A sentimental, re-purposed headboard.

When you’re pregnant with your first baby, you invest in the latest, most modern baby gear. You buy quality items that will last, so you can use them with younger siblings who come along later.

Then come new regulations and recommendations. Suddenly the car seat is obsolete because it’s not rear facing. Your baby carrier is one of those inferior “crotch danglers.” Your crib has drop sides. I’m all for safety and am in favor of changes to baby gear in recent years. Still, looking at my pile of obsolete baby gear, I wonder why they couldn’t have fixed these problems before I spent all my money.

In my family, our drop-side crib was one of our biggest investments. We purchased it several years before the the manufacture and sale of such cribs was banned. I was left with a crib I couldn’t even sell on Craigslist. I tried to give it away to no avail. I couldn’t bring myself to put the crib my two daughters slept in on the curb for the garbage truck.

So I turned to Pinterest to find out how to re-purpose a drop side crib. Here are some:

Ways To Re-purpose A Drop Side Crib

1.    A headboard for a bed. I made a headboard for my queen-sized bed using the two taller end pieces from the crib. I’m not sure how – or if – this would work on twin or king-sized beds, but it’s worth experimenting with. Every time I walk into my bedroom I get a nice, sentimental reminder of the time when my daughters were tiny.

Photo via apartmenttherapy.com.

2.    A child-sized table. Leave the entire crib assembled but remove one of the longer sides, and take out the mattress. If your crib has a solid surface upon which the mattress rests (ours is wood), you will have a child’s table with three tall side walls. If your crib has metal springs instead of solid wood, add a piece of painted plywood cut to size to make a table top. Add one or two small chairs (or plastic crates turned upside down and topped with cushions) to complete the set. Use the table as a desk, Lego play area, craft center, or whatever inspires you.

3.    A garden trellis. Lean the two longer sides of the crib together in an A-frame or triangle shape. Fasten the pieces together at the top with wire, or use fancier hardware if you’re a handy person. Plant cucumbers, peas, or other vining plants at the base and let them grow up the sides of the crib. Some people suggest painting the crib with an exterior-grade paint to prevent or slow the rotting of the crib’s wood.

The possibilities are vast. You can also upcycle your old crib into a quilt rack. Stand a longer side of the crib vertically and lean it against the wall. Arrange quilts over the bars. Or try making a book or magazine rack. Similar to the quilt rack, lean the crib side vertically against the wall. Open books or magazines and drape them by their spines over the rails.

Another option is a laundry drying rack. Mount the crib sides on the wall and hang laundry to dry.

Or if you’re handy, you can make a bench or chair out of your old crib. This project requires more skills with tools than I have, but it looks interesting.

Take a look at Pinterest for even more ideas. Some of these projects look so good, I almost wish I had more than one drop-side crib. If you’d like to make something but don’t have a crib, check out thrift shops, sites like Freecycle, or keep an eye out at garage sales this spring and summer.

What have you done to re-purpose a drop side crib?

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Category: Saving Money

Tags: cribs