50 Times Old Items Were Given A New Lease On Life

By maks in Interesting On 10th December 2024
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Just because an item looks old or a bit worn-out doesn’t mean it’s destined for the trash. With a little hard work and creativity, these objects can often be transformed into something beautiful and useful again. Restoring items isn’t just a practical way to save money and resources; it’s also a great way to practice sustainability and reduce waste.

Plus, there’s something incredibly satisfying about seeing the “before” and “after” transformation of these projects. It’s inspiring to see how much care and effort people put into breathing new life into their belongings. We’ve compiled a collection of stories and photos from people who took on the challenge of restoration and gave old items a stunning makeover. Scroll down to see these amazing transformations, and don’t forget to upvote the ones that inspire you to take on a project of your own!

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My Wife Has Had This Desk Since She Was A Kid. I Made It My Self-Isolation Project

Georgiegoodboy

My Craft. I Restored These Century Old Doors Of A Mausoleum

MoonMoonMoonMoonSun

The doors are about 130 years old, made from oak and are heritage protected. I am a carpenter and my job was to restore them, rebuild missing parts and treat the surface. I hope I did them justice.

Picked This One Up For The Price Of The U-Haul To Haul It. I Haven't Found Any Info On It, But Refinished It Anyway

mlkandtoast
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Refurbished The Front Doors Of Our 1864 Home, Learned A Ton, Love The Outcome. Finished With Wood Kote Ultra 450 Poly

lpen-z

My Parent's House Has This 100 Year Old Hubbel Light Switch, But It Didn't Work Consistently For As Long As I Can Remember. I Took It Apart, Polished The Outside, And Bent The Internal Contacts Back Into Shape And Now It Works Great! The Physical Mechanism Is Incredibly Sturdy And Satisfying To Use

markv12
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Liked The Shape Of This Vase And Knew It Was Spray Painted, No Guess As To What Was Underneath But Decided To Give It A Go. Pleasantly Surprised

theothercrystal

As Part Of My Recent Bedroom Renovation I Decided To Restore This Almost 100 Year Old Wardrobe Instead Of Ripping It Out And Replacing It With Something New With Much Less Character. Sometimes Old Things Can Still Be Nice With A Bit Of Work

mcn35

Restored This Old Door To Its Former Glory

ryannearhood

I started this project not knowing exactly what to expect to find underneath all the old crusty white paint. I’ve also never worked with quarter sawn wood before and wasn’t sure if the medullary rays were a mistake from not sanding the door correctly. The Reddit community kindly let me know that this was a very valuable find and not a mistake. Super excited to be done with this project and have such a great looking door restored to its former glory. Thanks for all your help and kind responses.

Found An Old Tube TV By The Trash. Now My Cats Have A New Spot!

vianetzy

Don’t Know If This Belongs On This Sub. The Previous Owners Of Our 1918 Home Put A Cheap Ugly Finish On The Floors. Second Photo Is The Refinished Result

charliepuppers
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I Don't Know If I Can Top This One! 😍 Fully Restored Brasilia II Petite Buffet

midcenturymistress

Herself Again

stickchomper

Was mentioned I should post this here too

Found on marketplace for $30 and scrambled to get it before anyone else recognized it. Late 1970’s rare lamp, not a speck of paint left on her and shines like a mirror!

(USA) Antique Boiler Door I Converted To A Fireplace

reddit.com

I Restored This Rusty & Broken 1940 Chevy Headlight And Transformed It Into A Floor Lamp

TotallyHandy
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Hi! New Here. I Recently Found This Corner Table In The Trash And Stripped Three Coats Of Ugly Paint Off Of It And Stained It

mads1renwoman

I Didn’t Even Want It, But I Had To Get That Paint Off When I Saw It At Goodwill

tenglempls

An Old Vintage Radio I Repurposed Into An iPod Speaker

Guppy1985

Restored My Grandparents Gas Parlor Stove. Not Back To Original Condition, The Firebox.and Burners Were In Really Bad Shape So I Installed Electric Flame Flicker Bulbs

navy_snipe
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DIY Barbie House Made From Old Dresser

Grass_of_Parnassus

I made a DIY Barbie house with my "little" in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. My goal was to repurpose items or make things myself as much as possible. I already had basically all the woodworking tools I used for this project, but this was my first big project with them. It was definitely trial and error to figure things out, so there were lots of mistakes made along the way. Almost all of the furnishings and decor was made from thrifted odds and ends or bits of plywood and dowels. A few things were purchased at Dollar Tree or on clearance at various craft stores. My amazing mom sewed the table cloth, bedding, curtains, shower curtain, and towels. Most of the flooring is stick-on wall paper/decals from Dollar Tree. Kitchen flooring is shelf liner I already had (I think from Target). The "rugs" are placemats that I thrifted or bought at Dollar Tree. If anyone has questions about where other items came from or how things were made, I'm happy to provide lots more detail. (Side note: see my post history for kitchen cabinets that were later added... Sorry I don't have any photos of them in the house.)

Repurposed 100-Year-Old Flywheel

DabbledInPacificm

In 1963, my grandfather acquired some of these giant flywheels that were in an old factory that used the current from a stream to turn their spindle machines. They sat in his garage for decades until his passing. In 2021 they made their way to me and the other day I turned one of them into a table. Had to router out about 1/8” of the beveled inside edge to make the glass fit. Pretty happy with the way it cleaned up.

American Of Martinsville Dresser That I Tried My Best To Restore

LaneyWynne

1943 Waterfall Vanity Restore

Embarrassed_Worth543

I still have some more to go but I am just so happy I could cry. I bought this poor vanity a month and a half ago when it was just caked in chalk paint. It hid many secrets: gorgeous inlays, some child’s “artwork” of scratching the word “help” in the wood, and the manufacturer stamp! I have spent the last month and a half spending every free moment I have had into stripping off the most gooey, gross paint and sanding it until FINALLY tonight I am to this point. And I am so happy! Tomorrow I get to start staining but I am so proud of how far I have come. I have never done anything like this before and this was a pretty ambitious first project but it is paying off!

The 19th Century Chair Was Delivered In A Deplorable State

Restoration work was carried out: one side part of the seat, decorative parts of the legs and embossing were restored. The surface was covered with walnut stain, as well as three layers of oil and one layer of wax. The customer's upholstery was complemented with decorative nails along the edging. How do you like this restoration?

Khamza.Atabaev
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Goodwill Rescue Of The Week. Saw Some Cobalt On The Bottom Of This Bud Vase. Got The Twine And Hot Glue Off Only To Find That It Had Three Layers Of Paint On It (Black, Gold, And Red). Some Soaking In Boiling Water And Some Very Satisfying Paint Peels Gave Me This

tenglempls

I Put Two Months Of My Time On Weekends And After Work To Remove The Awful Paint From This Gorgeous Danish Teak Desk With Floating Legs!

PoachedPears

Restored This Beauty Back To Its Glory. It’s Now A Staple In Our House

Skyewanderers

$75 Craigslist Find. Ended Up Getting It For Free After He Saw We Were Expecting. First Time Refinishing Something!! Pleased With How It Came Out

L0-Ki

My Father's Eight Year Restoration Of A '61 Chris Craft Capri

ShockinglyMilgram

This is it's first time in the water, all finished. My father had never built a boat nor approached anything wood related to this degree. He used to do wreck diving as a hobby, but took this on as going into the cold murky depths off of Long Island is no longer appealing to a 63 year old man. He apprenticed with a boat restoration shop once a week and worked on his own boat in his spare time.

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Great Aunts Meat Cleaver. Asked For A New Handle And I Went A Bit Overboard

Kalsor

Inspired To Share This After Seeing Yesterday’s Popular Post

trevorl56

Found on Facebook marketplace for $15 and refurbished as a nightstand.

Cherrywood Dropleaf End Table Restoration

Chainsaw-Charlie

Found this antique end table at a storage auction; it’s essentially a miniature dropleaf dining table. Absolutely stunning cherry wood underneath!

Restored This Table Found In Our Recently Purchased 1922 House!

lithigos

Found in what we have dubbed the "horror room" in the basement of our century home, this table needed some serious tlc. I could have tossed it, but I needed a table for beside the window, and this was literally the perfect height to not block the window and add some extra storage/utility. Top was scuffed, dented scratched and covered in construction dust. The bottom of the drawer was warped and falling apart. The slide-out panel was swollen stuck and had to be sanded down in place to be removed. The finish was chipping and there was a tar-like residue leftover from some kind of screwed on padding on the feet, not to mention the rusty screws still left in the base of the feet. And naturally, there was rusty hardware that needed to be replaced and split pieces of wood that needed to be glued back together. In the end I used dollar store contact paper for the drawer and leftover stain and other materials, probably spent $30 max and got some quality bonding time with my new garage and enjoyed some lovely warm spring weather while working on it. Considering how beautiful the grain of the wood is and the hints of chatoyance, I am so in love with this table and happy to give it a new life. Many books will be read and mugs of tea set here.

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1st Tool Box For My Sons 1st Birthday

vtr1994

No Idea Who Would Buy This, Paint It, And Throw It To The Curb, But I Love My New Lamp

99_ahc

Hobart Mixer Restoration: Before, During, And After

vgravedoni

40 Hours On This 1960s Bandsaw And If Looks Like New

reddit.com

So I Found A Rusty Old Axe, And Decided To See If I Could Restore It. This Was The Process. Turned Out Better Than I Thought!

RoboftheNorth