"It depends on the quality of the piece and of the painting," says Sophie Williamson. Practically speaking, this may be most significant if you're thinking you might offload the piece down the line.

At every talk I give on downsizing, the subject of handing furniture off to grown kids comes up. And every time I deliver the bad news: The kids don’t want your stuff. Invariably, parents moan and ...

Ornate hutches aren't everyone's cup of tea. Luckily, if they're solid wood, they're relatively easy to transform into ...

Several years later, they decided, without consulting me, that mahogany was out and that a fruitwood finish would look better. Piece by piece, the furniture disappeared into the garage along with my ...

At every talk I give on downsizing, the subject of handing furniture off to grown kids comes up. And every time I deliver the bad news: The kids don't want your stuff. Invariably, parents moan and ...

One of the easiest ways to give an old piece of furniture a fresh new look is by painting it. But if you’re not a painting professional or are new to the challenging world of DIY, painting furniture ...

At every talk I give on downsizing, the subject of handing furniture off to grown kids comes up. And every time I deliver the bad news: The kids don’t want your stuff. Invariably, parents moan and ...

At every talk I give on downsizing, the subject of handing furniture off to grown kids comes up. And every time I deliver the bad news: The kids don’t want your stuff. Invariably, parents moan and ...

When I deliver the bad news, I get the same reaction at every talk I give on downsizing: The kids don’t want your stuff. Invariably, parents moan, and adult children cheer. “Don’t believe me?” I ask. ...

At every talk I give on downsizing, the subject of handing furniture off to grown kids comes up. And every time I deliver the bad news: The kids don’t want your stuff. Invariably, parents moan and ...