I love to decorate and I jump at the chance to design a room from scratch, or change a room around, or even stage a space. Given that I DO have a very limited re-decorating budget, and I DON’T have a warehouse full of various furniture and home furnishings at my disposal, I’ve learned to re-purpose, and its fun! So what exactly is re-purposing? It’s adapting the use of an object for a different purpose; when you take something you may or may not be using in its present state and alter it to suit what or where you need it to be. There are countless ways you can re-purpose; turning crates into coffee and end tables, making the dollar store mirrors you bought look expensive, turning a picture frame into a vanity tray, re-upholstering chair seats, dying fabric that was just laying around to be used as a swagged window treatment or using an old sweater as a pillow cover, or my personal favorite, spray painting accessories to be re-used.Anyone who knows me knows that I will spray paint ANYTHING!!! Lol!!! I am the queen of spray painting! A few apartments and two houses later, I’ve learned not to throw anything away. Many items in my home have been re-purposed at least once. My first home décor required mainly silver-toned accents and accessories, whereas in my second home the décor dictates more gold-tone treatments. So I got to spray-painting to make it all work out without having to buy a thing… other than several cans of spray paint!
Sometimes I’ve had to spray paint or switch out hardware on drawers, or re-cover lampshades to make them work in the new space, and I’ve even turned a lampshade into a ceiling light fixture! I fell in love with chandeliers when I moved into my first home and quickly found out how pricey they could be. But I found that great chandeliers from some of my favorite consignment shops, purchased at unbelievably minimal costs, could be repurposed. And after of course spray painting them, then adding, removing or replacing the glass shades or bowls, draping faux crystals, netting, ribbons, floral pieces or whatever, they were new, custom-designed lighting fixtures for the space I was decorating. For those of you that prefer to go on a weekend shopping spree, buying everything you need in one trip and placing it perfectly the first time, repurposing is not for you. With a vision in mind of what you want, sometimes you have to adjust and re-adjust the repurposed items a few times before you get it just right, or you have to make yet another trip back to your “go-to” stores a few times for added pieces to bring it all together for you. It’s a process. So when you’re blessed with that next dwelling, and tempted to just get rid of everything in your current home, don’t! Just box it all up and store it as decorating inventory. You’ll be surprised how often you pull out that box of goodies once you’re moved in and ready to decorate!
