Don't toss the broken furniture to the curb. Instead, transform it into beautiful shelves or wall desks in a couple of hours.
I have been busy these past couple of weeks. My husband and I decided to tear out all the carpet upstairs and on the stairs. We will be replacing the carpet with vinyl planks. This project has been in the making for a couple of years as the carpet is over 20 years old. We wanted to replace the carpet after our tile renovation project. Our flooring project was put on hold last year thanks to Covid but now we are renovating the whole upstairs.
My college kid is in his last year of school so it was a perfect time to move the next child into his bedroom and the other child out of the loft. So with the younger boy not using the loft for a bedroom, that meant we could finally have an exercise room upstairs. So I went into full remodeling mode. My bathroom renovation project in 2017 helped me discover my love for home decorating.
New floors, meant painting the loft and also my bedroom. My bedroom is being transformed into a tropical beach theme while the loft got a fresh coat of paint. To rip out all the old carpet, we had to move furniture and stuff from all the upstairs rooms. That gave us a perfect opportunity to declutter and giveaway furniture we no longer need.
My DIY broken dresser project
As I was moving furniture, I discovered that my son's dresser had a broken drawer. This dresser had been broken for quite some time and was no longer able to be fixed. My son was using the dresser for his Nerf gun collection and it was falling apart. I was ready to put the dresser to the curb as it was made from particleboard wood. My husband already had a collection of particleboard and wood scraps in the garage. So he said, toss the dresser to the curb for trash day.
As I was taking the dresser apart, I then realized that the drawer fronts would be the perfect size for shelves for my new exercise room. So I took apart the old dresser and measured the drawer front pieces. They were 10 inches wide and would be a perfect size for a shelf. I could place my plants on these shelves. Now all I needed was some paint and shelf brackets.
I was ready to reuse this broken dresser and save it from filling up the landfill. I hate throwing things away when they can be recycled or reuse. My motto is to reduce reuse, recycle. I like eco-friendly projects that help the environment.
Materials needed for my DIY wall shelves
+ Dresser pieces ~ These shelves can be made from any scrap pieces of wood. While I got my wood from an old dresser, you can use wood from an old bookcase or any other broken furniture. You can also buy the wood pieces from a home improvement store. Check the store's scrap wood for inexpensive wood.
+ Paint ~ Since I like saving money and saving the environment, I decided to use the leftover paint from the bedroom walls to paint the shelves. So check your paint stash before you buy new paint. The paint that I used was semi-gloss as that is what I had. If you are purchasing paint, buy gloss paint so the shelves can be easily cleaned. You can also stain the wood.
+ Paint Brush ~ I used a foam brush but you can also use a paint roller.
+ Shelf Brackets ~ I used these Semi Exact Hairpin Shelf Brackets as I loved the way they looked. These shelf brackets come in many different colors and sizes. So you can buy the size that fits your wood piece. I love that the brackets have a bright powder coat finish. The Hairpin Shelf Brackets are versatile and can be hung in two different ways. These simple shelf brackets add a clean bright look to any wall.
+ Screws or wall anchors
You can even make instant wall desks with the Hairpin Shelf Brackets. Get the easy how-to instructions HERE.
Less than 2 hours to transform a broken dresser into wall shelves
These shelves were so easy to make. Taking apart the dresser was simple and I made sure to save the other dresser pieces for other projects. The thin cardboard dresser backs were perfect to use as a painting drop cloth. I used the smaller dresser pieces so I could view my sample paint color selections for my bedroom walls.
I loved that I did not have to sand or cut the wood pieces as they were prefinished in the size that I needed. The shelves were ready to paint with the leftover paint from my bedroom painting project. I just love this pink color.
While the paint was drying, my husband helped me hang the shelf brackets on the wall. The Hairpin Brackets already had pre-drilled holes in them. If your shelf pieces are longer, make sure to put the brackets over wall studs. If you are not able to use the wall studs, make sure to buy some wall anchors. So your shelves will be secure on the wall.
Once the brackets are up on the wall, slide the painted wood pieces through and enjoy. These wall shelves sure do look nice in my new exercise room. I really love the colors that I selected of fuchsia and turquoise. They are perfect for my plants and other items. If you want to know more about these Hairpin Shelf Brackets, head over to semiexact.com to see all the beautiful colors and sizes that are available. This unique company sells other items to transform reclaimed wood into furniture like tables, beds, and more. Semi Exact believes that furniture can be well made and well designed, cost-conscious and planet-conscious, easy to order, and easy to treasure year after year.
12 comments:
I love the fun colors you chose, and how you've kept more stuff from being uselessly thrown in a dump. It really livens up your living spice and is completely useful!
Oh nice, I love the colors you picked out. You did such a great job.
I LOVE repurposing old broken discarded things. Its one of my favorite activities to see something transform into something new and useful! Kelli A
Love, love the colors of those shelves. So fun.
I love this what a great idea, it is always very fulfilling when you manage to repurpose something broken into some new.
This is such a great way to recycle something that might go into the trash!
I love recycling too! Especially if the furniture is still good and has a sentimental value.
Great idea! I'll keep this in mind in case I have a furniture that I can recycle like this.
Thanks for the tips. It's a lot more practical to fix broken items, especially if the damage is small, instead of buying new ones.
That's such a good idea. It's amazing how you can revamp an item with a little tlc.
wow! what a great idea to make some new shelves! Love that they are so colorful!
These are really cool diy idea to save that broken dresser. I would love to do it.
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