Repurposing Furniture

I've been reading some about "repurposing."  It seems like a big fancy word that means you take some of your old junk and make something new and useful out of it.  I remember doing this in the 70's.  Make binoculars out of old toilet paper tubes!  Make quilts out of your old holey jeans!  Macrame a plant hanger out of old rope from the garage!  Isn't it just recycling at home?

The latest trends on repurposing seem to be in using furniture for other than it's designed purpose.  Like cutting the legs off a kitchen table and using it as a coffee table.  Or adding boards to an old headboard and making a bench out of it.  I looked around the house today and discovered that we are trendy!  We have got this repurposing stuff down pat.  (patting self on back)

Vintage treadle sewing machine used as plant stand / end table.  Gorgeous.

Sunshiny corner table meant for *me* (notice covered sewing machine in the left corner) improved as a family computer center!  Maybe not improved.  Note the creative freeform tangle of cords in the snake pit under the desk.

Washer and dryer repurposed as storage shelving.  Open shelving is so *in* this year, isn't it?  How refreshing it is to actually see all our messes, instead of just having to assume they are there!

Empty propane tanks used as yard art. Stunning.

My current fave: yet-unpacked moving boxes standing in for a night stand.

And our all time best furniture repurposing came this week when we parked a full-size upright dresser next to a sofa and called it a side table.  It was quite a focus piece, I tell you.  And as much as I loved it, I have to say that the whole room breathed a sigh of relief when that dresser found a new home at someone else's house.  Somehow, the room feels bigger now, and we can actually get past the sofa without having to do a sideways shimmy.  

Maybe I'm out of my league with these professional repurposers.  My pictures don't have the same lovely feel that theirs do.  So I guess I'm not quite cut out for a home decorating blog.  Sigh.  I guess I'll go move those propane tanks around to the back yard.