30 Upcycling Ideas From Our Favorite Designers

Embrace all the 're's — reuse, revamp, recycle and repurpose — to create a one-of-a-kind look with these designer ideas that delight in the antique, the vintage, the reclaimed and the salvaged.

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February 08, 2021

By: Chelsey Bowen

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Think Creatively

Whether it's salvaged architectural elements, family hand-me-downs or your latest thrift store find, sustainable and stylish design is within reach. For example, the lavish headboard in this bedroom began as a castoff. "I upcycled the most beautiful antique architectural piece for a client’s home, adding custom upholstery to create a headboard. I love it so much, in fact, that it ended up on the cover of my debut book," says designer Marie Flanigan.

From: Marie Flanigan Interiors

Make It Your Own

There's a time to keep an antique in its original condition, and there's a time to strip, paint or stain and remake it. "A friend came across an incredible butcher block table at the Round Top Antiques Fair. I felt it was perfect to repurpose as an island for my guest apartment, but the color was all wrong. I had it stripped and re-stained, and I love how it turned out," said Marie Flanigan.

From: Marie Flanigan Interiors

Consider Salvaged Seating

Vintage wood folding chairs, salvaged from an old theater, take a turn as an outdoor bench on the covered porch of HGTV Urban Oasis 2020. Lightweight and portable, the bench seating can be folded up and brought indoors, if needed.

See More Photos: Upcycled Design From HGTV Urban Oasis 2020

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Focus on What Can Be Reused

The key to a successful upycle is to determine which parts of a piece can be salvaged. The legs on this antique butcher block were rotten, so designer Abbi Williams built a base cabinet to support the salvageable top. The 8-inch-thick butcher block now flows seamlessly with the rest of the kitchen countertops.

From: Abbi Williams

Add One-of-a-Kind Details

Upcycled design can be as big as a reclaimed wood wall or as small as the hardware on your drawers. In this boy's bedroom, copper pipe and fittings are repurposed as unique drawer pulls.

From: Think Chic Interiors

Incorporate Family History

Most reclaimed and upcycled pieces have a story, but they feel particularly significant when that piece is tied to your own story. When these homeowners were able to buy back family land, they found remnants of the house their great-grandparents had built and repurposed this antique door into their new home.

From: Tawna Allred

Put Even Small Pieces to Work

Welcome guests with an upcycled design that will immediately catch their attention. Here, old wagon wheel spokes, with their eye-catching decorative ends, are attached to a rustic wood board for a custom coat rack.

From: Abbi Williams

Rock the Glam

For this serene girl's nursery, the homeowner thrifted an old cane rocker but the original orange-toned wood finish wasn't a match for the nursery's new look. So, designer Malka Helft had it sanded down and painted in high-gloss brass and white to transform it into a glam piece that fits the nursery's style.

From: Think Chic Interiors

Work With the Experts

Think outside the box … or, in this case, trough. Designer Abbi Williams worked with a metal fabricator to transform a metal hog trough from an 1890s general store into a rustic range hood. A completely unexpected material is now a major focal point of the kitchen.

From: Abbi Williams

Go Graphic

The geometric accent wall in this airy dining room proves that even broken pieces, salvaged from the beadboard walls of an 1890s general store, can create a beautiful design. When designer Abbi Williams and her team took the beadboard down, it broke into short pieces due of its age and brittleness. To use all the now-shorter pieces, Abbi came up with the graphic design. She adds, "Don’t clean the wood. Leave it as is. Once you clean it, you'll lose most of the patina."

From: Abbi Williams

Shop Your House

Before scrolling through design websites or heading to the store, take a look at the furniture you already own. With simple changes, your pieces can serve a completely different purpose than their original intent. Here, a cozy corner sofa is converted into banquette seating by switching out the legs. The taller raw-wood legs take the sofa from lounging to dining height and also help merge the styles of the table and seating.

From: Art Home Garden

Make the Most of Vintage

Often, antique rugs have a fair amount of wear and tear from decades of use. For this entryway, designer Martha O'Hara found a chic solution by having vintage rug scraps joined together to create a custom stairway runner and entry rug that add timeless style underfoot.

From: Martha O'Hara Interiors

Choose Pieces That Add Functionality

Look for pieces that bring functionality to your space and not just an extra surface to dust. In this New York City apartment, a pair of slim metal desks finds new purpose as a sofa table that doubles as a makeshift home office and a spot to enjoy a snack.

From: Art Home Garden

Harness the Power of Paint

What a difference paint can make. When these homeowners built their new home on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota, they worked with designer Martha O'Hara to reuse as many of their existing furnishings as possible. To freshen up their pieces, Martha gave the repurposed king-size bed and gorgeous antique chandelier a fresh coat of bright-white paint.

From: Martha O'Hara Interiors

Same Piece, Different Purpose

Reuse pieces to fit your lifestyle and needs. This Brooklyn brownstone is bursting with architectural appeal, from the floor-to-ceiling windows in their original casements to the exposed brick walls. Rather than filling the china cabinet with dishes and glassware in another room, designer Stefania Skrabak uses the traditional piece as a bookcase to display the homeowner's favorite reads.

From: Art Home Garden

Match Your Home's Style

Old farm equipment establishes an instant rustic aesthetic and its sculptural shape and timeworn patina look especially at home in farmhouse-style homes. Here, replacement plow parts that would have attached to a cultivator pulled by a tractor are converted into a small sconce.

From: Abbi Williams

Marry Form and Function

Found pieces are not only easy on your budget, but they also add character to a room. This thrifted swivel chair fits the space and pairs with the stunning vintage Steinway piano (featuring original ivory keys) that the homeowners perform on every day.

From: Martha O'Hara Interiors

Showcase Small Details

For this eclectic living room, salvaged mahogany church pews turn out to be the perfect fit. Carved panels from the pews surround the built-in sofa, bringing a textural detail to the plush seating.

From: Home Front Build

Repurpose Every Piece

The key to using upcycled pieces in your design is to look at a piece or even scraps with new eyes — how can you paint, stain, reinvent or reuse it in a different way? When the roof of a condemned country church was falling in, designer Abbi Williams was allowed to salvage wood from the ceiling. She used the beadboard to create a custom coffee table that anchors this living area.

From: Abbi Williams

Bring the Past Into the Present

Incorporating pieces from the past will lend a sense of history to a new design. Here, a dismantled upright piano from an old Masonic Temple is transformed into a custom mantel and fireplace surround. Bonus: The reeded glass panels in the French doors are reclaimed from windows panes in a denim mill.

From: Abbi Williams

Go Au Naturel

Natural elements reign supreme in this Craftsman-style home. When a cedar tree was felled to make way for an addition to a neighboring home, designer Greg Roth took advantage of the lumber and fabricated a milled live-edge dining table.

From: Home Front Build

Work With What You Have

Sometimes, all you need is a tiny refresh. To freshen up this sunny conservatory, designer Martha O'Hara infused the homeowner's existing furniture with new life: the breakfast table maintained its original stone top but was outfitted with a new custom iron base, while the swivel lounge chairs were reupholstered in a soft neutral fabric.

From: Martha O'Hara Interiors

Waste Not, Want Not

A city's growth was designer Greg Roth's gain for this project. An Italian Stone pine had to be removed from the homesite to accommodate a city-mandated street widening, so Roth remade the tree into office cabinetry. Exposed grain gives the cabinets a distinctly organic presence.

From: Home Front Build

Combine Styles

This sleek living room proves that hand-me-down pieces or thrifted antique finds can look right at home in even a streamlined, modern interior. Here, an inherited china cabinet may have once been where your grandmother kept her special dishes but it looks equally dashing as a handy bar, housing decanters, bottles and glassware.

From: Art Home Garden

Pour the First Round

Having an oh-so trendy bar cart in your home is perfect for entertaining or your end-of-day cocktail. The best part about creating your own bar cart is almost anything can be modified into one. Here, a former console was customized to house a variety of liquors, glassware, ice bucket and other essentials.

From: Art Home Garden

Cover Up With Vintage

Lake homes are made for big group getaways. Maximizing every nook of this home, designer Abbi Williams had bunk beds installed along a hallway, which she topped with vintage Italian army blankets.

From: Abbi Williams

Farm Tool = One-of-a-Kind Lamp

In another life, the metal scoops that form this table lamp were once attached to an agricultural grain belt. Stacked vertically around a central column and paired with a large linen shade, the scoops are now a custom lamp that adds character and patina to the room.

From: Abbi Williams

Pack Away the Clutter

In addition to serving as a handy side table, an antique trunk adds much-needed storage to any living space. Since most trunks are deep and wide, use smaller bins inside to corral your items.

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Old Is New Again

Mahogany church pews, salvaged from a church undergoing a remodel, are resurrected as a sleekly curved dining table and chairs. Intricate carvings add sculptural interest to each chair's splat, as well as the center of the table. Navy upholstery with white veining mimics the vine-like detailing of the carvings.

From: Home Front Build

Catalog Your Accessories

An antique card catalog cabinet makes for a unique storage system in this bright blue closet, allowing the homeowner to stow accessories, jewelry and small wearables with the proficiency of a librarian.

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

30 Upcycling Ideas From Our Favorite Designers

Related To:

Shop This Look

Think Creatively

Make It Your Own

Consider Salvaged Seating

Focus on What Can Be Reused

Add One-of-a-Kind Details

Incorporate Family History

Put Even Small Pieces to Work

Rock the Glam

Work With the Experts

Go Graphic

Shop Your House

Make the Most of Vintage

Choose Pieces That Add Functionality

Harness the Power of Paint

Same Piece, Different Purpose

Match Your Home's Style

Marry Form and Function

Showcase Small Details

Repurpose Every Piece

Bring the Past Into the Present

Go Au Naturel

Work With What You Have

Waste Not, Want Not

Combine Styles

Pour the First Round

Cover Up With Vintage

Farm Tool = One-of-a-Kind Lamp

Pack Away the Clutter

Old Is New Again

Catalog Your Accessories

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