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Part of my journey to becoming the ultimate modern housekeeper who can do it all – have a successful career, a swanky, organized home, and throw the best parties, everyone wants to be invited to, is to become crafty, and learn how to re-purpose old stuff, turning it into something utterly different – classier and more useful.
After a thorough Internet search, and getting familiar with terms like upcycling and downcycling, I can safely claim one thing – whatever it is you want to re-purpose, somewhere around the world, a resourceful lady has already thought of it, and made a thorough tutorial, just waiting for you to read it! Once I realised it, there was nothing that could stop me from getting my hands dirty, and trying some projects of my own…
The bad news is that sadly, I am still not that skilled in the domestic DIY projects, so most of what I tried looked much like the infamous epic Pinterest fails. Nevertheless, I am determined to become a master of re-purposing but in the mean time, and especially since I wouldn’t want to have wasted your precious time on my troubles, I would like to share with you some of the best “upcycles” I found:
1. Old China Cabinet, New Mini Garden Storage
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Everyone knows that the garden shed is by far the most useful outbuilding, you can have in your garden. The Brits, in particular are crazy about it, comment my friends at Gardening in Melbourne! However, not all backyards are big enough to house an outbuilding, even a small one. The good news is that creative minds have come up with a great solution – you can re-purpose that ugly, and totally out-of-place, old China cabinet, your mother insist that you keep. Here is how it was turned into a fabulous mini garden shed with just a coat of fresh paint!
2. Old Tires, New Planters
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Speaking of gardens, a dedicated gardener always needs new planters, and I fell in love in the idea of using old tires as planters. It turns out this is one of the best ways to recycle the, otherwise un-recyclable, items, and give them a totally new purpose. The best thing about the idea is that you can literally place them anywhere – you can hang them like a swing, place them on the ground, put them on the fence, paint them in bright colours, arrange them in a line and make an entire painting, and so on.
3. Old Suitcase, New Bed for Your Pet
I saw these in a magazine, and they cost about $80, so imagine my surprise when later I accidentally stumbled on a step-by-step tutorial about how to make a pet bed out of an old suitcase. Surprisingly, all you actually need are some blankets and the suitcase! You can raid the thrift shops for an 80’s model to get the retro look, or you can just use one that you already have – it wouldn’t matter to your pet!
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May 7, 2013
I love all of your ideas keep up the good work!
May 9, 2013
Thank you, Liz 🙂 I appreciate you taking the time to browse through my blog. I am planning a new series of posts that might catch your eye, so stop by any time soon 🙂