Upcycling- A Hot New Trend

I came across a new term today while I was browsing one of my favorite sites, Apartment Therapy.  Wickepedia says that “Upcycling” is “the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value”.

So Upcycling is like recycling and reusing put together. You don’t throw away items, but find creative ways to repurpose them in your home, or sell them/donate them so someone else can. I don’t think there are too many “useless” materials here on this planet, I mean sure there’s garbage like wrappers, broken glass, old apple cores and food scraps, and things that should be thrown away/composted, but with many old products, Upcycling is a great option and is something that we all can incorporate into our lives. I found many items that have been “Upcycled” and would LOVE to share them with you for a little inspiration.

Here’s a neat way to reuse a ladder as a bookshelf. I’m sure there’s heavy duty bracketing involved in this installation.

I love the idea of using a dresser as an island in a kitchen. Not only is there adequate storage for all those pesky little kitchen items, but you can top it off with a piece of laminate or natural stone for a clean fished top.

This one would take some skill… Someone took old glasses and made them into a really cool pendant light.

Here’s one of the MANY ways you can re-use old wooden crates.

Here’s a cute little way to keep ribbon organized and make it easy to dispense.

I love this one! Using little teacups to keep a medicine cabinet organized.

You’ll want to put a backing on the shutter if you want to use it for a letter organizer like shown here so your letters don’t slip through.

Here’s a way you can make lanterns for magical looking outdoor lighting. You can hang them from a tree, a fence, or set them up in the yard. There’s sand in the bottom to make sure the votives sit up straight, and collect the excess wax.

Old doors add charm and are a great way to decorate. Use them as a headboard, a chalkboard organizer like the one above, or room separator.

I like this idea of adding a mirror, and some hooks to use as something you check your self out in on the way out the actual door.

I LOVE the idea of using an old door as a headboard. It would even look cool with some wall hanging sconces wired into the sides for night time reading. Make sure to sand out  an old door and refinish so you don’t get splinters!

You get a piece of glass cut to fit and you can make yourself a really neat table top.

I hope you got some ideas here for how to re-use, I mean Upcycle some of your old cast off items and create something new and awesome. Happy Upcycling!