Photos by Nicole Roegner, Courtesy Everything Goes “When it comes to recycling, one of my favorites is probably the door. There are so many interesting doors and so many uses for them.” — Jill Stebbins, In Your Space Interior Designs

Skip those pricey home décor stores – when it’s time to redecorate, you may already have what you need lying around the house.

It’s that time of year when post-holiday cleaning sends old, tired household items packing. This year, why not give the landfill a break? A trip through the dark recesses of your attic or garage may reveal a treasure trove of home décor. In fact, with a little ingenuity and a liberating sense of reinvention, you may discover easy home decorations you already have. Here are eight great ideas:

1. Vases
If you have a stockpile of glass vases, consider re-purposing them as lamps. This quick and easy project can liven up a front entryway, guest room or hall bathroom. “It makes the lamp more interesting,” says Phoenix interior designer Libby Copeland, ASID. Do-it-yourselfers can find lamp kits at local craft or hardware stores. If you’re not comfortable cutting glass or wiring the lamp, Copeland recommends Phoenix Lamps – Shades, Repairs and Antiques at 2225 E. Indian School Road in Phoenix.

The vase-turned-lamp idea can also be expanded to reflect your hobbies or commemorate a special occasion. Transform a trumpet, a trophy, a bubble gum machine, a champagne bottle or a pair of candlesticks into lamps. “There are all kinds of things you can convert,” Copeland says.

Old doors make unique tables

2. Doors
When installing a new front door or closet doors, hang onto the old doors. “When it comes to recycling, one of my favorites is probably the door. There are so many interesting doors and so many uses for them,” says Cave Creek interior designer Jill Stebbins, ASID. For example, a double bifold door converts nicely into a headboard, especially if painted to complement the color palette of the bedroom. Colorful Mexican doors also make for an eye-catching headboard.

Some doors mount nicely onto walls or can be cut and converted into coffee or end tables. Old-fashioned doors – the kind with the inset panels – can even be turned sideways and painted. “There’s a paint you can use that turns that surface into a chalkboard. You can write notes or keep a daily schedule on there,” Stebbins says.

3. Collections
Maybe it’s time to take that old Radio Flyer wagon and park it right in front of the game room sofa. Remove the handle, fill the wagon with all your old Hot Wheels cars or Lego bricks, and have a glass table top cut to fit. Voila! You’ve got yourself a one-of-a-kind coffee table. “It tugs the heartstrings when you see your childhood sitting right there,” Stebbins says. Sure to be a conversation starter, the wagon idea may be better suited for contemporary tastes. For a less whimsical look, cover a traditional coffee table with old baseball cards, coins or postcards and then top it with a custom cut piece of glass.

Baseball cards and other collectibles turn regular surfaces into conversation starters.

4. Childhood Toys
While you’re sifting through all the toys that survived your mom’s annual yard sales, Scottsdale interior designer Marilizabeth Birk, ASID, recommends taking your old, metal dump truck and using it to hold remote controls or keys. Or mount your vintage wooden dollhouse onto a wall with the open side out. It can store spices or serve as a display case in a hobby room or kids’ playroom. Birk also likes taking old shoes – such as your child’s first pair of cowboy boots – and weighting them with sand or rocks to use as bookends.

5. Key Holders and Coat Racks
Birk recommends taking that old, busted rake head lying on the garage floor and converting it to a key hanger. She also likes bending old silverware and mounting it to hang keys or kitchen utensils.

Old golf clubs or skis make great coat racks. And old doorknobs, especially the antique crystal knobs whose metal plates included keyholes, make great wall-mounted coat hangers. Simply attach the doorknob/keyhole plates onto individual pieces of wood and secure hooks into the keyholes. The individual coat hangers can be staggered at different heights for function and interest.

6. Wine Bottles
Wine lovers often commemorate favorite occasions with fine wines, so why let these sentimental empties go to waste? Stebbins suggests using wine bottles as the spacers between shelves on a wall unit. Cut small holes in the wood for each neck of the bottle to fit through. “You have to wire it together, but the appearance is that your shelf system is held together by wine bottles,” Stebbins says.

Birk suggests cutting corks lengthwise and gluing them onto a wall to create a wall covering. “You could even have a whole corked wall,” she says. She has also used wine bottles as a nice focal point for an indoor water feature. “You can arrange them in the shape of a circle or a bottle of wine so that water comes down over and around the bottles,” she says.

7. Trunks and Books
Copeland offers this timeless trick with old trunks: Stack them to fashion end tables or cocktail tables. In her home’s own guestroom, for example, Copeland took an old stainless steel ship’s trunk, had a stainless steel pedestal made and turned it into both a nightstand and a conversation piece. “My house is contemporary. It’s helpful to scatter things like this in contemporary houses so they have more interest,” she says.

A similar idea is to stack large, old books on top of each other and cover with glass for a nice display stand or small table.

8. Quilts
Maybe the quilt your grandma made for your high school graduation isn’t holding up so well anymore. Why not make a pillow out of a piece of it, upholster a bench, or make it into a rug?

“If something is really meaningful but not in the best of shape, how can you bring it down from its original use a little bit and preserve it? Make it into something that attaches it to your memories,” Stebbins suggests.

In fact, when recycling anything, Stebbins says you only need a little creativity. “You have to look at things and think, ‘What could that be?’” she says.



RESOURCES
Marilizabeth Birk
Artistic Designs LLC
8711 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, Ste. 219, Scottsdale
602-791-9028
artisticdesignsllc.com

Libby Copeland
Copeland Interiors
4501 N. 22nd St., Ste. 150, Phoenix
602-678-4883
copelandinteriors.com

Jill Stebbins
In Your Space Interior Designs
Cave Creek
602-515-6679
inyourspaceinteriors.com