For those who spend a lot of time at the office, the environment can get pretty dull over time. You may not be able to alter your office space if you’re leasing it, but you can make changes to office furniture. There are some easy ways to update your office without spending too much time or money. 

Keep reading to learn our top 8 tips for how to make old furniture look modern in the office. 

8 Tips for Fixing Old Furniture

These tips vary according to how much effort is required, but they’re all doable if you put your mind to it.

1. Figure Out What You Want to Fix

Before starting any major furniture changes, decide how you want to update your old office furniture. There’s no need to spend money and effort on something you won’t like. Make a list of furniture you want to update and what changes you want to make. 

Then, decide what the overall style of your office will be. Do you want to stick with your brand’s colors, go for something natural, or maybe play with something bold?

The possibilities are endless because you haven’t started anything yet. 

2. Start with Quick Fixes

Once you have your list, start with the easy tasks. You can do quick fixes within a few hours with little effort.

For example, you’ll be surprised how much of a difference cleaning can make. Scrubbing furniture and removing trash could make your office look brand new. Imagine your desk looking like the day you bought it because you cleared off all the excess paperwork.

Here are a few tips: 

• Fix beaten-up or stained wooden furniture: If there’s a fresh stain, wipe it away. If there are old stains and scratches, grab some sandpaper. A few swipes can reveal clean, undamaged wood.

• Use wood wax: A few layers of clear wood wax adds a nice shine and makes the surface more durable against scratches. 

• Update your furniture hardware: Any drawer or door handle can be changed to something new and bring life to old forgotten furniture. All you have to do is remove the old fixtures and replace them, which usually only requires a screwdriver.

3. Keep All Tools Nearby

This may seem obvious, but a lot of people forget to keep their tools near them as they tackle more difficult furniture renovations. The tools you’ll need depend on the task you’re working on, but typical tools required for furniture updates are:

• Sandpaper/sander
• Hot glue/wood glue
• Scraper
• Gloves
• Eye protection
• Mask
• Screwdriver
• Drill
• Hammer
• Measuring tape
• Paintbrushes
• Rags
• Clamps
• Staple gun

4. Try a Fresh Coat of Paint

A fresh coat of paint changes the vibe of any furniture. Use dark colors to convey sophistication or unexpected colors to add a little pop.

Before grabbing the paint, make sure whatever piece of furniture you want to change is clean. Wipe it down to get rid of dust and lint, and scrub and scrape it to get rid of any stains or old paint.

When you do start painting, make sure to use gloves and a mask in a well-ventilated area. 

5. Refresh with New Fabric

A lot of office furniture consists of chairs and couches. An easy way to make old furniture look modern is to change out its fabric, which for the most part, is easy to do.

You can either remove the original fabric or just put the new material over it. After measuring how much fabric you need, wrap it around the cushion, using clamps to hold everything in place. All you need is a staple gun to finish the project. 

6. Strip the Old Paint

We briefly mentioned scraping paint off old furniture when putting on a new coat of paint. But sometimes, all you need to do is strip the paint off a piece of furniture to discover beautiful wood underneath. 

You can choose to scrape and sand away paint or use a paint stripper, which applies the same way as a fresh coat of new paint. Once you finish with the paint, complete the project by cleaning up the furniture piece, and you’re done! 

7. Stain Your Natural Wood

Staining is a fairly straightforward process and could be the solution if you have a lot of wooden office furniture that needs refreshing.

Start with sanding the wood for a fresh layer to absorb the stain. Once you’ve brushed away debris, apply the stain as you would paint. Usually, a few coats are needed for it to look its best. 

8. Apply New Contact Paper 

Contact paper is a great way to make old furniture look modern. Contact paper has a pattern on one side, and the other side is sticky. It’s sold by the roll, so measure how much you need and cut it off. Then place it on the surface you want to change, and make sure to smooth out any bubbles that may appear. 

With contact paper, you can easily make your plain tables look like they’re made of marble or granite. Of course, contact paper comes in a variety of patterns as well. 

How to Make an Old Office Look New

If you want to change an old office space into a modern office space, you can use similar techniques. 

A few easy things you can do are:

• Clean the entire space.
• Get new carpet.
• Paint the walls.
• Change the artwork around the office.
• Upgrade the light fixtures.
• Add some plants.
• Play with new colors.
• Mix old and new furniture together.

Updating Your Office Is Easy with NexGen Workspace

Sometimes updating an office space is too overwhelming for one person. That’s where we come in. Not only does NexGen Workspace offer office furniture, but we can also help with the overall design and installation. 

We’ll handle refreshing your office while you focus on running your business. Contact us today to work together on a game plan for updating your old office.