Five Ways to Repurpose Stair Spindles

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Dogs Don’t Eat Pizza

October 20, 2015

It may not be Friday (yes, I missed the Friday Five last week!), but I’m bringing you a Friday Five post today! This past Saturday, I taught a class at the Atlanta Habitat for Humanity ReStore on how to repurpose stair spindles. I challenged myself to come up with five ways to repurpose them.

Tiered Server - Five Ways to Repurpose Stair Spindles - thediybungalow.com — Who likes repurposing? We do!!

I ended up creating SEVEN projects! Wahoo!

Today, I’m going to show you the projects I made. Then, in my next post, I’ll give you the instructions for how to make them and some general tips on repurposing stair spindles.

Five Ways to Repurpose Stair Spindles (Ok, really seven, but who’s counting?!?)

(1) The Ladder

Perfect for holding towels in a bathroom or blankets in any room!

(2) The Boot Holder

I got this idea from This Old House. It worked great using the crate from Crates & Pallet (<-affiliate link)!

(3) Jewelry Holder

Corral your bling easily with this jewelry holder!

(4) Coat Rack

Made pretty much the same way as the jewelry holder, I used the knobby parts of the spindles here – perfect for coats and bags.

(5) Tiered Server

This one gave me a wee bit of a headache, but once I figured out to use lightweight cake pans, it came together nicely.

(6) Candlesticks

You know what they say: candlesticks always make a nice gift!

Easy to make from the leftover spindle pieces and some candle holders I had from an estate sale (but you can buy them at craft stores, too!).

(7) Don’t throw away the scraps!

Not being one to throw anything away, I needed to make something with the scrap pieces left over.

The angel was made from a piece of spindle I had left over. The tree is made from the pegs that are at the ends of the spindles. I had cut them off of each spindle to make the other projects, then just glued them together to make a little tree.

There they are! Seven fun stair spindle projects!

Click HERE for the tutorials for how to make each project!

6 responses to “Five Ways to Repurpose Stair Spindles”

Sharon

October 21, 2015

Great ideas Karen! I am all about re/up-cycled projects! We came upon two sets someone had near the street during their garage sale and I snatched them up; they’re still in my garage…but now you have me motivated. I had thought about something “snowman” for the holidays.. Did you cut these by hand? Or use a tool? Just wondering, because knowing me, I’d cut a candle stick and it would be the Leaning Tower of wax:)
Another thing is that if you can find these cheap or “thrifted” in WOOD, that’s great because I think your options with wood is better than the Trex-like material many people are upgrading to. So if you see a new porch project, keep an eye on their dumpster! lol!

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1. Karen Cooper
  
  October 28, 2015
  
  Awesome, Sharon! Yes, I cut these with my miter saw, which was perfect because the spindles were solid wood. You can use a hand-saw, but just be very careful because the wood is solid and hard! Clamp the spindles down securely if using a hand saw.
  I think snowmen would be adorable. I actually pinned an idea like that on my Pinterest board – there’s one specifically about stair spindles if you want to check it out!
  Thank you!
  
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Mickey Wood

October 21, 2015

Ksren, you are so clever. What great ideas. And easy. I like easy ; )
Mickey

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1. Karen Cooper
  
  October 28, 2015
  
  Thank you, Mickey! You are so sweet!
  
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Denita

October 21, 2015

Hello,I enjoyed your site,I hate I missed this class on Saturday @The Restore in Atlanta.

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1. Karen Cooper
  
  October 22, 2015
  
  Thank you! I’m sorry we missed you, too! I’ll be posting the instructions on how to make each project, so it’ll be (almost) just like being there! 🙂
  
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