7 Creative Recycling and Upcycling Projects for Your Home Design
What is upcycling and how can it feature in your home design? Upcycling involves taking existing materials, furniture, objects, building materials and more, and giving them new life. This may mean using old materials or it may extend to upgrading or entirely repurposing an object or piece of furniture to serve a different purpose in your home.
Upcycling brings a splash of creativity and novelty to your interior design. Because upcycling stems from your own creativity, the accents it adds can’t be found in any store. Using upcycling, you can create unique, custom pieces that go beyond homogoneous mass-produced modern design. These aesthetic choices put a personal stamp on your interior space that reflect your individual style. Upcycling also saves on resources and reduces waste in your home design projects.
Upcycling can be a creative and useful addition to an overall design focus that is environmentally conscious, cruelty-free, compassionate and non-toxic. The great thing about upcycling is that there is absolutely no limit to potential projects. The potential exists within the objects themselves and your imagination. If you are thinking of integrating upcycling into your design project and you are looking for inspiration, contact our compassionate, innovative green interior design team. We are experienced green interior design consultants who have supported all kinds of design projects to achieve beautiful and practical results.
To start spark your creative imagination, we’ve put together a list of a few potential upcycling projects:
1.Turn an Old Cabinet into a Bathroom Vanity
Refinishing or adding design details to old furniture can revitalize furniture, giving it life within a totally new context. This could be furniture you already possess or antique or preloved furniture. When working with older furniture, be careful to identify any potential toxic paints or finishings used on the furniture and follow the recommended steps for safety when sanding, painting and refinishing.
2.Old Piece of Furniture Turned Wheeled Kitchen Island
One convenient use for old furniture is to turn it into a wheeled kitchen island. It could also be used as wheeled storage in a children’s playroom.
3.Shutters to Screen
Do you have old shutters? Instead of throwing them out they can be converted into new furniture. Old shutters can make a great privacy screen to be used in your home or on a porch.
4.Reused Cork
Cork is a beautiful, sustainable material, and if you have enough of it you can create cork flooring or other cork surfaces in your home. Cork can be used for many purposes such as seats for stools, a surface for a small side table or cork wall art. Cork enjoys the benefit of being sound insulating.
5.Decoupage Using Old Paper or Wallpaper
Decoupage is the art of using paper to create an ornamental surface which can then be finished so it’s water resistant. You can use decoupage to surface a beautiful, artful coffee table or dresser. You can also undertake a more simple project and use old wallpaper to surface a cabinet or the interior of drawers and cupboards. This can be particularly effective in a dresser painted a contrasting color where glassware or china is displayed.
6.Custom lamps from Wicker baskets, Glass Jars and More
Upcycling can be the source of statement lighting in your home. There are so many overlooked objects that work well as shades or stands for lamps or lighting. Some people remember the wine bottle turned lamp stand. There are many more good options for lighting, like using an old vase, a freestanding ornament or even the leg of an old ornamental table. Shades can be created from wicker baskets and mason jars, amongst other things. These can create an eye-catching look while casting atmospheric diffuse lighting.
7.Living Room to Outdoors
If a piece of furniture or object is not working indoors why not find a way to incorporate it into your garden or patio furniture? Old ladders make good outdoor plant holders and wicker baskets. Tin cans and large ceramic pieces can be converted into planters. Wicker furniture works well outdoors and there are other furniture pieces, such as old side tables, that can be converted into outdoor furniture when properly finished.
Seeking Inspiration? Get in Touch with Green Interior Design Consultants
If you are getting started on a green interior design project, you could be looking for some inspiration on how to do it differently. If you want to be intentional, compassionate and creative during this process, our experienced green interior design consultants can work with you to find the best ways to realize your design visions while being kind to nature and the environment and creating a healing and non-toxic space.
Upcycling is a way you can integrate your own creativity into the process. At Earth Science Design we work with each of our clients to access the ideas, inspiration and potential they may have to give to their projects. Whether you are an artist with talents you can put to use or whether you can collaborate with creative people in your life, it’s possible to put an artful and original design stamp on your green interior design project. We work with clients remotely or at our offices in San Diego, CA, Silicon Valley and Bozeman MT on all kinds of projects. Please contact us to learn more about how we can support you with your project.green
