Low Waste & Limited Budget: Upcycled, Removable Kitchen Counter Skirt
Low Waste & Limited Budget Home Decor Project: Upcycled & Removable Kitchen Counter Skirt
I find such joy in making adjustments within our little home (which is also my full-time office) in order to creatively improve our household’s day-to-day routines. But I have zero interest in wasting material resources, spending money or acquiring new items in order to switch things up. Instead, I strive to find ways to work with what we’ve got to make impactful changes. These little endeavors usually involve a bit of repair, customizing, crafting, and/or trial and error. Sometimes things play out perfectly. Other times the project ends up a complete disaster. But either way I delight in trying.
Recently, while shuffling things around the house, we stored some extra produce and cooking ingredients, emergency storm supplies and library books in the built-in cubbies of our kitchen island. I found myself visually overwhelmed by everything, which can happen easily in a smaller space with an open layout. I wished I could conceal the cubbies when desired without making any permanent changes and without buying new goods. Usually I quite like the cubbies, and they’re certainly highly functional. I’m glad they’re there, and that we didn’t opt for cabinets instead, as I appreciate the character and depth the cubbies offer. But every now and then — particularly when I’m working on creative projects for others — my mind and eyes need a reset, or at least a calmer canvas of sorts.
A counter skirt / kitchen island curtain seemed like a simple solution. And our younger beagle-mix rescue helped me bring the concept to life by digging a hole in the bottom of our flat sheet on our bed, leaving me with a lot of leftover linen fabric to repurpose. (She’s a menace, that dog, but we love her just the same.)
With a few Command hooks and a telescoping sash rod (we have two on-hand here because we find them as ever-useful as tension rods and s-hooks), I was able to swiftly install an imperfect but entirely passable counter skirt. No damage, no waste, no bulk — everything can be removed and reused as desired.
These simple Command hooks are only visible when ducking below the counter.
It’s not fussy or flawless, but it’s perfect for our home, priorities and needs, and that’s what matters to us here.
Items used:
Telescoping Sash Rod
Repurposed Flat Sheet (cut and sewn to specs)
Repurposing Project: Boot Rack Turned Stemware Storage
We don’t need a bigger space — we just need to creatively enjoy the space we have.
One of our little repurposing / upcycling projects for the Rightsizing in Real Time series in my newsletter was this secondhand boot rack turned stemware storage:
For me, this is a great reminder that most of the time we don’t need a bigger space — we just need to creatively enjoy the space we have.
Before & After: Adding Character to Furniture
I’m a fan of working with what we’ve already got. It’s usually better for our wallets, better for the planet, and a way of making our homes look and feel our own.
A wobbly vintage rolling cart might just need a replacement wheel to be functional.
A broken planter might be useful when transformed into the perfect frog (or fairy) house on the stoop.
And a bland piece of furniture might just need a few reclaimed and repurposed accents to achieve its true character.
Our fold-away storage desk was one such piece:
This desk is perfect for our needs here in the cottage. It functions as an ample workspace when open, a narrow and unobtrusive console with storage when closed, it offers a standing-height tabletop when desired, and it’s almost the perfect width for this pocket-door frame-filled wall, which can’t support any substantial weight on its own.
But there was just no getting around the fact that it looked new and stale compared to pretty much anything else in our little home. The most obvious way to add character would be to paint it, but not a day has gone by since we installed this piece when it hasn’t been a heavily relied-upon workhorse for my small business. So rather than paint it — at least for now — I opted to work with materials we already had here at home in order to give the desk a beating heart.
The brushed nickel nobs got a (hastily applied) coat of leftover textured bronze spray paint. The interior cubby received a remnant piece of peel + stick wallpaper from Rebel Walls, a scrap from our closet makeover. The exterior became a touch of extra book storage thanks to a clever, made-to-order suspended system that we were gifted upon moving in. Lastly, we layered the top shelf with a reclaimed wood board that was once the tabletop of narrow kitchen island from one of our previous homes.
While the end result isn’t the century-aged, eco-friendliest antique of my dreams, it is a highly usable, purposefully chosen, and mindfully modified desk that I plan to use for years to come.
If you already have newer furnishings for one reason or another, consider adding a dash of reclaimed materials to them in one or more ways. Vintage hinges, door knobs and pulls can work wonders. Similarly, consoles, countertop segments, accent pieces, and more can be enhanced when securely topped with a layer of repurposed or reclaimed materials, sized to your specifications. Additionally, paint, wallpaper, and secondhand accents can further transform a flavorless piece into a story-rich heirloom.
Feature: Tips for Adding Character to a Newly Constructed Home
When Real Simple columnist Laura Fenton contacted me to ask for a few tips regarding how to make a new home feel older for this feature she was writing, I was delighted.
I’ve never been drawn to a sterile, modern aesthetic, which could be one of the many reasons I fell in love with our 1920’s Tiny Canal Cottage in Venice, and our 1800’s French Farmhouse in the Midi-Pyrénées.
Adding stories, history and layers to our recently constructed home is of the elements that makes our little ADU cottage so special to me.
Recently, an eight year old friend of my son’s visited our home and remarked that it didn’t look as though we just moved in. She said that it felt as though the house had been lived in for quite a long time. Assuming she was referring to the character of the interior — rather than the impressive tumbleweeds of dog hair and ever-present, overflowing Uashmama bags of laundry waiting to be folded — she made my month. My husband replied that this was the highest design compliant anyone could give me regarding our home, and I think he’s right.
Here are some tips to consider when trying to make a newly built home feel as though it’s been around longer.
Reclaimed + Repurposed Materials over New Furnishings and Accessories
If you already have newer furnishings, consider adding a dash of reclaimed materials to them in one or more ways. Vintage hinges, door knobs and pulls can work wonders. Similarly, consoles, countertop segments, accent pieces, and more can be enhanced when securely topped with a layer of repurposed or reclaimed materials, sized to your specifications.
Mix & Match
Matching furnishings and textiles are often hallmarks of a new space. Try mixing and layering textiles and materials. Not all metals have to be the same. One set of curtains can be different than their neighboring set. The sofa and armchair can indeed contrast. Such an approach echoes a time when newly manufactured goods weren’t so prevalent, and unique, mismatched, homemade and storied goods decorated well-loved rooms.
Lime Paint + Tadelakt
Old homes develop beautiful, rich patinas of all sorts over time. An impactful way to attain a similar feeling is through the application of layered Lime Paint and Tadelakt. The origins of these concoctions date back centuries, so they inherently offer an old-world, texture-rich look when applied to walls and ceilings.
Swap Out Switch Plates & Electrical Outlet Covers
If your home has plastic switch plates and outlets, explore alternatives and work with an electrician to replace the ones you see / use most. Toggle switches, pull cords (keep child safety in mind), wooden plates, screws in dulled metal finishes, and other such details can delightfully age a room.
Include Plants
Mix and match pots, display methods (suspended, wall-mounted, tabletop, floor), and types of plants for a vibrant and layered home that feels truly alive.
Embrace Imperfections
I know that one of the benefits of a brand new house is that there should (theoretically) be less to repair and modify. However, as we’ve learned first-hand, there can be PLENTY of imperfections in a recent build— especially if you’re working on a tight budget. If safety isn’t an issue, try embracing the little quirks, as they too can add character and disrupt uniformity.
Using Recovered & Reclaimed Wood Remnants for a Unique Flooring Pattern
They say that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. Well, we’re the second-hand treasure seekers over here!
We’ve used reclaimed materials as well as surplus supplies from larger local builds on parts of our new, small cottage. Now we have three palettes of diverse leftovers of recovered wood from Goodwin to add to the mix!
We decided to experiment with these leftovers, attempting to create bedroom floors with a pattern I’ve had in mind for well over a year. It’s a pattern I’ve seen before in Europe, so the design details feels like another little nod to our French Farmhouse in a roundabout way.
It’s not only the pattern that drew me to the idea of this flooring. It’s the reusing of hundreds of remnant scraps, which came from boards that were both river-recovered and building reclaimed.
Not only are there different types of character pine in this floor, but there’s also very noticeable variation in the wood’s size, surface condition, age, and color.
The variation is all welcome here, as the mix of widths and face markings only makes everything all the more special in our minds.
In certain light, the floor reads a more muted-brown. In other light, it has a red tint to it. We will be staining it with a healthy, whey-based layer in order to mute and even the tones without taking away from the general tonal variations and markings.
When paired with the lime painted walls, this room feels lovingly handmade and full of character. It’s exactly as I imagined.
