Upcycle anyone?

I learned a very cool new term today: upcycle! If it's new for you too, here's the gist: recycling an item in such a way that improves the value of the item. I didn't know that I'd "upcycled" before, but I totally have! On the way to the store one day I saw a beat up vintage-style dresser on the curb. Somehow - sundress and all - I loaded it all by my lonesome into the back of my car. Then I forgot about it for a while and waited for inspiration to strike...

...fast forward ove a year (yes, a year) and I now have a baby and she has a lot of stuff, and I mean a lot of stuff. It's taking over every inch of my house. And if we leave to run even the shortest of errands, the dogs like to drag all of her stuff to different parts of the house. I needed a place to put all of it. Eureka! And since it's for her I got to have a lot of fun with  it.... buttons on the knob and funky flowers along the door. I love it! And I take great satisfaction every time I reclaim the floors in my house by sticking all of her toys inside of that awesome cabinet that I made for her.

So how did I learn this new term: upcycling? Take a peek at one of our own staff member's blogs to find out how she upcycled a coffee table that she bought at Finders Keepers Furnishings: http://www.facebook.com/l/dAQCG3OsAAQD13qye1aekgWIgrx165JY_FIaFSeYyNN_7Dg/levetansetzerhomeownership.blogspot.com/2011/10/coffee-table-project.html

In fact, you should check out her blog in general - it's pretty awesome.