Decorating for Free With Footpath Finds
Armed with curiousity and creativity on your next stroll through the streets, you can easily turn someone else's trash into your treasure
Sophie Seeger
12 February 2016
Houzz Australia Contributor. Director of Seeger By Design; tutor for the Interior Design Institute, abstract artist and designer of rugs and textiles for soft-furnishings.
Houzz Australia Contributor. Director of Seeger By Design; tutor for the Interior... More
The most rewarding finds can be those left on the side of the road, often on council clean-up days. It’s even become a popular pursuit for some people to cruise through neighbourhoods to see if there are any free pickings left out by householders. Whether old, broken or just plain disliked, these items are often bound for the tip, so if you are respectful of keeping any pile of refuse neat and tidy, footpath finds can present many opportunities for practical and beautiful repurposed decor. Plus, you can save money and inject personality into your home, comfortable in the knowledge that you’re supporting the sustainability cause by recycling, upcycling and repurposing them.
A suitcase becomes a pet bed
Treat your pet to a special feature bed by repurposing an old suitcase that might have been tossed out in a council clean-up. Remove the lid with your screwdriver and fill the bottom half with a soft pillow made to size. Stand it on disused armchair legs that have been attached with super glue, or use an electric screwdriver to create holes through the case in which to insert them. Cover the top of each leg with a bracket on the inside of the case and screw down.
Treat your pet to a special feature bed by repurposing an old suitcase that might have been tossed out in a council clean-up. Remove the lid with your screwdriver and fill the bottom half with a soft pillow made to size. Stand it on disused armchair legs that have been attached with super glue, or use an electric screwdriver to create holes through the case in which to insert them. Cover the top of each leg with a bracket on the inside of the case and screw down.
Breeze blocks become a bedside table
Breeze, besser or cinder blocks are cast concrete building blocks. The footpath near a building site can be a material marketplace, and it’s here that you might pick up a few unwanted blocks. But be sure to check with the foreman that what you have your eye on is definitely discarded.
You can build the blocks into a bedside table, or use them as a base for shelving. The blocks’ raw finish adds substance to a room, and is well suited to homes that feature an industrial edge.
More ideas for besser blocks
Breeze, besser or cinder blocks are cast concrete building blocks. The footpath near a building site can be a material marketplace, and it’s here that you might pick up a few unwanted blocks. But be sure to check with the foreman that what you have your eye on is definitely discarded.
You can build the blocks into a bedside table, or use them as a base for shelving. The blocks’ raw finish adds substance to a room, and is well suited to homes that feature an industrial edge.
More ideas for besser blocks
Wooden pallet become a vertical garden
Pallets are found everywhere and their uses have been well documented in many an interior DIY article, especially those projects that use them as tables or bed platforms. But here’s one that’s a little bit different.
To the back of sections of pallets add lengths of MDF sawn to fit the length and width of each strut, in order to create mini garden troughs. Paint the whole palette, then fill the troughs with soil and plants of your choice.
STYLE TIP: Herbs, succulents or trailing indoor plants look good and are easy to maintain.
Ways to reinvent wooden pallets
Pallets are found everywhere and their uses have been well documented in many an interior DIY article, especially those projects that use them as tables or bed platforms. But here’s one that’s a little bit different.
To the back of sections of pallets add lengths of MDF sawn to fit the length and width of each strut, in order to create mini garden troughs. Paint the whole palette, then fill the troughs with soil and plants of your choice.
STYLE TIP: Herbs, succulents or trailing indoor plants look good and are easy to maintain.
Ways to reinvent wooden pallets
Old trunks become a side table
Discarded suitcases and trunks are a special find and when painted one colour, are a natural fit with the all-white cottage look or shabby chic style. Lift them to suit your scheme with a lick of paint. If you have any old house paint, use it up; two coats are recommended.
STYLE TIP: Stack a range of suitcase or trunk shapes to add visual interest, and apply a matt or chalk paint to get a soft-looking finish.
Discarded suitcases and trunks are a special find and when painted one colour, are a natural fit with the all-white cottage look or shabby chic style. Lift them to suit your scheme with a lick of paint. If you have any old house paint, use it up; two coats are recommended.
STYLE TIP: Stack a range of suitcase or trunk shapes to add visual interest, and apply a matt or chalk paint to get a soft-looking finish.
Chicken wire becomes a collection of wire cloches
Scrap chicken wire can create elegant cloches. As the wire is very malleable, simply fashion a sheet of it into any shape. Use pliers to snip the wire to your preferred size, and then use your hands to push it into shape. Join the edges by bending the snipped ends through the chicken wire holes, or loops, on the opposite edge.
Scrap chicken wire can create elegant cloches. As the wire is very malleable, simply fashion a sheet of it into any shape. Use pliers to snip the wire to your preferred size, and then use your hands to push it into shape. Join the edges by bending the snipped ends through the chicken wire holes, or loops, on the opposite edge.
Wire crates or cages become displays for artwork
Old readymade wire crates or cages are perfect containers for displaying artwork or even small pot plants. As the wire cases are light, they can be easily hung up on a nail. No matter what you decide to fill them with, be sure to rotate the cubes and cages regularly to change the high-relief display. With the right lighting, fantastic artistic shadows will appear on your walls.
STYLE TIP: If you live in a converted warehouse, or want your home to look like one, then this decor will add a sense of industrial-style authenticity to a room, especially if you group the mini crates vertically up a wall in a room with a high ceiling.
Old readymade wire crates or cages are perfect containers for displaying artwork or even small pot plants. As the wire cases are light, they can be easily hung up on a nail. No matter what you decide to fill them with, be sure to rotate the cubes and cages regularly to change the high-relief display. With the right lighting, fantastic artistic shadows will appear on your walls.
STYLE TIP: If you live in a converted warehouse, or want your home to look like one, then this decor will add a sense of industrial-style authenticity to a room, especially if you group the mini crates vertically up a wall in a room with a high ceiling.
Iron lattice becomes a wall feature
If you’re lucky enough to find any wrought iron on your walk, grab it quickly. Wrought refers to something fashioned ‘by hand’, so this iron is special.
Whether a cast-off from a Victorian home balcony or part of a piece of discarded garden furniture, wrought-iron pieces are often highly decorative and therefore make an instantly chic wall feature, indoors or outdoors. Simply hang the pieces up on a wall that is of a contrasting hue so that the shape of the ironwork design is clearly visible and stands out.
If you’re lucky enough to find any wrought iron on your walk, grab it quickly. Wrought refers to something fashioned ‘by hand’, so this iron is special.
Whether a cast-off from a Victorian home balcony or part of a piece of discarded garden furniture, wrought-iron pieces are often highly decorative and therefore make an instantly chic wall feature, indoors or outdoors. Simply hang the pieces up on a wall that is of a contrasting hue so that the shape of the ironwork design is clearly visible and stands out.
An old barbecue becomes a patio garden
Many kerbside junk piles include barbecues that are rusted and unusable for their original purpose. Make them useful again by transforming them into a portable garden for your balcony or deck. Drill a few holes for drainage, and fill it with good soil and herbs or flowers for a perfect micro garden.
STYLE TIP: Use the herbs from this mini kitchen garden to flavour barbecued meat and fish; place it in easy access of an outdoor cooking area.
Many kerbside junk piles include barbecues that are rusted and unusable for their original purpose. Make them useful again by transforming them into a portable garden for your balcony or deck. Drill a few holes for drainage, and fill it with good soil and herbs or flowers for a perfect micro garden.
STYLE TIP: Use the herbs from this mini kitchen garden to flavour barbecued meat and fish; place it in easy access of an outdoor cooking area.
Teacups become mini planter pots
There are plenty of old teacups around. If not used for tea, they are perfect for potting up with small plants, particularly succulents. Ask your nursery to recommend plants that don’t need drainage. Once the teacups are potted up, arrange them in the middle of a table on an outdoor dining setting, balcony, patio or windowsill.
STYLE TIP: Don’t discount cups that are mismatched. They are perfectly suited to a home with an eclectic or whimsical style.
DIY project: teacup planter pots
There are plenty of old teacups around. If not used for tea, they are perfect for potting up with small plants, particularly succulents. Ask your nursery to recommend plants that don’t need drainage. Once the teacups are potted up, arrange them in the middle of a table on an outdoor dining setting, balcony, patio or windowsill.
STYLE TIP: Don’t discount cups that are mismatched. They are perfectly suited to a home with an eclectic or whimsical style.
DIY project: teacup planter pots
A ladder becomes a towel rail
An old rickety ladder no longer in use can be repaired but probably won’t be able to be used for climbing on again. It can, however, offer a practical solution for hanging towels in the bathroom or displaying napery in the kitchen, especially if you want to show off beautiful or heirloom linens. The aged wood patina offsets the cloths and creates a muted and elegant feature.
TELL US
Have you hauled footpath finds home with a view to repurposing them? Show us how you displayed them by uploading photos in the Comments section.
MORE
Nifty Thrifting: 19 Inventive Repurposing Ideas
Decorating for Free With Beachcomber Finds
Decorating for Free With Natural Found Objects
An old rickety ladder no longer in use can be repaired but probably won’t be able to be used for climbing on again. It can, however, offer a practical solution for hanging towels in the bathroom or displaying napery in the kitchen, especially if you want to show off beautiful or heirloom linens. The aged wood patina offsets the cloths and creates a muted and elegant feature.
TELL US
Have you hauled footpath finds home with a view to repurposing them? Show us how you displayed them by uploading photos in the Comments section.
MORE
Nifty Thrifting: 19 Inventive Repurposing Ideas
Decorating for Free With Beachcomber Finds
Decorating for Free With Natural Found Objects
What are you working on?
Related Stories
Interior Design
The Golden Rules of Proportion: Decor Laws You Need to Know
An interior designer reveals the essential rules for achieving a perfectly balanced interior
Full Story
Most Popular
An Interior Designer's Guide to Arranging Cushions
By Anne Ellard
Get to grips with your ever-growing pile of cushions with these professional tips for choosing and arranging cushions in your home
Full Story
Decorating
The Power of Negative Space in Interior Design
By Janet Dunn
A design element that's not even there can forever change how you view your home
Full Story
Houzz Tours
Queensland Houzz: A Cute Cottage Awash With Colour and Pattern
Bold colour, quirky prints and an abundance of art transformed this 1920s cottage into an inviting and relaxing gem
Full Story
Project Of The Week
Before & After: A Cheap & Cheerful Makeover of a 1980s Caravan
Armed with an AU$1500 budget, a Melbourne couple rolled up their sleeves and transformed a caravan in just three months
Full Story
Most Popular
Ask the Experts: What Goes With Tan Leather?
Embrace this versatile material, colour and texture with inspirational ideas from designers in the know
Full Story
Most Popular
Masonry Magic: 15 Ways to Trick Out Your Exposed Brick Wall
Do you find exposed brick walls cold? Add contemporary warmth and interest with these 15 transformative ideas
Full Story
Projects Born on Houzz
Before & After: From Dump Zone to New 'Welcome Home' Living Area
Home office, yoga zone, dumping ground... this front room was having a serious identity crisis – but look at it now!
Full Story
Picture Perfect
30 Christmas Schemes to Inspire and Delight
Our coffee-break escape offers you five minutes' worth of images to inspire and delight. Jump right in...
Full Story
Most Popular
16 Clever Ways to Create Zones in Open-Plan Spaces
Create distinct areas in large, open rooms with these creative design ideas – no walls or other fixed vertical structures required!
Full Story
Hi Barb, with you on the chicken wire and all of the rest..I think I'd make myself extreeemley unpopular if I really wrote what I'm thinking! Maybe its because we're country folk very aware of these...implements...and what often goes with them....
Hey Wuff...jarra lamps and stands are what I consider to be "finds" and very nice to receive the appreciation from people who know what they picked up!
As for the rest...the cute dog seems to approve of his suitcase bed..but a dirty old ladder ( shabby chic I think the excuse is) in a pristine white bathroom?
I think a portion of art school art lecturers and art professors are....and winding down, or, the new ones, products of the 'winding downers' don't have much inspiration to go on. OR...its fashionable to go to design school these days...now I'm shutting up on this topic.
Just as a point of interest, last week was reading somebody's commentary on one of those 'house reno' shows....couldn't help thinking "What dribble!"...but that's just my winding down opinion! I get crazy when I hear the latest 'design-speak' coming out of the mouths of diploma holding interior decorators who are not even able to conjugate verbs or speak common English....mind you, that's not all of them...some of the designers on those shows are so creative and have such clever ideas.... Its the not so inspired wannabees, those borrowers of other people's ideas and the " talkers- up" that drive me batty! Don't think its you who doesn't 'get it', Barb. I think you have more design sense than many. You don't need a diploma to know what goes with what but obviously one is needed to talk the talk and know what is trendy...like a bit of dirty old chicken wire...goodness knows where its been! Ah! Shouldn't take it too much to heart and, of course, a diploma requires some recognition.
Moving to the Eastern Suburbs has made for amazing pieces everywhere almost all the time along the paths. Not mention some substantial pocket money.
We country folk may not have footpaths where to find things...but the countryside yeilds some very trendy natural art in the form of dried herbs and flowers, old gnarled bits of trees...I know that Barb, above, has made some really clever pieces from nature. Must say a word about the clash between the pristine white bathroom above...and that dirty old wooden ladder...WHAT are they thinking?! Bet that ladder will be gone inside of 12 months....mybe when the borers show themselves. Why throw out on the footpath a good old wooden ladder...if there's nothing wrong with it? Maybe the previous owner has a stel one. A weekend to browse the free nature art of the bush I am sure, would yeild some really creative objects...no decorator can rival Mother Nature.
Otherwise..all you Houzers out there...have fun! I do, and a lot of it is seeing what the rest of you get up to...so many unexpected things!