DIY

How to: Six ways to use leftover wood

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Last Sunday evening, I was meandering through the bylanes of Shivaji Nagar in Bangalore after my quest to buy madeleine pans in Adams and cane baskets in the neighboring shops turned futile.  Anyways, not long after, I found myself at the Westside shop. I can never fathom the crowd their outlets attract anytime of the week, any day of the year. A friend gifted a beautiful golden lantern from their home division which is when I knew they sell that, too.

The home merchandise at the Commercial Street outlet is limited. But, my eyes fell on a beautiful wooden tray with a coir grip in the inlay handle..and the idea for this post was born!

Anyone who lives in their own house is sure to have leftover pieces of wood from all the woodwork occupying the precious inches of your floor space.  So, what do you with those? Years ago, the husband wanted to get a CD rack (nah, not even DVDs so you know which era I’m talking about) like the one he had seen in the movie Jhankaar Beats. And, we got this made.

cd rack

 

Or, you could make your own personalized nameplate.

namepplate

How about repurposing it as a holder with decoupage and a couple of screws?

holder

If you have bigger planks left, then you can make floating shelves.

floating shelf

Jenga stools, maybe. Of course, you would need the help of your carpenter for this. Or, you can cut a long piece of wood into multiple squares and stick them together randomly to form one leg of the stool. Similarly, repeat for the other legs to get an interesting piece.

jenga stool

And finally, where we began: the wooden tray. This one uses weathered wood for a rustic look. The one at Westside had a smooth, veneered finish with the handles neatly wound in coir.

wooden tray with rope handle

The uses are endless. I’m eager to hear your stories. How have you reclaimed the wood? Your turn to share your creative juices!

Image courtesy:

First 4 – mine

4 – Urban Ladder

5 – via pinterest

Author

2 Comments

  1. Hi Laksh!
    This post of yours inspired me to write one too! I read this post about an hour ago, and was nodding my head all the way while reading it. As soon as I finished reading it, I was about to write a comment telling about what use had I put my wood to, but then realised that what I wanted to write would not fit this comment box. Specially the pictures. So, I wrote a post on my blog then and there. That post is completely decicated to you. Thanks for such a great post. Let me know what you think of the uses of my leftover wood!!! Here is the link:
    http://homevironment.blogspot.in/2014/07/leftover-wood-reuse.html

  2. laksh

    A very economical use of wood, homevironment. Enjoyed reading your story as much as the use of shells and greeting cards. Thanks for sharing.

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