#repurposed items

Military Surplus: Repurposed for a Purpose!

  It cost the military about $17,500 to equip one soldier. Stealth bombers and other modern aircraft like the F-22 Raptor cost the military approximately $1 billion and $150 million respectively. To recoup funds that they invest in military members’ gear, including military clothing or camouflage, the Department of Defense repurposes the overstock of its used and unused gear, referred to as…

According to some sources there about 2 billion wooden pallets in circulation and about 65% of them get used just once. It makes sense to make something out of them instead of sending them all to landfills, which in turn makes that new stuff cost less. It's a win-win situation. This here (The Pallet Armchair from Pierre Vedel) is one example of what's possible. I love seats with wide armrest so as long as this baby's sanded down to a no splinter finish, I would love one of these.

Instead of wasting broken tile pieces, using them in useful and beautiful applications is such a better idea.  Not only does this approach save materials from landfills and generate value, but this attitude of re-using stuff in unintended ways also fosters creativity.  It's resourcefulness at its best!

FirenFusion on flickr created this back-splash (above) from broken tiles and she says "I have received so many wonderful compliments. Including, one from a friend that spent over $800 for a project I did for under $100." Did I mention  this approach saves you lots of money?

Re-purposing items is always cool. This is a $12 copper bowl used as a sink. It's a steal compared to what copper sinks go for.

In my opinion, few things are more boring than attempted perfection. All that extra effort to create and maintain it and it doesn't look half as good or interesting... The rough and natural textures here make a strong argument against perfectionism.

Those are some neat cabinet pulls, no? I've always wanted to makes some like that myself, it's so encouraging to see that they actually look pretty cool. And the texture of the wood is quite nice as well.

This place has a lot of great furniture simply put together by salvaged wood, old shipping crates, and pallets. They're relatively easy to put together and they really show how great raw wood looks. These things give their home a lot of character and are also easy to live with because you don't need to worry about scratching them, or hurting the finish.