How to Use Reclaimed Items in Your Home

Whether you’re remodeling your home or just redecorating, you can create a unique and distinctive look by incorporating reclaimed materials and architectural accents into your rooms. These items made of wood, metal, glass, and stone are salvaged from older buildings that have been torn down. Adding a piece of the past can give a fresh new look to your home.

Reclaimed Metal

Any kind of metal can be salvaged and repurposed, with a little creativity. Metal is relatively easy to work with because depending on the type, you may be able to bend, cut, or reshape it. Pipes, grates, gates, railings, fencing, and even an old kitchen sink can be refashioned into furniture, wall hangings, and shelving support. Outdoors, reclaimed metal objects can be repurposed as trellises, garden fountains, and benches.

Often, you can find small metal pieces, such as cast iron door knockers or fireplace screens, that can add interesting touches. Humble household items like buckets and tools, or industrial metal salvage like gears and brackets, can also be transformed into home décor.

Old Brick

When old homes or commercial or industrial buildings are demolished, the brick is often salvaged and sold. These old bricks still have a lot of life left, and you can reuse them inside or outside your home. Used bricks make great pavers for garden paths or garden bed edging. You can also build outdoor fire pits, fountains, and barbecues. 

For inside the home, you can buy reclaimed bricks that have been cut to form a thin, lightweight brick veneer. These can be used for flooring, backsplashes, and wall coverings. In some cases, it is also possible to use old bricks in constructing the façade of your home, if enough matching bricks can be found.

Vintage Glass

Old homes and buildings will often have windows made of leaded glass panes or stained glass. When reclaimed for your home, these panes can become beautiful parts of your décor. Used completely in their frames, vintage glass can be used for wall hangings, cabinet fronts, room dividers, and much more.

 Other items made of vintage glass, from bowls to bottles, can also be used in new and dramatic ways. Assembled, glued together, or cut apart, vintage glass can be used to make light fixtures, lamps, candleholders, and serving displays. In the garden, they may be fashioned into bird feeders or flower pots.

Old Doors

Salvaged exterior and interior doors can be used whole or in parts. An entire door can be easily transformed into a headboard, tabletop, or bench. Hung on the wall and equipped with shelves or pegs, the door can be used for storing or displaying collections.

If the entire door is not salvageable, parts of it can be refashioned into furnishings or décor. Reclaimed barn wood makes for great signs in your home. Planks of reclaimed wood can also be used to add interest to an accent wall. Vintage door frames can be turned into bookshelves or display cases.

Ceiling Tiles

Vintage ceiling tiles are often imitated but nothing can beat the original tiles for design, character, and patina. Most tiles are made of tin, but copper and steel were also used. Salvaged ceiling tiles, as well as the trim, are often reused without being finished or restored. Other times, they can be repainted or stripped and refinished. 

These ceiling tiles can be used as originally intended, to cover ceilings, but there are hundreds of other creative ways to repurpose them. The designs pressed into the tiles make them interesting enough to use by themselves as wall art, either individually or grouped together. They can also be fashioned into headboards, tabletops, picture frames, and much more. Since they are made of relatively thin metal, they can be cut, bent, and connected easily.

Light Fixtures

Salvaged lighting can include lamps, wall or hanging fixtures, wall sconces, and chandeliers. Most are metal-based but may also have chains, shades, glass insets, and other features. Styles range from ornate Victorian styles to reclaimed industrial lighting.

Before using them in your home, many older light fixtures will need to be rewired and, depending on age, possibly refitted with new light sockets. The metal may need restoration, refinishing, or painting. However, you can also use the fixtures in ways that don’t have anything to do with lighting. It’s also possible to re-envision a light fixture as a candle holder, garden planter, or vase.

Door and Drawer Hardware

In cases where doors and cabinets can’t be saved in a building demolition, the door and drawer hardware may be salvageable. Vintage doorknobs, drawer pulls, and cabinet closures can add character when applied to your 21st-century furnishings.

As with other reclaimed items, vintage hardware doesn’t have to be used as originally intended. Knobs can be used to hang anything, from coats and necklaces to tools and potted plants. Used creatively, they can be recycled into vases, lamps, and wall art.

Cast Plaster and Concrete

Some of the most interesting reclaimed items are architectural features made of cast plasters and concrete. On older buildings, they were used inside and outside for both decorative and functional purposes. For example, many plaster ceiling medallions were often used on the ceiling at the base of chandeliers and hanging light fixtures. These can be repurposed as wall hangings, picture frames, clocks, and other artwork.

Concrete garden statues can be reused for the same purpose, and any flaws due to age, such as concrete wear, chips, or patina, serve to enhance the charm. Other cast items, such as friezes, plaques, and ceiling cornices, and corbels can also be reused creatively. 

No matter what your decorating style, you can find a place for reclaimed or salvaged architectural items in your home or garden. This practice of recycling and repurposing items from old buildings not only helps the environment but also inspires creativity. These vintage pieces pay tribute to the past while also providing your modern home with artistic touches that can’t be found anywhere else.

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