Back when I started this site, it was all about turning something old into something new — remodeling by recycling, essentially. Repurposing, back before the word “upcycle” was even a thing! 🙂 We do manage to reuse a good amount of what we can, whether it’s reusing part of what we’re tearing out (like in our stair remodel) or turning a thrift store card table into a console table (and we gave the same end game to an old kitchen cabinet, too) or combining a mish-mash of old and new furniture to make a built-in closet.
So the moral of the story is — I love a good repurposing project, seeing something old become something new, and the sweet Lydia is back again from Germany to show you how she made this cute couch from an upcycled crib (actually, 3 old cribs):
If you’re looking for more ideas to use those unsafe/outdated cribs, try one of these projects:
So now that we’ve ruined you from ever leaving an old crib sitting abandoned in a dumpster… here’s Lydia — who you’ll remember from her beautiful tiny kitchen redo!
Upcycled Crib to Couch How-To
by Lydia from Pudel-design
Hi everyone,
at first I want to thank Lorene and Cassity from Remodelaholic for featuring my post!
As I opened the mail Lorene send me, I was so excited and happy to read her request!
This is amazing!
Today I want to share the process, how I built a sofa for my studio, from three old cribs!
This was my inspiration photo I found on the web, but kind of got in a other direction.;)
Still love the outcome. This new sofa is so, so comfy!;)
My Dad is working as a facility manager at a couple of nursery homes and Kindergarten`s.
So from time to time he bring things back home and always asks me,
if I want to keep some of the stuff.
And I do so, sometimes.
Like this time. These beds were stacked in the garage for quite a time until I figured out what I wanted to do with them.
I used three headboards and a slatted frame for this DIY.
Two of the headboards I used as the back of the sofa and I cut two round halves of the headboards to use them as armrests. And to close the gap between the backside of the sofa.
After I screwed everything together it looked like this.
See the armrests?
And my Dad got me two mattresses as well.
As I was deciding which color it would get I sew a mattress cower from some fabric I bought a loong time ago.
And I put two big pillows I had left from my old Sofa from my living room.
So everything is reclaimed accept the new paint. 😉
This has nothing to do with my inspiration, right?
But a fun look though!
Look who is also already loving it;)
As it was made for him!;)
The other one was exploring and supervising the whole process…
Like so.
After filling all drilling holes I started painting.
Here it is after two coats of this dark grey paint!
I love this color,
Don`t you too?
So let`s bring some color in!
With the mattress covers, rugs and fun pillows…
and some art, like this right here…
Here is the corner before …
… and after!
Drumroll please!!! 😉
Love the outcome!
So cozy, fun, colorful and comfy;)
The wooden box on the right is for my cats, they always used to climb right into it.
So I put a blanket in it. And now they use to sleep there when I am painting.
This corner really evolved;)
Love it!
So what do you think?
A friend told me I should build furniture more often and make a living out of it;)
Should I?
My point is, just build something with your own hands!
You don`t always have to buy new stuff,
just visit your local thrift store or some flea markets and use what you find to create something new.;)
This was my new reclaimed sofa.
I love to share it with you!
Let`s see how time consuming and expensive it was!
TIME & COSTS
It took me just one day to build this sofa.
With sanding, painting and waiting between the coats, maybe 2 1/2 days.
° Paint for the sofa – 15€
° fun pink and spotted pillows 25€ total
° wood/ cribs – free
° rug – 3,50€
° mattresses – free
° covers – 2,50€
° huge creme pillows – free
Total costs for this project 46€ = 50,65USD
and that only for the accessories, you always have to pay for decoration, right? 😉
PRODUCT SOURCES
° wood/ cribs & mattresses from a kindergarden
° paint and rug from a local hardware store
The paint was a simple dark grey, nothing really fancy or special. But good quality, though.
° pink and spotted pillows from H&M Home
° huge creme pillows and mattress covers had already at home from previous projects
This was pretty everything I could share with you!
I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did.
Again a huge thanks to the girls from Remodelaholic!
Love & hugs from Germany.
Lydia Pudel
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Thank you for being our guest again, Lydia! What a great upcycle!
Lorene has been behind the scenes here at Remodelaholic for more than a decade! She believes that planning projects and actually completing them are two different hobbies, but that doesn't stop her from planning at least a dozen projects at any given time. She spends her free time creating memories with her husband and 5 kids, traveling as far as she can afford, and partaking of books in any form available.
We love hearing from fellow Remodelaholics, so let us know what you like about this and leave any questions below in the comments. If you've followed a tutorial or been inspired by something you've seen here, we'd love to see pictures! Submit pictures here or by messaging us over on Facebook.
Thank you again, for having me her, Lorene!
It was a fun post to write! 😉
Love & hugs
Lydia
Thanks for sharing with us, Lydia!
How quaint! and how creative! I don’t know if I would have looked at a crib and thought “couch”, but you really did a great job at it!
Thank you so much, Rebekah!
I love it too;)