Furniture Fresh: Repurposing Old Furniture

So you're in the middle of giving your home a much-needed redesign. You come across the old dresser you've just replaced with a more modern one from IKEA. The old dresser is a little scratched, it's bulky, it's sooo 80's. You have absolutely no need for it, but throwing it out is wasteful and no one you know needs it. So what now? You could donate it to a charity or local thrift store and it would have a chance to continue its life in someone else's home. Better yet, how about we give this old piece of wood a new life with a few tweaks and a fresh coat of paint?

With the surge of efforts involved with sustainability, thrifting, and recycling, creative minds have come up with genius ideas and ways to turn your old furniture into completely new items for your home. Here, we'll share with you some of our favorite ways of repurposing your old furniture and turning something so last decade into a must-have piece.

Fun for Kids!

While our kids will often work with what we give them, why not provide a furniture or play

piece that is custom made for them? Some ideas require a little creative energy and maybe a power tool or two, but can make for the cutest mini-human-sized furniture! Here we see an example of turning an entertainment center into a mini play kitchen for a little one! Some other ideas include:

• Turning an entertainment center with tall cabinets into a mini dressing room complete with a vanity to play dress up
• Using the headboards and pieces of their old twin beds to make a child-sized corner bench and table
• A cube shelf storage case can become a self-decorated dollhouse with different "rooms" in each cube

Furniture For Four-legged Friends

Our friends with furry tails can also benefit from a furniture refresh. The good thing about pets is they don't care if your furniture is on its last legs! A popular furniture repurposing for pets is seen here where a small dresser had its drawers removed to allow space for a pet bed within the bottom cabinet. While this may not fit your great dane or may be too big for your hamster, small dogs and cats would love their own cubby space complete with a drawer full of their favorite things. Some other pet-friendly furniture ideas include:

• Refinishing a long dresser to work as a dog crate by removing the drawers and adding on locking crate doors
• Removing the drawers from a dresser or entertainment center and adding glass panels and platforms to make a small animal "apartment" with multiple levels to climb through
• Installing fish tank equipment inside an empty dresser to hide the mechanical parts underneath the aquarium above
• Putting the hinge of a cabinet door at the bottom to allow access to a large pet food container inside

For the Everday, Everywhere Decor

Sometimes you decide you're tired of looking at the same things in your house. Whether it be something small or something you cannot go without, some things in our homes just get... boring. So let's do it all over again! Here's an example of a door being purposed as a multipanel photo frame. It's easy, it's fun, and it displays your entire story all in one frame. Some other easy do-overs you can integrate into your home, you say? Here's a few:

• Dresser with a hutch used as a coffee station
• Cut the drawer areas of a dresser to make a bench with bottom drawer storage
• Turn the top part of a small piano into a wine bar with storage for glasses and bottles

So how about it? Give your home a fresh makeover using these ideas and the furniture you already have! Better yet, come up with something completely new! Feel free to share them with us in the comments!

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