10 Upcycled Home Decor Ideas & Easy DIYs

Check out these upcycled home decor ideas and learn how to create beautiful, one-of-a-kind pieces for your home!

I love taking old (sometimes worn-out) items and using them to make something new and amazing. It’s not only eco-friendly to repurpose things but it can also be a super inexpensive way to furnish your house, make a little money on the side, and create unique gifts for others!

The DIYs shown below have different skill ranges. Some require drilling and cutting with a chop saw but most are easy upcycles with a little glue and paint. I cover it all, so let’s get right to the trash to treasure home decor ideas.

1. Wood Picture Frame Tray

Old wood picture frames are everywhere at thrift stores and garage sales. You may even have a few that you’re not using around the house.

I love turning old frames into serving trays and it’s really easy to do. Just drill holes into the sides to add handles, paint and add decorative paper to the frame if you have a glass insert.

If your frame doesn’t have a glass insert or you’d like to remove it altogether, you can cut and nail wood craft board to the back and use a stencil to decorate your tray as I did here.

I also made a picture frame tray using broken ceramic plate pieces. It was a bit more work and required a few more supplies from the hardware store but it came out beautiful! If you’re interested, you can check out the full tutorial & video here –> DIY Mosaic Picture Frame Tray.

2. Bedpost Turned Into Candle Holders

If you run across a chunky spindle or in this case an old weathered bedpost, consider cutting it down to make candle holders.

I found an old bedpost at the flea market for $10 and couldn’t pass it up. The small saucers were left over from another project and I thought they’d make the perfect candle holder tops!

I didn’t have to do very much here. I just cut the wood post in two pieces and glued the saucers to the top with a 2-Part Epoxy.

As a last-minute finishing touch, I decided to dry brushed white chalk paint onto the base. The candle stick holders still look weathered but they blend better with their white saucer tops.

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3. Old Teapots, Mugs & Thrifted Containers As Planters

I rarely buy flower pots from the store because I like to find containers that match a plant’s personality! I’m always on the lookout for unique containers when visiting my local Goodwill store and yard sales.

I rarely pay more than a dollar for a mug, mini pitcher, or tiny ceramic bowl. And, I’ve found that plants sold in handpicked thrifty containers sell really well in my antique store booth.

Here’s one of my latest finds. How cute is this doggy mug? I couldn’t pass it up for 99 cents! I’ll update this post when I find the perfect little succulent to call it home.

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4. Drawer Front Turned Wall Hook Sign

This is another useful upcycled home decor idea. Be on the lookout for unique items you can make a sign out of like old cabinet doors, wood trays, or a wood drawer front!

I was given this old dresser drawer on one of my flea market trips but I really had no idea what to do with it. Since it was free, I took it home thinking I would turn it into an under-bed storage drawer with wheels. Unfortunately, the bottom had water damage but I was able to salvage the curved front to make this vintage-looking wall hook sign.

To make sure the piece could bear the weight of coats, we added a french cleat to the back. If you don’t know what a french cleat is, it’s a simple way to mount something heavy to the wall. You can buy a premade french cleat here on Amazon or if you have a table saw you can make one out of scrap wood. Learn how to make one in this video from Popular Woodworking.

5. Wood Hanger Made Into A Jewelry Organizer

I found an old wood hanger in the back of my closet and decided to add a few hooks to it to organize my chains and necklaces! You can find wood vintage hangers at garage sales, antique stores, and here on Etsy. Or, buy a few new ones on Amazon.

To turn this hanger into a jewelry organizer, I first added small hooks to the bottom of the hanger. I was able to screw five hooks into the bottom of the hanger by hand but you could also use plyers and a vice.

To pretty it up, I painted it white and used wood glue to glue this beautifully molded onlay to the front. You can find onlays and decorative wood pieces at most hardware stores. I found this one here on Amazon.

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6. Racket Turned Pineapple Memo Board

Old tennis rackets and badminton rackets make awesome memo clipboards.

Here I used a hand saw to remove the top of my metal badminton racket. Then, I hot glued a cardboard cutout for the pineapple top, spray-painted gold, to make the top. For decoration, I hot glued sequin ribbon around the edges.

7. Thrifted Book Stack Bundle

Decorate your home with color-coordinating book stacks! Use books in bundles to decorate shelves or as coffee table decor.

You can purchase these eye-pleasing bundles (here on Etsy or on Amazon) but they can be quite pricey.

I recommend heading to your local thrift store or used bookstore to search for hardcover books to create your own. I found these books at Goodwill. Altogether they cost under $10.

Another option is to make book stacks out of Dollar Tree paperback books. If you’d like to learn how to distress paperback books, check out this tutorial –> How to Distress Dollar Store Books with Chalk Paint.

8. Solar Garden Mushrooms

You can find all types of glassware at thrift stores and garage sales for just a few dollars. You may even have a bunch of glass bowls and vases hiding in your kitchen cabinets already!

Why not dig them out and repurpose them to make these cute mushrooms for your garden? To learn more, check out the full tutorial here –> DIY Garden Mushrooms Using Thrift Store Glassware.

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9. Glass Jar Candle Votives

Wide-mouth glass jars from the recycle bin can be used to make pretty candle votive holders. If you have a few glass gems left over from upcycle #8, use them to make these beautiful candle holders.

These sparkly candle holders make great gifts or make them as table decorations for your next wedding or party. Get the full tutorial with easy how-to’s here –> Glass Gem Votive Candle Holders.

10. Hand-Painted Bud Vases

There’s no shortage of clear glass bud vases like these at thrift stores and garage sales. And, you can usually get them for just a few cents. Why not paint a few and give them as gifts?

To make them, pick up a few small paintbrushes (small angled brushes too) and paint made for glass. Here’s a link to a set of enamel glass paint on Amazon that I love…FolkArt Gloss Finish Acrylic Enamel Craft Set. I painted flowers but any design you like. Here’s a closeup of the finished vases so you can see the paint detail better…

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MORE DIYS & FREE PRINTABLE:

• DIY Stairs Makeover – How to Paint an Interior Staircase
• Frying Pan Planter Upcycle With A Patina Finish
• Free Pumpkin Spice Art Prints
• DIY Farmhouse Wood Signs – Free SVG Files

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