The pieces you have are classic and look in great shape. Here is my 2 cents. I would not touch them. Your light colored walls are perfect to showcase your furniture. I have a set of solid cherry wood bedroom furniture that I have had for over 40 years, that I still treasure. They do not make that kind of quality furniture anymore, and if you found that quality, the cost would be enormous. I keep the matching armoire in my living room, that is adjacent to my kitchen, which houses lots of small kitchen applances.

Seeing your house and the rooms would be helpful. Most of us married 40 ears or so have the same furniture. I update wall colors and window treatments to change up the look when I feel things look dated

It's a bit easier if you combine the mahogany with some painted pieces so it's not so matchy matchy. IMO the rugs are a big hurdle. I would try to find something on a larger scale.

I would need a lot more pics of the pieces and your spaces . I do not always like matching pieces but I aslo do not like painted furniture unless country is your style. Post more pics here in comments please.

Bedrooms: suggest not using the entire set and add your rugs. Looks like you may have wall to wall carpeting, bur you can layer. A padded headboard would be a great addition, use a piece in a more unique way, add great bedding and even wallpaper and/or paint, using the rugs as the base for inspiration. Rooms will be refreshing and interesting.

Living room: given you have two sets, assume you are selling one. Unfortunately you may not get very much and may be asked to split up the pieces. Keep you favourite pieces and be open to adding new, ie: an updated coffee table. Can’t say enough about using the right accessories (art, lighting, cushions) and I’d be looking at adding a light rug, which will set the tone for the entire room.

Hard to provide suggestions that may resonate with you, without seeing your rooms and other furniture, etc.

^ love everything Maureen suggests -

FWIW if you are thinking about selling some pieces you could think about painting them (I am not suggesting painting the pieces that are special to you, only those you would part with) - we had two older very well-made dressers, I tried to sell one to no avail and ended up painting it Hale Navy and adding black hardware and it looks terrific in my son’s room, just another option

Pick out two new rugs in a different style you love for the bedroom sets. Paint the walls with one of the soft rug colors, not beige or off white. Choose new lamps for the bedside tables. If you want something with considerably more zing, look at the websites for some recent show houses such as Kips Bay or Dallas for inspiration. https://www.kipsbaydecoratorshowhouse.org/

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Just because they’re "bedroom" or "living room" furniture doesn’t mean they can’t be used elsewhere. Night stand as sofa end table or office printer stand. Low dresser as dining room buffet, or with some work, powder room vanity. I’d separate the sets and use them all over your house.

How updated do you want to go? You might be able to make some minor changes, like switching the hardware, to achieve the look you want. That might require filling holes, depending on what hardware you select. You could also change the legs.

If you're decide to sell a set, do not paint it or change the hardware, it will make it worth less than it is now in good condition. I think you have received some good advice like changing the wall colors, using pieces elsewhere in the house and using different rugs, but please don't alter your nice quality furniture.

All of my furniture is old sets from my grandparents. When staging our house for resale I wanted to make it look more contemporary to appeal to a wider market. I broke up the sets between rooms and added a lot of inexpensive contemporary chandeliers, lamps, chairs, pillows, bedding, and end tables from Wayfair and TJ Maxx. I kept the rugs neutral jute. It was like a fun puzzle playing with how to mix and match everything. Also, do you have any storage like a basement or attic? If so, think about keeping parts of the set in storage. Maybe in a few years you'll have other ideas of how to swap pieces in and out.

If you do decide to sell, remember you can always keep one piece from a set for sentimental purposes. I had my mom's childhood bedroom set growing up. It is great quality from the 1940s. The set is long gone but I kept one bedside table and still use it next to my bed. There is another mismatched but old bedside table on the other side. They compliment each other well. great together.

I used a similar lingerie chest inside my walk in closet for quite a while when I updated my bedroom furniture to a different style. I was the only one to see that it didn't match the new style and it was still very useful.

You’ve gotten some great advice about keeping some (all) and splitting them up in different rooms. I totally agree. Much new furniture today isn’t as good as 40 year old stuff. I have my 25 yr old bedroom set in two different homes; living room, bedroom and hallway. It’s classic and well built. Some of my nicest pieces are from estate sales. The only new things in my second home are the sectional and the mattresses. Hang on to the hood old days!!

Kendra, I love how your "old" furniture warms up your modern rooms!

Thanks @teamaltese. The house was built in 1852 and although I adore old spaces, I was hoping to bring a bit more modern vibe to it. I'm such a fan of neutral walls and warm wood combined.

Here are photos of the some of the sets, and my bedroom (formerly my mom’s, so still her style). I’ll include a photo of the living room.

I have two living spaces to fill. Mine (living room, bedroom and kitchen) and a basement apartment i just had built (same rooms to furnish). It’s likely that I’ll end up living in the basement apartment at some point, so i designed it for my tastes. I also have a lovely renter coming, and she has great taste.

I will probably mix and match a bit, but it’s really hard for me to upset the way my mom had things. In our home growing up, we had a matching set of more formal furniture (Henkel Harris) in the living room, a bedroom with furniture from the same collection, another bedroom with a darker cherry set, and the more simple shaker-ish style of the von hohen in the family room. It was all very intentional.

The ideas here are very helpful, and make me excited to look around, particularly for more modern rug choices, curtains, lamps and so on. Thank you for all the replies!

First up, the HH, bedroom set and end tables. I also have a tallboy to match, and there’s a desk that’s currently in the bedroom. I’ll consider moving that to the living room. There’s also a coffee table in the LR set. I also have some more eclectic pieces to throw in the mix, like an antique corner cabinet and a chinese cabinet. I think they could be a good addition to keep things interesting, but i have to figure out if there’s room for them!

The darker cherry set (statton). I have a lingerie chest, a wide lowboy, a queen four poster bed and two bedside tables. Pictured here is the dresser/mirror. Also the von hohen set. Dining room table, various cabinets and chairs, end tables and coffee tables. I am simply overloaded with choices. My mom was quite the collector.

The last photo here was the chinese cabinet. It’s got more character than the rest, but has seen better days. But i still love it. It’s a disaster because i had a pipe burst and had to move everything in a hurry. That’s why I’m trying to sort all of this out, and figure out what to keep and what to part with. And trying to update at the same time. All while there’s demolition happening, and hopefully reconstruction.

Sorry about the burst pipe.

Friends who inherited their childhood homes have changed things around, starting by taking down the old decorative items and cleaning out the closets. Then they've painted, changed the flooring, replaced old curtains, and replaced the lighting. Some of them also replaced worn out or unneeded upholstered pieces. Once that's done, they installed their own artwork and decorative items and chose a few old family pieces to display. It can be a lot harder (and slower) to make big changes with a childhood home than with an equivalent newly purchased fixer upper.

I think for the most part

my grandmother would appreciate the mixing and matching I’ve done because I remember her making vignettes out of different pieces she bought at antique stores. But she probably would be scratching her head over some choice for sure.

I now use two of her bedroom chests as a landing area for keys and mail. I keep shoes, scarves, and dog leashes in there too. The dainty chair was from a different bedroom in her house amd was covered with yellow and white stripped fabric with pink roses.

It’s a challenging process, isn’t it?