Author Topic: Clever ways to repurpose/upcycle things in your home  (Read 3522 times)

Mrs. D.

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Clever ways to repurpose/upcycle things in your home
« on: October 30, 2020, 07:47:49 AM »
Years ago my then-boyfriend (now DH) bought a large U-shaped desk. Over the years it has been a work space and a tool bench. It got reduced to an L-shape and used as a tutoring table. One of the wooden pieces was used to make a sign that was part of our wedding save the date. In its current form, it has been reduced again to a living room end table with good built-in storage (see photo). DH fitted a wooden piece from the desk on top so you have someplace to rest your drink and drilled a hole so you can hide the cord of your lamp. One desk with many uses!

Got me wondering how you have found creative ways to reuse the things you have and give them new life.

lazycow

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Re: Clever ways to repurpose/upcycle things in your home
« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2020, 02:28:57 AM »
We bought a 2 door solid wooden cabinet to use as a baby change table 20 yrs ago (added a removable padded cover for the babies to lie on). It has since been a toy cupboard and is now storage for my husband's work files. Those baby changing tables are expensive and so ugly!

Mrs. D.

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Re: Clever ways to repurpose/upcycle things in your home
« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2020, 11:39:41 AM »
We bought a 2 door solid wooden cabinet to use as a baby change table 20 yrs ago (added a removable padded cover for the babies to lie on). It has since been a toy cupboard and is now storage for my husband's work files. Those baby changing tables are expensive and so ugly!

Thanks for sharing, lazycow. We also never bought a changing table. Once they can roll we do almost all our diaper changing on the floor anyway.

Boll weevil

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Re: Clever ways to repurpose/upcycle things in your home
« Reply #3 on: November 05, 2020, 09:49:56 AM »
More of a repurpose, but I purchased a rolling tool chest specifically to hold all my camera gear. It has 6 or 7 drawers ranging from 2” deep to maybe 8” deep.

I currently have a white sheet as a curtain for my sliding glass door and used a shower curtain liner for my window back in grad school.

The external side of a few of my masks are made from an old shirt and the internals of all my masks are from worn out khakis that I kept as potential material for a camera bag I wanted to make.

TheFrenchCat

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Re: Clever ways to repurpose/upcycle things in your home
« Reply #4 on: November 05, 2020, 11:04:25 AM »
My husband's work was getting rid of a bunch of stuff, so he took an entire cubicle.  He plans to fashion it into a loft bed for our daughter, once we move and have ceilings that are tall enough.  (Right now our ceilings are barely 6.5 feet.)

PMG

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Re: Clever ways to repurpose/upcycle things in your home
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2020, 01:39:18 PM »
I love this. We’ve had desks as tables and vice versa. We’ve done some taking apart and rebuilding in new ways. Old sheets turn into everything from curtains to pillows to couch covers and so forth and so on. 

One decor trick I have is painting thrifted frames you match each other. Such a small thing but a big money saver. Ive some frames that have had several coats as they’ve fit into several different arrangements and houses.

Nothing too wild here but I want to follow and see what others have to say! 

draco44

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Re: Clever ways to repurpose/upcycle things in your home
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2020, 08:55:20 PM »
A sturdy wooden nightstand with shelves was left behind by the previous tenant in an apartment I used to live in. I use it as a rack for my dumbbells.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Clever ways to repurpose/upcycle things in your home
« Reply #7 on: November 28, 2020, 11:37:28 AM »
Standard hack, my desk in University was a plain wood hollow core door with 4 legs added.
I made a dog grooming table that I could take to shows.  A piece of plywood I had, some rubber matting, 2 folding table legs, 4 wheels and a handle.

DeniseNJ

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Re: Clever ways to repurpose/upcycle things in your home
« Reply #8 on: December 04, 2020, 07:22:22 AM »
My daughter's wooden chair broke and I'm so excited to have the wood to use for another project!  We had fished it out of someone else's trash maybe 8-10 years ago and it finally gave up the ghost. I offered to fix it if she really wanted me to but if she wanted I could also have it to use the wood and she said yes I could have it. I don't know why this makes me so happy!

keepingfocus

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Re: Clever ways to repurpose/upcycle things in your home
« Reply #9 on: December 04, 2020, 07:39:05 AM »
We've recently dismantled some ugly old built-in cupboards. The small doors are being chopped up to make a set of shelves for an awkward alcove, part of the frame and some salvaged hinges are being turned into the lid for a large cold frame in the garden, one of the side panels may become the bottom layer of a new countertop, and more side panels will be used for shed and greenhouse tables/shelves. We've also salvaged some old square guttering pipe to mount in the greenhouse to grow lettuce in.

@PMG I do the same thing with photo frames.

AMandM

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Re: Clever ways to repurpose/upcycle things in your home
« Reply #10 on: December 14, 2020, 06:48:07 PM »
Standard hack, my desk in University was a plain wood hollow core door with 4 legs added.

That was my father's desk even when he was a full professor!

Hotstreak

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Re: Clever ways to repurpose/upcycle things in your home
« Reply #11 on: December 16, 2020, 09:56:40 PM »
I had a fitted sheet wear out a few years ago, leaving me with a perfectly fine flat sheet.  I now use that sheet as a security cover for cargo in the back of my car, and it has been used many times as beach blanket/picnic blanket.