The folks at Just Repurposed in Hanceville, Alabama are masters at seeing far beyond the surface of an object.

The owner, Mike, has repurposed many a household object, but we’re particularly fond of the head- and footboards he’s turned into chairs.

Take this one, for example:

What would have normally gone to a landfill or sat in a garage for years was instead turned into something both beautiful and practical.

The art of the upcycle

Upcycling is a creative endeavor and great for the environment.

UpcycleThat.com defines it as:

“The act of taking something no longer in use and giving it a second life and new function. In doing so, the finished product often becomes more practical, valuable and beautiful than what it previously was.”

This is different from recycling. Hipcycle.com explains:

“Recycling takes consumer materials — mostly plastic, paper, metal and glass — and breaks them down so their base materials can be remade into a new consumer product, often of lesser quality,” the website notes. “When you upcycle an item, you aren’t breaking down the materials. You may be refashioning it — like cutting a T-shirt into strips of yarn — but it’s still made of the same materials as when you started. Also, the upcycled item is typically better or the same quality as the original.”

From sleigh bed to seating

Mike took a king-size footboard that was originally part of a vintage sleigh bed.

Then, after measuring it, he sawed it into 3 pieces with a handsaw.

It’s pretty clear had had a good piece of wood to work with.

The three pieces of the old footboard were used to create the two arms and the back of a chair.

With the addition of wooden beams and a platform, he added a place to sit down. As you can see here, those pieces were used to create the back and side arms of the chair.

This obviously requires some construction skills, but that doesn’t mean it’s for experts only.

Finishing touches

When the construction of the chair was done, Mike coated the wood color in the Dixie Belle Paint color called “Driftwood.”

The amazing park is that Mike insists that he didn’t have to sand or prime the wood first because the Dixie Belle line of chalk mineral paints have an adhesive quality that eliminates the need.

The result is a new, wonderful piece with vintage appeal that’s completely one of a kind.

Another great part of this kind of project is that with a different choice of paint color and cushion, it would fit in just about any house, allowing each daring do-it-your-selfer to make it their own.

There was even storage under the cushion, according to Mike’s Facebook post about the project.

You won’t be surprised to learn that it sold right away for $215.

And like we said above, this isn’t the only footboard creation. So if you’re in that part of Alabama any time soon, be sure to look into Just Repurposed either for that perfect piece for your house or some inspiration to try in case you want to upcycle your own unused items into practical ones.

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Source: Habitat.org, Dixie Belle Paint Blog, Facebook – Just Repurposed