Reclaimed Wood: 6 DIY Projects

Reclaimed wood is the ultimate "Do-it-yourself" project material. It's not only cost effective, but is also a sustainable material that helps save the planet by reducing deforestation. Reclaimed and salvaged wood is great for building and construction projects such as home renovations, flooring, paneling, and decking. These materials can also be used for more creative, out of the box projects as well.

Here is a list of 6 fun DIY projects that you can incorporate reclaimed wood from barns, old doors, and fencing materials into:

Head Boards

1. Reclaimed Wood Headboards

The key component of creating a recycled wood headboard is to understand how to finish the wood. The general idea of finishing is that it involves cleaning, sanding, and staining or painting the wood. A good thing to keep in mind is that this form of reclaimed wood furniture will be near your sleeping area. Therefore you should probably stay away from certain materials, such as pressure treated wood (it can cause nasty splinters). As long as you keep these pointers in mind, you can basically create a headboard out of anything from a solid cross section of tree to an old abandoned stretch of fence.

2. Reclaimed Wood Shelving

Reclaimed wood shelving can help add a touch of organization to your room, office, living room, or any other place you see fit. It can be created from any flat stretch of wood; driftwood makes a charming shelving unit. Those who are more skilled can create entire bookcases out of reclaimed or salvaged wood, but you don't need to have a bunch of carpentry experience in order to hang recycled wood floating shelves.

Here are a few simple steps for creating reclaimed or recycled wood floating shelves:

- Find out where the studs are in the area where you want to hang your shelves.
- Drill holes into those studs and slide 3/8 inch holes into each of those holes.
- Drill 3/8 inch holes into the section of the reclaimed wood that is going to face the wall.
- Finally, hammer the shelf onto the rods, filling those holes you made earlier (you could also use commercially available blind shelf supporters).

3. Reclaimed Wood Tables

From coffee tables to more formal dining surfaces, reclaimed and recycled wood can be used to create all sorts of lovely and practical furniture. There are quite a few home improvement sites out there that provide many templates and designs for reclaimed wood furniture, so as long as you are comfortable with your woodworking skills and are aware to pull out the nails and other dangerous factors that may be in that reclaimed wood, you can transform it into a beautiful table. If you are not so confident with woodworking, you can always buy a reclaimed wood table top and add your own finishing touches to it (a base or legs or garnishes).

4. Wall Art

When it comes to wall art signs, reclaimed wood can be used as either the canvas upon which a message is painted, or can be cut out into individual letters to create words.

5. Wood Pallet Turned Instant Shoe Holder

Here is an easy idea for a project: an instant shoe holder made from wood pallet. Any major warehouse will have wood pallets that most warehouse managers are happy to give away (that way they can avoid a disposal fee). Once you have a wood pallet, you should clean it, turn it on its skinny side, prop it up against the wall, and there you go! An instant shoe holder. Put the toes of each shoe between the pallet rails for easier storage.

6. Reclaimed Wood Wine Rack

This list of awesome project ideas for reclaimed furniture would not be complete without a little something for storing your great collection of wines (or could serve as inspiration for beginning a great collection of wines). Here are the steps to making a wine rack from reclaimed wood:

- Find a large extended piece of wood that could hold several rows of wine bottles (around 32 inches length-wise).

- Cut ¾-inch cylinders into pieces that are 9 inches long.

- At the top of the piece of wood, leave 6 inches of space. Then, every 4 inches until you reach the bottom of the rack, mark horizontal lines across the wood.

- For each horizontal line, mark the center. Then mark 3 inches to the right and left of the top center line. Repeat this on alternate rows to the bottom of your reclaimed wood item. For the other rows, mark 1.5 inches to the right and left of the center line.

- Use a ¾-inch drill bit to create holes for each cylinder. Wherever your vertical and horizontal lines create a cross, you should place a hole.

- Then you should sand the tips of the cylinders as well as the base of your wine rack.

- Though it is not necessary, if you would like to finish your salvaged wood using paint, stain, or polyurethane, this would be the time to do so. Make sure it dries completely.

- Glue a cylinder into each hole you created earlier. Make sure to wipe away excess glue.

- You can also make a kick-stand for your wine rack using scraps from lumber and a hinge.

There you have it, some new creative ways of utilizing reclaimed wood products.

Reclaimed Wood: 6 DIY Projects

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