Have you ever “shopped” your home? Did you just furrow your brow in confusion? Let me explain. To shop your home is to gather things around your home that you could repurpose or DIY and turn into something unexpected. Sometimes this just means moving furniture or trinkets or art from one room to another. Sometimes it is taking something that might be headed to the trash and turning it into something you might not otherwise have thought of. Let’s dive in to how to do this easily and inexpensively.
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Sconce to planter
Since it’s the beginning of the year, for most this usually means cleaning out and organizing. This also includes lots of purging and tossing out stuff we don’t want or use. But this is also an opportunity to repurpose and DIY some fun things for your home using things you already own.
When we moved into our home in December of 2019 I knew I wanted to replace these 1970s brass sconces flanking our courtyard and front sidewalk. They were huge for one, and dated for another. But, as I was removing them and setting them out with the trash I was taking a good look at them. They had some fun architectural elements to them and I knew I could make something out of them. So I disassembled them and brainstormed.
What did I come up with? A hanging planter! Yes! out of this crazy little brass top that adorned these lights. Here is how I did it in under 30 minutes.
So once I discovered what I wanted to make, I got out my drill, some yarn, and some clear exterior spray paint. If you want to know how I discovered what I wanted to make, this is where your imagination can run wild. I stared at each part of these lights and turned them upside and all different ways to see what might come to mind. And, when I saw this shape it looked a little like a cup or bowl. I noticed there were already holes in the edges from the screws that held the light on. So, that is where I came up with a hanging planter.
Like I said, it already had 4 holes for my yarn to go in around the edge. Then I took my yarn and measured my ceiling hook where my plant would hang. I cut 4 pieces of yarn to size and tied a triple knot in one end and then threaded it through. Here is a snippet below.
Unfortunately, when I did this project I did not take enough pics or video of the process so I don’t have a pic of the sconces when I took them apart. But hopefully you get the idea of how to DIY something that might have been in the trash or on the way to the dump and turn it into something fun!
Bottles to vases and propagation stations
My husband loves to sip a scotch every now and then, and if you haven’t seen liquor bottles or noticed before, there are beautifully designed bottles. Some are intricate and artistic, some have a vintage flair. Nonetheless, never underestimate the decor elements of something as simple as a bottle.
One night when I was gathering recycle items to go out, I picked up this bottle. I had been looking for a vase or tall item to put on top of these books on our dining room buffet. When I saw it I knew it would be perfect. Since I also propagate many of our plants, especially the vining ones, I thought this would be fitting since the opening is small. All you need is to fill it with water and a clipping from your fave plant and you have a vase and a propagation station! How cute is this?
Black & white copies to blueprints
The former owner of the house left black & white copies of the blueprints to our house. The really cool part is that this home was remodeled in 1992 (built in 1977) so the layouts are completely different. I love having that piece of history from our home and it’s original plan. So I scanned in the copies and brought them into Photoshop. I then created a distressed background and turned them blue-ish purple to look like a real blueprint. I framed them at Framebridge and hung them at the top of the stairs outside the guest room. How great did they turn out?
Knobs to hangers
Another great repurpose I did was from our guest room nightstands to our laundry room. I was giving these nightstands a makeover and painted them and replaced their hardware. When I took the knobs off the drawers I set them on the counter to go in the garage. As I started our laundry room makeover I had two big laundry posters I was hanging and was racking my brain on what to hang them with. I knew I wanted a knob of some sort and I remembered the knobs from the nightstands. All I did was put a nail in the wall and place the knob on top since there was a hole in the back of the knob where the screw went. Ta da!
So, what do you have in your home that you can repurpose and give a new life to?
