Monday, February 8, 2016

The Upcycled Armoire

It's been a while since I did an upcycled furniture blog post, so I thought it would be fun to start the week by taking a look at old armoires. I am always impressed by the ways that creative folks repurpose old salvaged pieces of furniture. I soon found that old armoires are no exception!

First of all, what is an armoire? A traditional armoire is an old movable cabinet that was commonly used for storage or as a pantry to store household things such as dishes.

If an armoire had a rod installed inside of it, it was used as a closet to store clothes. Those are commonly known as wardrobes. Now that makes sense! When I bought my first home, it was an estate, so it came loaded with old dusty furniture. What did I find in the basement that I instantly fell in love with? An antique armoire. I soon found out why the previous owner had the armoire. There was no closet in the master bedroom! Haha!

Now, what do you do with an old armoire? The obvious answer is that they are great for storage. Armoires are perfect for hiding blankets and out of season and surplus linens.

Do you happen to have a huge bathroom? If you do, add an old armoire to store towels and toiletries. I have two kids and we love to play games, so my armoire was quickly repurposed into a game closet!

Here are some other ways that you can use an old armoire or wardrobe:

Turn it into a mini bar.
Use to store books or games.
Use it as a craft cabinet to hold craft supplies.
Paint it crazy colors and turn it into a piece of art furniture.
Use it to store your old vinyl record collection.
Update it with wallpaper or stencils.
If it has screened doors, use it to display collections or showcase your favorite things.
Idea: Create your own screened doors with chicken wire.