Is your house slowly starting to look like a serial hoarder lives in it? We all have stuff lying around our homes that serve no purpose yet we are not throwing them away because one day they might come in handy. With the help of upcycling, all this stuff can quickly be turned into something useful and beautiful. Get inspired by these 5 DIY ideas.
01. Wine Bottle Chandelier
Before: Wine bottles
After: Chandelier
This chandelier would fit perfectly into your dining room, especially if you have a high ceiling and a solid wood table. Take a few empty wine bottles, wash them and remove the labels. With a glass cutting tool, score the bottles near the bottom, and then knock the bottom off with a hammer. Insert the sockets and light bulbs into the bottles. Next, take a wood plank and make circular holes in it in which you will fit bottlenecks. Add hanging chains and suspend your new chandelier from the hook on your ceiling.
Image credits: Inhabitat
02. Eclectic Shelving
Before: Wooden crates
After: Footwear shelving
You can pile your shoes in the corner of your entryway forever, or you can make these practical wall shoe boxes. Apple boxes are perfect for this DIY project, but any other kind of wooden crate would do. Take the boxes, sand them well, paint them, and hang them on the wall. Match the color of your new shelves with the rest of the interior. Candy-colored boxes will give a really whimsical touch to your home while using just a clear wood finish is a much more sophisticated version.
Image credits: Livingwithdaisy.com
03. Lampshade Vase
Before: Glass lampshade
After: Vase
An outdated and often last-of-its-kind lampshade has a huge upcycling potential. With a little bit of paint, it can be transformed into a vase or planter. Clean your lampshade thoroughly, then apply primer to it so the topcoat would be more durable. When the primer dries well, apply the top color. Add fresh-cut flowers to it and place it on a table, or fill it with soil and plants and hang it on your balcony.
Image credits: Thehousethatlarsbuilt.com
04. Magazine Chair
Before: Magazines
After: Stool
All those stacks of magazines that you have been collecting can still remain stacks of magazines but with an actual purpose. You will need two thick and strong belts and a pillow. Simply strap the magazine pile with belts and add the pillow to the top. If the pile seems unstable, you can add more belts, just make sure you place them perpendicularly to each other. For a really cool effect, you can put your stool on a wooden plank and mount four casters to the bottom of it.
Image credits: Thesnug.com
05. Shiny Backsplash
Before: CDs
After: Mosaic
When it comes to E-waste, usually the only way to prevent hoarding is to hire some eco-minded enterprises like green rubbish removal from Sydney. However, your old and scratched CD collection can still be transformed into something beautiful – a mosaic backsplash. Cut the CDs with plastic cutting scissors into pieces of desired size and shape. Separate the bigger pieces from the smaller ones, then distribute the bigger pieces over the entire surface where you plan to make the mosaic. Now use the smaller pieces to fill in the gaps. Pay attention to the color of the CDs. They do not all behave the same way when light shines on them. This is precisely the colorful effect you wish to achieve, but make sure you do not group all the CDs of one color in one corner of the mosaic.
Image credits: Upmade, Instructables
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