It’s time to break out the crafts and start making something fun! Elevating your home aesthetic doesn’t have to break the bank or be complicated. You can build a unique, timeless, and nostalgic DIY item if you grab some vintage items. We’ve curated a list of the best vintage pieces to start creating fun pieces and incorporating them into your home.
Upcycled Vintage Suitcase Shelves
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It’s time to get retro and vintage and turn old suitcases into floating shelves. First, cut these suitcases in half and securely mount them on your wall. Then, shelves should be added to store small trinkets or other items like plants, flowers, and photographs. If you want to use them as kitchen storage, you can store spices on the shelves.
DIY Secret Bookcase Door
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This will require much more overhead planning than a simple DIY project, but creating a hidden passage behind a bookcase can give your home a retro-futuristic, timeless feel. Building this secret room lets you live out your mystery movie fantasies and turn it into a bedroom, guestroom, or office.
Repurposed Piano Bar
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Before tossing your broken piano into the trash, transform it into a stunning bar! The shape of your piano means it works well as a bar, with plenty of space to store alcohol and glassware. You’ll completely capture that jazzy, chic vibe with this repurposed piano. You’ll have to remove the panels and keys to hollow it out, but other than that, it’s a simple DIY project.
Funky Mismatched Drawer Dresser
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If you have several dressers collecting dust in your attic or basement, repurpose them to make one fun dresser! You can easily create a whimsical, funky dresser with colorful, unique, mismatched drawers to store clothes and other items. The only requirement is that the drawer sizes match the dresser’s size.
Industrial Pipe Clothing Rack with a Vintage Twist
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Instead of storing your clothes in a closet like expected, think outside the box and build a stylish, open-concept wardrobe for that retro-futuristic, rustic, vintage vibe. Collect industrial pipes to build your clothing rack. Hang your colorful, bright clothes on the rack to make it pop with funky style.
Mason Jar Chandelier with Fairy Lights
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This fun, playful, magical, rustic lighting idea is easy to do in a couple of hours. Head to the thrift store and purchase a few mason jars and fairy lights. Then, stuff the fairy lights into the mason jar and decorate your room with them by hanging them on your ceiling using good support.
Glow-in-the-Dark Galaxy Wall Art
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Bring that funky, vintage, cosmic touch into your home office or bedroom. You’ll need to make sure the wall art uses glow-in-the-dark paint so it glows when you turn off your lights to sleep. You can also place stars on your ceiling for a funkier addition that blends well with the wall art. Epoxy resin glow art is also another funky addition you can add to your gallery wall.
DIY Vintage Map Wallpaper
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Vintage maps look great as wall art! You can turn old maps into a stunning accent wall by framing them and hanging them together. Use gold frames to give them even more of a vintage appeal and cohesive look. Use maps from different countries and eras to mix it up and make your room pop.
Retro Cassette Tape Planters
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Decorating with cassettes is one of the best ways to upcycle old cassettes and bring nostalgia to everyone visiting your home. You can turn them into funky plant holders for a unique retro-vintage decoration to make your space pop! Besides, there’s no better way to display greenery than in a cassette tape!
Teacup Bird Feeders
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If you still have a box of teacups that date back to your childhood, you can turn them into adorable vintage-style feeders for your garden. These look great in your garden; you can even turn a few into mini bird baths! Display them around your garden for a cohesive look and to attract even more birds.
Repurposed Bicycle Wheel Garden Trellis
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Head into your shed and grab one of your old bicycles to turn it into a repurposed bicycle wheel garden trellis! This quirky support for climbing plants adds a bohemian aesthetic to your backyard, especially if your bicycle wheel is rusted. Adding functional garden art to your backyard is always a good idea to keep it funky and fresh!
DIY Tire Swing Planter
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If you have an old, dysfunctional car tire lying around in your shed, grab it and put it to use! This is a fun way to upcycle an old tire and is much better than tossing it into the trash. Hang it from a thick rope on your tree, and fill it with soil, vegetables, and flowers to put it to good use. You could cut it in half and turn it into two different planters.
Mosaic Stepping Stones with Broken China
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Don’t throw away that china sitting in your attic! You can use it to add a colorful, artistic touch to your garden by breaking it and turning it into mosaic stepping stones. This creative project will give your backyard a bohemian, rustic blend of aesthetics. Throw in a few store-bought gems and rocks to add texture.
Hanging Gutter Herb Garden
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Even though gutters were initially made to catch water, you can use them as a space-saving vertical gardening solution for soil, vegetables, and plants. Cut one gutter into three different sections to have three rows for your hanging garden. You have creative leeway to make this garden as large or as small as you’d like!
Record Player Side Table
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If you don’t have record players at home, head to a local music shop or thrift store that sells them cheaply, especially if it’s dysfunctional. Convert the old, broken record player into a retro side table! Place it on a circular or rectangular table and fill it with old records, books, and plants for decoration.
Secret Hollowed-Out Book Safe
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The best way to hide valuables is to hide them in plain sight! You can create a clever way to hide valuables in plain sight by building a secret hollowed-out book safe. Grab a book, cut out the pages, and put your valuables inside. Hide it amongst tons of other books to have it blend in. You can do this with multiple books. It doubles as decoration!
Handmade Scrabble Tile Wall Art
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Get out the old board games and put them to use as decoration! Create fun, oversized Scrabble letters for décor by hanging them on your wall as isolated art or a gallery wall. You can decorate it to say loving and welcoming phrases to give your space a homely, inviting aesthetic.
DIY Vintage Key Wind Chime
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Chances are, you’ve collected keys throughout your years of moving! You can turn antique keys into whimsical wind chimes by hanging them together on strings and placing them outside. Use different-sized keys to give the wind chime a different sound and effect. If you don’t have enough keys for a wind chime, head to the thrift store and buy a bunch of random keys to use! Add texture by incorporating shells and coins into your wind chime, too.
Custom Neon Sign Using EL Wire
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There’s nothing funkier and more retro than a custom neon sign! Make your personalized neon-style sign using EL wire. You can have it spell out your last name or a fun message that your guests can read when they enter your living room. Use different colors to match the aesthetic of your home.
Vintage Suitcase Nightstand
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Build a DIY bedside table by stacking vintage suitcases together. Fill it with a quirky, fun lamp, books, candles, and other trinkets to give it a cohesive look for your room. These work well by acting as a vintage focal point in your room and needing minimal effort to build. All you need is a stand to place it on. Besides, they can also act as a conversation starter, especially if there’s a story behind them!
Retro Arcade Cabinet Bar
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If you have a dysfunctional arcade machine taking up space in your basement, the good news is that you can turn it into a hidden bar cabinet. This retro-futuristic decor piece looks great in any futuristic, vintage, or timeless home aesthetic. You can also add bookshelves for added storage and decoration.
Floppy Disk Pen Holder
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Bring some nostalgia to your home and make a fun floppy disk pen holder! This is a fun throwback to the ’90s. This functional art will help you keep track of your pens while giving your home a fun and funky retro decor. Place this on your record player side table to add to the aesthetic.
Typewriter Keyboard Wall Shelf
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This unique DIY project involves a fun vintage item — typewriter keyboards! Simply mount old typewriter keys on a board as a unique shelf. You can purchase inexpensive typewriters at the thrift store and use them as wall shelves. Mount them to a wooden rack and leave space for other items, like plants and trinkets.
Turn a Vintage TV Into a Bookshelf
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Those television sets from the 1990s can be put to good use! Hollow out an old CRT TV and turn it into a cool storage unit. Use supportive wall mounts to hang it on your wall. Fill it with modern and vintage books to change the aesthetic and blend a timeless, retro feel with a more modern feel. Place other funky trinkets around it, like bright-colored staplers, funky vases, and cassette tapes.
DIY Sputnik Light Fixture
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Head straight into the future by creating a DIY Sputnik light fixture! This is a fun blend of funky and vintage. All you need to make your starburst chandelier is dowels and bulbs. This light fixture will rock your space and doesn’t require many building tools. Hang it above your dining room to act as a fun focal point.
Mosaic Disco Ball Lamp
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Grab those old NSYNC and Backstreet Boys CDs, break them, and use the broken CDs plus mirrors to create a funky light effect. Light reflects well off CDs and mirrors, so make sure you put it in a room with many natural light or lighting fixtures.
Boombox Floating Shelves
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Those boomboxes were for more than bumping music! You can convert old, dysfunctional ones by mounting them as a unique shelf to the wall. Decorate them with fun and funky vintage trinkets, like old dolls, cassette tapes, keys, and funky vases to incorporate the entire vintage look. You can also use a bunch of them to build a boombox wall.
Patchwork Denim Throw Pillows
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Denim was popular in the 90s, so grab those old jeans and put them to good use! Use those old jeans to create fun, rugged pillows by sewing them as patchwork onto denim. These look great as pillows on your living room couch or bedroom. Use different denim from various jeans to change it up and create more texture.
Rug Made from Old Band T-shirts
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Old band t-shirts make fun rugs! Sew together worn concert tees into a one-of-a-kind rug and use it in your living room. This is an entirely retro design that’ll bring back feelings of nostalgia. Bonus points if you have a record player and can play songs from the bands on the t-shirt!
Flamingo Yard Art Revamp
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Head to the thrift store today and grab a bunch of plastic flamingos! This might sound strange, but you can give your yard a weird, artistic makeover by adding a bunch of funky plastic lawn flamingos. Incorporate different plants between the plastic flamingos to give your yard a unique dynamic and to change it up.
Vintage Tin Can Herb Garden
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Old, rusty tins look great in yards as herb gardens. This functional rustic-retro planter set will give you a place to plant your herbs while also acting as a funky decoration. You might have tins lying around your home or need to head to the thrift store and grab a bunch for your yard.
Repurposed Skateboard Swing
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You might still have your skateboards from when you were a kid. You can repurpose that skateboard as a hanging seat in your backyard. Simply connect it to thick ropes and hang it from a tree. This adds a funky, fresh decoration to your backyard! You could also turn the skateboard into a pet feeder if you don’t want to turn it into a swing.
Boho Beaded Curtain for a Patio Entrance
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Nothing screams bohemian more than a DIY funky doorway curtain with vintage beads! Head to the craft shop and grab a bunch of warm-colored beads, like red, orange, and brown, and hang them on strings. Place these at the entryways to your living room or bedroom, or hang them on your patio as an entrance to your home.
Upcycled Old Chair Planter
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Vintage chairs work well as funky plant stands. Paint it, fill it with soil, flowers, vegetables, and other plants, and put it in your living room or backyard as a yard decoration. You can also use full, colorful flowers that overflow from the chair and onto the ground for a fun, dynamic texture.
Giant Painted Peace Sign Lawn Art
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Decorate your yard with a dynamic ’60s-inspired statement piece by painting a giant peace sign. For added impact, place it next to pink flamingos! You have full creative leeway for your yard; the funkier you want to go, the better. Surround it with soft, pink flowers for a cohesive look.