Re-purpose-ing

I love to watch tv shows like Trading Spaces and While You Were Out.  If you don't know about these shows here it is in a few lines:

Trading Spaces: 2 sets of neighbors, 2 designers, 1 carpenter, 2 days, 1 room to redo, and $1000.00.  The neighbors "trade" rooms to redo. A designer comes in with $1000 to help redo the room.

While You Were Out: You conspire to get your spouse (or whoever) out of the house for 48 hours.  While he/she is gone a designer, 2 carpenters come in with $1500.00 to redo a room.  Big surprise for the person who was sent out of town, as they have no idea you are redoing a room in the house.

Watching these shows you get ideas on how to change things in your own home for relatively little money.  This is were I have learned a word that I have come to dearly love: Repurposing.

What is re-purpose-ing?  Say you have a piece of furniture that has seen better days, maybe you can fix it up or even change the use of it.  On one show a designer found a small vanity that he loved the legs on. He didn't care for the rest of the piece so they took the legs off and made a new top and had a new table.  Sometimes the kitchen table isn't big enough, without spending tons of money on a new table (and assuming you are someone you know can do some carpentary work) just make a new bigger top to go on top of the old one.

My first "big" re-purpose-ing is taking place this week.  I have wanted a small curio cabinet for ages.  But they are just too expensive.  So I prowl through yard sales, used furniture places, etc to see if I can find one.

This week I found something that with a little work is going to work.  At Goodwill for $10 I found a small cabinet that has a glass door.  It is actually for a turn-table (remember those?) and stereo equipment.  The back is off and it has only one shelf.  That could be a problem.  I call my dad to come and look at it and see if he could help me "re-purpose" it.  Yeah, he could add a back and a shelf or two.  But adding the shelves could mess up the outside of the sides a tad.  No problem, some spackle, sandpaper and a coat of pait can fix that.

While we are looking at that $10 piece I start to daydream.  Wouldn't it look great if the back had a mirror? (All the expensive curio cabinets do) And if the shelves where made out of glass instead of wood.......I know me and my dad can't do that type of work on it. 

But wait.....my dad says he has a friend that might can do the mirror thing.  I go ahead and buy the piece, because whether his friend can do the mirror or not we can still make the piece work for what I want.

Dad takes it to his friend's house.  Oh my goodness, he (dad's friend) thinks he can put in glass shelves.  ADJUSTABLE glass shelves!!!  And it won't mess up the sides!  And he won't charge us for the work!!!

Oh, yes.  Got myself a mini-curio cabinet in the making!!!  And for nowhere NEAR what I would have to pay for the real thing.  Can you feel my happiness?  Can't wait for J to get it done so I can see the final product!

I am lucky to have people in my life that know a little about wood working.  But I bet if you wanted to re-purpose a piece you could do it, or if you asked people you know someone (or someone they know) could help redo a piece.  Of course it depends on what you are trying to do.