I never took a picture but we used a white marble wine bottle chiller to hold the toilet brush in the old apartment. The brush fit perfectly and it was heavy enough that it stayed in place when you pulled the brush out.

Hoky,

That is a great idea. Every time i see those, i always think --- i wish I could think of a good use. So far I only think spice cabinet...

Love seeing everyone's creative repurposing ideas.

I just remembered I had temporarily used an old chandy over my kitchen island, then decided it was a great place to hang utensils. I didn't use it for long as finally found a new light fixture. This chandy cost $5. and DH gave it a quick spray of black paint. It was very handy for utensils tho.

You guys are really great! I thought I was clever with my coffee table I made in my old living room. Just reunited the pieces again in this house as a place-holder for what I really want in the sitting room. But it is the top from my mom's old kitchen table sitting on the wrought iron holder from an old chiminea that I painted silver. Here it is in its current location.

And if you are NOT watching the show on HGTV called Flea Market Flip, you need to do so. I love seeing how these people transform things into really cool stuff. Well, maybe I should say "usually" transform things into really cool stuff!

Love your coffee table BKW! Reminds me that 40 years ago when people were replacing their old hot water tanks in the development we lived in, DH collected 6 cast iron bases from the curb, had a welder join them in 2's, painted them black, and we had 1/2" thick glass cut for tops. We made a rectangular coffee table with 2 bases and a round end table with one. They were the perfect height for LR tables.

Imagine my surprise when a couple of years later I saw the identical table in a home decor magazine in an apartment in NYC! What are the chances of that!

This post was edited by luckygal on Sun, Jan 20, 13 at 13:13

GSChick, we used it in the bar area and in the desk area in the kitchen where we use it as a bulletin board as well. I used 200 corks in the bar area and 300 in the desk area....Both are on the same wall...The corks were sawn in half...DH made me a jig to make it easier. Then I used a hot glue gun to stick them to the wall.

Lynxe,

I did that. I bought an old hotel silver one on ebay.

{{!gwi}}

aktillery- Great thread, so much inspiration!

ljwrar-where did you find the green & white tile and matching pear green wall tiles in your bathroom?! I love the blue commode with the green tile. It looks so fresh and new! It makes my heart glad when someone steps outside the box and makes such a permanent statement. So many play it safe and end up with meh.

Pal, I love that idea, I'll be on the lookout for a marble wine chiller now. Great ideas.

My best repurposed item to date is using an old Kohler CI sink as a garden sink. I built a frame and it works wonderfully for rinsing garden produce before it comes to the house.

mntnrdredux, is that a LeCornue range?
If so, how do you like it?

I am battling the sin of envy this Sunday...
(Usually it's Sloth, which is my favorite of the seven...)

I've repurposed a few things, like an antique buffet that my DH uses as his credenza.

Below is one of my kitchen favorites. This is a vintage candy dish (divided) sitting on a silver holder. On the left is my hand soap, but on the right is a vintage sugar dish filled with water, 24/7.

Why water? Now you all who don't approve of cats on the counters, don't faint. lol It's because my Lizzie cat refuses to drink water out of a bowl and prefers the faucet. I got tired of that so I keep her own "bowl" of water next to the sink and that's where she goes to drink!

A few examples of our repurposing.
There was no matching decorative tiles available for this guest bath. We made the 1/2 round "tiles" from broom handles.

A child's pine nightstand was extended to become a vanity in a guest bath.

This vanity (below) is a repurposed dresser that was part of a bedroom set we bought as a temporary measure 18 years ago! The furniture has all been re-stained. The headboard is in one bedroom along with the armoire. The nightstands are in another bedroom along with this dresser in the bath. The tall chest of drawers was cut down and is now a nightstand in another bedroom and the cabinet containing the TV lift in the master bedroom.

This is part of the tall chest of drawers, split in two to provide the cabinet for the TV lift in the master bedroom.

I just thought of something else, although not nearly as interesting as what many of you have done. We had a ceramic cookie jar with a hard to hold lid, and one day, I broke the lid. The cookie jar, like the silverplated pitcher, holds kitchen things, in this case, wooden spoons, spatulas, etc.

mtnr, that's a very pretty pitcher. More graceful than ours. And shinier, too. ;)

"I am battling the sin of envy this Sunday...
(Usually it's Sloth, which is my favorite of the seven...)" bronwynsmom, that's one of the funnier things I've read anywhere on this website.

prairegirlz,

The tile is original to this 1931 house. The PO replaced the original green toilet with a white one. I found this green one on Craigslist. It matches the original pedestal sink and tub. The original fixtures do not match the wall tile - very common in this neighborhood!

OMG, EG3d! You recycled cats as pillows! That's the cleverest use I've seen for them!

Every room in my house has repurposed stuff. One of my favorites is this table I did eleven or twelve years ago and it's still going strong. I started with two rusty used commercial table bases, did a faux brass paint job on the stem, and added an old small stainless steel refrigerator door for a top. On the bottom section I bought glass pieces from the plant and flower arranging section at Wal-Mart and a craft store, glued them on with liquid nails followed by grout.

You can even repurpose Tin foil! Crunch it into shapes, spray with primer and paint. When dry mount it onto a canvas.

Yes, besides repurposing the 1926 pantry door I found in the basement, I created a tiger stripe pillow and a leopard print pillow from old mini skirts. I even left the back zippers in them. LOL.

Everyone is so creative, talented and imaginative!

sis3...great job on those broom handles....love it!

Not sure this qualifies as repurposing, but certainly recycling...I helped GF remodel her kitchen and I got her old kitchen cabs which we used to make DH's workshop.

An old picture, but the 'art' in the frames is leftover fabric from when I recovered the valance box in my babies room.

I had a broken lampshade I just couldn't toss. And a hanging light that shined in your eyes when sitting at the breakfast table. So I took some ribbon and hung it over the fixture that is still hanging there. Someday I may replace it, Maybe.

Here is a link that might be useful: breakfast nook

No pix-broken camera, so I'll try to describe some of mine.

DH found a rustic gun cabinet for the family room. He didn't store guns in it, so I added some plexiglass shelves to the inside and we use it as a curio for his western themed things.

When we redid the main bathroom, the vanity had an optional shelf, but I couldn't use it due to the plumbing. Instead, I cut it down to 8" depth. I found two candle sconces that I painted brushed nickle and used them as shelf brackets, and added the vanity board to it. Now it holds candlesticks and a basket with DH's contact lens stuff. Matches perfectly with the vanity!

I wanted a little garden gate, but couldn't find one suitable, so I turned a fireplace screen into the gate. Framed out the gate with 2x4's to fit the size of the screen, then screwed the screen into that frame and hung it on a trellis to enter into my garden.

Use a stack of old suitcases as storage & an end table in family room.

Put an old mirror in my unused living room fireplace, then placed candles inside. The candlelight reflects back from the mirror when they're lit. It's gorgeous. Also use a long, unframed rectangular mirror as a runner on my antique buffet that displays my fleur de lis collection.

Turned an antique 5 drawer dresser into my jewelry armoire, by adding ice cube trays for earrings, silverware dividers for necklaces and little boxes from IKEA for bracelets, etc. In the bottom drawer I have my heirloom keepsakes & holiday themed things.

I know there are a ton of other things, but my cold-addled brain is still too foggy to recall. Love the brilliant items shown here by all you wonderfully creative people!

When we had the new kitchen cabs put in, I needed someplace to store my kitchen towel. I wanted a place where it could dry quickly, be handy to grab when needed and not hanging damp against my cabinet doors. I decided to use this clean plant pot. It's low slung, sturdy so that it won't tip, is made to get damp and looks good in my rustic Spanish kitchen. I keep it on the counter next to my sink. Works great for me.

I've used coffee tables to make vanity benches(or just a pretty bench)for a bedroom or bathroom~I sell them in my space at the antique mall. You have to make sure the table is not at risk for collapsing when being sat on, so give it a 'test' before you make a purchase.

My latest has been a round table. I found a pillow that was actually shaped like a large flower(Garden Ridge)and covered it in a leopard print fabric, and used feathers, braiding, and fringe to embellish. Since the legs were showing, I decided to paint them white and then use a dark brown glaze which gave an antique look. It's perfect for a little girls room!

Certainly not the really ingenious projects as most posted here but IRuehl's offering made me think of the wallpaper scrap I saved from my daughter's bedroom when she was young-30 years ago. I found a mirror frame, stuck the wallpaper to the cardboard, had lettering made, and hung it over my grand-baby's crib. I noted on the back that it was "mommy's wallpaper when she was a little girl".

Some really great ideas, some that I will certainly "borrow"!
Thanks for the compliment Annie!

Thanks for info ljwrar! I didn't realize that the toilet was green, still dig it.

No pic, but like old library card catalogs re-used as buffets.

I was in our game room yesterday and noticed the art on my walls...and thought of this thread. I have purchased old games at garages sales--ones we played with our children and used them as art. With a glue gun I set the boards as if they were in the middle of a game and then nailed them to the walls. I LOVE them!! I love the way they fit the rooms purpose, the memories they invoke and the graphic color they bring to the space.

All of your repurposed items are brilliant and I can't wait to put some of your ideas to use in my own home.
Thank you all for sharing.

mustangs, The wall is still empty over my great-nephew's crib.
What a beautiful art piece with so much sentiment.
I just forwarded the link to this post to my niece so that she could see your creation.

PO's built a tiny bathroom out of the existing tiny closet in the master bedroom.
When the shower base leaked and we found water had wicked up the closet walls, we knew we were going to go ahead and do a complete re-do of the master bathroom.
Finding a vanity that was small enough, but still had storage was an exercise in frustration.

I finally put to good use the small microwave cart we had used as a temp. fix until we got the cabs in the previous year.

Turned the microwave cart upside down, turned the drawer upside down, removed the plastic casters and added legs and now, it's the perfect fitting vanity, high enough for my husband, for our tiny bathroom.

Apologies....it's been a couple years since I've been here and I'm afraid I've forgotten how to post a picture.

And another one. These spice rack "doors" were originally used to sell cookies or crackers. The frames fit on top of boxes of cookies. Shoppers would open the door to reach into the box. I built a wooden rack and attached the frames to it. The space available for knobs was very small, so I used dollhouse doorknobs.
Lisa

Here is the finished victrola cabinet turned into a little bar. Looks a lot different than the earlier photo I posted.
Lot of great ideas on this thread.

My grandmother's organ--her father had it shipped to her while on a business trip to New York in 1918 when she was twelve years old. During my childhood it was stored in an old barn, with a tarp over it, and rats chewed the keyboard.
Not long before her death twenty years ago, she asked if I would take it and do something with it.

It was cost prohibitive to make it a working organ again, so I had granite installed in place of the keyboard. The restorer did some research from the gold markings and determined it was made in Chicago in 1848. The organ has moved with us to four homes since then, serving either in a dining room or foyer.

In this home the organ resides across from the powder room, usually with a silver or crystal dish of mints or chocolates on it.

The print and frame was also from her house--a friend "painted over it" with oil paints, although it is behind glass.

My son had this base from a lighted table that got destroyed. I turned a copper vase upside down, pounded holes in it and husband reassembled.

I needed a place to store keys by the front door, but with some special features. My solution was a tissue holder. Dropping the keys through the hole is as easy as placing them on the table, but they remain out of sight. Retrieval is by opening the hinged lid.

My planter was purchased from a shop that sold fountains. They broke the upper part where the water cascaded, and were selling the slate water basin portion at the crazily discounted price of $12.50. It was a clearance/overstock store, and their price for this fountain in complete condition was more than $500.
It is quite heavy, and as they were helping me load it into my car, the store owner asked what I was going to do with it. When I explained that it would make a beautiful, waterproof planter for my house, I could see he was thinking "Why didn't I think of that?" The store sold live plants, too. lol

Here are few more of mine. These are from DD's room back when she was in middle school. She wanted a makeover from her grade school decor and requested her version of a French bedroom.

I found an inexpensive window frame mirror on sale at HL. I threw away the mirror, bought a cheery poster for it, added glass and this poster cut to fit it. It achieved my goal for a window looking out onto some port scene in the south of France ( it's actually a scene from California) . But it still needed something more IMO. So, I took a pair of old shutters and painted them purple to work with the new room colors. Repainted an old shelf also and hung the whole grouping together on her wall. DD loved it and I got the look I was going for, for only about $35.

I'd wanted to have a window seat built in her room and have it flanked by bookshelves. We used 2 stock upper kitchen cabs , because I wanted the easy access of doors into the storage areas rather than a window seat with the tops that lift up for access. We bolted them together and had a solid surface countertop made for it. I made the seat cushions for the top of it, making them extra thick to use as an extra bed for sleepovers. We also used stock cabs to build her a dresser/hutch combination on one side of the new window seat and a bookcase on the other side of it.

Just an FYI, instead of a regular end table to hold a cup of tea and her book, etc. while sitting on her window seat, I used an small, old wrought iron cafe table and chair, like you might find outside at a Paris cafe. I have no recollection as to why the chair but not the table is in this pic, because it's been there ever since (LOL)!
Lynn

Wow! Love this thread and the creativity! No pics, but I repurposed an old wood deep medicine cabinet which I painted white years ago, into a sort-of spice-combination-supplement cabinet placed in the corner on my kitchen counter...keep in it things I want to be close by such as salt, pepper mill, vitamins, stevia, cinnamon, small oil bottle, etc. Regular spices are kept in a kitchen drawer.
2nd repurposing project still in progress: found an old marble fireplace surround top, and am having it built-in to my bathroom as a shelf over the console sink. It has a beautiful curved shape with ogee edge.

One more from my kitchen. The cabinet above this counter was once a built in ironing board. We cut down the door and added shelves for oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. There is an electrical outlet for the iron above big boy's head.

@lynninnewmexico:
Love your window seat and especially the custom bookshelf next to it. Can you explain in more detail how you made it? Is the bottom a base cabinet and the top a wall cabinet without doors? It looks way less deep than the window seat, or di dyou pull that forward?

Not as creative as most of the other suggestions, bu there are mine:
pillow cases made from too small Lilly Pulitzer skirts (no sewing involved):

and from old sweaters; just cut and sew.

Not mine, but interesting what can be done with a flea market mannequin, a lampshade and a roll of tape

{{!gwi}}

I also love all the ideas and creativity in this thread! All those different vanities are stunning! I haven't gotten much farther than hanging an old window on the wall and making a spool table.

Too much watching Antiques Roadshow ("this Tiffany vase used to be worth $60,000 until someone drilled a hole in it and made it a lamp, now it's $10") makes me a bit nervous but honestly I just don't have anything too nice to be repurposed!

Like Annie Deighnaugh and husband, above, I did something very similar with our old kitchen cabinets. We have one bank of them on the basement floor beside our laundry machines, and one out in an outdoor shed near where I keep my tablesaw. The latter is a true 'shop function'. Your cabinets look nicer, I'd have had to refinish ours to make them anywhere near as pretty.

Here's another repurposing at out place. (It's not quite "home decor" - but my wife does love it.) I converted a small barn on our land into a sculpture studio for my wife, a professional artist. She has to use hand-held, water-cooled power tools sometimes, when shaping glass and bronze.

I made this water containment cabinet from a cut-down fiberglass shower stall, set on a frame I built. The bottom 60% of the stall remains. She can sit on a chair and use her tools and not splash water all over the place!

Annie, what kind of glue did you use for your project ?

I saw your picture up thread, it made me realize this thread was a year old but so deserving to be revived,
I missed it the first time around.

Hah! The thread was so old, I'd forgotten I'd already posted it! My bad...

Anyway, I just used a glue gun and stuck them directly to the dry wall. I figured if I tiled the wall, it would ruin the drywall anyway, so why not?

Can we start another thread on this? I keep coming back to it and glad people are bumping it up regardless of when it was started.

Mine are mostly small things -- like using a glass compote to hold cotton balls in the bathroom -- or a cut glass tumbler to hold q-tips. A hinged CD holder (similar to the tissue box above but a double version) used as a spot to store extra TP.

I have a dresser that is a TV stand for our exercise room and the drawers have my gift wrap rolls and ribbons. A home office armoire that was going to be my craft and gift wrap station became a china cabinet when my dad moved and I suddenly acquired another set of china and crystal and I wasn't ready to make decisions on getting rid of anything.

I have an old radio cabinet that I cleaned up and planned to put a new shelf and door in the top, but the stained glass panel hasn't been made. I'm thinking about painting it and redirecting it's new life for another room now. Another one I haven't done buy we've talked about a couple of times is to put a pull out bed in a window seat to add a guest bed in our gameroom. I think the inflating mattresses are going to keep that one from happening -- take less room and are probably cheaper and more comfortable now that we no longer have a sofa with the pullout mechanism to repurpose.

If a new thread is started, we should try to link this one at the top so these ideas and photos aren't lost -- st least as long as we can.

I hung an old "warming closet" over my stove to store pots and pans.

I made this island baking center out of a 1970s entertainment stand, just added wood shelf brackets and 2 foot x 4 foot laminated pine top and little shelves on sides from garage sales.

I made this island baking center out of a 1970s entertainment stand, just added wood shelf brackets and 2 foot x 4 foot laminated pine top and little shelves on sides from garage sales.

{{!gwi}}

I had a large round tufted ottoman I purchased for $49. I have a space at an antique mall, and not everything is antique or vintage, so decided to re-do the ottoman, and sell it. I do a lot of painted 'French' blue furniture, and wanted the ottoman to have the same feel. Using a blue fabric, I placed it over the ottoman and cut(in a circle)to fit the top and about 3" down the side, and secured in place using a glue gun. My big 'tah dahhhh' was a lace skirt I used over the blue fabric, giving a cute feminine look~also glued around cushion top/bottom edge, cutting off a coupe of inches of the skirt. I gathered up what would be the waist of the skirt, and first secured with a rubber band, pulling tightly, than wrapped a ribbon and tied tightly. With the elastic cut from the waist, it created a Pom Pom effect. Adding fringe around the cushion top and bottom edge was the finishing touch. I sold the new 'tuffet' for $140!