The Friday Five: Five Favorite Repurposed Items in My Home

Happy Friday!! It’s been a wacky week here: one sick kid, one science project for the other kid, and the week before the last week of school. It’s such a busy time! Anyhoo, time for today’s Friday Five! Today I’m sharing five things in my home not used for their original purpose: my five favorite repurposed items in my home.

I am a big fan of repurposing – taking something used once for one purpose and transforming it for another. It’s a great way to recycle and also to shop your own home for new decor ideas.

1. Ladder as quilt holder.

Old wooden ladders can be used so many ways. I’ve used them for shelves, but my favorite is to hang quilts from it in our living room.

I got that old wooden ladder at a thrift store for $6! It’s got character just by itself, but I love showcasing the quilts on it, too.

2. Coke crate as spice rack.

One of my favorite ideas ever! When I realized that my spice jars would fit in this old Coke crate, I had to have it in my kitchen!

Click HERE for the post where I explain how to turn the crate into a spice rack. You can find these Coke crates at yard sales, thrift stores, and on Craig’s List or Ebay. And you can use them for all kinds of things: click HERE for five ways to use an old Coke crate in your home.

3. Old window as memo board.

This is one of my favorite repurposing projects because it takes something you can find by the side of the road – an old window – and customize it however you want.

Here, I took an old window that my neighbor had put in her trash heap and gave it new life as a memo board.

The instructions on how to make a window into a memo board is HERE. I later changed out the paper and decorations and explained how to do that HERE.

4. Trowels as curtain holder.

Admittedly, this one is kind of out there. But when I saw these trowels at the Atlanta Habitat for Humanity ReStore, I knew they would be cool as holders for a window treatment in our guest room.

Click HERE for the whole post on how (and why) I did it. I just cleaned them and then painted them with red DecoArt chalky-finish paint (because I wanted a matte finish; nothing shiny). To hang them, I mounted them on pieces of a 2×4 and then screwed that to the wall. The total project cost me less than $10!

For the whole guest room makeover reveal, click HERE. Oh, and for another great repurpose – turning old doors into a daybed – click HERE.

5. Desk top into laundry folding counter.

This past week, I revealed my new and improved laundry room (click HERE to see it). As part of the new and improved laundry room, I added a countertop for folding clothes and keeping supplies close to the machines.

I found an old desk top for $5.50 at the ReStore, primed and painted it, and installed it as my “new” folding counter! Click HERE (or on the photo, above) for the whole post about how I transformed the desk into the countertop.

And those are five of my favorite repurposing projects! There are so many more, too – it was so hard to choose five! For more repurposing and upcycling projects and ideas, click HERE!