Don't Toss An Old Toaster When There Are 8 Useful Ways To Repurpose It Around The House

With toasters only lasting six to eight years on average, a burnt-out appliance is an experience all of us are bound to have at one point or another. What we don't all share, however, is a creative outlook for how to deal with it. Tossing an old toaster in the trash is ill-advised, while recycling is time-consuming and, let's be honest, uninspired. Instead, save your time and the toaster itself by finding a clever repurposing opportunity for around the house. Just because it can't help you prep your breakfast anymore, it still has plenty of utility to make your home more functional, stylish, and enjoyable.

Various alterations can turn a toaster into anything from a stylish napkin holder for parties to an offbeat plant display to spruce up the home. At the very least, you can cut the power cord to clean up the look. But if you want to open it up to expand the many ways to repurpose your broken toaster and complete your DIY, it can be easy to remove the interior materials simply by taking out a few screws. From there, you'll be surprised at all the possibilities this simple shell can present!

At its core, a repurposed toaster oven is an art piece waiting to happen, especially if you like to bring your home to life with offbeat decor. Prime the metal for spray-painted designs, or use decals and stencils to personalize it. If you're a crafty type, this makes a great time to test out your decoupage and sculpting skills, giving it patterned wraps and extra features that draw attention to your creativity.

For anyone needing inspiration, a popular way to reuse your retired toaster is by taking stock of your house plants. If you've been searching for a landing spot for that random succulent or other small specimen, it's time to turn your dead toaster into display-worthy decor. A toaster's attractive luster makes a beautiful complement against the organic tones and textures of a thriving plant. Remove the mechanisms to make an empty cavity to fit over small pots, letting the stems reach through the top. Or, put soil directly in the slots, and take a shortcut to make a delightful display.

The old-fashioned toaster is one of many vintage kitchen accessories making a comeback, and not just for preparing your morning bagel. It may earn you some odd looks, but repurposing an old toaster to manage your pens might also garner some appreciation from your office mates. Cut the cord, and load it up with pens, pencils, scissors, rulers, and more. You may even be able to hang other materials on the adjustment knobs and sliders on the outside of the toaster. Give it a fresh paint job or a thematic office decal to bring some personality to your repurposed appliance.

An empty toaster makes a fine shell for various household accessories, transforming them into quirky decor that's sure to inspire a smile. One of the most popular ways to repurpose an old toaster around the home is with a simple LED night light. Get a battery-powered, remote-controlled light to put in the gutted housing. Pop it on your nightstand, and let the light filter through the open toaster slots. Alternatively, you can use the toaster as a base and fit a light socket and shade on top for a piece of industrial decor fit for the living room.

When seasonal allergies or winter-time viruses are making their rounds, the tissues come out to keep life bearable in the house. Sadly, the boxes are rarely the most fashionable decor additions, adding insult to injury. Turn this eyesore into an opportunity with a broken-down toaster, using the inside cavity to house the tissues and the toaster slot as a perfectly sized dispenser. Jazz it up with decorative designs on the outside to make it stand out. If you feel so inclined, you can even try a spring-loaded platform inside the toaster, adding another layer of convenient function.

Upcycling your old toaster may not even require you to take it out of the kitchen if you need an effective solution for organizing utensils to free up counter space. Cut the cord and remove the innards. Now, you can make a simple yet fashionable holder to hold your cooking utensils. Use the separate slots to organize your spatulas, slotted spoons, and whisks for convenient access. If you have an old four-slot toaster to reuse, you may even have a slot left to keep your recipe cards!

An old toaster oven can be a surprising benefit to homesteaders, offering an ideal shell for an egg incubator. A flip-down glass door allows easy access and secure visibility to watch the progress. The rack already creates an ideal landing surface, needing only a flat cover, and you can drill ports in the top to insert your heat lights, humidity gauge, and thermostat. The water bowl for humidity can be tucked safely under the rack. With such a convenient setup, a spacious toaster can seem almost purpose-built to be an incubator after the toasting mechanisms finally burn out.

Before 3D printing became accessible at the household level, plastic molds were the low-tech standard to get easily sculpted custom-shaped items. For many, it's still the go-to approach, especially if you have handy materials like an old but working toaster oven to repurpose. Grab some plastic or rubber scraps and a mold. With a little patience, you can make all kinds of cool items, from basic functional tools to eye-catching home decor.