Have you ever had a need for a specific item in your home, whether it be design related or functionality? Of course you have, you’re human. Perhaps you’ve found yourself in that brain war (and possibly a disagreement with your significant other) of whether or not to shell out money to purchase it new. Or maybe you fall into a different camp. Maybe you’re in the mood to spruce up your home in some way and are looking to repurpose a recycled item to keep the green in your pocket.

I’ve been on both ends before, so today I want to show you three different practical items in my own home that are not being used for their originally intended purposes.

 

      1. Centerpiece

 

This first item isn’t used for practical purposes but more for design. As apartment dwellers know, apartment living has its own advantages and disadvantages. One of the latter being limited space and with that, less opportunity for personal style. Sometimes it’s easy to hold back your personal aesthetic in cramped quarters, but every little detail, even in spaces with little surface area, can make a huge statement.

 

My living room changes with the seasons, garland in the winter and silk flowers in the summer, but stripped to its bare bones is a black and gold theme. During the in-between months where I’m holding off on spring decorations but it’s still snowing (come on winter, give us a break) I don’t have a centerpiece on my coffee table.

While drying dishes and putting them away, I found this gold food tray. It was intended for entertaining, but instead I dusted it off and added three candles to it and voila! Centerpiece. It matches so well with my living room, and its simplicity is really refreshing.

*Look for trays or serving platters and find new and interesting places for them. They’ll get more use and they’ll be a talking piece.

 

      2. Kitchen Organizer

 

Moving to an apartment with less counter space, no pantry, and even less cabinetry was difficult to wrap my heavily packed kitchen brain around. I found a home for nearly everything except arguably the most important items: my plates, bowls, and drinking glasses. Literally the items we use everyday (soup lover over here!).

          

Now we were having organization space issues in the bathroom as well, and this shelf cabinet from Walmart used to hold our towels, my hair care, and perfumes. Its size proved to be an issue so I disinfected it and loaded it with our kitchen must-haves. This organizer has become one of my favorite storage options.

 

      3. Entertainment Center

 

For those on a strict budget and for those of you out there that aren’t, it’s safe to say splurging on an entertainment center isn’t always cheap. Again, limited space lady here, I didn’t want to buy something that fit our needs in this apartment but wouldn’t be practical in our new place. So we improvised.

Two words, end tables. Three words, matching end tables. They were part of a set that includes our coffee table, two lamps, and our couch. We found that we weren’t using them as end tables and knew we desperately needed to put our tv on something other than carpet. Together they make the perfect faux entertainment center. I know that entertainment centers have more functionality that just housing the television, such as storage, but we’ve found that we can fit what we use underneath while still keeping it simple and without the clutter.

What type of items have you repurposed in your own home? Did they serve their purpose and then some? If you find a problem, look first to your home, you might be surprised what is listless and looking for a new purpose!

 

Cheers!