Repurposing Furniture
My daughter has a gorgeous antique dresser with a marble top, but the drawers are completely dysfunctional. They stick, they go all wonky, they just are a pain. Her husband is handy, and he has tried to fix them, but they just won't be fixed.
I was thinking she could take the drawers out altogether, and either look for baskets the right size for the drawer space (like this), or find cardboard boxes the right size, and spray paint them- something like this idea, which was used for a bookcase, or this, only with wicker or linen baskets instead of plastic.
She can then take the drawers and put castors on them, and use them for under the bed storage- of extra bedding, baby clothes, seasonal clothes, or, one day soon, a toy box- sort of like this, only with the castors so it's easier to pull the drawers out and put them away.
What are some ways you have repurposed furniture?
7 Responses to “Repurposing Furniture”
August 27th, 2010 at 7:24 am
I took an old piano bench and turned it into a padded footstool: http://lindasfamilynews.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/footstool/
August 27th, 2010 at 10:20 am
I did that exact same thing – I had an old dresser of my grandmothers, and the drawers eventually gave out. I took them out and put a very thin piece of luan plywood in each space to create a shelf. I keep baskets on each shelf to contain random clutter. It worked amazingly and took very little effort.
I kept one of the original 1930′s doors from our first house and have a plan to turn it into a headboard one of these days. And a low wooden coffee table from the thrift store was a lego-building table for a long time. I don’t know whatever possessed me to get rid of it – I’d like to have it back and paint it with chalk-board paint.
August 27th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
I love this idea! I may end up doing something similar for the built in drawers in my home–the drawers are in horrible shape!
Thanks for sharing!
August 27th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
I love the bookcase modification!
August 28th, 2010 at 11:36 am
I just wanted to compliment you on your use of the word “wonky.”
August 28th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Have you tried rubbing the edges of the drawers down with bar soap?
Heather
August 29th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Oh, I love that piano bench footstool!
Deb, I use an old 1930s door as a desk- it lies across two filing cabinets.
Annie, I hope it works out for you!
Kim, I know! I did, too.
Thanks, Renee.=)
Heather, yes they did. That was the first thing they tried. But it’s not just a matter of the drawers sticking- they fall off the tracks because the drawers and the tracks are warped, and bent out of shape.
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