Repurposed Furniture Projects DIYs That Will Give Your Pieces New Life

Monica Gray - April 23, 2023

Photo: Pinterest.

Your home will love getting a makeover as much as you do. There’s nothing like recycling old furniture and revamping an old space to give life back to it. With a little bit of effort, you can take old pieces of furniture collecting dust in your attic and turn them into something that’ll make your space pop. Whether it’s a DIY project and turning a low table into an ottoman, or repainting an entertainment center and turning it into a home for your pet, these projects will spice up your life and add a bit of character to your home. The best part about these projects is that no one else will have them. They’re custom-made and unique to you and your home.

An Old Entertainment Center Can Be A Cozy Bed For Your Pet

Those years spent using your entertainment center for movies don’t have to go to waste. There’s no need to toss out your favorite piece of furniture that holds so many memories. It’s quite easy to repurpose your entertainment center as an organization closet for your kids. Or, with a little bit of paint, you can revamp it to fit your modern living room and bring your space to life. Remove some of the doors and leave the spaces open for plants and books. You can also replace old hinges with new knobs. If you want to get even more creative, you can restyle your entertainment center to be a tiny room for your newborn or a home for your dog (Worthing Court Blog).

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Revamp Your Side Tables

You probably have at least one outdated side table in your home. Whether it’s old from wear and tear, or it lost its rustic charm, there’s no need to get rid of it. Grab a bucket of paint and get to work! This piece of furniture can easily be revamped using a couple of layers of paint. First, remove any excess trims or garnishes, and scuff the table’s surface using a sander. Use a wood filler to fill any holes, and once that’s all finished, paint it! First, use a primer, then the paint, and then apply gold wax to the legs of the table. Use paint that will match the other furniture in your home for the best results (From House To Home).

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Repurpose Old Chairs For A New Look

If you’re driving past a garage sale and see a couple of chairs for sale, buy them and bring them home! One man’s trash is another man’s treasure for a reason. If you have kids, you can paint these chairs and replace the cushions for a brand-new look. Your kids will probably want to do their homework if they’re working from these chairs. To get even more creative, if you have several chairs you want to change up, you can paint them and add cushions to make a bench. Or, you can drill a hole into the center of the chair the size of your dog’s water bowl, fix their water bowl inside, and make it a dog feeder! If you’re looking to go all out, you can even turn your chair into a coat rack (DIY N Crafts).

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Reupholster Your Lounge Chairs Or Stools

If you want to get busy this weekend, grab an old lounge chair or stool from your garage and get to work repurposing it. All you need to do is grab a bit of paint and change up the cushion. In regards to tools, you’ll need a screwdriver, hammer, pliers, and nail buffer. Faux leather goes a long way and is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than real leather. Clean the seat and remove any old fabric. Then, the fun part begins, and once you remove the old cushion and paint the stool with new paint, you won’t even recognize the stool (An Organized Season).

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Use Old Pipe Fittings As A DIY Shelf

Turn your home into an eco-friendly space with old pipe fittings and reclaimed wood. This combination of materials looks great in any living room and will give your home a beautiful, rustic look. This project is simple and easy and doesn’t take any special construction skills. Knowing what sort of design you want beforehand is important. Knowing how many shelves you need and where you want to put your DIY shelf are some preliminary steps you need to take before revamping. Once that’s organized, you can grab any extra tools or parts needed and get to work (The Design Twins).

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Change Up The Hardware On Your Dresser

Heirloom pieces can make or break a space. They’re too special to get rid of, but sometimes, they don’t fit your aesthetic. If the only thing bothering you is the hardware, it’s an easy fix that will take less than an hour. Purchase hardware that matches your space, take out the old hardware, and add the new pieces. You could even add a new coating of paint to take it a step further and remove any old scratches or dull areas (Architectural Digest).

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Take Your Upholstered Furniture Up A Notch

Let’s say you have a piece of furniture you’ve changed, but now you want to change it even more. That’s where the flair comes in. If you add a bit of contrasting colored trim or flair to your chair, it’ll make that furniture pop even more. For an even more textured look, keep it tone-on-tone. If you have a specific theme in mind, like Moroccan or Bohemian, you can purchase trim that pertains to that style and sew it onto your chair (The Design House Interior Design).

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Turn Your Vintage Suitcase Into A Chair

It might seem counterintuitive but don’t throw away that old vintage suitcase. It’s been your partner in crime for many years of traveling, and now it can be that extra special piece you add to your living room. You can easily repurpose the suitcase and turn it into a cool, unique chair. You’ll need four legs, four-leg attachments, foam or pillows, and spray paint. Once you tuck the cushioning into the middle of the suitcase, you can attach the legs (See Kate Sew).

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Turn An Old TV Stand Into A Wine Bar

Having your friends over to drink wine is one of the best parts about being an adult. But when you have a fun display of wine on top of that, it adds to the charm. You probably have an old TV stand lying around. Repurpose it and turn it into a wine display! Organize your glasses on one shelf of the stand and your alcohol on the other for an exciting display promising a good night. If you have a smaller, old entertainment center lying around, you can also turn that into a minibar. Wendy Smit, from Wendy Smit Interiors, said, “Take the doors off of an old cabinet, then sand and paint [it]. Add some fun glasses and your favorite spirits, and you’ve made a bar—no additional tools or time needed.” It’s a fun weekend project that provides a celebratory drink afterward (Architectural Digest).

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Turn A Low Table Into An Ottoman

If your living room needs more seating areas and you have too many tables, you can turn a low table into an ottoman. It’s easy to attach foam and cushioning to the top of the table for a comfortable seat your family will love. Once you have the measurements of the foam and the cushion, the rest is easy. Protect your floors by adding felt to the bottom of the ottoman. Before starting this project, though, make sure the table is sturdy enough to hold an adult’s weight. If it’s not, you should replace the table’s legs. You wouldn’t want it breaking on you or your family member when they’re trying to relax (This West Coast Mommy).

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Turn Your Dresser Into A Hamper

Having a messy hamper can make your room look dirty and unkempt. It happens to the best of us, especially when we’re busy with work and our kids. The best solution is to have a hamper that’s out of sight. If you have an old dresser lying around, you can completely revamp it and turn a portion of it into your hamper, so you have to pull out the hamper to see your dirty clothes. First, you’ll have to clear out the drawers and then rebuild the drawers to accommodate the hamper. You’ll be the only one who knows it’s there. It will likely take you several days of work, measuring the drawers and prepping the paint and pieces, but it’s worth it in the end. It will also save you tons of money (A Butterfly House).

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Create A Repurposed Table Decoration From A Sewing Cabinet

Oftentimes, old sewing cabinets have gorgeous designs you can’t find anymore. Their ornate exteriors are embellished with iron legs and other designs, which is why you shouldn’t toss them. You can easily take drawers from the cabinet and repurpose them as decorations on top of your tables at home. Add flowers or other decorations to give it an extra pop, or make it a tiny box to hold on-the-go things like keys or your wallet (Lovely Etc).

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Turn Your Table Into A Kitchen Island

Redoing your entire kitchen is costly. If you want to add an island, you’ll need to set aside a high budget. It’s not easy to relocate any old piece of furniture and have it pose as your kitchen island. Instead, you can find a beautiful, vintage table. To turn it into an island, find longer legs and cut them to size, and then add a butcher block to the top. That will differentiate it from a regular table and turn it into a ready-made kitchen prep. You can also move it around, which is great if you’re hosting a party and need more kitchen space, or need an extra table in your dining room when you have guests over (Exquisitely Unremarkable).

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DIY Napkin Rings

Plastic shower rings serve a greater purpose than supporting your shower curtain! Those plastic shower rings come in handy and can add a bit of flair and character to your napkin rings. There’s no need to go out and buy new napkin rings when you can revamp the plastic shower rings in a fun DIY project. Wrap the rings in a cute fabric, glue them together, and then add pearls or flowers as decoration. Choose colors that blend with your china and other bowls and plates (An Organized Season).

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Turn An Old Dresser Into A Changing Table

A dresser and changing table are interchangeable, so why not just revamp an old dresser instead and add a cute piece of furniture to your child’s room? It’s easy to add a small lip around the edge of the dresser to prevent the changing pad from spilling onto the floor. If you have an old dresser lying around, sand it and paint it to match your child’s room. Then, add a short-sided box out of wood with the exact dimensions and size of the dresser. It’s easy to screw it to the top and is an easy DIY afternoon project. It’s a great way to add a bit of storage to your child’s room, too. When they get older, you can just take off the top box and keep the dresser (Real House Moms).

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Upcycle An Old Ladder

If you have an old, rusty ladder lying around your shed or garage, there’s no need to get rid of it. Even if it’s too old to serve its purpose as a safe ladder to use, you can completely revamp it and turn it into a piece of furniture for your home. Whether you add shelves and make it a shoe rack or bookcase, hang decorations from it as a wall piece, or use it as a bedside table, you might feel overwhelmed with just how much you can do with an old ladder (Home BNC).

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Use Pipes To Create Unique Pieces Of Furniture

You can turn old pipes into unique pieces of furniture that you can’t find at the store. They become special decor items that your friends will envy! Use finishing paste to prevent the pipes from rusting over. You can turn pipes into lamps, and use them on bookcases or shelves, or as coat or jacket hangers, chandeliers, or towel hangers. Attach them to wood or other material to give them a chic, industrial look (Pinterest).

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Decorate With Barn Board

If you have paneling or siding lying around your garage, it’s time to put them to use. Reclaim that barn board and decorate your homes. Add hairpin legs to the decoration for a bit of added flair and flavor to an old room. They’re functional and will make your living space pop. A lot of the time, barn board means homely, and there’s just something so appealing about it. You can take a modern piece in your home, mix up your materials, and even place shelves around your living space for organization and decoration (Angi).

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You Can Repurpose Your Old Tires

DIY projects that add charm to your home while also helping the environment are the best sort of projects. One way you can reduce, reuse, and recycle is to grab an old tire you have lying around and use it as a base for an ottoman. That’s one less tire that’s off to the landfill and getting dumped on land. If you have several tires, you can use tons of them and make several chairs, or one big chair. If you want it outside in your garden, you can use it for plants or bird feeders (Pinterest).

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Stain Wooden Furniture To Make It Pop

One day wood furniture is in, and the next day it’s out. If your home is sprawling with outdated wooden furniture, there’s no need to fret. You can repurpose that wood and turn it into something that looks brand-new and fits a more modern style. Remove old paint, sand the furniture, and apply a pre-stain wood conditioner. You can mix and match different paint colors until you find one you like, that goes with the rest of the furniture in your home (Artsy Chicks Rule).

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Keep Yourself Organized With A Reused Wood Pallet

Gather all of your old pallet wood you have lying around and create a piece of furniture that’ll help organize your living space. Hang it in your kitchen if you want a rack to hold your spices and baking ingredients, or put it in your kid’s room and use it as a bookcase. You can easily add as many shelves as you need. All you need is a little bit of imagination, a hammer, a saw, and some screws, and you’re well on your way to building a shelf or drawer made just for you (Pinterest).

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Turn An Old Dresser Into A Sink Vanity

To add a bit of pop and character to your bathroom, grab that old dresser taking up space in your basement and turn it into something beautiful. If the top of the dresser is wide enough to accommodate a sink and faucet, then it’ll work. After figuring out the measurements, you can get work changing the dresser, cutting holes for water pipes, and painting it. Change the knobs if you want them to match your bathroom (At Charlotte’s House).

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Add Vintage Flair To A Vase

Sometimes, we want the old to look new, and other times, we want the new to look old. If you have a shiny new vase you want to make look more charming and rustic, then it’s time to repurpose it backward. First, spray your vase with primer. Then, spray it with textured paint. It’s time to get your hands dirty! Head into your backyard and collect mud and rub it all over your vase. Rub off any excess mud and smooth it out using a damp cloth. Once that’s all set, you can style it with greenery and make it look brand… old! (Caitlin Marie Design).

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Make An Art Table Or Work Desk

Most of us probably have an old coffee table lying around, especially those of us who recently revamped our living room. If you’re reluctant to throw your old coffee table away, you’re in luck! Keep it around and create a DIY art table. You can shape it to hold fun art accessories, like paint brushes, canvases, and a paper roll holder. Why not show off your creativity, in a space you can make more art? Change the legs to make it your desired length, and then paint it as needed (Home BNC).

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Repurpose Old Spice Racks

Grab some old spice racks and turn them into a fun nursery shelf that holds baby toys, books, and coloring books. There’s no need to get rid of those shelves when you can easily spray-paint them to match the decor and ambiance in your baby’s new room. If you don’t have a child but still want to repurpose your spice racks, you can repurpose them and use them for your sewing kit, jewelry, or nail polish (Pinterest).

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Convert An Old Door Into A Coffee Table

It’s time to get creative and use your imagination with your old vintage doors. You can salvage architectural pieces and use them for something completely different than their original purpose. If you’ve discovered an old door from the mid-1700s, you can convert it into a coffee table that sits right in the middle of your living room. Apply the appropriate colored paint, add some legs, and you’ll have yourself a new DIY coffee table top (Upcycle My Stuff).

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Turn A Coffee Table Into A Bench

If you have a coffee table in your living room that looks a bit out of place, you don’t have to get rid of it or return it. You can salvage it by turning it into a sitting bench that’ll look great against your wall. All you need is to chop up the table into an ideal length, switch around the legs, and make sure it’s sturdy enough to sit on. Add foam and staple fabric to it to make it into a comfortable seat that blends well against your wall and other furniture. The possibilities of turning the chair into a bench are endless, and the more imaginative you are, the more you can make from your table (The Home Room Shop).

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Repurpose Old Picture Frames Into Mirrors

This is an easy DIY. If you have tons of old frames lying around from the 90s, they’ll look great as mirrors. You can hang them in your hallway or in rooms around your house to give it an added vintage look. If you’re handy and happen to have a glass cutter, you can measure the glass yourself, otherwise, you’ll have to buy glass the exact size. Add any finishing paint you want to add to it to make it pop. To make the mirror stick, you’ll need painter’s tape and looking glass paint (Sweet Southern Oaks).

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Wood Art Display

Do you have pieces of art you want to hang up, but have no idea where to put them? Grab a piece of pallet wood, some wire, and clothes pins, and you’ll have your very own art display area. You can add some words to the top, use the clothespins to hold pictures or small paintings and organize it however you’d like. Paint the pallet wood with a color that matches your home (Pinterest).

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Turn An Old Hutch Into Furniture For Your Entryway

If you have an old hutch, it’ll look great in your entryway after a little bit of retouching. Style it to make it fit your entryway and into a size that fits your decor. Then, sand it and paint it, adding whatever finishing touches you think it needs. Finally, nail it to your wall. No one will ever know you used an old hutch in your home. This is a great drop zone area for keys, wallets, shoes, and other things you want to drop and collect quickly (Worthing Court Blog).

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Add Wheels To A Small Table

You don’t need to run to the store to buy a bar cart. If you have a small table, you can make one yourself. To convert the small table, buy table caster wheels with locks, and attach each wheel to every leg using a power drill. You can add whatever you’d like to your table, including alcohol, books, decorations, picture frames, or small accessories. The best part is that it’s mobile, so if you want to change up the look and bring it to another room, it’s easy to do so. If it’s a bar cart, it’s a great way to deliver drinks to your friends during parties (Shine Your Light Blog).

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