Every year, we tend to pick out new snow gear for the upcoming winter season. This ultimately leads you to throwing out your old gear, including your snow skis. But wait. Did you know that you can actually repurpose your old snow skis in not one but many ways? So instead of throwing them away, selling them or donating them to a charitable trust (although we are all for the third option), consider transforming those old useless skis into some really useful stuff around your home.
Coat racks
If you have a pair of old skis lying around, consider repurposing them into useful coat racks you can use to hang your clothes, including your snow coats. Start off with a simple, single coat rack utilizing just a single ski. Attach some hooks to it at regular intervals and nail it to the wall. Voila, your coat rack is ready.
If you want to improvise a bit, consider making a multitier coat rack. Of course, you would require more than a pair of skis for this project (probably 5 or 6). Attach hooks to the skis and then nail the skis horizontally to two vertical standalone poles. Keep a proper distance between the skis. Your skis have thus been transformed into a cool standing coat rack.
Adirondack fashion chairs
If you have more than a couple of skis to spare, consider using them to make your very own Adirondack chair. You can also make use of vintage wooden skis or snowboards for the same purpose. It is that simple really. Use short skis of the same length to create the seat portion and legs of the chair. For the back, place the skis side by side so that the ski at the center is the highest and the ones that follow on either side start decreasing in height until the ones at the corners end up with the shortest height.
Now nail the seat and back portions together and construct the arms (using cedar). You can opt to keep the natural colors and patterns on the skis as they are, or paint the entire chair a uniform color. You can make smaller versions of the basic Adirondack chairs to suit small children as well.
Sofa
The basic process remains the same as that of the Adirondack chair. However, the length of the seat and back portions would be extended. The skis that constitute the back portion would also need to be of the same height (although you can opt for varying heights to create a visual point of interest). If you are wary of sitting on skis, consider using a more stable material for the base and then simply nailing the skis on them for a more durable sofa that would be able to bear your weight for many more years to come.
Coffee Tables
While you are at it, how about constructing a coffee table with old skis to complement that sofa you just created? Here again, you would need to have an idea of the basic design following which you can easily nail the skis together to create a very innovative coffee table. Improvise on the basic rectangle shape and opt for creative designs that would stand out from the rest of the furniture.
Lighting options
All you need are some skis (four would be a better option), an electrical connection, a bulb and of course a lampshade. Arrange the skis in such a way that they stand freely without support. Affix the bulb to the top of the structure and cover it with a lampshade to create your very own ski lamp. You can also use the skis as a candle votive to help you during those extended power cuts in winter.
Shelves
Image Source : static01.nyt.com
Using just a handful of shelf brackets, you can repurpose your old skis to form unique shelves. These would then become the best places to display all those awesome photos you took during your time in the snow.
Summary
There are innumerable ways in which you can repurpose old skis. The ideas mentioned above would help you understand how you can do just that and use these skis around your home.