By Meenu Kumar
Sometimes decorating your house can be expensive, but if you invest some time, you can make these beautiful décor items on your own with the waste around you and give your home interior a personalised touch. Also, it will help in waste management as it is a great idea to convert junk into artistic articles and reduce the burden on the environment. Here are some creative and innovative ideas for creating home decor items using waste material.
1) Wooden crate as a shelf or a side corner
Reuse old wooden crates to create functional DIY furniture. You can make lovely wall shelves or side corners to keep your photo frames, books, and showpieces in the living room or bedroom. You may also place it on your dining table or in the kitchen and store potted plants, pickle jars, or small condiments.
2) Paper mache decor
Paper mache is the ideal technique to customise the interior decor of your place in a pocket-friendly way. Using it, you may create lovely showpieces, fruit baskets, picture frames, bird house and much more. You can make paper mache paste at home using leftover paper or newspaper, glue, and water. First, rip the paper into little pieces and immerse it overnight in lukewarm water. The following morning, drain the water and grind the wet paper in a grinder before blotting the excess water from the paper pulp with a cotton cloth. Then, after adding some glue, your paper mache is ready for usage.
3) Recycle sarees or dupattas to make table mats
You can create table mats and tablecloths which can be made from lovely old sarees or dupattas with embroidery and brocades, you or your mother don't wear anymore. Simply cut a saree or dupatta with attractive embroidery, add a contrast border, and spread it out on the table as a cover or mat. This can be perfect for your festive decor and can also be suitable if you have an aesthetic interior.
4) Vertical plastic bottle garden
With recycled plastic bottles, you can create your own vertical garden at home easily. Use the cut-down bottle as a miniature planter after painting it in your favourite colour, or draw some patterns on it. With plastic bottles in various shapes, create a tiny vertical garden on the balcony or by the kitchen window. Make sure to use plastic containers that can support the weight of water, plants, and soil. Also, drill a few holes at the bottom for drainage and choose a location that receives enough sunshine for this garden. Furthermore, build some shelves or a wire mesh grid to hang the bottles on the wall.
5) Bottlecraft artwork
Usually, people throw the empty glass bottles without a thought, but one can reuse them for creating a beautiful home décor and transform them into a vase, a showpiece, or a table lamp. Glass bottles can be made more attractive by decoupage, which is the art of adorning a surface with paper cut-outs and covering it with varnish or adhesive. All you need to make this lovely decor item is coloured paper, strong glue, a flat brush, and possibly some colours since you can also paint the bottle with lovely designs. Moreover, clear or coloured glass bottles can be filled with sand and tiny shells, and the addition of coloured fairy lights will produce a shimmering effect.
(Meenu Kumar is the founder of Cosmo Arts India. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of Zee News)
