Follow me on Social Media
Shop My Treasures Here
You can furnish your home on a budget and still show style, creativity and class. Garage Sale finds and hand-me-downs don't have to look trashy. Below you will find some examples of thrifty (trash to treasure) furniture pieces you can make with a little hunting, and some sweat equity, you'll have one-of-a-kind pieces that will make your friends green with envy.
Old Windows can easily be made into table tops
click here for more window ideas
 This side table was made from a stack of old suitcases click here for more luggage ideas
 Old Shutters can be turned into shelves,cabinets, headboards, Hutches, Wall Shelves and even table tops click here for lots of shutter ideas
 The cabinet on the left was made mostly from old cabinet doors. The shelf unit in the middle was made from disgards and old Locker baskets, and the cabinet on the right was completely made of leftover and scrap wood.
Match Made in Heaven-by Margo
Projects for old sewing machines and parts 
This occasional table was made from sewing cabinet drawers, old stair spindles, and scrap wood. I've attached instructions
for this project at the bottom of the page. Another old sewing cabinet made this cute coffee table.
Computer Desk by KG in CA I saw this project on the HGTV message board posted by KG in CA. She gladly agreed to let me share it with you. She started out with an old sewing machine cabinet that had seen better days. She Writes, "My sister brought this setup to me knowing liked old Singers. Someone had done a horrible whitewash with gold paint splotched on the drawers, but I loved the iron base."
"Later I needed a computer desk so I left the chippy whitewash, cut a board with rounded corners to sit on the top two drawers. I've grown to like the shabby look of it."
Now It's a computer Desk. What a great re-purpose KG.
Sandysez from the HGTV message board made this great luggage stool:
"Now I'm on the search for more vintage suitcases! Picked this one up for $5.00, cleaned it up, painted the leather trim and decoupaged old seed packets and lace on it. The legs are from an old footstool I bought this summer. I cut a piece of MDF for the bottom and screwed thru from inside to attach the legs. Great for magazine storage!!"
Mary in Wisconsin made this old door into a table. She used old sewing machine bases as the base for her table.
These 2 pieces are made by Green Oak Antiques  First is a counter or island.......the front is panels of old ceiling tin.....the wood trim blocks above the panels are from under the eaves of an old house....we bought them at the big Springfield Ohio flea market....the posts on the sides are from our parts pile....we get about any old parts we can find and use them as needed....the board at the base is from oul house door trim..... all the parts make kind of a messy look , since they are in different colors and finishes, so we paint it all, this one is mostly white, with off white and tan dry brushed on top... I like using lots of textures and parts.... sometimes we seal it all with deft .... we sell them in our store...
Nancy Jo, made this side table from an old type drawer and sewing machine stand
Here's how she did it "I bought the sewing machine stand at a yard sale for $8. I bought the typesetting tray for $9. And then I had the local glass place cut me a piece of glass for the top. The type drawer has a lip on it, so the glass fits down in it a little bit. I took the drawer to the glass place so it would be an exact fit."
 This cabinet obviously needed some help. I added the applique, painted it and then changed out the hardware. goes to show, what can be done with a little paint.
Dress up old furniture with paint and embelishments
A little bit of paint can go a long way. Take a took at these 2 projects, Before and After. The desk had seen better days. Although you can't tell from the picture, the wood was in horrible condition. I painted it, distressed it and added 1/2 cut spindles to some of the damaged areas and to add interest.
Old Headboards can become extra seating
See the little table beside the bench, that was also made from 2 parts found at Garage Sales. The bottom was part of a table that had a bad top, and the top is an old tin tray. click here for many more headboard bench ideas
 This table was made from wood trim pieces used as legs, and an old cabinet door
Ceiling tin as an insert
One old chair, Many projects Sher aka Grinnin gramma made these 3 great projects from 1 old chair
What a great use of an old chair, Good Job Sher
Joan's Rescued Telescope Case
 Joan from the HGTV Board tells the story behind this project. "I found this telescope case in the crawlspace under a rental house my Dad has. The top was in bad shape, I covered it with the brown bag technique. Hubby built a frame for it I think it makes a pretty good entry table. I am trying to decorate out family room in a more male friendly way. Hubby thinks the rest of the house is kind of girly" It turned out great Joan, thanks for sharing. This project is from Clydene
The is an old Card Catalog cabinet, it came out of a library, it held the old Dewy Decimal cards you can still see the four dots on the drawers that held the little metal bracket for the index numbers still have them maybe I should put them back on.
Roneee turned an Old door into a great and beautiful hall tree
What a great project Roneee
This project was submitted by Jennifer
She writes: Tina 56 re-purposed this old dresser into a bathroom vanity
 This was an old library cabinet with 2 missing drawers. I covered the drawers with framed art(homemade), added legs and it's a chair side table.
 This is an old school desk, purchased at a garage sale. It was painted Green before I stripped it and stained it. Makes a great lamp table or end table.
 This is a garage sale patio table, I added the broken Tile mosiac.
Sewing Machine Drawer, Occasional table
here are the steps of construction
I added an applique for interest, and after I painted I added some glass knobs |
