26 Brilliant Ways To Recycle & Reuse Old Picture Frames

There are so many ways you can reuse old picture frames so don’t be quick to discard any of your frames even if they appear ‘useless’ to you already. It is important to know that a broken picture frame is not the same as an old picture frame. A picture frame can be old but not broken and vice versa.  On the other hand, if you are not a fan of throwing things away and love recycling, then this post will definitely be of great help to you.

As an inquisitive type, you might find yourself looking around the house often and see the number of stuff that is out of place with the seemingly “useless” tag, and you wonder “can’t this stuff really be re-used, recycled, or rebranded?”

With the fast pace at which the world moves right now, the introduction of newer and cooler stuff has actually brought a shift and a change in taste. People tend to get tired of some things easily as they seem to go out of vogue.

This is why it’s quite common that many objects used in and around the house easily go out of style. Talk about pegs, hangers, some appliances, and even furniture. But then, what about picture frames? It has actually become a thing and this can be seen in the pile-up of discarded stuff.

If you are the type that loves to recycle or re-use things, then stumbling on this post is quite fortunate because we are about to expose you to several new ways you can re-use your old or broken picture frames.

It’s not alien to see objects that are no longer useful for their original intent be transformed to fit into another purpose and quite surprisingly, they always fit the new purpose perfectly like it was meant to be. One good thing is; re-using discarded items is one of the best ways to maintain a budget in a household. As a matter of fact, if you can re-use stuff – like your picture frames – you will be keeping them out of the landfill for a longer time, and that my friend, is actually a very smart thing to do.

If you have lying around in your house or inside your pantry, any empty picture frames, whether old, broken, or out of trend, there are several creative uses you can put them into as they’re not completely useless.

So you know that it’s time to shake the dust off them and put them to good use!

But wait! What if you don’t have any frames at home?

Although we sell and make new frames, that is not much of a big deal. You can always find some old and broken ones at your nearest thrift stores or even from your friends.

In this post, I’d like to show you some cool tricks or hacks as other people might call them, about;

1. What to do with a broken picture frame
2. What to do with old picture frames
3. How to reuse a professional frame

1. Table of Contents

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   What to do with a broken picture frame.

   

• • If what your picture frame is missing is the glass, you can simply download some cool abstract shapes from the internet, provided you know your picture frame size, then send it to us (link to contact) for printout, after printing out you can go ahead and replace the old picture of the frame with the broken glass with the new abstract shape you have just printed. You will find out that it shows better anyway, without glass.
    
    

    Pro tip: for this, let me advise that you keep the board at the back and reuse it for the new printout, this way, you keep the sturdiness and also make up for the missing glass and then your goal is achieved.

  • With just a few craft supplies and tricks, you can make your broken picture frame into a chalkboard. Which can serve as a reminder frame and/or notice board for you and your family.
    
    There’s no waste at all, you’ll agree.
  • Get a fabric with your broken picture frame and create a covered bulletin board.
    
  • Planning a little party or get-together? Your broken small picture frame can come in handy. You can use the broken picture frame to carry labels for food and drink titles at your party. This can be achieved by typing and printing out the title which you then fit into the frame. Sounds cool, you’ll agree.
  • Also, you can make a new backing for your broken picture frame by getting new cardboard or strawboard at your closest bookshop if the previous one is damaged e.g. By molds, or water, etc.
  • Your broken frame can be used as synthetic flower wall art. Just place it on the wall and glue your synthetic flower inside of it.

Don’t be limited to the above ideas, think outside the box and you will realize that there are several other creative things you can do with your broken picture frames.

So, what if your photo frame is not broken but old, what then do you do with it?

2. What to do with old picture frames

   

If you have what seems to you to be old picture frames in the home and you’re thinking of discarding them so your house is one junk less, then you might have to reconsider because below are some very creative ways they can be re-used. 

• • Turn it into hanging hardware.
  • With the right supplies, your old picture frame can be used to make new art on your wall(s) and/or fridge
  • Your old picture frame can be made into the perfect key holder. All you have to do is add few hooks to it and boom, there’s your perfect key holder.
  • If you are a fanatic for jewelry, then, you’ve got another use for an old picture frame. You can recycle your old frame into a fancy organizer for your jewelry.
    
  • An old frame can be used as a desk organizer; to keep your pens, mails, bills, and sheets of papers tidied up in one place so that they don’t spiral all over your table.
  • As a pincushion; for this, all you need is a foam to place inside the frame. If you want, you can wrap the foam with colorful fabric to add some style.
  • You can transform your old picture frame into a charging booth. This will serve as a permanent charging station and also help you to pinpoint where your phone is at.
  • Looking to give a facelift for your filing cabinets? Old picture frames are the perfect fit for that.
  • If the glass of your old picture frame is still perfect, then, you can make it into a cute and quite functional message board that’s also erasable. This board can serve as a family calendar, notice board, menu tab and so much more.
  • Old picture frames can also be reused as a hanging stand for a flower basket.
  • As a Christmas frame wreath
  • For ceiling medallion

3. How to reuse a professional frame

   

There’s no shame in re-using frames, and if it is a professional one, you most definitely won’t want to quickly discard it. So how do you re-use them? It’s quite simple, here goes it;

• • At times, it is only what’s in the frame that you need to replace and not necessarily the frame itself. If this is the case, replace the picture or the artwork with something new like a vintage map.
  • Also, you may want to swap out the current content of the old professional frame and try out your own photo or creative designs into the frame.
  • If there’s anything important to you like something that holds a nice memory for you, (could be a drawing, an album or record cover, a print, and so on) you can frame it into your professional picture frame.
  • They can be used as home decor. This is a uniquely creative way to decorate your home. All you need do is put together several of the frames, place and glue them strategically all over each other. Or you may decide to arrange them in lines away from each other. It’s whimsical.
  • This might be funny but do you know your old professional picture frame can also serve as your towel rack? It’s relatively easy, just remove whatever content that’s currently is in it and hang in your towels and you’re good to go.
  • Easily and stylishly transform your current large picture frame into a working magnetic organizational board. It is one efficient way to keep tabs on all of those tiny but vital papers that are always threatening to clutter up your counters and tabletops.
  • A Professional frame can be used as a do-it-yourself sunglasses holder.
  • Not to forget that your old or broken professional frame can be transformed into a creatively unique vertical chess board set. How cool is that huh? 

Conclusion

By now, you know that those frames lying about in your home are not completely useless. You can use them to add a touch of ingenuity to your home so that the current boring and placid look vanishes.

So much of this stuff you can make out of your picture frames is very easy to do. Try them out and you will give yourself a hi-five once you’re done because the makeover will wow you.