What Is Upcycling and Why It Matters in 2025 [With Examples]
Looking for ways to create unique fashion or homewares on a budget with an eco-friendly approach? Many upcycling trends take the form of fun DIYs that use old or thrifted materials in new ways, either related or completely unrelated to their original purpose. They often employ secondhand or discarded materials and objects, including items sold in places like thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets. They can also be a great way to reuse and transform something you already have tucked away in an attic or closet.
What is an example of upcycling? We’ve included some information on how to upcycle things in new ways, as well as some great projects involving upcycled materials and objects. Many of these might already be in your home, and with some adhesive, paint, stain and other supplies, you can easily repurpose them into things you need and love.
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What Is Upcycling?
Upcycling encompasses the practice of creating something new from something old, whether it's entirely re-envisioning an item’s purpose and role or just making it into a more unique and customized piece. Materials for upcycling can range from larger items like furniture and older architectural elements to small things like clothing and vintage dishware. Many upcycling projects take one person’s trash and make it into another’s treasure. For example, repurposing household items like old lamps and broken dishes and turning them into unique new garden decor pieces or intricate mosaic tabletops.
Who Invented Upcycling?
Upcycling, in some ways, has existed since the ancient world, when necessity and rarity required people to reuse and repurpose things they had. One of the best examples of fashion upcycling occurred in the 19th century, when more expensive materials from clothing were often removed and reused on more modern clothing to retain and continue the value as textiles wore out with use. So, an heirloom lace trim or pearl buttons would be added to new pieces of fashion.
The rise of “readymade” and junk art in the early 20th century celebrated placing everyday objects in creative ways, like Marcel Duchamp’s famous “Fountain” sculpture that reframed a bathroom urinal as art.
Trends in reusing old materials peaked again during the Depression era out of necessity and continued through the century, particularly in fashion, where older pieces were often given fresher looks by modification and DIY methods. In recent years, marketplaces like Etsy and Ebay have seen an enormous rise in sellers of upcycled goods and projects, in fashion, art or home items. Upcycling’s popularity has also risen due to a love of vintage design elements and vintage clothing in the home decor and fashion worlds.
The term “upcycling” was first spotted in the mid-1990s, when it was included in an article in Salvo magazine by mechanical designer Reiner Pilz, referring to art and antiques: "I call recycling down-cycling. What we need is up-cycling, thanks to which old products are given a higher, not a lower, value.”
Why Upcycling Matters
"Is Upcycling good or bad?" Like recycling, upcycling is typically seen as an eco-friendly and less-capitalistic endeavor, since it takes advantage of the old rather than striving to create the new, easing the demand for manufacturing and the amount of trash that filters into landfills and disposal systems. Reusing old materials can also be a more budget-friendly approach than buying new, along with being a more creative endeavor.
Many upcycling artists or craftspeople use what they make as a conversation starter about environmental impact and our relationship to disposability in the modern age. Reusing old things with new goals in mind can also be both limiting and highly creative, making us think of ordinary things in new ways.
One recent criticism of upcycling is that the process of repurposing often ruins the original integrity of the original materials. Upcycling DIYers tread a fine line between genius and ruining possibly valuable and collectible items by deconstructing, painting or remaking them. Many have also leveled claims that buying thrifted items merely to repurpose them is taking them from low-income or limited-resource people who might need them in their original, unaltered condition.
What Is Upcycling Vs. Recycling?
Recycling is usually the term for reusing something in its original purpose or taking that material, breaking it down and forming it into something else. Examples include reusing plastic bags several times after their initial use or recycling plastic bottles into other plastic objects at a recycling center. Upcycling, on the other hand, reinvisions objects entirely, either cosmetically or functionally, with an eye toward greater value in the new piece, either monetarily or aesthetically.
Upcycling Ideas & Examples
Now that you know what upcycling is, and how it differs from recycling, why not give it a go and see how far you can stretch your imagination? Here are a few upcycling ideas to get you started on your repurposing journey. If you'd like some guidance on how to upcycle, try taking a few art classes in your city.
1. Furniture
One of the most popular upcycling trends is transforming existing furniture into new and fresh pieces. Some examples include painting an antique dresser with a new, more contemporary shade or giving an older one a new role, like using it as a kitchen island or entertainment console. Upcycling is a great tactic for getting new and unique furniture pieces from thrifted items, like refinishing a vintage chair or reupholstering a vintage sofa for an entirely new look. It also includes turning other materials into furniture, like taking wood pallets and turning them into everything from an outdoor bar to a sofa or even a bed frame.
2. Recycling Bin Treasures
Sometimes, creative ideas are as close as the trash. Popular items for upcycling include containers like glass bottles and jars, egg cartons and other kinds of packaging. Glass mason jars can be used for craft projects and storage for small items, while empty cartons make great organizers for small desk accessories like paper clips or tacks. You can, for example, turn simple paper packing material into woven baskets or use bubble wrap to create textured recycled art. Or use decorated coffee tins to hold your kitchen herb garden.
Repurposing your trash can be a meditative craft for adults or a spontaneous craft for kids to pass some time. It doesn't matter how old you are, upcycling provides endless options of easy crafts to do at home.
3. Clothes
Upcycled fashion usually gives items a new spin or use. Examples of upcycling clothes include adding patches or new trim to a garment to make it more unique or turning clothing items into entirely new creations, like making a quilted tote bag from an old robe or a dress from a vintage sheet. Upcycling fashion can be a great way to take inexpensive thrifted or secondhand items and make them more in line with your style.
4. Books
Books and paper items can often make for amazing upcycling projects because such a large volume is available secondhand. Decoupage a table or other home decor piece with pages from an old book or cover an entire wall with them for a chic dark academia-style accent. With an X-acto knife and other supplies, you can turn any hardbound book into a book sculpture that folds out into fun shapes or create a secret book box or safe for storing valuables on your shelf.
5. Natural Objects
Natural objects are great for repurposing and upcycling projects. Items like sticks and driftwood make excellent interior decor, whether it’s placed in a vase for a pretty arrangement or hung on the wall with hooks added to display coffee mugs. Other great upcycling materials found outdoors include stones, pebbles, pine cones, seed pods, shells, sea glass and moss, all of which can be used in home decor for a natural look.
6. Architectural Elements
New homes often miss the character and charm missing of older constructions, something which you can recapture by upcycling elements. Turn a vintage window into a new garden trellis or use salvaged tile for your bathroom backsplash to create a mosaic tabletop. Or hang items like intricately designed metal grates or carved ceiling medallions on your wall as art.
7. Dishware
Vintage dishware has all sorts of fun upcycling uses that go beyond using them for your table. They are also plentiful and you can find them in any thrift store or flea market. Turn old teacups and saucers into bird feeders and outdoor garden decor. Or use vintage dishware to hold handmade candles and flower arrangements. Assemble beautiful glass centerpieces using old bowls and platters or use a vintage bowl to hold accessories on your dresser.
8. Home Decor
Older home decor elements can make great upcycling elements because they're accessible and plentiful. Turn an old lamp into a new one by covering the shade in fabric and fringe at the edges. Turn an old printer's tray into a curio shelf. Create a mini-terrarium or greenhouse from basic picture frames or use vintage millinery flowers in an arrangement.
9. Textiles
Vintage and thrifted textiles can be upcycled and repurposed in many ways. For a fun upcycling idea using old fabric, turn a used bedspread or sheet into new pillows or patchwork curtains. Turn an ancient rug into a fun cover for an ottoman or use an old blanket to make a new bed for your pets with some cotton filling. Great textiles to repurpose include vintage hankies, doilies and tea towels, as well as more industrial fabrics like coffee and flour sacks or you can weave plastic items into new bags or potplant covers.
10. Artwork and Frames
Wondering how to find your art style? Upcycling older art can be as simple as disassembling existing framed pieces and inserting new art. You could also upcycle the frames by adding paint and other decorative details like millwork appliques or mosaics. Another popular art trend and upcycling idea includes adding elements with paint or ink to existing art prints, like adding spooky ghosts and monsters to inexpensive landscape prints as a fun art idea, especially for Halloween craft ideas. Mirrors also make great items to reimagine and upcycle, as do old word art signs, which can be painted and used for new art and craft DIYs that make great art ideas for bored teens.
11. Jewelry
Old jewelry can be made into everything from new pieces to beautiful home accents when added to frames, lampshades and wreaths. Great DIY projects to upcycle jewelry include turning old brooches into mixed media art pieces or transforming vintage clip-on earrings into hair clips.
12. Metal and Tools
Metal makes a great durable material for repurposing. Use an old garden hoe as a whimsical garden-themed hook rack in your entryway or a used wooden toolbox as an outdoor dining caddy for utensils. Place an old timesheet rack as a mail holder on your wall or use metal drawers to hold small craft supplies. Turn everyday flatware into windchimes or jewelry by heating and bending it. Even metal wrenches and other tools can be bent and turned into wall hooks for an industrial look.
Upcycling gives old, tired items a new purpose, from stylish new decor to a chic outfit. For some art inspiration, upcycling can be the way to give these items an eco-friendly and budget-friendly new beginning.
For even more great DIY ideas to turn your junk into treasures, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!
