How to Make an Older Home Look More Modern: 7 Updates to Try First
Wondering how to make an older home look more modern? These 7 updates helped transform our 1950s home—from landscaping and lighting to hardware and flooring.
Katie
9/2/20267 min read
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When we first bought our 1950s home, there were plenty of things I wanted to change. The kitchen was dated, the bathrooms needed work, and eventually there were bigger renovations we knew we wanted to tackle.
But looking back, some of the updates that made the biggest difference weren’t major renovations at all.
Over time, I’ve realized that making an older home feel more current doesn’t necessarily mean completely remodeling it. Sometimes it’s the landscaping, an outdated light fixture, old hardware, or several different finishes competing with each other that are making the whole house feel dated.
If you’ve recently bought an older home—or you’re looking around your current home wondering where to start—these are the updates I would tackle first.
1. Start Outside With the Landscaping
This might not be the first place you think to spend money when updating an older home, but I would start here again without hesitation.
When we bought our house, the landscaping was well maintained, but it immediately gave away the home’s age. The front yard had the original 1950s hedges, which made the exterior feel dated before you even walked through the door.
Replacing those shrubs with simpler, more current landscaping made a surprisingly big difference. The house itself didn’t change, but the entire exterior felt fresher and more intentional.
And this doesn’t necessarily mean hiring a landscape designer and redoing the entire yard. Start by looking at what you already have. Are the plants making the house feel tied to a particular decade? Would replacing a few dated shrubs, adding fresh mulch, cleaning up the borders or choosing more intentional plants make the space feel better?
Sometimes editing what’s there is more impactful than adding more.
We’re actually getting ready to take our own front yard one step further with a new walkway, porch and landscaping, but that first simple landscape refresh gave our home an updated look for years before we were ready to tackle a larger exterior project.
2. Refresh the Front Door and Entry
Once you’ve cleaned up the landscaping, look at the front door.
The entry is a relatively small area, which makes it one of my favorite places to make a few strategic updates without spending a fortune.
If replacing the door isn’t in the budget, paint can go a long way. A fresh door color paired with updated front door hardware and a more current exterior light can completely change the feel of the entrance.
Then keep the styling simple.
Once the bigger pieces are in place, seasonal styling is an easy way to keep the entry feeling fresh without constantly reinventing it. I tend to start with the same basics—planters, a wreath, layered mats and a few simple accents—and adjust them throughout the year. For more ideas, see How to Style a Welcoming Fall Front Porch or Summer Porch Styling Ideas.
The goal is for the entrance to feel intentional, welcoming and current—not overly decorated.
3. Replace Dated Lighting
Lighting is one of those things you can stop noticing when you live with it every day.
But old fixtures can instantly date a room.
The good news is that you don’t need to replace every light fixture in your house at once. Start with the fixtures you see most often—the entry, dining room, kitchen, main hallway or living spaces—and update the rest over time.
In our dining room, I almost immediately replaced the outdated ceiling fan and light fixture with a beautiful chandelier. I found it used on Craigslist, which made the update even better. It was a relatively simple swap, but the chandelier completely changed the feel of the room and made the space look much more intentional.
When choosing lighting for an older home, I like fixtures that feel current without being overly trendy. Simple shapes and classic finishes tend to work especially well because they bring the house forward without feeling disconnected from its original architecture.
This applies outside, too. Updating an old porch or garage light can make a bigger difference to your curb appeal than you might expect.
4. Swap Outdated Hardware
This is probably one of the easiest updates on this list.
Old door knobs and hardware are small details, but when they're repeated on every door throughout the house, they have a surprisingly large visual impact.
Updating interior door hardware creates consistency and gives everything a cleaner look. The same goes for cabinet knobs and pulls if your kitchen or bathroom cabinets are staying for a while.
You also don't have to do everything at once. Pick a finish you love and gradually replace hardware as time and budget allow.
This is one of those small updates that can make an older home feel more modern without taking on a renovation.
5. Simplify the Window Treatments
Window treatments can quietly date an entire room.
Heavy drapes, ornate valances, old blinds or treatments that block too much natural light can make an older home feel darker and more dated than it actually is.
Full disclosure: this is one we're still working on in our own home. We've updated window treatments in some spaces, but several of our main living spaces are still on the list.
In most spaces, I prefer something simpler. Think woven shades, Roman shades or simple curtain panels hung higher and wider than the window. The exact choice depends on the style of the house and how much privacy you need, but generally I want window treatments to complement the room rather than become the first thing you notice.
And don't underestimate natural light. Simply removing an unnecessarily heavy window treatment can sometimes change the entire feel of a room.
6. Pay Attention to the Little Details
Once you start updating an older home, you begin noticing all the small things that give away its age.
Switch plates. Bathroom mirrors. Faucets. Cabinet hardware. Vent covers. Towel bars. Even mismatched finishes from renovations completed at different times.
Individually, none of these things seems particularly important. Together, they can make a space feel visually busy and dated.
You don't need to replace every finish in the house with the exact same thing, but creating some consistency helps.
This is also where I think it's easy to get carried away. You don't need to replace something simply because it's old. If an original detail is beautiful and works with the home, keep it.
The goal isn't to erase the age of the house. It's to remove the elements that make it feel unnecessarily dated.
7. When You're Ready for a Bigger Investment, Consider the Flooring
If there is one larger update that completely changed the way our home felt, it was the flooring.
When we first bought our house, you could stand near the front door and see what felt like every flooring material imaginable: a dated marble entry, worn hardwood floors, carpet in the dining room, linoleum in the kitchen and tile in the sunroom addition.
Nothing flowed.
Over time, we replaced those different surfaces with the same engineered hardwood throughout the main living spaces.
It was a bigger investment than swapping a light fixture or painting the front door, but the difference was enormous. The house immediately felt calmer, larger and more cohesive—even before we completed some of our bigger renovations.
That said, I wouldn't necessarily make flooring the first project you tackle.
Live in the house for a while. Figure out how you use the rooms and what larger renovations may eventually affect the floors. Then, when you're ready to make the investment, consider whether creating more continuity underfoot could solve several visual problems at once.
Tip: When you decide what flooring you want throughout your home, buy enough for the whole house (and some extra). You don't need to replace it all at once.
You Don't Have to Make an Older Home Look New
This may be the most important thing I've learned through renovating our home.
An older house doesn't need to look like a brand-new build to feel beautiful and current.
In fact, I think some of the most interesting homes are the ones where you can still see a little bit of their history.
The trick is figuring out which elements give your home character and which ones simply make it feel dated.
For us, that has meant making changes gradually. We tackled smaller projects first, lived with the house, learned what worked for our family and eventually invested in the larger renovations that mattered most to us.
And honestly, I think our home is better because we didn't do everything at once.
So if you've bought an older home and your renovation wish list already feels overwhelming, start small.
Update the dated landscaping. Paint the front door. Replace the light fixture you've hated since move-in. Swap the old door hardware.
Then live with it for a little while.
You may be surprised by how much more current your home feels before you've renovated a single room.
