Over Forty and Loving It!

I don’t know if it’s still on t.v., but a few years back there was a show on one of the home improvement channels where people would get a room in their house redecorated for less than $1000. It might even have been less than that, maybe $500. One of the things I loved about that show was that they re-purposed items.

Here are some examples of some inexpensive items that will not only add unusual decoration to your home, but which can also be easily re-purposed.

School desks: Check school supply stores, antique stores or estate sales for older classroom desks. Of course the newer desks are usually all in one, but think of the ones us old-timers used in grade school, where the seat actually pulled up to the desk and had an open shelf below. It can be used as a cookbook station, outdoor gardening station, or an unusual plant stand (with room for a few small gardening tools.)

Pews: Yes, you heard me right. Church pews. I remember in the 70’s one of the local hospitals was remodeling and growing. They had tiny two-seater church pews they were selling from the small (soon to be enlarged) chapel on the grounds. They were beautifully handcrafted, and had a little nook for bibles hidden behind the seat back. My mom fell in love with it, bought it for a song, stripped it down, refinished it and set it in a small empty space in her den. Not only was it functional as a place to hide in the room and read, but it’s always been a really great conversation piece.

Free-standing home bars: What do I mean by that? Well, my neighbor had this lovely 4-5 foot long wicker tiki-bar on his patio. Of course it had the overhanging lip on one side, so stools could be pulled underneath, and the “bar” side had a few shelves hidden below for storage. I mentioned it to him one day how much I liked it, and he explained to me that he was actually going to re-purpose it for his 3 rd grade class as a reading station. He would be able to sit 3-4 students on one side with their books, while he could stand on the other side to help them with their reading skills. Now that’s a great idea, but it could also work in your home as well. Use it as a computer station (with storage to hide the CPU, printers, fax, scanner, disks.)

So next time you visit a flea market, an antique store, a anything supply store or an estate sale, used your imagination and think green. Don’t look at objects at face value purpose. Instead look at them as how they could be used while doing your part to recycle. Re-purposing and decorating with the unusual is only limited by your imagination.