5 Lovely Ways to Decorate Your Home by Reusing Unlikely Objects

10 July 2016 - Who says beautifying your house requires a large amount of money? This article provides 5 crafty suggestions to uniquely decorate your apartment by reusing unlikely objects.

1. Book Plant

Have you ever imagined turning an old book into a pretty "book plant"? This can be accomplished by simply grabbing an old hardcover book and a few basic tools.

Step 1: Measure out and cut a hole in the cover and pages of the book.
Step 2: Wrap the hole with wax or parchment paper.
Step 3: Place the plant into the hole and add soil as necessary
Step 4: Add pebbles and moss as decorative features
Step 5: Keep the plant alive by spraying it with water

This easy DIY project enables you to give new life to an old book you no longer intend to read. Adding greenery within your home is good for your eyes (looking at green plants is commonly believed to ease eyes stresses and pains), and could freshen the air in your flat. This creative decoration truly brings “literature to life” and could be a delightful centrepiece or discussion point when entertaining guests.

2. Water Bottle Lamp Shade

Does the lamp shade in the picture on the left look like a modern artwork exhibited at a fancy art fair? It's quite surprising what you can do with used water bottles! Try to recreate this on your own by cutting up the bottom of transparent (blue) bottles and gluing these together into a floral-esque bouquet. This brilliant idea allows you to turn something that seems to have little to no value into an artwork that adds colour to your home.

However, it is important to note that not all types of plastic bottles can sustain the heat of a lightbulb. You should aim to use a low intensity lightbulb and be cautious when using the light for longer periods.

3. Old CD sculpture

Guess what materials were used in the making of these beautiful sculptures? They are actually CDs! Fewer and fewer people use CDs nowadays and you are bound to have some old CDs at home that have grown redundant over time.

Instead of putting them into recycling bins, an alternative would be to turn them into these special sculptures! All you need are scissors to cut the CDs into pieces of shapes you need, and glue to hold these pieces together to form your unique artwork. The mirrored surface of the CDs make these sculptures sparkle - particularly under the sunlight!

You need not be confined to animal sculptures. You can also think of arranging these cut CD shapes on a large canvas! Do not underestimate your creativity!

4. Magazine Clock

Magazines usually become outdated after a week or month. Other than directly recycling them, you could now extend their life spans by turning them into a clock!

Step 1: Buy a clock kit and follow the instructions in order to install a working clock

Step 2: Tearing up the magazine pages into strips and roll them into circles

Step 3: Stick these circles together

Step 4: Secure the clock from Step 1 on the cut up circles.

You can also try out different shapes and colour patterns to create more intricate designs that fit with the overall colour scheme of your apartment.

5. Toilet Paper Roll Wall Art

Do you want to add patterns to the walls of your bedroom? Seemingly useless toilet paper rolls could be the answer to what you are looking for.

Step 1: Gather empty toilet paper rolls
Step 2: Cut the paper rolls along their cross sections and bend them with appropriate strength to your desired curved shape

Step 3: Glue pieces together to create more complex shapes

Step 4: Spray paint to add vibrancy of colour

Step 4: Hang finished artwork on walls or glue onto a framed canvas