Flea Market Flip – Recycled Drawer Shelves



Upcycled, Recycled, Repurposed Drawer Shelves

Welcome back, I have another flea market find that I’m giving an easy upcycle. 

In August I had the pleasure of shopping the  Route 11 Yard Crawl.  Back in 2016, at the same yard sale,  I got enough junk to make at least a dozen different projects…the latest being the Wine Barrel Lazy  Susan.

Sadly, this year, only enough  junk for three. OK, maybe 4 projects since I got 5 of these drawers and I’m only using three for this project.

My sister spied these drawers first and she was hot in negotiations by the time I arrived.  Starting price $5.  After some tough bargaining, a little bundling  (I also bought the $5 stool for my Maryland table from the same dealer) a little flattery…I told the dealer he had nice junk…we settled on $3 each.  

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Before you get the wrong idea, all the drawers were filled with junk.  Little bits and pieces from somebody’s work shop.  I thought I liked his junk, but once I started to go thru it…not so much.  So we dumped the contents and  bought just the drawers.

I bought 5 of the drawers, my sister got 3 (I think) and we left a few more.  I have no idea why we just didn’t buy them all.

I attacked the drawer fronts with Goo Gone, followed by Paint Thinner but it wasn’t until I pulled out the sander was I able to get off some of the toughest crud.

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I also took the sander to the outsides of the drawers to get rid of old paint, dirt or whatever else happened to be hanging on.

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One of the drawers already had a divider,  and I cut two more dividers out of scrap wood to match.  Nailed from the outside.

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After a scrubbing, the insides got a nice clean coat of cream chalk paint.

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I rubbed on a  coat of Restor-A-Finish in Cherry   on the outsides of the drawers.  That’s all  that was need to get the old dried wood looking fresh again.

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I modpodged a map to the insides of the drawers.  

Yes, I still have a bunch of these “antiques” though I haven’t used one in quite a while. Remember on trips, unfolding the map to figure out where you were and better yet, trying to refold the map?

I also considered, old sheet music, wallpaper and scrap paper but I wasn’t using my maps for anything, so map it was.

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Attach hangers and they’re ready for a favorite collectible.

A map background makes a perfect backdrop for travel souvenirs. 

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If you have some extra drawers hanging around maybe it’s time for an easy upcycle.

Have a great Fall weekend.

Shared at Wow us Wednesday,

Metamorphosis Monday,  Talk of the Town,

 Saturday Sparks,

3 Comments

  • Ellen says:

    Love your ideas and imagination. I like to use drawers and baskets like this to store small rolls of fabric (fq’s) and change them up to add color to the room.

  • Love the little handles, and always love these kinds of workroom drawers-with or without the nails, screws,bolts and washers;) $3 is a stinkin’ good price, and yes…you should have bought all of them at that price; shoulda, woulda, coulda…I just bought 2 from a picker for $15 each:0 and they are still dirty! Love how you put the maps as a backdrop, really brightens up the inside.

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