Tip one: Clean it really well. This is especially effective with wood furniture. Often a good cleaning, and polishing will give an older piece new life and let you see the former beauty you enjoyed about it.

Tip two: Change out the hardware. One great way to give a dresser or armoire a facelift, or whole new look is by changing out the hardware. You can take a stately looking older dresser and refit it with ceramic drawer pulls that are painted like sporting equipment, and wha-la you have a great dresser for your little boy's room. You can dress a piece of furniture up or down with the hardware.

Tip three: Paint or stain. One great option for restoring furniture or giving it a facelift is to change the color. A great example is that just a few years back light wood furniture, oaks, pines, etc. where very popular. Today cherry, and darker woods are the new in things. Black furniture is extremely popular. So, instead of selling what you have for a palsy sum and buying new furniture, sand what you have down, and paint it. You can give it a distressed look with sand paper, and you can really change the whole look with a $10 bucket of paint. Just be sure to choose the right paint for the job, and be good about cleaning and sanding off the old finish first. If you are careful the results will look amazing. If you don't love paint, you can re-stain something, make it darker, etc.

Tip four: Reupholster. A couch, a chair, a settee, all can be given a new breath of life with a new fabric covering. Sometimes chairs or couches have a great frame, are sturdy, nice and full of potential, but have ugly, outdated, or worn upholstery. You can often get a piece of furniture reupholstered for a fraction of the price to replace to piece. So, before tossing the couch because it is a pink floral print, price out what it would take to replace the upholstery with something more up with the times, or consistent with your style. This works well with dining room chairs, overstuffed sofas, couches, lounges, etc. Anything with upholstery can be changed. For a less expensive, but usually equally effective option, consider getting a slipcover. These are fun because you can get a plain one and use colorful, patterned, fun throw pillows etc.

Tip five: Rearrange. Sometimes the only thing you need to restore your furniture or give it a facelift is to move it around in your home, or repurpose it. A bedroom armoire often looks great in your kitchen with the doors removed and a pot hanger hung right inside large opening.

There is a lot you can do with what you have, so before you replace, consider re-doing.