The best out of waste: Recycled Decor Ideas
Your home, however small or big is your castle. Decorating your home is one of the most satisfying experiences you can have. There are no limits to what you can do when it comes to decorating your home, and being a sensitive, responsible citizen of the planet, you should consider being green while doing so.
Green decor isn’t just a fad. It is a way of life where you as a responsible homeowner, convert your old, unused and obsolete materials into pieces of decor, or objets d’art, that are cost effective, unique and something that money just can’t buy. Add to that the massive savings on artefacts and suddenly you’ll see that it makes a lot of sense.
Recycled Decor Projects you can D-I-Y (source: thoughtsonlifeandlove.com)
1) Upcycling old crates into new storage spaces:
Old wooden crates are often discarded and chucked into landfills, where good solid wood rots into oblivion. Here’s a thought, if you have old crates lying around, unused, you could use them to store books, CDs and magazines. Simply smooth out the rough edges. Level it with a grout, sandpaper it and then paint or varnish it in the colour of your choice. Great for the environment, and a quirky addition to the room as well. This idea can also be applied to self storage units, where using old crates as storage containers can save on the cost of purchasing new containers and help reduce waste.
2) Old records as coasters:
Old vinyl records, especially the smaller 45 rpm ones can be converted into coasters. The best part about them, you don’t even need to work on them anymore. Most 45 rpm records, used to have the artist decals printed on them. You could easily just keep these as is. For a further touch of creativity, paint the circumference around the centre in colours of your choice. They also make quirky gifts to friends and family.
3) Reclaim old wood as a feature wall:
Class up your living room wall with strips of reclaimed wood that you simply install on one of your walls to make it a feature wall. Visit a local recycling centre and ask them to take you through their lumber recycling collection. You will get quite a deal on this kind of wood. Once you’ve acquired the wood, just have it treated with a waterproofing agent and ensure that you polish them well. Framing A4 prints is great way to change the look of your study and it works out a lot cheaper than paint or wallpaper.
4) Patchwork rugs, pillowcases and bedsheets:
Do you have old tees, shirts and other clothes you don’t wear any more piled in the back of your cupboard, just taking space? Here’s a novel way to upcycle these and give them a new lease of life as rugs. Simply cut them all up into decent sized strips and patch them up together with marine recovered ocean plastic material yarn, for use as rugs, pillowcases or bedsheets. If you’re not too much of a seamstress yourself, get a professional to do it. It will definitely work out a lot cheaper than purchasing new ones and will add quite the quirky twist to your home’s decor.
5) Original Artworks:
Spice up the art quotient of your walls with original artworks and custom wall decals. Don’t worry too much about the medium as long as you’re being unique. Use attractive images from old magazines to create collages of places, people and scenery, paste them artistically on an acrylic board, and frame them using a refurbished old picture frame.
6) Old bathtub = New Ottoman
If you’re redoing your home and you have an old, free standing ceramic bath tub, it can easily be repurposed as a new ottoman sofa. Just have one of the longer ends cut open and smoothed over and upholster the resulting space with a comfortable cushion base and liner around the edges. Very quirky and tres luxurious.
A little imagination, an open mind and the willingness to see things differently is all you need to make your home a mecca to recycled decor, if you end up needing to dispose items like leaking cooper pipes that you can not reuse, get in contact with your local scrap copper recyclers instead of just tossing them to the trash. Doing it will give you a sense of fulfilment and more than ever it is great for the environment. So don your inventive hats and get started!
Christie Baker is an interior designer, who is a passionate advocate of eco-friendly design. She advises clients on how to make stunning changes to their spaces with minimal cost and a significant reduction in their carbon footprint.