Upcycling Basic Household Items

Read about upcycling basic household items and more on our Knowledge Hub.

Have you heard of “upcycling”? If not, you’re probably still aware of its concept.

With a little imagination and ingenuity, you can give new life and new love to old household items. More importantly it keeps these items out of landfills and provides new usefulness to them.

So if you’ve got items around the house you’ve been meaning to throw away, consider how you might be able to reinvent them into something else entirely.

What is “Upcycling”?

Upcycling is the art of recycling something by turning it into something new.

In a world with plenty of waste being produced daily, it’s eco-friendlier and more economical to discover ways to give things you’d throw away a new purpose. For example: rather than throwing away a skirt with a tear, you could upcycle into a curtain or an apron for the kitchen.

Fun Upcycling Ideas to Try

Whatever you upcycle is ultimately up to you, the items around your house and the scope of your imagination. But sometimes you need a little help to kickstart the creative process. We’re here to help!

If you’re looking for some inspiration, try out these fun and creative upcycling ideas:

Use broken and chipped cups and saucers to create masterpieces.

You could break cups into smaller pieces and use the pieces to create mosaic tabletops, stepping-stones or even wall art. You could also glue cups to plates to create multiple tiers of a serving tray, planters for a kitchen herb garden or even containers for a quirky bird feeder!

Give old furniture a new life.

Your old dresser could be a new entertainment center, a new serving table or additional storage. You could also turn an old bedside table into a pet bed or transforming an old coffee table into a comfy ottoman with some fabric and foam.

Transform glass bottles into lamps.

Since these are easily available, all you need is a few strings of light and some beautiful bottles to light up your home with lamps that offer a warm glow and ambiance.

Turn old T-shirts into a memory blanket.

By cutting out the designs of T-shirts and quilting them into a blanket, you can have something that reminds you of past memories or a lost loved one.

Make furniture, shelves, etc. from wooden pallets.

Wooden pallets are made with surprisingly high-quality wood considering their purpose. Try going to local, independently owned shops – such as garden and nursery stores, hardware stores and power equipment stores – and ask if they have any pallets they’d be willing to give you.

Revamp old windows into picture frames and tabletops.

These will create striking and unique pieces with a rustic touch.

Create a bookshelf from an old ladder.

With an old ladder, some shelves and some paint, you’ll end up with a cute and simple new bookshelf!