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Over the past year or so, you've gotten to know your apartment in a much more intimate way than you ever expected. And while quarantine life is no longer synonymous with making sourdough bread and whipped coffee, you might now find yourself trying to figure out what the heck you can do that's different around the house. Enter the magical world of trying your hand at some of the best home upcycling hacks on TikTok.
Upcycling is all about revamping what's old and probably not going to get used again. You know that old bowl that was nice when you bought it, that's now just collecting dust in the back of your cabinet? Instead of getting rid of it, upcycling makes you think about how you can transform it into something different that you'll actually use. Think Flea Market Flip, but with your own castaway furniture, and without leaving your living room.
When you upcycle your furniture and other home goods, you're not just creating a cool new side table from that crappy one you were going to toss. You're also limiting harmful production practices like deforestation and toxic chemical treatments often used to manufacture new products, which is definitely something you can feel pretty good about. These seven home upcycling hacks on TikTok can help you reduce environmental waste and get an awesome new mirror.
DIY Foam Mirror
If you're looking to revamp your mirror, look no further than this TikTok. It'll walk you through creating a DIY foam mirror by putting four or five cans of polyurethane expanding foam to work. Heading outdoors and wearing a mask and gloves, secure cardboard around the edges of your mirror (like putting tape down when you're painting your walls). Test your spray on a separate piece of cardboard to get the cloudy shape you're looking for, and put those skills to work outlining your mirror. Let it dry, and may the bragging to your friends commence.
Hang Up Your Plants
If you're looking to impress your friends with fancy words (but simple projects), make a macramé holder for your plant children. Once you've selected a pretty and light pot for your plant friend, this TikTok will teach you the macramé part of it all — that's the bit where you weave strong twine together so you can hang up your plant from the ceiling. Don't be intimidated by the whole weaving part, because this vid will take you step-by-step through making each knot you need to tie (including how it should look at every step of the way).
DIY Tile Table
Grab a basic side table or coffee table and prepare to make it a lot less basic. This TikTok takes you through the process of spreading tile glue across the table; laying down tiles; and then going over it all with grout (to make the tile pop and to keep all the crumbs from your day getting forever stuck in the cracks).
Make Your Own Wall Arch
You don't need to bring in the Property Brothers to give yourself a sweet new arch in your living room. Paint your own wall arch using this TikTok as your guide. First, you'll measure and mark your desired arch width, and use a laser level to help you sketch straight vertical lines as your reference. Tape the lines up and — here's the cool part — tie a string between a pencil and a screwdriver. Place the screwdriver in the center near the top of your tape, and use it like one of those compasses from grade school to draw the top of the arch with your pencil. And... paint!
DIY Woodwick Candle
Upcycling isn't always about your wardrobe. Sometimes, you just want a nice DIY woodwick candle that doesn't cost you an entire paycheck. Find a cool old bowl (or buy a cheap one), stand up two wooden wicks anchored to the bottom, melt your wax, pour it in, then snip your wicks to a reasonable size. Let it dry, then luxuriate in the glow of your new candle.
Make A Little Greenhouse
Do you have a relatively wide, old plastic bottle and a love for baby plants that need heat and humidity? This TikTok suggests cutting the bottle in half horizontally, leaving enough space in the bottom section for soil and your itty bitty plant (they use aloe vera). Place the top half back on the bottle, and you've got yourself a DIY greenhouse.
Sell What You've Made
Ready to make some money from the upcycled furniture flips you've been getting pretty good at? This TikTok suggests taking a photo of your newly-flipped home good and doing a reverse image search. Find out what similar products are going for. That mirror you've upcycled is selling for $150 across the interweb market? Sweet — that's the ballpark you can price it for.
