Repurposed Items

[eandt]

Saw a show last night that mentioned repurposing old radios … take out the innerds and replace with a blue tooth speaker and you have a retro radio with modern sound …

 

[NYCgrrl]

I love watching YouTube videos where people take a thrifted item or a discarded item that has one or two really lovely elements, but not in it's current state or incarnation, and figure out a way to turn it into something else that is just as fabulous and will continue to live on. Sometimes the new piece is even better than the original.

I ve been trying to figure out how to repurpose a post war butler’s table and you gave me a great idea. There I was thinking YouTube was only for music

 

[sam_gordon]

A Sonos soundbar for my TV. (Would have been $400 used.) The owner was moving in with her BF and consolidating items. He had a better soundbar and hers wasn't connecting anymore to WiFi. I was planning on hard-wiring it to the back of my TV anyway, so I didn't need the WiFi. But, after I brought it home and did a factory reset, the WiFi works perfectly! I no longer need to have the closed captions turned on my TV, the TV's speakers suck so badly. Now, even whispering comes out crystal clear.

Along the same lines... many years ago, DW's employer had a paper shredder that wasn't working and was going to throw out. She brought it home for me to look at. I noticed the bin had a "tab" on the right and left sides of it, sticking up. Well, the left side was missing. The tab apparently hits a sensor to indicate it's inserted. No bin = no work. I literally turned the bin 180 degrees (so the tab that was on the right was now on the left). Shredder then worked. We kept it for 7-8 years before upgrading to a larger capacity one.

 

[RangerPooh]

We have an old tv cabinet with doors that we moved to our screen porch that now holds overstock school supplies and sports equipment.

Old plastic kitty litter tubs now hold extension cords, gardening tools, lacrosse balls, and camping kitchen tools.

 

[firefly_ris]

Some really great ideas in here. I would love to see the door coffee and side tables.

 

[LoveDaisy]

I turned an old headboard into the gate for my garden.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Saw a show last night that mentioned repurposing old radios … take out the innerds and replace with a blue tooth speaker and you have a retro radio with modern sound …

Not exactly the same thing, but maybe similar.

I recently picked up a Bose radio at a church thrift store. I always wanted one, so I was pretty happy. Until I realized when using it at home in my kitchen, where I put it, I’ve gotten spoiled over the last decade or two and really don’t enjoy listening to regular radio anymore - even though the sound was really good.

After a trip to Disney last month with the Hey Disney Alexa in the room (and DD buying one when we got home), it got me thinking about whether I could make the Bose system connect to my phone so I could listen to my music that way. And sure enough, DD was able to figure out for me that all I needed was an Aux cable and a special adaptor (that goes in my phone where the charger goes) and I can enjoy the music from my phone on my Bose system now!

Granted, it’s not wireless (I haven’t actually tried it out yet but we have all the equipment) nor does it need to be, but it should sound really nice. I know some of the newer Bose systems took CDs and I was sort of wishing mine did, too, but now, no need!

 

[Moliphino]

We have an old tv cabinet with doors that we moved to our screen porch that now holds overstock school supplies and sports equipment.

We took an old tv cabinet from my mom and are using it to store dog supplies in our living room. My mom repurposed another tv cabinet into a bar cabinet.

 

[eandt]

We have an old tv cabinet with doors that we moved to our screen porch that now holds overstock school supplies and sports equipment.

Old plastic kitty litter tubs now hold extension cords, gardening tools, lacrosse balls, and camping kitchen tools.

Sounds like the bones of a great bar cart!

 

[sam_gordon]

My former employer had like 8' sections of metal conduit sitting out from when the building was originally built. I ended up cutting off ~16-24" sections and putting them with the spare tires in our vehicles. It's great to use as a "cheater bar" when having to change tires. Slide it over the end of the wrench and you get a lot more force on the lug nuts.

I'm sure many here would just call road side assistance if they get a flat, and I'm aware many cars don't have spares. But for those who A) have spare tires and B) are willing to do the change themselves, I recommend getting one. A 10' section from Lowes (~$10) would get you 5+ sections (assuming you can't find one for scrap).

 

[RangerPooh]

It could. It's a large tv armoire, and if we can ever get the patio more than just screened in (who wants to be outside in the summer in the south), that could be a great item to have!

An old metal drum is our burn barrel.

 

[HopperFan]

We have an old tv cabinet with doors that we moved to our screen porch that now holds overstock school supplies and sports equipment.

Old plastic kitty litter tubs now hold extension cords, gardening tools, lacrosse balls, and camping kitchen tools.

YES! The old tv and stereo cabinets are great to repurpose!! Took my parents old MCM stereo cabinet (turntable and speakers are long gone) and I painted/stained it and am using it in a den to hold a tv on top and inside it is storing blu-ray player, game system and lots of DVD/Blu-rays.

For me sentimental I get to keep and put to good use.

 

[barkley]

Old plastic kitty litter tubs now hold extension cords, gardening tools, lacrosse balls, and camping kitchen tools.

yes!!! we get the 40 pound heavy plastic containers from chewy and use them to store all kinds of stuff in the sheds (they stack well-we just sharpie lable them with the contents). i've got one that i cleaned out and set in the spare bedroom closet to hold/keep upright all the rolls of wrapping paper.

YES! The old tv and stereo cabinets are great to repurpose!! Took my parents old MCM stereo cabinet (turntable and speakers are long gone) and I painted/stained it and am using it in a den to hold a tv on top and inside it is storing blu-ray player, game system and lots of DVD/Blu-rays.

we were given one of the old circa '80's backwards L shaped solid wood tv/stereo cabinets (tall side has glass doors). it sits in our spare room with a tv on top but where the stereo componants would have gone sits all of dh's old gaming systems while the printer sits where the turn table would have gone.




i have gotten a wealth of very large 'ziplock' type bags by ordering groceries for ship to home (anything liquid they seem to put inside these). i've taken all the service manuals, paperwork...for all the outdoors equipment and tools and made individual bags for each. these sit in an old file cabinet in one shed so if dh needs to refer to something he can just pull out the individual bag for it (and i've taken to printing out and putting in them the part numbers for replacement items so the next time he needs something he does'nt have to go searching online again).

 

[princesscinderella]

Pictures, please?

Some really great ideas in here. I would love to see the door coffee and side tables.

Here’s the side table the coffee one is exactly the same just has six of the inset carvings (3x2)

 

[disykat]

Our garage storage is all older recycled desks, dressers, shelving units etc. Some of it is retired military issue stuff, so it's really very sturdy. Some had been left in our first home by the older gentleman that lived there before us and we brought it with us. The one I like best is a giant sturdy shelving unit the husband of a former coworker built. I took over her classroom when she retired and when the school was being torn down my husband came and rescued it. We hung it upside down from the ceiling in our garage and it holds all sorts of stuff. (It still has her old upside down labels on it so it reminds me of my kindergarten teacher days.) For example old metal desks make great work benches, a lockable bar cabinet holds all our toxic stuff, old skinny canning cupboards fit next to the exterior door, etc. My DH LOVES old stuff, so it's his way of making our 90's era home feel vintage.

While our garage definitely does not look like a showroom at Lowe's, it's very efficient and it was all free!

 

[Imzadi]

I donated a lot of my woolens to a knitting group.
They unravel the sweaters and reknit into new goods.
Given that so many items are knitted with acrylics (personal yuck) it was a win win.

One skein (ball) of yarn can be expensive, especially if it's a good yarn. While there are small crafts that one can make with one skein, a decent size scarf can take 2-3 skeins of yarn and the price adds up. I think that deters most beginner knitters especially as they don't know how the project will turn out and whether it's worth the investment. It would be great to good quality yarns from unraveling old sweaters.

 

[Imzadi]

I ve been trying to figure out how to repurpose a post war butler’s table and you gave me a great idea. There I was thinking YouTube was only for music

A lot of these DIYers list all the materials ans tools they use to repurpose their items. For example, they will list the can of paint stripper they used. I've seen some old furniture with several layers of old paint come right off like they were wiping a thick layer of soft frosting off a cake. Then they will say how they are taking the rest off, starting out with one grit of sandpaper, finishing off with another. IF they are going to stain the wood, they will tell the brand and color they used, etc.

It's quite interesting as there are so many different techniques, depending on the DIYer. Most aren't sponsored by a product. They just have found through trial and error what works for them. And if they deviate a technique from a previous video, they explain why, (as they get so many comments asking why.) While I don't refinish furniture myself, I found the their tips and processes interesting.

I like watching the female YouTube DIYers. Cable TV remodeling shows are usually dominated by a male lead, or male team lead. They like to "power tool" an item, as they have the budget for state of the art equipment. And they don't show the whole process of repurposing one item. They skip over parts due to their time constraints and their overall focus for the show.

Whereas, the YouTube videos just focus, start to finish, on ONE item, not necessarily a whole room. A female DIYer will use a can of liquid paint stripper and come back two hours later to wipe the lifted paint off. They don't have a turbo power stripper. And they know we don't either. They try to teach with materials we can easily access if we want to do a project. It's interesting to see how the item gets reincarnated, and of course: the reveal of the end result.

(The YouTube "shorts", short videos like on TikTok, where they cut out all the explanations, as they are still on the longer video tutorials, and edit and clip together a 2-3 minute "short" so you can watch quickly from start to finish, are as addictive as eating a bag of potato chips. )

 

[slo]

My DH is amazing when it comes to this - he could write a book about it. He’ll even pick up things off the side of the road, bring it home and repurpose it. The most recent thing that I can think of is someone was throwing away outside Christmas decorations. He picked them up, worked his magic and then put them in the shed to put out next year. I really do find his vision and ability amazing to do this type of stuff.

 

[PollyannaMom]

What a great thread idea!

Old plastic kitty litter tubs now hold extension cords, gardening tools, lacrosse balls, and camping kitchen tools.

We reuse those too! - some for storage, and in the spring DH drills holes in the bottom of a couple and I use them to grow tomato plants on the back deck.

My latest reuse project was simple, but effective - Instead of just throwing it in the recycling bin, I cut the bottom off a quart-size milk carton to keep an upturned bottle from falling over in the fridge door:

 

[NYCgrrl]

On topic and in the middle of the night (go to bed, woman!! Yeah but why am I up to respond?) elder sister sent this vid to me: