With today’s high prices for new furniture, people are turning to making their old pieces new again. But this trend is not just about money. Repurposing old furniture is often a hobby for many. It takes creativity, out-of-the-box thinking, and some sense of design. And frankly, breathing new life into your old pieces of furniture is probably not as important as that sense of accomplishment and pride you feel when the project is fait accompli.
Almost any item can be repurposed. But, there are some pieces that are more versatile than others. Here are just a few:
Old Doors
One of the more adaptable house items is the door. Never throw an old door out! Stripped and painted in can be reused as any table or counter.
- Just add some legs to the door, or even simply place it on two towers (made out of books, crates, or anything solid), and you’ve got yourself a coffee table, a dining table, a working table or a kitchen counter.
- Standing upright or nailed to the wall the door makes a great headboard. Hinged to another door, it can function as a funky room divider.
- Old French doors have sectioned windows great for displaying photos or favourite pictures. Hang the door horizontally and place your photos into each glass panel, and you’ve created a unique presentation for your collection.
Dressers And Chest Of Drawers
The other very versatile piece of furniture is a chest of drawers. As any wooden object, it can be easily stripped and painted, wallpapered or decoupaged with such material as maps, book pages, letters and postcards.
- Open up the drawers, drill some small holes in the bottom, fill them with soil and flowers, and voilà, you got a new, unique planter on your porch.
- If you have a few basic carpentry skills and tools, you can transform an old dresser into a loveseat or a small couch. Take the top counter off, cut out the drawers, nail the top counter lower between the sides to form a bench seating. Then just furnish it with a bench cushion and a few pillows, and the old dresser is now an elegant settee.
- Take the drawers out, carve out scalloped indentations in the front of each drawer slider plank, and you a have a wine rack.
Chairs
Old chairs or decorated parts of old chairs, such as the backs, can be repurposed into a variety of things.
- Nail together three chairs side by side, and put an old door or some other sturdy plank along the seats. It’s now a bench.
- Connect two chairs facing each other with a plank, to create a settee or a bedroom bench.
- Cut off the back of an old chair, and hang the back part on the wall as a decorative object or a place to hang your keys.
- Take the seat out of the chair, and replace it with a pot of flowers. An instant planter!
- Cut off the chair’s legs, fasten some sturdy strings to its sides. Hang it up on a thick tree branch as a swing for your child.
If you have a creative bent, the variations and permutations of furniture transformations are endless. But, make sure the furniture pieces you work on have some design flair and the wood is still in good condition. You can’t do much with completely dilapidated, worn-out pieces that are falling apart. For these it’s pretty much time to call a junk removal company and have it dispose of them for you.
