What do you think about changing the pulls on your bureaus? And hanging a less ornate mirror over the low bureau? Perhaps a round mirror. Possibly rearranging furniture and changing up artwork as well? How about a cream or blue wall color? Your bedroom furniture is very nice, I bet smaller changes would make it fresh to you again.

Could you move the secretary? I do think that is the one piece that looks a bit off from the rest of your style.

The soft furnishings (sofa, chairs, etc) are all transitional products in a sleeker style. They have great lines without much fuss. They push a little bit more to contemporary rather than traditional. NOTHING is over stuffed. NOTHING says "Victorian Pomp" in your sofa/chair style.

And then there are the hard furnishings. The colour isn't the issue. The STYLE of the secretary desk and the bedroom dressers all scream out OLD WORLD pomp.

You have more a clash of STYLES then you do clash of colours. For me, the problem with the secretary is the added book case. If it is *possible (ie. designed to do this) I would remove the glass book case from the secretary. This would bring it into the "sleek" look seen in the soft furniture.

The bedroom furniture has the same concerns. An excess of faux Olde World touches are clashing with the rustic pieces you have tried to introduce. A change of hardware would go a LONG way. The four posts on the bed are also pushing the boundaries of olde world vs. rustic chic.

Personally I love your choices in soft furnishings. They are comfortable, quality pieces that are contemporary in appearance. The clash in styles with the hard surfaces is what is bothering me. Not the colour.

You would want to nail down your style (hard vs. soft) to get a better match. That's more important than dark vs. light.

I'm in total agreement with SJ McCarthy. There's not much about either of your rooms that I don't like, including the current arrangement in the living room.

I do agree that changing the hardware on the bedroom furniture and possibly replacing the bed with an upholstered bed (if that's something that appeals to you) would go a long way in updating the bedroom.

Are you making changes because you want to or because you feel you have to?

Nooooo upholstered bed, please. Your four-poster is beautiful. I need a new bed and am beyond frustrated that upholstered beds dominate all the offerings- so little else to choose from. And I am sure you could guess, but I agree with SJ as well. Your things are beautiful. Updating is great- no need to get rid of classic, gorgeous pieces.

Like the other posters, I hope you’ll keep all the things you love without any thought of what might be “outdated.” Frankly, I’d be thrilled to have your secretary. I love it!
The only thing I’d add to the others’ advice is to perhaps break up the suite of furniture in your bedroom. Use the dresser in the dining room as a sideboard, put the bedside table(s) in your guest room, or maybe store a few pieces for a while... for the purpose of doing away with the Matchy-Matchy.

The only thing that bothers me is the secretary. It just doesn’t seem to go with your other furniture. Everything else is classic and timeless. Including the bedroom. I would not change that hardware. Very pretty rooms.

I like the Secretary, it is a nice contrast to the more modern pieces. There is nothing wrong with mixing things up a bit. It can make a room much less boring.

I like your bedroom just the way it is and wouldn't change anything except to pull the rug out further from under the bed or get a larger (and perhaps more colorful) rug. You seem to be in the camp of all beige decor with nothing to break up the monotony of that one color, and I would encourage you to be a little more adventurous.

I'm afraid the problem with the secretary is that it's just not a high-quality piece of furniture which has nice wood and a pretty finish. Your living room furniture is very nice except that three matching glass tables is not something that I would do. It's better and more current to mix things up a bit. Finding a more colorful (genuine) oil painting with a thin gold metal rim for over the fireplace would eliminate one brown thing from your living room. E-bay has very reasonable and nice oil paintings under Russian oil paintings which will elevate the look of your room and resonate better with your style. I can't tell whether you have a rug in the living room, but if not I would definitely recommend one (and not in beige).

I'm showing a rug in my dining room which is a tribal Oriental (from esale.rugs) which would add color to your living room, and you could then use those colors for pillows. I think terra cotta pillows would look very nice there. The second picture is a secretary from England to give you an idea of what you might be able to find in an antique store or flea market instead of the one you have.

If you put out the bucks for Ethan Allen furniture, you bought what is called "heirloom furniture". You don't paint an heirloom and you certainly don't out live it. The quality is beyond anything purchased today. It is a treasure. Really. It is lovely. I too have a secretary which sits amongst the closest things I have to E.A. furniture, it was purchased USED in the 1945 timeframe on a sidewalk in the northeast where my relatives were stationed at the Air base there. It has been moved 9 times...mostly between 45 and 50, and it sits here. I love it. It is where they were and where they lived, and it gives the area it sits in something that lets you know you are not in a furniture showroom. It has been stripped and tung oil finished in the 80's by them(so thankful they did not paint it!) so it is a warm wood color, and it looks pretty wherever it is in whomever's house, and it is not as unmarred as yours is from it's prior life, it has character. If you are tired of your furniture, someone else can love it for you. It was an investment when you purchased it, and it is lovely. I hope if you sell it or pass it on, they don't put paint on it or change the hardware. :{ It is classic, and it is perfect where you have it. Someone else will love it for you, but you will never find that quality craftsmanship, imho.

Your rooms are gorgeous, the secretary is beautiful. I love your big mirror too. :)

Thank you all for the compliments, comments, and advice!! It definitely gives me something to think about. It's not that I'm tired of the "heirloom" furniture. In fact, I still love it after having it for over 38 years. I've had it since my 20s. :) I just want to make sure it doesn't outdate my spaces. I have a home office that I can put the secretary in if it doesn't work in the living room after I rearrange the furniture, if I do rearrange it.

I think it is good to move your furniture around between rooms, it makes your home fresh again. Pieces you love always fit in someplace because they are your style. I bet your secretary would *work* well in the home office!

I completely agree with redsilver. Your furniture is fine and I don't know of any designers that would consider it "old world pomp". The pieces are timeless and traditional. Your couches are more contemporary. Your tables don't necessarily have to match the secretary, but I would stay within the same wood tone or use glass. You may find that your current coffee table works when the furniture is rearranged. Metal and glass ties in with your dining chandelier.

I don't think dark furniture is necessarily dated but of course your furniture is extremely traditional.

As others have posted, what matters is whether you still get pleasure from looking at it. I accumulated much too much furniture prior to my remodel as I inherited pieces from my grandmother and mother so I had to purge - but you're not in the same position I was since you don't have too much furniture.

I think your secretary works quite well with your living room stuff and I would keep it as is.

Obviously your bedroom furniture is very very traditional - I think it's Chippendale or some kind of colonial type of stuff. I don't think changing the hardware would make sense because that style of furniture has that type of hardware and anything else would look odd. My bedroom furniture is the old Waterfall style and it also has iconic hardware and it would look very odd to change the hardware. FWIW, I am keeping my bedroom furniture and just having it refinished as it has had a LOT of hard use since it was sold in I would imagine the 1930's :-)

Do you still like your bedroom furniture? Have you seen bedrooms that appeal to you more. Just looking at the pictures you've posted, it seems like what I assume are newer purchases like sofas and chairs are also very traditional in that they don't particularly scream modern to me. What I mean is that it's not as if your furniture looks like it was picked by people with wildly different tastes - it's not as if you have a white Saarinen dining table or some ultra trendy sofa :-).

The sofas in the photos are actually the ones I am replacing as they are 15 years old. I am looking at styles similar to these but different colors (gray?). I agree, Helen, that replacing the hardware would not be easy. I would also have to put new hardware in the middle of the drawers where the "keyholes" are.

The finish under the hardware is almost certainly different in appearance to the finish on the rest of each piece. So you would need to find exactly the same shape hardware, or refinish everything.

I like your stately home. It's obvious that you value good quality and also that you're not afraid to try new things.

I love your piece; I too have an EA hutch that I have had for only ten years and I bought it when hutches were on the way out; everyone uses sideboards now, but it holds sentimental items from my life and I love it.....my kids love it too now that they are adults and see treasures inside it that they remember from their childhood...keep the furniture and then design around it in modern ways....there are a number of articles on how to give traditional rooms a modern look. You might want to consult with an interior designer for two hours to get some modern perspective on your heirloom pieces.

I looked thru Houzz pics and found some master bedrooms with 4 poster beds done in a more contemporary vibe....often times a new modern or trendy color and bedding that coordinates with the paint works wonders. Your furniture is gorgeous....and I think if you went to EA they do free design service and a design associate might help you modernize your existing room with their service and their fabrics etc?

Coastal feel which has a contemporary vibe

Black white and red are really sleek right now or black white and any color!

More masculine tones but bold and inviting

Cover the posts!

Grey grey handsome grey; new shiny chrome type pulls would glam it up a bit over your trad brass pulls.

Thank you, Susan, for the photos! Good idea to go back to EA for help in modernizing my current furniture. I am working with a designer at another furniture store who I think is very good but will keep EA in mind since I'm sure they have worked with a lot of people who previously bought their furniture there. I will definitely use the photos to update my bedroom a little. I agree with P Banos that some of my artwork could be updated. Such great ideas I am getting from everyone that I hadn't thought of!

I do think a designer would be extremely helpful in pulling together a look that was "contemporary" while still utilizing your beautiful furniture.

I get excited when I see these posts about dated furniture, because we get to see something not from Ikea, Wayfair, or the clearance section of the local furniture store :)

I agree that your stuff is nice, and maybe look at rotating it into other rooms in your house or changing accessories for it to feel new to you.

I like your furnishings. I also like a mix of styles. I wouldn't get rid of your items unless you truly are tired of them. Sometimes I find myself tired of certain things I have after spending a lot of time looking at sites or blogs online of different styles. It's the overexposure that can get you. I like a lot of different styles but wouldn't want to actually live in many of those houses.

I would not change the pulls on your bedroom furniture. I feel like that's the style that looks correct on that furniture. I have a similar style and years back it was suggested I change them or spray paint the handles orb. I'm very glad I left them alone. Changing them out to something else would look better I think than painting.

A lot of furniture is junk now days. I tend to look on CL for this reason.

I wouldn't buy gray furniture unless you love gray and always have. It's the trendy neutral at the moment and going out. I would consider picking a (solid) color over gray. My next sofa will be blue actually. I think gray furniture can look nice. It's when everything in a room is gray that I don't personally care for it. The same goes for beige though. (My overly beige kitchen is visually on my nerves these days!) I'd try to get a game plan in place -- rugs, pillows, curtains, etc. Find some inspiration pics you really like; a piece of fabric or something as your jumping off point.

Helpful RE what color sofa to buy.

I have the 10 drawer dresser (the mirror too, just not on the wall horizontally above the dresser - the mirror is hung vertically on another wall), the desk, a small chest of 4 drawers, and a six sided end table that are all from the EA Georgian Court collection. My mom has the secretary desk (no drawers beneath, this piece has legs and designed to sit at) without the hutch piece but +chair, the dining table and chairs with two leaves that can be used to expand the table to seat 10/12, the 4 poster bed, nightstand, and both the enclosed lower cabinet/drawers and upper glass cabinet for the china hutch.

ETA: I also have the butlers table which is being used as a coffee table in the living room on the main floor of our house.

Though everything she has from the collection is lovely, the only piece that I’ve responded to her inquiry about inheriting with a yes for, is the secretary’s desk and its chair. For starters I don’t think I should leave my dad without a bed to put the mattress/box spring on, no nightstand for his wallet and alarm clock, or the dining table they eat at for breakfast/lunch/dinner. Even if he passes before my mom does, we simply don’t have the space for all that furniture, and I lack the china for company only to go in the china hutch - when we moved across the country I made the decision to give my mom’s complete set (place settings, servingware, etc) of wedding china to my aunt who owns the same pattern but has lost several pieces due to mishaps and careless dishwashing. We use the same set of dishes whether it’s just family or when guests come for dinner - my china. I’ve got place settings for 10, a serving bowl, serving platter, teapot + sugar + creamer, and the salt/pepper shakers; all except the shakers can be washed in the dishwasher without worrying they will be cracked or broken in the process.

Honestly, @OP, I think your furniture is lovely and would definitely find options that would allow keeping them in their original state. At one point I considered swapping out the antiqued brass drawer pulls for ones in an antiqued silver finish but could not find any that are the right size and shape to ensure the difference between the part you can see and the wood underneath the original pulls wasn’t visible. Whether that means moving the furniture around or changing the other items and decor in the rooms they’re in, don’t paint these heirlooms!

Someone posted a similar concern a a few days ago. I think you can easily have an up to date room with traditional furniture. You don't need to paint your furniture or buy new.

You don't have the busy fabric prints associated with traditional decor but you do have many traditional accessories. I would severely edit and rework your accessories -art, table decor, shelves, lamps, etc. Then introduce some pillows with fresh fabrics on your sofa and bed.

I would consider replacing the mirror on your bureau with something simpler and take off the finial and upper trim from the secretary (if easily removable). Also a simpler lantern light fixture in the dining room in place of your formal chandelier will make the space look more up to date.

Your space has great bones and furniture. All it needs is a few tweaks to freshen things up.

I don't think dark furniture is dated, but I think you have some dated things in these pictures. 1) the decorations on the wall above the piano. 2) that hutch on the small wall on the right. 3) the cherry furniture in the bedroom. 4) the chandelier in the dining room. 5) the faux flowers.

I have a house full of dark wood furniture because I love it. It's a mix of antiques and new, but I've tried to stay somewhat consistent in a style. I don't think it's outdated, but it's also not on the current trend. I think it's ok to go either dark or light or even mix some, but you want to keep to a consistent style. Rustic with a rough finish and a grayed / aged stain doesn't play well with refined traditional.

If you love it, there's absolutely no reason to change it. Keeping the accessories light and fresh and staying more transitional with the upholstered pieces, which is what you plan on doing, is all you need to keep your home feeling fresh and up to date.

As far as the hardware, maybe burnishing the brass a bit with some Rub and Buff to tone down the bright brass tone will help it feel more updated. Maybe something like the European Gold would work.

I loved all your furnitures. If it was me, I wouldn’t replace anything:) Very tasteful

I don’t understand all the people suggesting changing the colonial hardware. The wood underneath will be a different color after all this time and even if you put smaller more modern pulls on, then you’ll still see the outline of the old hardware, unless you refinish which would be a big project.

I like your house. Who cares if it’s not what millennials are buying these days. I agree with the other commenters who suggested rethinking the decor on the piano wall. I’d group the four from one set together rather than making the whole thing a big symmetrical layout.

I do think as we get older there is a tendency to get in ruts with hairstyles, clothing, decorating, diet, etc. Trying new things and switching things up is good for your psyche and your brain. The OP asked for opinions, no need to disparage others for giving them.

Thanks to all who commented! Lots of good input. I decided to go with a transitional style and keep all the furniture (except the coffee table) but move the secretary to the home office. By the way, the secretary is an Ethan Allen piece and very good quality furniture. Maybe it just doesn't show in the photo. Although I hadn't asked for comments on the artwork, that's one area I now agree needs updating. I am also in the process of choosing/ordering new sofas with accent pillows, rug, and coffee table. I may eventually buy a new dining set with cleaner lines as the existing one to me looks too traditional. I think once these changes are made, the room will look fresh and updated!!

Please post an update when you get the new sofas etc.

We recently purchased several original paintings from a gallery along the Delaware river. They are large, and did require some furniture rearranging. What a wonderful change to our environment! Plus searching for original art you love by visiting shows and galleries is fun.

I definitely will post new photos when our project is completed! I am confused about what kind of art to obtain since so much art these days is framed prints with large white mats. I have 3 pieces with expensive custom frames (dark), 2 of which are impressionist type canvas prints. Compared to what I am seeing out there, I think they look outdated but will think of at least how to recycle and use the frames. I like your idea of going to galleries. Perhaps I can find some nice pieces without the frames and reuse the ones I have. Something for me to work on for sure.

You might also consider original art (oil, watercolor, drawings) from places like e-bay that have lots to choose from. Oil paintings that are unframed can in certain cases look very good, and also more contemporary, especially if they're quite large. Thinner silver or gold metal frames will also give a more contemporary look than wider dark wooden frames, and can really change the look of a room.

Keep an eye out for modern art or even photography. The tension between a classically decorated house and a modern piece of art is a very good way of keeping things fresh.

Good comments, Ingrid and Rita. The more educated and knowledgeable I become, the easier my hunt for the right artwork will be!

High quality is never out of style. I may post photos later but you can easily "update" with fabrics, drapes, etc, and keep your high quality furniture along with its style appropriate hardware. I love justaposing modern art with traditional furniture, consider a large scale colorful abstract piece for each room

Your home is very attractive. Personally, I like the mix. To me is says this is a very stylish home that someone lives in, rather than a professionally staged home that looks like a magazine.

My mom has a different Ethan Allen Georgian Court style secretary desk - yours looks different than hers which is designed to be able to sit at and there’s no hutch upper piece, but I know they added to the collection at various points. I got a glass shop to custom cut pieces of glass for putting over the tops of the desk, dresser, and end tables - extra protection and forgiving of when people forgot coasters for under their drinks.

I love solidly made wood furnishings. I seem to be one of the few who actually wanted/wants their parents’ things, luckily everything we had made it through the cross country move we did last August! Saved the budget for the new fancy tv, granite counters and such - not that it’s easy to find Georgian Court anymore, I’ve had people want to buy ours!

I love traditional! I have a maitland-Smith secretary that I love. It’s what u love. Google scully & scully. If it’s good enough for Park Avenue it’s good enough for me. It’s a discard generation. I’m not embarrassed to love my grandfathers clock too. Classy never goes out of style.

https://www.google.com/search?q=scully+and+scully&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari