Every few months, I find a particular area in my house that I become bored with or annoyed with. I feel the urgent need to change it up, dress it up or fix it up. Problem is, we’re almost always on a tight budget, and well, I’m also just a wee bit cheap. So, instead of going to the store, I go “shopping” in my house. Here are a few of the items that I’ve repurposed for other decorative and functional uses:
- Colorful, vintage flower pot to hold feminine items on my bathroom shelf
- Large glass vase to hold magazines in our guest bathroom
- Vintage wooden airplane propeller hanging on the wall in our kids’ playroom
- Stylish black stetson hanging on the wall in our bedroom
- A vintage window pane will eventually frame a picture in one of my bathrooms
- Baskets, baskets, baskets — we use a basket to hold bread in the kitchen; two handled baskets sit on the bottom of our staircase to hold items that need to be taken upstairs; a labeled basket is assigned to each person in our family in the entryway of our house to hold keys, bags, lunchboxes, sunglasses, etc; my husband and I each have our own basket on the counter of our bathroom to hold our respective toiletries
Looking for more inspiration? Check out these ideas from around the ‘Net for repurposed home decorating:
Old and vintage maps as wall art, from Poetic Home.
This creative Esty seller turns old drawers into mobile gardening boxes. So cool! And Trash to Treasure shows how they transformed a drawer into a shelf.
Learn ideas for repurposing an old dresser, leather or vintage fabric from Home Made Simple.
Like Merchant Ships has a collection of ideas for what she calls “using what I have,” including turning a punch bowl into a planter, using a curtain panel as a table cloth, and using an old chair as a stereo and ipod stand.
See how Small Notebook repurposed a bar in her new home into a kid’s closet.
Photo by SemperNova.
What are some things that you have repurposed as home decor?
I have a tall galvanized flower pot (weighted down with pebbles) that holds my hairdryer, brush, and mirror that sits on my bathroom counter. Everything is right at hand in a lovely display!
Oh, thank you for the link! I’m trying to wean myself from buying more yard sale bargains by using what I have. I look forward to following your blog!
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I don’t like traditional planters. I’ve used a squat fish bowl, an old pot, an ice bucket (the one I have now has a really cool old world map design on it).
I’ve also used a piece of driftwood for a candy dish or remote tray or decorative display tray for my coffee table.
We took a vintage 40′s Vornado fan that was no longer functional and converted it into a working lamp. We’ve kept it’s original vintage look. Adding the lamp conjures up thoughts of vintage Hollywood spotlights. We’re really proud of this project. It’s ready for paint right now. Here’s a link to some progress pics with more to follow as the project as completed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cccstl/sets/72157623139505565/
hm…very interesting. thanks for sharing these links x
wall arts are nice addtion to a great home too. my kids love to see wall arts _
These are some fabulous decorating ideas, thanks for sharing. Cheers!
oh flowers one of the great finishing touches in your decoration. Thank you for sharing with it.
Thanks for some great tips. I like the basket idea and I think I need quite a lot for my house to look neater.
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Repurposing is great. Thank you to another site that has its aim at earth conservation. I also try to buy with earth first consideration, and offer consideration to business that commit to the same. It is sites such as yours that will make a difference. http://bestbamboomats.com
Lol- what inspiration! I am a fellow basket user- napkins, bread, bathroom stuff, mail that I need to sort through… Thanks, love your blog!
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