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Frugal Office Recycling Ideas
by Kim Tilley
http://frugal-moms.com
Setting up an office,
particularly a home office, can be really expensive, IF you buy everything new
and at full price! If you're willing to be creative, and if you have a little
time, you can save a LOT of money. Here are some ideas to get your started:
-Baskets- They're so useful and
cheap! Buy them at yard sales, thrift stores, on clearance and on sale. Use
them to organize your office supplies. Use a large on for a waste basket. They
don't match? Paint them if you want them to match your office decor. A $2 can
of spray paint and you can "accessorize" with these cheap baskets!
-Milk Crates - same idea as
baskets, and they work fine as makeshift filing cabinets. You can stack them
any which way your want. Throw a board across two stacks, and you have your
desk for super cheap. Attach it all together and paint, and you have a very
modern-looking desk!
-Coffee cans - they make great
holders, and believe it or not, I have seen a desk made out of these as well!
Someone used Krazy Glue (or rubber cement) to make 4 legs out of coffee cans,
and spray painted them black. They painted on gold designs and added the top
from a coffee table for an elegant looking desk.
-Soup cans - great pencil
holders! If you have kids, you will probably get one of these for Christmas or
Mother's Day at least once!
-Pictures for the office -
spruce up old frames from yard sales. Fill with artwork from last year's
calendar, a puzzle that you've glued together, a color photocopy (the quality
is now good enough!), a collage of old pictures, old ads or crate labels from
an antique store (very cheap- usually $1 per ad, and they look great- find some
that suit your business). You could also buy a coffeetable book, and cut the
pictures out and frame them. This approach is more expensive. I know a lady who
decorated her entire home with one coffee table book of pictures done by her
favorite artist. She could not afford to buy even one painting, let alone
reproduction. The book cost her $40 and she was happy with the results
See also:
Frugal Office Supplies
Frugal Office Furniture
© Copyright 1999-2000 Frugal-Moms.com Inc.
About the Author
Kim Tilley,
a tightwad at heart, is the mother of three active boys and the founding editor
of Frugal-Moms.com. Frugal by force
and later by choice, Kim cut her income by 60% to stay at home with her
children and discovered that anyone can live better for less. Her work has
appeared in print publications such as The Tightwad Gazette. In her free
time, she entertains herself by chasing kids and finding ways to create
something from nothing!
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