Before you throw out or give away all of your establishment’s old furniture, it’s worthwhile to stop and think about whether any is salvageable. A small amount of DIY magic and creativity can be all you need to repurpose those chairs and tables into something practical and unique.
Repurposing old furniture might seem like a bit of a chore, considering you can easily buy new pieces of furniture, but doing so can save you money, is good for the environment, gives you a truly unique piece of furniture and once you get into it, can be extremely fun!
We all have some old pieces of furniture that are on their way out the door. But there are plenty of creative ways you can repurpose your old furniture into a unique piece.
To help, we’ve crafted our top five favourite ideas for repurposing old furniture, to create new and functional items. So, what are you waiting for? Grab that DIY box out of storage and let’s get to work!
Chairs to shelves
Transforming your redundant chairs into shelving is a relatively easy upgrade and can be done in a number of different ways. The shelf could be used in the garden to hold a planter or maybe in the bathroom as a hanger for towels.
If you chair has lost a leg or has a few faulty ones, remove them and sand down the seat and backrest. Add a lick of paint in whatever colour you desire and you’ve got yourself a rustic garden shelf that can be fastened to a wall.
Alternatively, the backrest of a chair (similar to our Italian Bistro Chair) could be removed and placed on a bathroom wall to hold towels and the like.
Bookcase to drinks cabinet
This, again, is a relatively easy transformation. And if a drinks cabinet isn’t needed, a bookshelf can be used for a host of other things such as storage for your glassware, bar equipment or board games for customers.
What you need to do is remove all of the shelves and sand down them and the remaining bookshelf structure. Paint your chosen colour and then fasten glassware holders and wine bottle holders to the desired number of shelves. Fit some led lights on the sides to complete a stylish new drinks cabinet for your bar.
Coffee table to footstool
In café’s especially, you are bound to have a few redundant coffee tables. To repurpose a coffee table into a footstool you’re firstly going to need some foam to place on the top (aim for foam that’s around 4 inches thick). Once you’ve cut the foam to the size of the coffee table top, glue the two together.
Next up, you need to get some upholstery fabric in your desired pattern and colour to cover the foam with. You need around 10 inches extra fabric on the dimensions of your coffee table, e.g. if your coffee table top is 32x32 inches, you need to order fabric that’s 42x42 inches. Finally, secure the fabric over the foam with staples (remember to pull the corners tightly). If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you could add tufting for an extra stylish finish!
Chest of drawers table to bench
A chest of drawers that get stuck when opening and don’t slide as well as once before is frustrating to say the least! Thankfully, their structure is able to be crafted into plenty of other form, including a bench!
Firstly, take of the top rows of drawers, leaving one remaining row at the bottom. Nail measured fibreboard to cover the bottom draws and around the shell of the frame. Sand it down and then add a coat of paint. Finish it off by throwing on a foam pad and cushions!
Door to coffee table
A doorframe into a coffee table? Really? Yes! If you have an old door frame then how about transforming it into a door coffee table for your establishment? The more unique the door frame, the better!
Saw the door down to the coffee table size you desire and then sand it until you’re happy that there aren’t any scuffs or sharp edges. Attach some quirky wooden legs to each corner with screws and wooden glue. For extra support attach some wooden beams to join the legs. Then, get painting!
We recommend painting the doorframe and the wooden legs in different colours for a nice shabby chic contrast.