Upcycling your old furniture isn't merely about being thrifty, it's also about being incredibly creative with your possessions and spotting hidden potential. From pretty garden planters to unique shelving and home accents, your old drawers can live a fabulous new life in your home (and fool guests into thinking you dished out on expensive homeware). Check out these 4 great uses for your old drawers.

Wrap it up

Kitchen drawers are where most people store their rolls of tin foil, baking paper or sandwich bags, only for them to become a cluttered and confusing mess when you need them most. Ironically, a drawer can still be the perfect storage solution for your kitchen wrapping equipment, it just benefits from being mounted on the wall instead.

With a bright lick of paint and a couple of doweling rods, an old drawer can make an ideal wrapping station in your kitchen or indeed any room in the home where you need quick access to small rolls of material. This set up could be put to good use in a craft room or study area too. Need rolls of sellotape or wrapping paper? Convert a lonely old drawer into a handy stationery dispenser instead!

Drawers and dolls

For those of you with young families, a pair of drawers set side by side can transform into an amazing doll house for your little one. Proper doll houses don't always come cheap, and with a home-made version, your child can have one in the colours and patterns of their choosing.

A DIY dollhouse can be a fantastic project for you and your child to make and decorate together. You can add shelves inside the dollhouse to create a second or third floor and if you choose to keep the drawer handle, this can come in handy when transporting it from room to room.

Fancy plants

For the green-fingered out there, you'll be happy to know that old drawers can make amazing budget planters. Garden centres can charge a pretty penny for stylish planters, so why not try your hand at making your own unique garden planter? These can sit on your front porch as a fresh alternative to hanging baskets or window boxes.

If you fancy the look of an indoor planter without the mess, you can create a pretty window planter using an old narrow drawer. Using the space on your kitchen windowsill or countertop, you could place a row of mini succulents in the drawer or a row of mason jars filled with fresh flowers. This can bring the outdoors in without the maintenance, whilst the drawer itself can lend a shabby chic 'milk crate' vibe to your décor.

Hopefully these tips have inspired you to look at your old chest of drawers with fresh, artistic eyes. Once you've created extra space in the home (and saved a small fortune!), it's a good excuse to head to your local furniture store for a long-coveted piece. As versatile as drawers are, they can't quite be recycled into a sofa or bed, so why not reward your upcycling efforts with a quality investment?