Everyone gets that itch for something new. After having the same sofa or end table for five years, you may want something fresh and hot off the showroom, but have you ever considered reincarnating your furniture? Take your old furniture and give it new life, a new spark, a new look. For starters, reincarnating your old furniture will cost you very little and it will keep your bulky old home furnishings out of landfills. If you don’t know where to start, here are some creative ways to provide a fresh beginning for your furniture.
Turn your old furniture into something new and exciting. Who says you have to use a throw rug on the floor or a chair to sit in? Take your old throw rugs, wash and clean them and make them into pillows. Of course, the area rug you choose should be clean and in good condition or else it will be of no use.
Cut a section of the area rug to 1-½ yards long and 45 inches wide. Locate something to stuff the pillow with at the end of the process. You can use the “guts” from on old sofa, an unfavorable pillow or a stuffed animal you no longer use. Set the stuffing aside and wash and iron your fabric.
Turn old chairs into a bookshelf by removing the backs and attaching them to the wall next to each other. You’ll have a shelf above (from the seat cushion) and you can add a shelf below by attaching wood to bottom of the chair legs. Find a flat surface, a yardstick, scissors and a marker. Measure, mark and cut two identical squares that are 24-¼ inches. Take the two square pieces and place one on top of the other with the right sides facing one another.
Pin them together, ensuring they match up exactly. Place one edge of the pillow into your sewing machine and leave 5/8 of an inch of material as a border. Sew up all three sides and half of the fourth side (this is to leave room to add your stuffing). Turn the pillow inside out so the right side of the fabric is showing. Add your stuffing and hand stitch the remaining side that is open. You have just reused, recycled and saved the need for new raw materials, and you have brand new pillows!
It’s always better to find something old and give it new life than it is to buy something off the showroom floor. This limits the amount of trash and the need to produce more raw materials for new furniture. With that said, if you find yourself shopping for a new sofa, don’t feel guilty, just get rid of your old stuff in such a way that it finds a useful home.
Turn your old furniture into something new and exciting. Who says you have to use a throw rug on the floor or a chair to sit in? Take your old throw rugs, wash and clean them and make them into pillows. Of course, the area rug you choose should be clean and in good condition or else it will be of no use.
Cut a section of the area rug to 1-½ yards long and 45 inches wide. Locate something to stuff the pillow with at the end of the process. You can use the “guts” from on old sofa, an unfavorable pillow or a stuffed animal you no longer use. Set the stuffing aside and wash and iron your fabric.
Turn old chairs into a bookshelf by removing the backs and attaching them to the wall next to each other. You’ll have a shelf above (from the seat cushion) and you can add a shelf below by attaching wood to bottom of the chair legs. Find a flat surface, a yardstick, scissors and a marker. Measure, mark and cut two identical squares that are 24-¼ inches. Take the two square pieces and place one on top of the other with the right sides facing one another.
Pin them together, ensuring they match up exactly. Place one edge of the pillow into your sewing machine and leave 5/8 of an inch of material as a border. Sew up all three sides and half of the fourth side (this is to leave room to add your stuffing). Turn the pillow inside out so the right side of the fabric is showing. Add your stuffing and hand stitch the remaining side that is open. You have just reused, recycled and saved the need for new raw materials, and you have brand new pillows!
It’s always better to find something old and give it new life than it is to buy something off the showroom floor. This limits the amount of trash and the need to produce more raw materials for new furniture. With that said, if you find yourself shopping for a new sofa, don’t feel guilty, just get rid of your old stuff in such a way that it finds a useful home. 