On today’s radio show on Toginet.com, we chatted with Sue Kim, who has an amazing knack for repurposing materials into amazing home decor. She loves tools of all kinds, especially the circular saw—our kind of mom! Descriptions on the radio sometimes just don’t cut it, so here are a few photos of some of her fabulous projects. I wish we had before and after photos, but we’ll take her word for it!
Door into headboard
For the first project, Sue cut down an old door to fit perfectly between two windows in her bedroom, added molding to the top, painted it and attached it to the wall, for a chic headboard that looks custom made for her bedbroom.
Door into message board
Sue used her handy circular saw to cut this door to size and attached a decorative molding to the top. Then she added a little magnetic paint to the recessed part of the door and more paint to match her kitchen.
Doors as walls
Another great project with old doors—Sue cut the doors to fit, attached them to a frame behind the wall built with 2x4s. She painted them to match the rest of the walls and instant “wall” with style.
Shaker peg racks
One of Sue’s favorite things to do is make Shaker peg racks out of old molding and trim. Just cut the trim to the length you want, drill holes for the pegs, smear a little wood glue on the base of the peg, hammer them in and paint the whole thing. Simple!
New furniture from old
Sue has a knack for giving new life to dressers and other furniture. Her low green chest of drawers used to have tall legs, ugly pulls and was cheap laminate. She chopped off the legs, painted and attached new pulls—faboulous! The white side table used to be 3 drawers high—again, circular saw to the rescue—she chopped off the top two, reattached the very top of the drawers, painted and now a piece that fits perfectly in its space.
Form and function
Sue often finds things that work well without much altering—like this old wooden gutter that is just as adept at holding plates.
Don’t get overwhelmed—find a buddy!
We ran out of time on the show, but Sue recommends that if you have trouble getting motivated or putting aside time for projects like these, find a friend to work with. She and a friend alternate working at one another’s houses once a week. They get so much work done, share ideas and pool their skills.
