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25 Great Ways to Repurpose Household Items
How to find new uses for the old stuff lying around your home
Mulling over ways to transform old items in your home? Look no further. These tips should give you some great ideas.
Sam Island
Key takeaways
- All kinds of everyday items, from jars to fabric to furniture, can be reused instead of discarded.
- Consider new uses for items in your home that you might otherwise throw out.
- Repurposing items can save money and reduce waste.
Americans toss hundreds of millions of tons of trash into landfills every year. In 2018, the total amounted to more than 292.4 million tons, about 5 pounds per person per day, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “The degree that you can repurpose and reuse household items makes a huge difference in terms of how much waste is going out into the world,” says Lauren Gropper, founder and CEO at Repurpose, a company based in Los Angeles that makes plant-based, compostable alternatives to single-use plastic products such as tableware.
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Another advantage of repurposing is that it provides materials for creating unique items. “When I walk around my house or my garden, I can’t pick out anything that looks like anybody else’s house, because everything has been totally curated by me,” says Stephanie Rose, author of The Wild & Free Garden and founder of Garden Therapy, a gardening and wellness lifestyle brand. Plus, it’s a chance to use your creativity, which aids in reducing cognitive decline as you age. Here are 25 creative ideas for repurposing household items and breathing new life into them.
1. Turn a firepit into a garden planter
Small changes we make by upcycling can add much delight and joy to a space. “One of my favorite repurposes is that I took a rusted, small firepit that was destined for the trash and turned it into a little raised planter bed in my garden,” says Michelle Stevens, founder and CEO of The Refill Shoppe, a retailer that helps people cut down on single‑use plastic by offering refillable bath, body, home and cleaning products. The firepit became a unique space for some plants while adding charm to her garden. (It looks “super cute,” she adds.)
2. Reuse glass bottles for storing grains
If you have a collection of glass jars in your home, use them for food storage. Add labels or write what the contents are with an erasable marker so you can reuse them over and over, says Justine Reichman, founder and CEO of NextGen Purpose, a media and community platform covering food and sustainability, and host of the Essential Ingredients podcast. You can use them to store all sorts of ingredients like grains, quinoa and pine nuts, she says.
Stevens loves storing things in glass. She removes the labels from old bottles by soaking them in water. Then she sprays the lids with chalkboard paint so she can label what’s inside. Keeping food in clear jars makes it easy to see what you have, adds Reichman.
3. Cut T-shirts into reusable grocery bags
To turn T-shirts into reusable shopping bags, cut the sleeves off, then cut the bottom into strips, and tie those into knots. The bigger the shirt, the bigger the bag, says Stevens, who faashions smaller T-shirts into mini reusable bags.
4. Use ribbon for dinner napkins instead of a napkin ring
Save ribbon from presents to repurpose it as napkin holders for dinner parties. “I keep a lot of the ribbon around from gifts,” says Reichman. She’ll add a sprig of rosemary as a decorative touch, since she grows a lot of it in her garden.
Take an old T-shirt and use it to clean up around the house.
Sam Island
5. Transform T-shirts into cleaning rags
An easy way to repurpose an old or worn T-shirt is to cut it up and use it as a rag for cleaning the house. Not only do you repurpose your shirts, but you also save money because you don’t need to buy cleaning cloths.
6. Turn placemats into liners
Placemats you no longer use can be repurposed as drawer liners. “Grab your old placemats, a ruler and some scissors, and cut those placemats into made-to-size drawer liners in your kitchen or bathroom,” Gropper suggests. Any spills on those liners are easy to clean up. Simply take the placemat liner out, wipe up the spill or mess, and then put it back.
7. Transform linen sheets into napkin
If you have sheets you’re thinking about discarding, and you can sew, turn them into tablecloths or napkins, says Reichman. Linen sheets can be converted into napkins for daily use.
If you don’t know how to sew, Reichman says you can just cut them yourself, though the edges will be a little rough. Cloth napkins are a great alternative to landfill-clogging paper ones, adds Stevens.
8. Store water in old glass bottles
Upcycle glass jugs or bottles with pop-top lids as water containers. Reichman saves beautiful French sparkling soda bottles and refills them with tap water. “I like to keep water in glass, versus plastic,” she says.
9. Use coffee mugs for organizing
Got old coffee mugs buried in the back of your cupboard? Use them to organize household projects. For example, they can hold spare change; paint for art projects; toothpaste and a toothbrush; or pens and pencils. They can also be used to sort and store Ikea parts when you’re putting a piece of furniture together, says Gropper.
Old jelly jars can hold flowers, your favorite beverage and anything else you can imagine.
Sam Island
10. Find new uses for jam jars
Save your jam and jelly jars to use as extra glasses or small vases for fresh-cut flowers. “It’s something simple that is accessible for people,” says Reichman.
11. Stitch old shirts into quilts
Instead of parting ways with old clothes, turn them into blankets. “We see a lot of T-shirt quilts in our industry, where you take all the T-shirts you had from your 5K races and upcycle them into a really cool blanket,” says Matt Paxton, author of Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff and host of the modern-day treasure hunt show Filthy Fortunes on Discovery. No sewing machine or skills required: “There are online companies that will do that. You just mail them the T-shirts, and they send back a blanket.” Project Repat, MemoryStitch and Too Cool T-shirt Quilts are among the companies that can bring projects like this to life for you.
12. Convert clothing into pillowcases
With a little imagination, old clothes can become bedding. Paxton shares a story about a family that upcycled their grandfather’s flannel shirts into pillowcases. “It was just a very hodgepodge mismatch,” he says. “It was not pretty, but everyone knew they were grandpa’s old, ugly flannel shirts, and so it got to stay with them.” Don’t know how to sew? Don’t let it limit your possibilities for upcycling. “You can literally find people online now or take it to the tailor shop,” says Paxton.
13. Upcycle fabric into pencil cases
Take clothes you no longer wear, or fabric remnants, and transform them into pencil cases for your kids or grandkids, says Gropper, adding that they’re “really fun and cute.” She likes denim because it lasts a long time; simply cut out two pieces of cloth the same size and stitch them together.
14. Frame your fine china
If you can’t part with your mother’s fine china but don’t have any use for it, transform individual pieces into frameable art. “When it came time to clean my mom’s house, she really couldn’t let go of her mom’s china because she didn’t want a dead person to be mad at her,” says Paxton, who suggests framing plates in shadow boxes so that each family member can have a piece. “I love the shadow box because it keeps the whole collection as a remembrance, and it helps us celebrate it,” he says. “But it also means we don’t have to take up the space of actually holding on to it and feeling like we need to use it, wash it — it’s literally just a plate.” As an alternative to shadowboxes, you could use wall hangers to display plates on a wall.
Belly up to your old console TV after you transform it into a stylish minibar.
Sam Island
15. Make an old TV into a bar
Is your parents’ old console-cabinet television set gathering dust in your garage? Convert it into a cool minibar. Paxton says a client removed the tube from an old box TV, installed a light, and suddenly they had a hip place to store their liquor. “They turned their old, bulky wooden TV box into a really cool, spectacular vintage bar,” he says.
16. Turn a china cabinet into a trophy case
Got an empty china cabinet after repurposing your plate collection? Paxton has seen people who move the cabinet out of the dining room and into the family room so they can use it as a trophy case. Add lights to illuminate the items on display for a more dramatic presentation. Use rechargeable lights; there’s no need to spend extra money and time installing wired ones. You’ll find these lights at craft stores, department stores and home-improvement outlets.
17. Turn sheets or fabric remnants into reusable gift wrap
Want to save money while reducing paper waste? Use old sheets or fabric remnants to wrap presents. “You can cut them up into reusable gift wrap, or if you have sewing skills, turn them into bags,” says Stevens. Use ribbon or twine to hold everything together.
18. Reimagine old or heirloom furniture
It may be difficult to part ways with furniture passed down in the family, or to get rid of good-quality furniture that’s no longer your style. But you can refinish your worn wood furniture or refurbish chairs with fabric that fits your current style. Or transform a piece into something entirely different. “People will take an old family dresser and turn it into a bathroom sink,” says Paxton. Remove the wooden top and replace it with a nice piece of marble, he instructs, then cut out the area for the sink. “Now your bathroom has this old vintage furniture that you use and enjoy,” says Paxton. Converting a family heirloom into something useful extends its life and personalizes it.
19. Reuse renovation materials
During a bathroom remodel, Reichman made sure to use any leftover material, even if it was in odd shapes. When she renovated her house and had leftover marble pieces, she asked herself: “What are we going to do with them? How can we use what we have without going to buy more?” She used the material for bathroom shelving and a sink in the powder room. “We used every little piece, as opposed to buying all different things,” she says. Plan ahead and consider how you might use any leftover material in advance.
Glue a bunch of wine corks together and voilà — you’ve got a great DIY bulletin board.
Sam Island
20. Build a bulletin board or trivet out of wine corks
Find inspiration to make something out of items you use frequently. If you’re a wine aficionado, you could upcycle corks into a variety of items, such as a trivet or bulletin board, says Stevens.
Here’s one way to do it: Align all the corks in one direction for a bulletin board or trivet. Or add your own design by putting one vertical and one horizontal in a row of five to create a square trivet. Use a glue gun to attach the corks. “The internet and Pinterest are such an amazing resource for helping transform items from trash to treasure,” says Stevens.
21. Refresh your armoire
Breathing new life into a piece of furniture can be very subtle. It might not be obvious to anyone but you, but it makes a difference in how you feel. For example, Reichman decided to use some extra wallpaper inside an old armoire. “I just wanted a little refresh,” she says, “so that when you open the doors, there’s a little wallpaper in there.”
22. Transform indoor furniture into outdoor furniture
Got indoor furniture that’s past its prime? Coat a dining table, side table or shelf with varnish or exterior paint to make it water-resistant, and move it outdoors, says Rose. “All of my outdoor furniture is this beautiful indoor furniture that we’ve moved outside, and all it takes is a little bit of elbow grease,” she says.
23. Reuse an empty candle container
If you’ve got an empty store-bought candle container, use it to create your own candle in the same holder. “Refill the jar with a new wick and soy-based wax,” says Gropper. “You can use essential oils if you like scented candles.” Don’t want to use the container for a candle anymore? Once you remove the wax, you can turn it into whatever your imagination can conceive. It could become a drinking glass, a holder for spare change or pens, or the new home for a small houseplant.
24. Renovate an old trailer
An old trailer taking up space in the driveway or garage can be a fun project. Rose has a refurbished vintage trailer from 1963 that she named Lola. “The inside is just like painting a house, putting in some flooring, or fixing the carpet or doing some upholstery work,” she says. Use the trailer as a storage shed or a guesthouse, though you may want to check local laws about accessory dwelling units if you plan to let someone stay in it. Rose uses hers for “mini parties” and sleepovers, and also takes it camping when she wants to hit the road.
25. Turn keys to wind chimes
Sometimes we end up with a family member’s knickknacks that hold emotional value, but we don’t quite know what to do with them. Paxton shares the story of a grandfather who had a coffee tin full of keys. After he died, a family member took around 30 of the keys and turned them into a wind chime. Now, every time friends come to visit, she gets to talk about her grandpa. It’s an example of how upcycling can be both a creative project and a conversation piece. “It leads you to talk about your loved ones, and that’s why you hold on to things,” says Paxton.
The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.
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