Kitchen renovations are a great way to update your home, but a lot of the material used goes to waste when it could be repurposed into something else. Wooden worktops, in particular, have many great uses due to their sturdiness and width, and you can easily find ways to turn them into something else in your home. Alternatively, buying a wooden worktop is a great way to save money on many household furniture items using clever hacks to turn them into stylish pieces. Here are three clever uses for a wooden worktop you can embrace for your home.

A desk/dressing table

Using a wooden worktop is an easy way to set yourself up with an affordable and stylish desk that is made from high-quality work and lacks the expensive price tag an actual desk would come with if bought from a furniture store. If you’re working with an existing worktop you may need to cut it to size, or alternatively you can order a new worktop in the finish of your choice from suppliers such as George Hill Timber who will deliver your worktop in your preferred size.  Your worktop may already have your desired finish, or you can sand and varnish until you get the look you’re happy with. Adding legs to your new desktop is easy and can be picked up easily from a various hardware stores. Whether you choose metal or wooden legs, make sure they are attached securely. É voila! You’ve got your own stylish and sturdy desk at a fraction of the price of a designer item.

A coffee table

Wooden coffee tables create a warm and cosy atmosphere in your home that makes them a popular furniture item to buy. Good quality wooden coffee tables however come with a hefty price tag. There is a lot of great inspiration for DIY wooden coffee tables online that you can recreate easily using your wooden worktop. As worktops tend to be long and narrow, you may need to cut yours in half and attach the two sides. Add the finishing touches that suit your tastes such as glass panels or coloured accents to create a truly unique piece that will outshine any shop-bought coffee table.

Shelves

Having shelves around the home gives you the opportunity to make the most of your available storage and get creative with styling them yourself. Trimming your kitchen counters to make multiple shelves can save you money and give you some more flexibility than if you were to buy shelves from a store. Sand them, paint them – do whatever you want to them to give them a fresh new look and attach them with brackets or invisible brackets for a taste of clean living.

Turning old or unwanted wooden worktops into something new is a great way to use less waste around your home. There are other things you can do with waste that are good for the environment and will save you money, making you and your home feel good. Get creative with your wooden worktop and see what new treasures you can build for your home.

If you have some rather bland looking storage, I’ve put together a real simple D.I.Y Ikea hack.

I’ve used the Ikea Mopp drawers as it’s easy to put your own stamp on them. Plus, they’re made from real wood so are of a better quality.

In order to complete the luxe makeover you’ll need:

• Rust-Olem Furniture Finishing Wax Dark
• Ikea MOPP  set of drawers
• An old rag
• Paintbrush
• masking tape
• White paint
• two different coloured paints of your choice – I’ve used copper and a mint green colour

Here’s what the drawers looked like originally:

Not bad – but it’s crying out for a chic overhaul.

I’ve used some Rust Oleum varnish to stain the wood a darker colour. Although dark wood has lost favour in recent times due to the more minimal “white” trend. I actually quite like adding in pieces of darker wood here and there as part of my interior style. Here’s how you can achieve the look:

Step One: Apply the Rust-Oleum Varnish

I’ve used an old rag to apply the Rust-Oleum Finishing Furniture Wax Dark in small circular motions. This should ensure optimum coverage without any smearing or signs of application. Make sure you leave this to dry overnight.

Step Two: Masking Tape Stripes

You’ll need to apply masking tape to ensure the lines are straight. Then I painted a white undercoat to make the colours more vivid.

You’ll need to do this twice or just the once if you only want to apply one coloured stripe. Of course you don’t need to add the stripes to the bottom draws, you could do them across the top or middle. It’s up to you.

Step Three: Apply the Colours

Use a smaller brushh to apply your colours over the dried white emulsion. I chose mint green and copper colours as this combination are my favourite right now.

For the second copper colour I found that I had to do two coats so bear this in mind.

Step Four: Peel off the Masking Tape

Carefully peel off the masking tape and see if there are any areas you need to touch up or have bled under the tape edge. You can always go over bleeds using a smaller brush and the varnish.

And here’s the finished article.

  

In all, this took half an hour (obviously without the over night drying time) but this is such a simple way to give your storage a stylish new look.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments.

Everyone has their favourite craft, but it’s hard not to fall head over heels with fashion design. You may not fancy yourself as the next Donatella Versace anytime soon, but you can apply your love of all things crafty to your wardrobe. Expressing yourself with what you wear is a lot of fun, and it only gets better when you start to add your own spin on things or even design them from scratch. If you’ve always wanted to get creative with fashion, it’s time to challenge yourself with a new crafty venture.

Brush Up Your Drawing Skills

If you ever loved to draw and paint as a child, or even now, you’re going to love this aspect of creating your own clothes. Whether you go for it using your imagination or head to your favourite clothing sites and raid magazines for inspiration, drawing clothing can be a good place to start. Not only can you finally find outfits that are your style, but you can also be as safe, or as experimental a you want. You then may go on to create them or just keep the designs for a rainy day.

Learn To Knit

For some reason, the world associates knitting with the elderly. But knitting can be a very therapeutic and creative craft. Not only is it an incredibly relaxing task, but you can often be left with some of the most beautiful items of knitwear at the end of each project. You can often find a range of free knitting patterns online, or purchase them in craft shops. Then, you can work on a hat and scarf set, baby clothes or even shawls and jumpers for yourself.

Embellish Everything

If you’re a complete craft newbie or have never attempted to create your own clothes before, you might be more comfortable altering the things you already own. Or you might even feel as if your wardrobe could do with a little jazzing up. Either way, embellishment is a lot of fun. Whether you want to add a few gems or stick on pre-purchased embroidered patches, simply grab a glue gun from somewhere like Glue Guns Direct and get to work.

Take A Sewing Course

Sewing isn’t easy for everyone to get the hang of. But, if you’ve always wanted to be able to design your own clothes, it might be worth your while to sign up for a sewing course. That way, you’ll learn each skill and step the right way. I was lucky enough to be taught to sew by my Mum and spent a lot of my child hood making things and customising clothing. But I brushed up on my skills on a local sewing course over a 3 month period in the evenings and I loved it. So I definitely recommend doing this.

You can often find great quality sewing machines in second-hand shops or for sale online if you don’t want to buy brand new. Before long, you’ll be a seamstress in the making.

And, you can find more great sewing tips and product reviews from our friends at Teach You To Sew

Try Out Embroidery

Another clothing craft that you might be interested in is embroidery. It’s a very detailed art and can leave you with some stunning pieces not only to wear but to style around the home too. And the best part? It’s super easy. Using a needle and thread, you can create relatively simple stitches to embellish cloth, clothing, and fabric for around the home.

 

*this is a collaborative post