It has been mentioned before, and I will say it again, reusing what you have is one of the best ways to be frugal. Many things in our home are reusable, or can serve a different purpose than that it was intended for.
Beth McHugh, who writes for the Mental Health blog here at families.com, left a comment on the article I wrote – Reusing What You Have: Baby Stuff. She shared a really cute idea she had, where she turned a doll house into a book shelf. Not allowing her daughter’s outgrown doll house to go to waste, she found a new use for it. She also won a prize for submitting her idea to a magazine.
Look around your storage area and other places in your home. Most people have mattress’ and bed’s in storage. We had two bunk beds in storage and needed to do something with them. They take up a large amount of space that would be better suited for something else. We sold one of thems, but the other one is too cool to get rid of.
But how do you reuse a bed, or turn it into something else? For us, it was a simple idea with the bunk bed. The bottom bunk turns into a futon couch. It made a great addition to our children’s play room as their very own “couch”. They love crawling up on the top and playing up there, and being able to sit on the couch to watch TV.
I shared the idea at a church get together, and one of the ladies asked about several mattresses she had in storage. She said she would never use twin mattresses again, so she thought she should just throw them away. I totally disagree. If you seriously have no use for them, then that is certainly an option. However, often people who have basements, have rooms down there for the children to play, watch TV or hang out in. Stack a mattress on a box spring, cover it with any solid or patterned comforter and you’ve just made a day bed, or make shift couch. Pick up or better yet, sew some throw pillows to match and there you have it – you’ve put an unusable item, to great use!
Never assume something needs to be tossed out, until you’ve exhausted every possible creative use you can think of. Please check out the frugal living blog for more great articles teaching you how to reuse what you already have!
Related Articles:
Reusing What You Have: Baby Stuff
Tips for Not Confusing Organizing With Buying More Stuff