The key to a beautiful, highly personal home isn’t about replacing what you own every fifteen years — it’s taking stock in your home, then elevating what you already have. With better furniture placement, visual order and yes, a good cleaning you can refresh your home without the need to replace everything.

Updating your home around your older, high-quality furnishings gives it beauty, meaning and patina. It tells a story. And because of the mix of styles, your home stays relevant and fresh for 25 years or longer.

The Home that Tells a Story

Almost every piece of furniture in my own home has a story. ‘Jim and I bought this together before Christian was born’. ‘We dug that out of the old, family’s mansion attic and brought it home’. ‘That was in my design store, and no one wanted it but me’.

Once I buy or inherit a piece of furniture that has quality, beauty, or that I simply love — just like when you adopt a pet — it has a home for life. This is how I update my homes and it’s how I help my friends, family and clients update theirs too.  

Taking Stock in Your Home

Working with design clients for over 25 years, I’ve noticed that many of them ask me to replace the wrong things — often their older, high-quality furniture — when what they really need, however, is to refurbish them and choose better things to go with them.

Instead of unilaterally discarding furniture, start by deciding what to keep, what to refresh and what to repurpose. This is a simple, additional step that helps you base your future design decisions on what you have first. It saves you from discarding older, high-quality furniture that are worth preserving and keeps you from replacing the wrong things in your home. 

Starting a Home Makeover

The most effective way to start a home makeover is to simply roll up your sleeves and start moving things around. Enlist a strong person or two for the heaviest pieces: the sofa, the hutch, the big mirror. Hire the neighbor’s teen. Ask your gardener or handyman for help. Or enlist your girlfriend’s weightlifting son. 

Plan your home makeover for a weekend, and schedule any necessary cleanings in advance.

Moving furniture back and forth is a great way to see what’s working and what isn’t. After a few days of work, you’re living spaces will be completely refreshed. They will be cleaner and orderly and will have much better placements and layouts. And you’ll have a much better idea of what needs to stay and what needs to be replaced. 

Next Steps

Refresh your home with what you already have. Learn to place and pair your furniture and accessories beautifully and functionally and make better choices on your next purchases. Get this free download and get started this weekend. The 5-Step Home Makeover Framework

And for more design goodness, check out my article “How to Fight New Home Fatigue…and personalize your home’s appearance in five steps”! I think you will love it.