Give your home a new look for the new year without breaking the bank. Ever thought of using your creativity to revamp your home? Upcycling, the process of converting old materials into something useful again, is a great way to freshen up your home and as you’re reusing and recycling, it prevents excessive waste too! Catching onto this trend, a lot of furniture shops are selling vintage looking, upcycled items that can cost a fortune. Recreate these expensive items yourself with a bit of creativity and effort. Get stuck in with a fun weekend project for you and your family!
If you need some inspiration to get your upcycling project kick-started, here are some easy ideas to get you upcycling your home!
Turn a Mason jar into a foaming soap dispenser
Don’t we all have a few mason jars lying around at home somewhere? A mason jar is simply decorative with the way it looks. You can replace the lid with a pump dispenser, and it will instantly become more appealing than the cheap plastic bottles that come with the soap. The Mason jar’s metal lid will naturally rust, but you can clean and seal it with some nail polish to prevent rusting.
Turn candle jars into storage
After you have burned out your favourite candle, you can use the container for storage of small items like Q-tips and cotton pads. You will need to put the jar in the freezer, and then you can easily remove the waxy residue when it is frozen. Rinse the jar thoroughly and peel off the label for a cleaner look. You can keep the original lid, and screw in a cabinet knob on top to make it even prettier.
Wine bottles made into glitter vases
Empty wine bottles can be reused in so many ways, especially as flower vases. You can paint the bottles in a solid colour, and then dip the bottom part in glitter to recreate the look in the above picture. Having some flowers displayed elegantly around the house is a pleasant way to start your day in the morning.
Hang a chair upside down
Perhaps you have a broken wooden chair lying around? You can keep the back of the chair and a few inches of the seat, repaint it into a colour you like, and then mount it onto the wall upside down. The bottom of the seat is now a shelf, and the rungs become a perfect towel rack. Simple and effective!
Turn old drawers into shelves
If you are throwing away a wardrobe, you can redecorate the drawers to create small shelves! You can glue paper collage to the base of the drawers or paint them to spruce up their look. Then you can mount the drawers on the wall, and turn them into unique storage space for your amenities. You can also attach small hooks to the drawers which you can hang small items from, like a hair brush.
Patch tablecloths into a shower curtain
If you have some decorative tablecloths, fabrics or even bed sheets that you no longer use, you can stitch them up in the patterns you like to create a unique shower curtain. You will need to mark the eyelet holes on your finished patchwork with a curtain liner first. Get a small piece of fleece with a hole cut in the middle to fit the eyelet tool, put it on top of your patchwork, and hammer the eyelet into the fabric. At the end, you can tie yarn into each eyelet and then it’s ready to hang!
Use pallet as hanging art
Wooden pallet makes a great canvas. Let your inner artist out, and paint the pallet with designs or inspirational quotes. When you have your finished art piece, hang it in a visible place so your work can be admired.
There are so many ways you can upcycle all sorts of materials and create something unique and new for your home! If you fancy some new pieces for your home to change up your home scene for 2017, upcycling is a fun, free & creative way to do so! These upcycling ideas would make a great project to work on yourself or with family and friends – plus, you’re helping the environment by recycling materials!
This article was written by Sam Socorro from Clearwells in collaboration with Wightbay. She has over 10 years’ experience in writing health related topics and specialises in the health benefits of saunas and hydrotherapy.
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