This Sad-Looking Error Erin Napier Says You're Making With Your Old Furniture

It's one thing to have old furniture, and it's another thing to have old furniture that looks old — as in dated and worn out. If you ask "Home Town" host Erin Napier, letting old furniture really look its age, if not worse, is a big mistake. As someone who has , Napier is no stranger to designing spaces with older aesthetics. However, her approach to any project usually involves seamlessly incorporating vintage finds into a modern home. Part of this is ensuring that the old furniture pieces she's using in a space don't look rusty or too shabby.

Inside the HGTV star's own house, she has loads of vintage furniture pieces that she has collected over the years. Staying true to her signature style, she found ways to incorporate them into the space by making some modifications. For instance, she had a hand-me-down couch from her mom reupholstered, while her husband, Ben Napier, updated its base. "My mom bought a couch in 1999, and it was the world's greatest," Erin tells Southern Living. "Then she wanted something different and gave it to us. We used it for years. I got it re-covered, and Ben made new feet for it. Every time she comes over, she says, 'I can't believe I gave that to y'all. I want it back.'"

Apart from reupholstering or changing the cover of old furniture, the celebrity home designer has other ways to update or save dated pieces. One example is when she transformed an old sofa table into a storage cabinet for candles and other miscellaneous items in her living room, as explained by Napier herself in an Instagram post. Another is when she and Ben from an old home featured on their TV show to make a record shelf, a console table, and bedroom French doors. It is important to note, however, that the transformation process this requires can be demanding and tedious, especially if you are turning a large piece into several fixtures, similar to what the Napiers did to the mahogany paneling.

Interestingly, don't expect to find vintage furniture getting painted into colorful chairs and tables under Napier's watch, as she is tired of seeing painted wood furniture. Erin is a proud wood stain girlie, and this is evident in , where all the woodwork is stained to keep its natural graining and patterns. This doesn't mean she never uses paint on wooden materials, though. Based on , she prefers adding a splash of paint on walls and built-in cabinetry rather than on standalone furnishings.