sofas today? Worry not, advances in sofa medicine can bring that old dilapidated item back to its glory days. With just a few of the right prescriptions, your old sofa will spring back to life.
There comes a time when you just have to get rid of that old couch ( we'll explain later how you can properly dispose of it). However, many times, you can give that old piece of furniture new life. Don't be so quick to throw it out. Here's a few ideas.
Deep Cleaning
First things first, clean that thing. Don’t just vacuum it, really clean it. Rent a steam cleaner if you don’t have one and go to town. Take off all removable parts and wash them. Steam clean anything that is still attached from top to bottom. Don’t be lazy or your bad attitude will reflect in a half old looking sofa.
After you have steam cleaned every possible piece, vacuum the inside. And when you're done, remember that you should vacuum the inside pretty often, it is not a once in a lifetime thing.
Basic Restoration
Jazz it up a little by making new buttons if the old ones are saggy and worn. Hit a craft store and find the button kits, yes they are real things, then you can pick the right kind of material to match your sofa.
Open up the cushions and pillows and add some stuffing. They are not supposed to be wobbly and saggy. Fill them up until they resemble the couch you bought.
Those few easy step will make your old sofa spring back to life, but only if it was in pretty decent shape to the beginning with. If you have an outdated junker lying around you might have to put in a little more effort.
Next Level Restoration
Let start with the old IKEA classic. It was great when you first got it, now, it's old, dirty and out of style. To make this piece look a little nicer think about TUFTing the cushions, all that really means is ... add some buttons. You need to pull the string from the front of the cushion, where the button attached, all the way through the back. Google it, you'll see just how easy it is to do. This tuft look is certainly more elegant than what IKEA can offer.
Now if you're a risk taker, you can consider painting the old style sofa. Textile material can absorb latex paint while still remaining soft, so we hear. If the classic white sofa now kinda looks like the bottom of your shoe then this might be the way to go.
If you have kids then we're certain you have totally given up trying to get out all of the permanent marker and other kid-friendly stains. Instead of spending another day scrubbing and washing what is clearly not coming out, grab a few cushion covers and class it up. You can even just do a few cushions and leave the others, assuming they look pristine, to mix it up. If you are crafty you can make no-sew slip covers of your own and open up a world of material choices to best match your home’s vibe.
More Hacks & Quick Fixes
Your old sofa might be a vintage hand me down, if so, then you’ve probably notice it has a couch skirt. Guess what? That's weird. Get rid of it. Tear it off, carefully, and let those beautiful legs show. This one simple move can modernize an old sofa.
If you are faced with sagging syndrome, stuff the cushions to reform them, and think about tossing out the cushions along the back and replacing them with pillows. That will save you a lot of hassle, plus it will spruce up your space.
You can always reupholster the sofa, there are plenty of DIY ideas online that will tell you how to go about it, or even easier, hire a company to fix it up.
There are some businesses out there who can fix up any problem you have with your old sofa, from repairing the frame to replacing springs, rebuilding sleeper mechanism to reupholstering. Check it out and see if it's worth it to you.
Pickup My Old Furniture
If you're still reading this, I assume you're in the need of something a bit more drastic than basic restoration – like the setting it on fire method. Before you do anything drastic consider calling a local junk removal company, or even better, AZ Junk Removal!
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We’ll come by and get rid of it for you. You don’t have to do anything but call; just leave the sofa where it is and we will make it magically disappear. If the idea of tossing such a staple is nagging at your conscience, don’t worry, we will find a great home for it. We won’t just drop it off in the landfill, we’ll either donate or recycle it, so it can continue to fulfill its sofa destiny.