No matter your decor style – be it rustic farmhouse or modern minimalism – vintage items can easily fit into your design scheme with some TLC. Painting, distressing, or restoring them to give them new life can instantly update their appearance.

Recycle glass jars with lids as stylish storage solutions for kitchen utensils, craft supplies, or candles. Viv of The V Spot even updated an old lampshade by covering it in fabric to give it an updated look!

1. Use Old Books to Hide Unsightly Items

Accent pieces can help unify your home decor, uniting all elements. Pottery Barn provides an assortment of accent pieces designed to add color and texture to bedrooms, bathrooms and living rooms alike. Furthermore, these decorative accents can help hide unsightly items such as shoe piles or electronics stands from public view in your home.

If your books are taking up too much room in your home and no longer get read, why not repurpose them as decorative decor? DIY projects using the entire book can include using individual pages for wreaths or bookmarks while the spine makes an eye-catching table centerpiece.

Your two books of equal size can also help create an eye-catching cover for an ugly plastic planter, adding unique flair to any dining room, foyer or bedroom. A quick project that even kids can complete; create festive covers with poinsettias at Christmas or tulips in spring using just tape and scissors! This cover project requires no complicated tools – only books, tape and scissors needed!

2. Create a Makeshift Canopy or Tester

A canopy or tester is a decorative covering that hangs above a bed, tomb, pulpit, or throne and may feature elaborate wood panels with fabric valances or simply drape from the ceiling with a central headpiece. A canopy or tester can give any bedroom the look of a royal palace or provide additional privacy; you can easily make one yourself using inexpensive curtains and fabric.

Use sheets featuring complementary colors and patterns for an eye-catching canopy, layering a colorful blanket on top for extra warmth and coziness. Woven or braided shawls work equally well, as do cotton pillowcases featuring decorative edges or lace adornments, cotton woven shawls, tablecloths with bold patterns or larger dimensions, as well as blankets containing decorative elements that work as canopy materials.

Home improvement stores may sell premade canopy kits, or you can create your own by purchasing or making curtain rods from hardware stores and using draped fabrics. When planning the length of fabric cut to use for drapery panels, take into account your ceiling height when cutting fabric – grommets or hooks could make attachment easier!

3. Dress Up Neutral Upholstered Chairs

If you want to experiment with bolder trends like color but aren’t ready to commit fully, try adding an accent chair with patterns (such as #2 with its rich green upholstery and classic silhouette). They provide visual interest while remaining neutral.

If patterned armchairs don’t suit your space, consider choosing solid-colored versions instead. #5 has luxurious boucle fabric and neutral tones that easily match any decor – whether contemporary, farmhouse, or traditional!

Add more personality and dimension to a neutral-colored accent chair by using it as the canvas for other accessories, like blankets and throw pillows. Textural knits, bold printed patterns or even simple solid pillows will bring life and color to any neutral-toned chair.

4. Turn Old Pillows into New Pillows

Pillows are bulky items that often take up too much space in landfills. Since many materials used in pillows resist decomposition, these pillows could remain there for decades to come unless donated or reused instead of simply being tossed away. To reduce wasteful behavior in this regard, consider donating or reusing old pillows instead of simply disposing of them as trash.

Stuffing can add loft to any stuffed animal you love; use it to revive a fluffy favorite that has lost its fluffiness or is falling apart, create a DIY draft stopper or act as insulation in your home.

Crafty homeowners can turn old pillows into floor cushions and other home accents using old pillowcases from five old pillow cases sewn together. Jen Stark from Happy DIY Home recommends turning the cut edges inside about 1/4-1/2 inch and pinning them to secure fabric placement.

Make use of those old pillowcases by turning them into tote bags for shopping trips and weekend excursions, or stitch several together into blankets for your children!

5. Line the Backs of Bookcases or Built-Ins

Attractively arranged books make an effective addition to a coffee table vignette, mantel shelf display or decorative basket. Furthermore, adding them is an economical way of updating bookshelves or built-in storage areas without spending on new pieces of furniture.

Book page chandeliers are stunning pieces of decor that instantly elevate the aesthetics of any room. Made by cutting pages into circles and strips that are then adhered to a wire frame, completing this DIY chandelier’s appearance is simply the addition of one simple light bulb in its center completing this DIY chandelier’s look.

Markbooks are another fascinating old book-inspired decoration idea, made by folding book pages into an envelope to form an oval that resembles a candle’s flame and adding a small paper “flame” at its top for extra style.

To create this decoration, gather several books whose covers coordinate with your home’s aesthetic, then deconstruct them by working off their spines to create an aged and weathered effect. You can find these books online through Etsy, Amazon Used Books or thrift shops or yard sales.