How To Keep Your Furniture From Looking Outdated

Keeping up with changing design trends can be overwhelming. Once popular living room trends may now be dating your space, and furniture in particular can play a role in making your home look outdated. Whether you're questioning your current furniture's style or are ready to invest in new pieces — but don't want them to look old-fashioned within a few years — there are a few things you'll want to consider to keep your furniture from looking outdated. To help us learn more about what makes these pieces look outdated (and what you can do to modernize outdated furniture), we reached out to Sarah Bilotta, House Digest's design historian. 

In an exclusive interview with House Digest, Bilotta offers her expert advice. "Follow a design color and texture palette, rather than a décor scheme guided by a particular design era," she shares. "Keeping things eclectic makes it easier to keep your space unique and fresh." Ahead, she offers tips that can help you revamp your living room, dining room, office, or bedroom, to give it a fresh, updated, and modern feel.

In her exclusive chat with House Digest, we asked Bilotta to help us understand what causes furniture to look outdated. She explained, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so it is inevitable that different people will have different ideas about what is outdated." Giving the example of mid-century modern, Bilotta explained how an individual's reaction to the piece and its belonging in an aesthetically pleasing space could vary greatly by their age. "If you grew up in the 1950s you might remember your parents' mid-century modern bar and cringe, whereas such a piece might read as edgy and artsy to a millennial," she explains. "Even if you stick to the up-and-coming design trends and refresh your décor periodically, you still may find that there is someone out there who thinks your braided area rug is dated and your wingback armchair belongs in another century." 

To keep your furniture and home's décor from looking so outdated, Bilotta recommends avoiding a single look, style, or time period when selecting the furniture to add to your space. "Go eclectic," she says. "Take a wingback Victorian chair and upholster it in geometric Atomic Age fabric. Straight-from-the-style-book décor can lean heavily into one era, whereas going eclectic means you can make a space your own, and keep it timeless in the process." Following this eclectic living room trend can help create a relaxed look in your home, too.

Bilotta offers some excellent tips that you can use to keep your furniture from looking outdated. "Little touches can make a big difference," she shares in her exclusive interview with House Digest. "Refinishing a wood surface with a new stain or adding new throw pillows to a couch that's looking a little ragged can enliven and add new energy to a room." Bilotta also highlights how keeping your furniture clean and well-maintained can make a difference. She shares that dusting wooden furniture, oiling it to restore the shine, and refinishing any scuffed areas can really breathe new life into an old piece and instantly update its look.

"You don't even necessarily have to replace a piece of furniture that you feel might look outdated. Simply change the décor around it," Bilotta suggests. However, if you're looking to purchase a few new pieces, Bilotta offers some guidance for that as well. She recommends opting for classical motifs that have maintained a prominent place in design throughout history. She says, "If you want to play it safe, go classical: think traditional Persian and Turkish rugs, elegant Greek-inspired fireplaces with fluted columns, foliated motifs in wood and metal work, and subtle brocaded wallpaper." While Bilotta acknowledges that pleasing everyone with your décor is impossible, she says, "sticking with motifs that have had a place in a design lexicon for hundreds of years is a good start if you're working towards a timeless look." Of course, it's ultimately your space, so choose finishes that will make you happy.