Trash to Treasure: Upcycling In the Spring

Written by Milan Jara on 28th Apr 2015

People love to get creative with their spring cleaning because, let’s face it, spring cleaning is not terribly exciting. But when the cleaning is over, what do you do with the junk you have collected? Do you throw it out, or do you use it to build your own cleaning robot? Okay, maybe building a robot from your trash is not always a realistic possibility. But there are plenty of fun upcycling ideas you can use to turn your spring cleaning trash into treasure!

Robot From Trash

Photo By: Christopher Angell (Flickr)

Paint And Rug Samples

As you were doing your spring cleaning, you came across the paint color and rug samples you used to do a remodeling project a couple of years ago. Instead of throwing those samples out, you can get creative with them and make something really fun. If you have those one-foot square rug samples, then consider putting them on one of the walls in your kid’s room to make a fun display wall. The paint samples can be cut out and pasted onto a picture frame or the outer ring of a clock to create a fun pattern.

Tin Can Workshop Organizer

Some of that canned food you bought a few years ago has finally expired and you would probably feel better throwing it out as opposed to serving it. Instead of wasting the cans, you can clean out the cans and make your own tin can workshop organizer. Take the empty and clean cans and be sure to trim off the sharp edges to prevent injuries. Now all you need to do is use some rubber cement to glue the cans together into a wall of storage bins for your basement workshop.

Toilet Paper Tube Extension Cord Organizers

You never realized how many toilet paper tubes and old shoe boxes you have sitting around until you do spring cleaning. Instead of throwing them out, you can use them to keep your extension cords organized and easy to find. Neatly roll wrap an extension cord and stuff it inside of an old toilet paper tube. Then do that with all of your extension cords and put them neatly into a shoe box. You can also cut paper towel tubes into shorter pieces to get the same effect if you want. If you want to give the kids something to do, then give them some crayons or markers and let them decorate the toilet paper tubes.

Kleenex Box Bag Dispensers

For a lot of people, Kleenex boxes never seem to get thrown out until spring cleaning comes around. Instead of throwing those boxes out, fill them up with plastic grocery bags and place the boxes around the house for people to use whenever they need a bag.

Real Book Shelves

Over the years, your family has collected books (like old textbooks) that you can’t sell and you really have no desire to read. Instead of throwing those books out, you can turn them into real book shelves. All you need to do is install shelf brackets in your wall and then use the books as shelves instead of wood planks. The effect is actually really cool when you stagger the shelves along a wall.

We love to be creative and that includes being creative with our junk. When spring cleaning is over, you are usually left with a lot of junk that you would normally get rid of. But when you get creative with upcycling, you can turn that junk into unique household items that give your home plenty of character!

Trash to Treasure: Upcycling In the Spring

Paint And Rug Samples

Tin Can Workshop Organizer

Toilet Paper Tube Extension Cord Organizers

Kleenex Box Bag Dispensers

Real Book Shelves

Ceiling Tiles

Wall Panels

Moldings

Popular Pages

Downloadable Catalogs

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