Los Angeles Interior Designers Los Angeles, CA

Redesign your house with recycled items

If you've grown tired of looking at the same items in your house, a Los Angeles interior designer can help.

Not only can an interior designer help create a new layout for furniture and accessories, a professional can also give insight on where to purchase designer-like items at a price that is suitable to your budget.

Angie’s List member Philip Robinett brought in Jill Seidner of Jill Seidner Interior Designs in Beverly Hills, Calif., to redesign his living and dining room. Seidner provided him with four suggested room layouts.

“Jill returned with concepts for furniture styles, carpet and wall accessory ideas along with links to retailers that carried the suggested merchandise,” Robinette says. 

If a designer suggests items you can't afford to purchase new, there are many ways to bring a fresh new look to your home using recycled items found in your basement, attic, at flea markets or secondhand stores.A little paint, a creative eye and out-of-the-box thinking can help you convert some everyday items for a modern use.

Doors and windows
An old, weathered door can add a rustic touch to any room and can be used in many instances. Using a strong bonding agent, adhere a specially cut piece of glass or mirror to the front of the door. This gives it an updated, modern look that can dress up a number of spaces.

You can lay the door flat across two filing cabinets and create a desk for your office area or bedroom. Hang the door on the wall over your bed as a headboard. Hinge three doors together or hang windows of various shapes and sizes from the ceiling to make a room divider.

Old windows create a focal point. Find ones with smooth, clear glass. Paint the frame to match your room or distress it using sandpaper. You can use the windows as picture frames for an innovative way to showcase favorite family memories. Add a scenic photo of the outdoors and the window can be used to create the illusion of a faux window in any room.

Rugs and carpeting
An old rug can be cut apart and used in many ways. Cut rugs of different textures and colors into shapes and piece together to make a patchwork-style rug. Some carpeting stores will give or sell samples to you, which can be glued and taped together into a new rug.

Used rugs can be cleaned and thrown over a headboard to add color, texture or pattern to a room. Chairs, footstools or ottomans can also be reupholstered with rugs to create new looks.

Home furnishings
A long coffee table can be reinforced, topped with two or three cushions and turned into a bench. If you have a small side table or cabinet, remove the doors. Paint it to match the color of any room, add a soft pet bad and use it for a little haven for your small dog or cat.

Mirrors can add a bit of sparkle and reflectivity to your dining table. Put a round mirror under your centerpiece or use a full-length mirror as a table runner.

A more ornate bathroom medicine cabinet can be hung over an entry hall table to double not only as the mirror in which to check your hair on the way out but also to store small items such as keys, tape, paper and pencils for taking messages.

Clothing and jewelry
Drape a patterned pashmina over the back of a solid-colored chair or sofa or across the corner of a solid-colored duvet. Throw a square scarf over a lampshade or tie a slim scarf around the lampshade, accenting the knot with a vintage pin.

Cut off the arms and neck of a sweater, sew off all holes but one, stuff it and then sew it up for a cushion cover. Unused bedsheets can be used to create curtains, pillows or slipcovers for furniture.