20 Clever Ways To Repurpose Porch Railings In Your Home Or Garden

A deck on the newer side typically only needs a refresh — a power wash and re-stain (if it's made of wood). Things get more complicated with older porches; you may be looking at demolish and re-do. If you're facing the latter scenario, repurposing as many of the old decking materials as possible helps to mitigate some of the costs of the repair and reduces waste. Thinking of ways to reuse the flat, uniform boards is easy, but the railings and their associated spindles (balusters) and posts are often overlooked, especially when they're ornate.

Smart DIY ways to repurpose these leftover decking materials at home include hanging railing sections from the ceiling for kitchen utensils or as a lighting fixture, wall-mounting them to dry laundry, or getting out your carpentry tools to transform them into a baby or dog gate. Outdoors, spindles can form the body of dragonfly garden art or can be cut down and painted to make hanging tree ornaments. The posts make great legs for a patio table or the stand for a birdhouse, bird bath, or planter.

If you don't already have porch railings to repurpose, you can find vintage metal, wood, and more modern plastic railings, spindles, and posts at construction salvage yards or on online craft marketplaces like Etsy. Contemporary railings, either vintage reproductions or modern makes, are much easier to find. For example, a FOYTOKI Unpainted Solid Wood Porch Spindle costs around $11, while a 40 inch by 4 foot Bobolish Black Metal Horizontal Fence Railing Kit goes for about $140.

Need a new table for your outdoor space? Take those heavy porch railing posts and cut them down to the height you want your table to be — coffee table versus credenza versus dining table. Vertical planks for the base of the table, while the tabletop is made from planks running horizontally. For something with a lighter feel, use four railing spindles as legs in place of the posts and a thinner wood board. If you don't need any more patio furniture, use the same idea to make a potting table in your greenhouse.

Paint a handful of deck railing spindles in your hue of choice using a weatherproof paint; how many you choose to use depends on how many dragonflies you want to make, since the spindles form the insect's body. Attach wings made from scrap wood boards or ceiling fan blades. A 4-pack of ToughGrade 42 Inch RV Oak-Walnut Replacement Fan Blades costs about $25. Blades with woven panels look more realistic, but you can also decorate solid blades to match your existing garden decor. Hang the completed dragonflies on your fence.

The types of DIY trellises for your vegetable garden are numerous, but few beat the convenience of a ladder-style trellis. Porch railing sections resemble ladders, making them pretty much instant trellises. Build a four-walled (and even roofed) trellis for a garden bed and turn it into a winter greenhouse by wrapping it in plastic sheeting. Lean two sections together over a bed to form a triangular, tent-like trellis or lean one against a wall for even simpler support. Alternatively, stand two metal railings vertically in planter boxes to support ornamental climbers.

Remove some of the spindles from a section of porch railing and lean it against a wall in your craft room. Hang quilts (or blankets) over the spindles. If you're a magazine collector, hang them over the rungs as a functional living room display. Outdoors, you can use the same section for porch decor, hanging different decorations and farmhouse-style signage on it as the seasons change. You can also mount a section to a wall nearby your outdoor shower or swimming pool and use it to keep towels off the ground.

Often, a deck renovation leaves you with leftover aluminum balusters. Craft a simple frame using wood planks and use the poles as bars for a dog or baby gate. Fix it to the top or bottom of an indoor staircase or secure the entryway to your porch. Don't have carpentry skills or tools? Deck railing sections are pretty much already safety gates. Just paint and add hardware, like hinges and a locking mechanism, and attach it to the wall. Sections from ornate railings also make whimsical gates for cottage-style gardens.

For this project, you'll need a few individual porch railing balusters or spindles, the more ornate the better. Clean them up, if needed, and paint them in a distressed fashion to retain that ye olde world vibe. Hunt down some farmhouse style metal hooks — we love this Set of 3 Cast Iron French Country Wall Hooks for about $25 — and screw them onto the front of the balustrades about three-quarters of the way down the stem. Mount your new-to-you hooks to the wall in any room you need extra storage options.

If you have particularly decorative porch railings in your collection of architectural salvage materials, cut the spindles into random lengths, changing up where you make cuts so the carved patterns are all different. Paint each piece a different color using waterproof craft paint. With 25 colors in a pack, the Shuttle Art Outdoor Acrylic Paint Set offers plenty of choices for about $30. Drill a small hole in the top of each piece for a screw hook and hang them from the branches of a tree using garden twine.

Get your hands on a small wooden birdhouse with a flat base. Go for something quaint like this yellow flower-adorned Glitzhome 10.2 Inch High Distressed Wooden Birdhouse for just over $23. Or, if you're a wild gardener, this Cedar Alpha Moss Bluebird House with Cedar Rings for about $19 may better suit your style. Whatever you choose, use wood glue to attach it to the top of a sturdy porch railing balustrade or post. This also works for plant pots (making a plant stand) and dishes for bird baths.

No one likes having to stare at their AC condenser unit while relaxing in the backyard. Get out your drill and whip up a box-style cover by screwing together old wooden deck railing sections. The balustrade gaps ensure air can flow around the unit. Connect it to the wall or make it free standing so you can lift it off the unit for maintenance access. Use the same method to build large decorative planter covers to hide ugly pots or a storage chest for outdoor toys or swimming pool equipment.

This DIY works best with square-footed rather than round deck railing posts painted in your favorite hue. Screw an 8 inch Khtumeware Cast Iron Heavy-Duty Antique Golden-White Wall Bracket to each side, forming a sturdy base to hold the free-standing rack upright. Add two to four metal hooks to hang coats. Use weatherproof paint and you can use the rack on your patio for hanging plant baskets. Alternatively, use a whole section of spindles to make a wall-mounted coat rack — or a hanger for aprons if mounted in the kitchen.

Cut the porch railing balustrades to size and paint or stain them. Drill out a hole large enough for a candle stick or glue a small vintage glass dish to one end for a pillar candle. Glue everything to these 1 inch thick Bright Creations Unfinished MDF Wood Blocks — a bit under $15 for four. Wood rounds work, too. Add vintage drawer pulls up and down the spindle stems and glue a small dish to the top in place of the hole for a candle to create a jewelry tree.

Mount a section of porch railing to a patio wall or fence. Use s-hooks — a 2-pack of 3.2 inch Amzfuly Rust-Free Stainless Steel Utility Hooks costs about $6 — to hang plants in pots from the horizontal spindles. You can also make a free-standing A-frame vertical garden by leaning two sections together, cutting out some of the balustrades from one, and inserting planter boxes in their place. Alternatively, organize your garden tools by flipping the deck railing section on its side, screwing in some hooks, and hanging it on your shed or garage wall.

Some metal deck railings are highly ornate, featuring spiraling, twisting balustrades or recognizable elements like birds or flowers. What's more, all these pretty patterns are contained within sturdy metal frames. Take advantage of these ready-made panels to create fencing for your formal garden beds, build a raised garden, or edge gardens along pathways and driveways, defining the distinctive areas. You could even go a step further and construct a garden arbor across a pathway or as an entrance to a large section of lawn using panels cut from vintage metal porch railings.

Have you always wanted a Victorian-style fireplace? If you're okay with DIYing a replica, you can skip all those hours spent scouring antique stores for a genuine surround. Instead, clean and sand some deck railing posts or thick spindles and use them to frame either side of a fireplace, attaching them to the mantle and hearth as you would wooden columns. Finish the entire surround, posts or spindles included, the same, and the dupe is done. This same idea would work for framing a farmhouse sink in a cottage kitchen.

Take apart wooden porch railings and you're left with a bunch of planks and beams you can turn into a sturdy outdoor bench. Making something simple with just four legs and a flat platform for sitting on, or add a seat back, arm rests, and some outdoor cushions for something a little more comfortable. Paint the bench in a hue that matches your existing outdoor decor palette. If you have access to welding equipment, you could make a lookalike wrought iron garden bench from metal deck railings.

Drying your laundry in the clothes dryer is undeniably convenient, but it also uses a lot of electricity. Save your pennies by converting a section of deck railing — wooden or metal — into a drop-down laundry drying rack. Attach ceiling-mounted pulleys to each side of the rack and affix it to the ceiling in your laundry room or garage. Hang laundry items over the balustrades. You could also mount the section to the wall using large hinges. Either way, you can hide it away when you're not using it.

Buying a ready-made ladder chandelier will set you back hundreds of dollars. Instead, save your pennies and make your own from a section of porch railing. You don't even need to wire it up yourself. Mount it to the ceiling using a sturdy decorative chain and hang the cord of a pendant light from a balustrade. Go cottagecore with artificial foliage. Outdoors, hang the section in your balcony or above your patio table and wrap it in fairy lights.

Looking for clever ways to organize your pots and pans with limited cabinet space? Similar to the lighting idea above, create a chef's kitchen in your home by hanging a section of wood or metal porch railing from the ceiling above your kitchen island with sturdy chains. To complete the look, hang the pots, pans, and other utensils from blacksmith-crafted hooks. We like Viking Traders Hand Forged Twisted Heavy-Duty S Hooks — a pack of 2 costs about $15 so they're not cheap, but worth it for the durability.

Need a tall credenza for a narrow entryway or hall? Skip the furniture store and knock one up yourself using four ornately carved wooden deck railing balustrades as the legs and any old scrap wood you have lying around for the tabletop. Another arguably even more attractive option is to use entire sections of vintage metal porch railings as the legs, either just on either end of the long, thin tabletop or spanning its entire width and length, creating a box-like structure that could double as storage space.

Traditional antique beds don't come cheap. Mock up the look by mounting a section of metal porch railing to the wall above your bed. Likewise, railing made of wood makes for an attractive headboard — paint or stain the wood to match the decor in your bedroom before screwing it to the wall. If you don't like the idea of an entire section of deck railing sitting above your head while you sleep (it's definitely heavy), cut out smaller pieces or even just the balustrades to mount to the wall as wall art.