I’ve been immersed in so many projects (specifically, toddler-rearing!), and I must apologize for my absence in this space.  I promise I have fun projects to share here soon and a site redesign – along with a new way for buyers and sellers of library card catalogs to connect through Poetic Home!

For those who are knitters, you may enjoy some of my posts over on KnittingYarn.com, where I am a contributing blogger.  My first post was about repurposed knitting yarn storage ideas that I hope you too may find inspirational, whether for organizing your knitting yarn or other crafty supplies.  How could I not start with a repurposed post?  It’s in my bones!

Some of my favorite repurposed storage ideas that I share on Knitting Yarn include bits+bobbins‘ library card catalog sewing center, as seen above, along with the antique china cabinet that ABC Dragoo used to gorgeously display the rainbow of knitting yarn on spindles, as seen below.

I wish everyone a wonderful start to 2012 and look forward to resuming poetic posts soon!

What better way to bring warmth and history to your bedroom than with a reclaimed DIY wood headboard? Whether you use pallets (be sure to first read my post on potential toxicities in pallets, though!), ancient redwood, or the discarded wood siding of your neighbor’s farmhouse, the result of using salvaged wood is always original. Just add a regular mattress or an Ergoflex memory foam mattress, and you’ll be ready for sweet dreams!

A Formal Feeling Comes saw her neighbor discarding their wood siding and thought it would be the perfect material to create a unique headboard – and she was right!   While the original one she created was rectangular, she jigsawed her way into stylish lines and a special headboard for her mattress.

From old fence boards comes a gorgeous, character filled headboard by House Tweaking.  This is certainly the ultimate love bed!

Playing with the size of this headboard creates a dramatic piece made of salvaged wood, by laure at home.  I really like how the headboard frames the mattress generously.

This DIY pallet headboard from Stylizmo has garnered quite a bit of blogging attention, and certainly for good reason.  I love the muted colors and how easy of a DIY this is.  It leaves you with lots of extra money to splurge on a good mattress!

Yes, this is like inviting an entire tree to live in your bedroom, but why not?  As a DIY, this project would be quite a stretch, but I know my modern husband would love this creating by Hudson Furniture to be our bedroom set.

From ancient redwood trees comes this awe-inspiring headboard by Urban Hardwoods that showcases the true, raw beauty of nature.  I’ve seen a few of these headboards here on Maui and love how every nook and cranny of Mother Nature is left intact.  I’ve actually seen pieces of wood like this at a ReStore for $50 – $100…no kidding!  Just mount the headboard, and you’ve got a jaw dropping DIY headboard.

Mantles are such gorgeous pieces of architectural salvage, just begging to be repurposed into headboards.  Enjoy these DIY ideas that may have you sleeping under a mantle soon enough!

For a reupholstered mantle headboard, clear DIY instructions can be found by the OG DIY Queen Martha Stewart., and you can find brief DIY instructions at BlueCreekHome, whose lovely project is featured above.

I really liked the OldPaintedCottage‘s interpretation of the repurposed mantle, as you still feel the essence of the mantle in how she decorated it.

Hortons of Tipton via FrenchLarkspur not only repurposed a beautiful mantle into a headboard, but created the loveliest canopy bed using branches!

It does not get more romantic than this, as seen via Cottage Magpie!

In true Maison Reve style, this mantle was beautiful repurposed and looks fantastic next to the other architectural salvage pieces.

Repurposed vintage suitcases have been the topic of many blog posts here on Poetic Home, such as my original repurposed luggage filing cabinet and other suitcase upcycling ideas.   In helping Nicole, a Poetic Home reader, redesign her bedroom in an “Anthropologie” style, I began to brainstorm chic, creative, and bohemian nightstand ideas that were also budget friendly.  Naturally, repurposed suitcase nightstands came to mind!

In my former home in San Diego, I simply stacked four vintage suitcases to be a neutral but creative end table in my living room.   I added a piece of glass to the very top suitcase to make it suitable for holding drinks (after the fan found a new home through my Etsy shop).

These are Louis Vuitton suitcases stacked to be a most luxurious repurposed suitcase nightstand, as photographed by Victoria Pearson in House Beautiful.    Wouldn’t these look gorgeous in a dashing gentleman’s quarter?

Fernseed took a director’s chair bottom and topped it with a vintage suitcase to create a repurposed nightstand that would fit well for both him and her.

Angels in the Architecture transformed a simple suitcase from the 1960s with spray paint and the legs of an Ikea laptop stand to create this mod chic repurposed side table.  I love the spunk of this one!

This is the project by SongBird that launched a thousand painted suitcase sidetables.  It’s still every bit as lovely and ingenious!

In a similar vein, A Beach Cottage painted two mismatched vintage luggage pieces to create a chic nightstand.

Love Nostalgic Whimsy created a truly eco-friendly nightstand using reclaimed pallets and a vintage suitcase.

The rainbow delight that is this repurposed suitcase sidetable is the lovely creation of Shrimp Salad Circus, who simply bolted the brightly colored luggage pieces together.

If you have repurposed any suitcase pieces, I would LOVE to hear about it and possibly feature it here on Poetic Home!

Farm machinery may not come to mind when you first think about home furnishings, but repurposed farm machinery makes the most interesting pieces of furniture!

Kate and Ben Gatski took their appreciation for pieces of vintage farm equipment to a whole new level of upcyclying and repurposing. Their vision and “green philosophy” has compelled them to take parts from old 1970′s tractors and create beautiful tables, from the superior steel that was used to manufacture large tractors back in the 20^th Century.  The above “straw walker side table” is a lovely example of seeing the potential in the most unsuspecting of places!

In this barn beam console table, a certain ruggedness and yet a timeless and balanced lightness come together fabulously.  This console table would be at home in any décor. The wooden beam used in this latest creation comes from an old barn that Ben’s brother-in-law tore down recently.

Imagine a single tea light holder or grouping of these beautiful and sculptural candle holders, and the lovely, whimsical flickering light they will create in your cozy eclectic or industrial style home.

Here is a charming Hay Baler Needle Side Table. You could put just about anything from candles, a clock, picture frames, or a tablescape with either pottery, or perhaps a piece of sculpture on this one-of-a-kind beautiful and functioning table.

Ben and Kate live in rural Pennsylvania. Having grown up on farms, both of these craftsmen have a passion for the origins of scraps which they repurpose. These handmade treasures are the embodiment of their love for “the people, soil and culture” of farm life.

Carlo Sampietro is an environmentally concerned artisan who repurposes what he literally finds in the street into industrial chic furniture.  A plastic traffic barrel, for instance, becomes a Cloche Chair (with a light-up base) when Carlo Sampietro reinvents “thrown away stuff” from New York City Streets and conjures up his “street is in the house” line of furniture and accessories.  He also incorporates old Police barriers, mailboxes, and even used newspaper and magazine holders into vintage chic tables, aquariums, and even dishwashers!

A 1960s taxi cab topper is ingeniously repurposed into mood lighting.

Who would have known that an emergency barrier can be repurposed into the most stylish workhorse table?

Here’s another great take on the emergency barrier repurposed table idea, and I’m loving the patriotic feel.  What a way to spark dinner conversation!

Yes, that is indeed a dishwasher upcycled from an old magazine rack!

Repurposing vintage furniture in order to go “green” has been, until recently, something that was done by artists, environmentalists and DIYers who are advocates for using sustainable materials and recyclables to reduce waste and preserve pieces from our history and culture for future use.

Now, furniture designers who want to create one-of-a-kind pieces are embracing the Repurposing Movement too. Keith Merry, furniture designer and owner of Garden Park Antiques in Nashville, is a master at his craft.

This beautiful coffee table is made from a 19^th Century Pulley Wheel, which was part of a mechanism that brought power to an piece of industrial machinery. Keith had the vision, added vintage “feet” and repurposed glass for a table top — and look at the magnificent result!

Look what can be done with a vintage wooden Pattern Mold from a Foundry! Now its an exquisite mirror, which will reflect light and beautiful images in someone’s wonderful space for an infinite number of years to come

Keith took vintage film reel canisters and creatively repurposed them into chic industrial stools (with the help of your friendly local welder).  If only I had not sold my collection of antique Hollywood film reels before I moved to Hawaii, I would have such great seating in my home now!

The pallet trend is here to stay (but be sure to read my post about testing for toxic pallets before you bring one into your home!), but Keith takes it to a new level by repurposing vintage pallets into storied coffee tables that have a great patina and sense of time.

Keith found this 1920′s old growth pine industrial assembly table from a factory and knew it still had generations of use to offer. Adding the glass top upcycles the piece to fit in any decor, from a loft to your farmhouse kitchen – and even to your den office space or man-cave!

As we embrace this new decade, Keith feels that more and more furniture designers will be adding repurposed pieces that they re-design or upcycle for modern purposes, but with a unique gift included. The gift is that each repurposed creation offers its owner the opportunity to own a piece of history.

Dining chairs can open a wealth of inspiration once you take them away from the dining table.  With their solid bones, repurposing dining chairs can give you benches, swings, and even a bed!  Be inspired by these three ideas to upcycle dining chairs that no longer find a place at your dining table.

Ashley Eriksmoen combined two found dining chairs together to create a lovely sitting bench.  The new result is more modern, and I would love to see a version like this painted and upholstered in a more colorful hue.

MyAppleTreeAndMe cleverly repurposed a charming dining chair into the perfect tree swing!

Classic Martha Stewart repurposed four vintage bentwood dining chairs into a lovely daybed.  This is a great DIY project that can instantly give you guest bedroom furniture!

Tables and chairs usually go hand-in-hand, but viewing dining chairs as their own creations opens up a wealth of inspiration!

If you find your burgeoning collection of vintage books is overtaking your home, why not consider repurposing some of the dustier titles into furniture, lamps, and even headboards?  Unfortunately, it is notoriously difficult to recycle vintage books.  Due to the low quality of the paper, as well as the binding adhesives, most old books simply find their way to the dump.  Thankfully, here are four repurposing ideas that will have you thinking outside of the book!

Architectural students at Delft University of Technology took on the challenge to create a huge information desk (pun intended!).  Scale it down for your own home, and you’ll have a beautiful desk or credenza (via InvetorSpot).

Richard Hutten takes the term “coffee table book” to another level with his beautiful repurposed vintage book coffee table!

Lucy Norman‘s “light reading” chandelier would be a wonderful accent to a library or den.

For those who love a bedtime book, this repurposed book headboard is just the right inspiration (with DIY instructions via Instructables).

Jim Rosenau combines a wonderful sense of humor with aptly picked book titles to create repurposed bookshelves, in every sense of the word.

However you choose to repurpose your vintage books, giving them a new life not only adds a wonderful conversation piece to your home, but prevents them from adding to the landfills.  Have you found new life for your vintage books?

When you combine found vintage industrial elements with a bit of light, you get gorgeous repurposed lighting that adds character to any room.  Conant Metal and Light is a group of artisans who take on the task of making exquisite and functional lighting from every conceivable kind of vintage object.  They do more than just create beauty, but they also INSPIRE US.

This design embodies elegance and simplicity. Imagine making it from repurposed copper, brass or even aluminum tubing…drilling holes with your power drill, using vintage chains, and parts from lamp kits to make amazing lighting for your happy home from objects that can be upcycled over and over.

This is a repurposed vintage fan that breathes new life as a lamp.

This is a lovely lamp crafted from an antique ball jar and pulley. Vintage Ball jars can be found at many resale shops, on ebay, and who knows, maybe right in your mom’s pantry!  Pulleys of this kind were used to raise and lower windows in Victorian and Craftsman style homes built around 1900. You can still find this hardware at architectural salvage stores and online.

This vintage Mason Jar is blue, but they also come in green, purple and clear. These vintage jars can be found at antique malls, vintage shops and even on Ebay where the seller often provides a little history with each one they sell.

This desk lamp base is made from an vintage apple corer drive wheel , and the shade is made from spun aluminum. You could easily find recycled tin, or other metals, or even reground glass to put your own stamp on your creation

These simple flask lamps (or you could repurpose laboratory beakers) a lamp kit, led bulb, or vintage reproduction bulb if you prefer, to use less energy and any lamp shade (hopefully repurposed as well) would make a stunning impact on almost any décor, while being eco-friendly and inexpensive too.