Repurposing Furniture for New Use

The Homely Team
2 min read

When looking to redecorate your home, you don’t have to buy all new things, and you don’t need to get rid of your old things either. There are plenty of ways that you can use your furniture in new ways to make it both useful and beautiful again.

For wooden furniture of any kind, a simple fresh coat of paint or decoupage treatment makes a big difference. Decoupage, or gluing on layers of paper items such as book pages and covers, newspapers, postcards, or wallpaper, can help to hide imperfections or damage, such as cracks or water marks, better than paint. Chalkboard paint can also be used on a coffee table or dresser to make a play surface for children. 

 Old furniture can be used for alternative needs or redesigned all together. 
Old furniture can be used for alternative needs or redesigned all together. 

Stepladders are an easy item to reuse. When repainted, they can be mounted on a wall to be used as shelves, and they can also be used as freestanding bookshelves or bedside tables.

Dressers are also easy to use any place that you might want storage. Cutting off the top and taking out the top few drawers can make a bench or daybed with storage underneath. A dresser can also be used as a decorative media centre or a kitchen island. 

If you’re at a loss for what to do with an old media centre, here’s a quick tip. If you have—or know—some young children, the framework works well for a custom, sturdy play kitchen. A little paint and some added details can make for a fun and whimsical new playroom centrepiece.

Another way to accommodate children’s furniture is finding a new use for a diaper-changing table. Once it’s well cleaned and redecorated, it can be used for related purposes as a laundry station. A mail and laundry station is also a good use for a surface of that height.

After redoing a kitchen, two of the old cabinets can be laid on their sides back-to-back and, with a piece of wood or an old door attached to the top, used as a coffee table. Coffee tables can also be built out of crates.

If you’re looking for a letter organiser, you can use a set of old mailboxes as a decorative touch, but you can also use a piece of porch railing, either on the wall or along a table or desk. Any similar piece with a series of narrow spaces can be used for this.

When repurposing furniture or other household items, the main thing is to look creatively at what it is you need (or want) and see what items you already have or can get easily hat will fill those needs, whether it means using the case of a bookshelf as a frame for something like a wine station or using any set of horizontal surfaces such as boxes for a bookshelf.

If you have questions about repurposing furniture, or want to to know the best place to buy local items, ask a question on our ask a question page here. https://www.homely.com.au/questions

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The Homely Team
The Homely Team bring you the latest in Aus property ranging from tips on buying, selling, renting, investing, building, moving house, suburb information and agent advice, all from industry experts.

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