Recycling odds and ends from around the house is easier than you might think. Every year in the springtime thousands of eager beavers begin the timeless art of spring cleaning. Towns commemorate this occasions with an annual spring clean-up day. This year become the envy of the neighborhood by having the smallest trash pile and the coolest recycled treasures.

Finding Your Hidden Treasures

There are two ways to find inspiring treasures. One – go to your attic, basement, closet or garage and uncover the boxes of junk you have not seen for years. Two – walk around your house and look for things that are in hiding. Once you have your junk gathered make a pile of things that are too old and decrepit to reuse and throw them out. Read on for some ideas about what to do with the rest.

What to do with all the Junk

Now that you have all of this junk in your living room, what are you supposed to do with it? The first step is to think creatively. If you are reading this article I know that you have seen at least one home decorating show. That is probably what inspired you to look up this topic in the first place. So you probably have something in mind that you are trying to copy. If not, get out one of your old magazines and look for something that inspires you. Now sort through your junk and see what you can use to create the look you want. Keep in mind that a little paint or fabric can go a long way.

The Old Broken Chair

For example, you have sitting in your living room an old chair from your grandmothers table. You never had the table and the last chair remaining is broken. Instead of throwing out a family heirloom you have covered it with a blanket and placed it in the corner. You have always wanted one of those weathered chairs to go in your garden but did not want to spend money on someone else’s junk. Uncover the chair, remove the seat cushion and place it in your garden. By the end of the summer it will be as weathered as if it had spent a lifetime there.

Or, saw the back and the seat off the chair. Take the legs down until they are all even. Find an old board that is the same size. Nail it to the legs. Paint the entire piece so that it matches the room you made it for. Instant new table.

Wool Sweaters That No One Will Wear

You have tried for years to get your husband and children to wear the wool sweaters that grandma keeps buying them. With each failure you place another sweater in a box hoping that the moths won’t eat them, or maybe hoping that they will. This year try a different approach. Get out the box of sweaters and cut them into twelve inch squares. Use the squares to make a warm winter blanket. After you have sewn the squares together add the batting and sew on a nice cotton back. No one will miss the yearly sweater fight but someone might thank you for the warm blanket.

The Old Ladder

In the back of the attic behind some boxes you find the old wooden ladder that your husband used to use around the house. Instead of leaving it to take up space in the attic move it outside and try one of these suggestions.

Take it apart and use only the stepping side. Lean it up against the side of your house or a tree in the garden. Take small window boxes and put plants in them. Place one box on each step and enjoy the beauty.

Or, in the corner of your deck set it up like it goes. Find a wind chime and hang it from the center. Plant a climbing, flowering vine in a few different size terracotta pots and set them around the base of the ladder. Enjoy as you watch the vine take over.

Bring the ladder inside. Again take it apart but this time use the opposite side. You are going to hang it from the ceiling and hang pots, plants, lights or anything else you can think of from it. Cut it to fit the ceiling you are hanging it from. Paint it to match the room. Hang your favorite decorative pieces from it.

The Kids Old Wagon

The kids are all grown and you have been hanging on to this wagon in hopes of pulling your grandkids in it. Face the facts. You live in Maryland and the grandkids live in Texas. By the time you get to see them they will be pushing you in a wheelchair. So you might as well put that wagon to use. Take it out of the shed and place it near the driveway or even the front door. Plant some easy to care for flowers; pansies, seedum, marigolds, or any other easy to grow container plant. Take a piece of slate and paint a pretty welcome message on it and place the slate in the middle of the wagon. Let the neighbors enjoy.

The Old Plastic Lawn Furniture

With new innovations in spray paint you reap the benefits. You look out on the back deck and there sits last years green plastic chairs. You wanted to get rid of them last year but didn't because there is nothing wrong with them except how they look. They are faded, scratched and a worn around the edges but, perfectly good for sitting. This year you have changed the color of your deck and added some new lawn furniture and these old plastic chairs just don’t look good with the décor anymore. Well, thanks to the advances in the paint industry you don’t have to look at those dingy old chairs anymore and you can save space in your local landfill. Go to your local hardware store and look in the spray paint section. It is there that you will find the answer you have been looking for, spray paint for plastic. It comes in all different shades and colors. For those really tough jobs you can even buy primer. With a few minutes of your time you can change that old green into a beautiful blue to match the new ceramic planters you just bought.

With a little imagination and elbow grease you can turn almost anything into a priceless treasure. You just have to open your mind and think outside of the box. Have fun turning your trash into treasure.