Re-purposing

I'm constantly amazed with the ideas people come up with to re-purpose junk into something cool. Take this for example. 



Do you have items that you re-purpose when you find them in a storage unit?

Always... some of my best selling pieces are re-purposed. You have to get used to thinking outside of the box. Once I got a hutch that went on top of a desk but no desk. Turned it upside down put legs and a top shelf on it. Piece of garbage for most sold for $150.00. Old dark wood dinning table top with no legs got attached to an end table that the top was messed up on and became a coffee table. Sold for $75.00. Again most people would have thrown both away. My modo Recycle, Re-purpose, Reuse.

About the most repurposing I do is put shelves into old entertainment centers or TV armoires. I bought a couple cans of spray paint and clear coat to test my repainting skills on some cheap side tables I found in a unit. Maybe I'll do that this afternoon and post some sorry looking pictures!

After your done painting them, lay them down on their fronts and drag them down the driveway. Then you can call them shabby chic and charge more. 

Turns out I'm really bad with a spray can! I don't think I have the patience for it.. I sprayed the clear enamel too soon after the paint.

After your done painting them, lay them down on their fronts and drag them down the driveway. Then you can call them shabby chic and charge more. 

I'm gonna give them to my sons and let them use the tables as dirt sleds!

Turns out I'm really bad with a spray can! I don't think I have the patience for it.. I sprayed the clear enamel too soon after the paint.

I'm gonna give them to my sons and let them use the tables as dirt sleds!

After you're done, punch holes in the wood with an ice pick to make them look like they have worm holes. 

Yuppies really love that.

Finally!  Something kind of cool and practical to use up the dozens of suitcases that pile up that nobody ever wants to buy.  Half the time, I fill them up with stuff for Goodwill and drop them off..........maybe this could make some money off them for a change........

I guess I'd better get busy on this stack !

Fifty or more of the items below could be made from the stack above.

That's cool. But they probably had to build some kind of support frame inside.

I repurpose everything I can. Or I sell 'as-is' and advertise that it can be used for Pinterest projects. When I advertise like that I sell quick. And I've made some contacts who I can call and they'll take all the junk furniture I can find. Most popular stuff is dresser drawers from a broken dresser, old windows in wood frames, wooden boxes and trunks in any condition or size, old wood, and old suitcases. My husband thinks it's amazing that people pay us for this stuff that he would just haul off to the dump.

One of my favorite repurposing tricks is taking chairs ( you know the ones, the ugly wood chairs that every middle class family had in the 80s and 90s). You usually find one in every unit. Maybe you get lucky with a pair. But it's never a whole set. I take each chair and spray paint with some bold color. Like red, pink, yellow, blue etc... I can then sell them for $25 each on the Facebook garage sale site and they are sold within hours.

We have many people that come into my buddies store that re-purpose, re-finish, etc. things.  We have sold busted furniture for $50 - $100 that they redo and re-sale for 2-3x the money.  People love us as we have fair prices and don't get mad if you buy from us and re-sale for more profit.  There are even a few thrift stores that buy stuff from us.  Now - these types people don't get any discount.  What you see on the sticker is what you pay.  But they can still turn some profit.

Any solid wood stuff moves easy - no matter the condition.
Old wood skies (not fiberglass) we have been asked for several times.
Any old plow parts sale well.

I just sold a small dresser w/ a big hole in side where someone kicked it for $10.  Lady just needed a cheap dresser for some kids cloths.