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How to Easily Update Furniture Legs

How to easily update your furniture legs and completely transform the look of your furniture.

How to Easily Update Furniture Legs - So Much Better With Age

When shopping for home furniture, have you ever found some that you absolutely fall in love with but something about it just isn’t right?

For me it’s all about the legs. Updating a piece of furniture by updating the legs can completely change the whole look of it.

In my old house, I updated the dining room chairs the same way. Updating 8 chairs x 4 legs each was not fun but it was totally worth it in the end.

Let me show you how to easily update the look of furniture.

This ottoman I have had for years. I came across it one day at Home Sense and I knew I had to have it even though I was eyeing similar ottomans at RH at the time and of course they were too pricey.

I wanted a tufted ottoman that was a bit sturdier to hold things on but still soft to put your feet up. It’s the perfect size for my small living room.

A tufted neutral ottoman with a large display of flowers on it, and gray couch behind it.

Here’s the neutral ottoman from my previous house.

A neutral living room with a white ottoman and a two loveseat couch.
There is a neutral couch with French inspired cushions and a wooden and Parisian armchair.

Here is a close-up of the legs. The stain is so dark you can’t see any wood grain. It’s time to see it go!

Dark brown legs of the ottoman.

The legs easily screw out so I did that and got out my favourite sander – Black and Decker Mouse. That’s all we’re going to do is sand these legs!

Using the tip of the sander, I went up and down over and over until all the dark stain was removed.

One leg took about 20-25 minutes.

I realized after the first leg that the metal roller could be unscrewed so I did that for the other three legs.

Staining the legs of the ottoman.

What a difference this made!

The two legs of the ottoman one staired the other the unfinished wood.

Now it looks like I have a brand new ottoman.

I love these natural legs.

The wooden legs of the ottoman back on the furniture.
A before and after look of the legs of the ottoman.

Updating furniture legs is so easy and makes such a big impact.

The ottoman with a basket full of kale on it.

Next time you go furniture shopping and you don’t like the legs, think about sanding the stain and go natural.

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20 Comments

  1. I don’t really like it. Perhaps, it’s the very dark casters against the bleached wood. I think if they were an antiqued brass, it would be less of a sharp contrast. Sorry to be negative.

    1. Hi Joanna, no problem, we all don’t have to like the same thing. I think they could easily be stained now that they are natural too if you didn’t like it this light. Or different casters!
      Hugs, Jamie

  2. This looks great! I tried to do this on my coffee table (before I read this post) and unfortunately discovered that the legs were a plastic resin of sorts, not wood! I couldn’t tell under all the black paint 🙁 Speaking of which……..do you know of any good ways to get paint off of plastic? I have tried Citristrip, Oops, Mineral Spirits, sanding and wire brushing and I can’t get all the old paint off so I have a clean surface for my new paint. Thanks!

    1. Oh no! That’s awful. I would probably just repaint it without trying to get it all off. If it’s really thick and leaves lines, then I would use a wood filler or wall compound to fill near the chipped paint before painting…if that makes sense.
      Good luck!
      Jamie

  3. Oh, my gosh Jamie…..I’ve always loved that ottoman when you’ve posted pictures of it. The upholstery is fabulous. I hadn’t really paid any attention to the legs, but now the entire thing is perfect! Sanding is just as helpful at updating something as painting is!

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