As the seasons change and your children outgrow their sports equipment, you might discard old gear. However, there’s a creative alternative that can breathe new life into these items while adding unique flair to your child’s room. Upcycling sports equipment into furniture reduces waste while creating personalized pieces that celebrate your little athlete’s passions. From hockey stick headboards to baseball bat shelves, let’s explore 10 ways to transform sports gear into kids’ furniture.
1. Inspire Your Future NHLer With a Hockey-Inspired Room
Perform a hat trick by transforming your young hockey enthusiast’s bedroom with creative upcycling ideas. A hockey stick headboard serves as the centerpiece, flanked by jersey pillows that add a soft touch of team spirit. Puck lamps can also be a great way to reuse the dozens of old pucks your family has collected over the years.
To create a hockey stick headboard, collect old or broken sticks and arrange them in a desired pattern. The Nest Full of Eggs blog featured the Bachman’s Holiday Ideas House, which placed the longer sticks toward the center and alternated stick ends and blades. Secure the sticks to a sturdy backboard.
For jersey pillows, repurpose old team shirts by stuffing them or using the fabric to cover existing cushions.
2. Celebrate Every Slap Shot in a Hockey-Stick Chair
Give broken hockey sticks a second life by crafting them into a unique chair. This project from the Bachman’s Holiday Ideas House requires some woodworking skills but results in a conversation piece that any hockey fan would cherish.
Start by creating a basic chair frame. Then, use the hockey sticks as slats for the seat and backrest. Sand all edges for safety and apply a clear protective coating to preserve the sticks’ original designs.
For added comfort, add a cushion upholstered in team colors or hockey-themed fabric.
3. A Dugout-Inspired Shelf
Baseball fans will love this clever shelf that puts those stray baseballs to good use. It’s perfect for displaying trophies, photos, or other baseball memorabilia.
To build a shelf similar to the one in the photo above from Aromatic Delights, you’ll need about 20 baseballs, three wooden boards, hardware, and two threaded rods. You can also adjust the size with more or fewer materials depending on your needs and decor.
4. Ace Trophy Storage With a Tennis Racquet Shelf
Don’t let that old wooden tennis racquet gather dust in the garage—turn it into a unique shelf instead. This project is perfect for displaying trophies, medals, or other small items.
Start by cleaning the racquet thoroughly and touching up any worn areas on the frame. If the strings are intact, you can leave them for an authentic look.
To create the shelf shown in the photo above from GadgetSponge, you’ll need to cut the wood pieces on either side of the racket’s head about halfway down the head, leaving the strings intact. Fold the top portion downward to create a flat shelf, and use fasteners on either side to hold the shelf in place. Mount it to the wall using brackets or heavy-duty picture hangers.
5. Score With a Basketball-Net Table
Bring the excitement of the basketball court into your child’s room with this creative side table. IkeaHackers shows how it all comes together in their blog post. The blogger and owner of IkeaHackers, Jules Yap, drew inspiration from a similar table they saw at an NBA Store.
If you’d like to add to the design, you can embellish the tabletop with court markings or incorporate logos from your kids’ favorite teams.
6. Hit an Ollie With These Sweet Shelves
Skateboard enthusiasts will flip for these cool shelves made from old decks. This project is relatively simple; all you need is an old board and some L-brackets. Jenna Burger, from Jenna Burger Design, used mini decks to create her shelves, and she showcases other ideas you might want to take advantage of, including skateboard shoe racks.
If you want to mix up the design a bit, you can remove the skateboard’s hardware, add LED strips underneath the deck, or repaint the deck to match the room’s color scheme.
7. Light Up the Night With This Badminton Redo
Transform badminton shuttlecocks into a charming string of lights that will add a whimsical touch to any sports-themed room. This project from Kittenhood is simple enough for older children to help with, making it a fun family activity.
All you need is a set of string lights, a craft knife, and several shuttlecocks to get started. Each shuttlecock should act as a lampshade, and then you can hang them across a headboard, along a bookshelf, or throughout a room for a unique glow.
8. Encourage Sweet Dreams of Home Runs With This Headboard
This unique headboard will have your little slugger dreaming of grand slams. Similar to the hockey-themed backboard, this project uses old baseball bats and comes from the Bachman family’s Spring Ideas House.
You’ll need to start with a wooden board cut to the desired headboard size and painted or stained to match the room’s decor. You can then attach the baseball bats onto the board in an alternating pattern, securing them with a strong adhesive or screws from the back of the board.
You can even reuse the other ideas from the Bachman’s Holiday Idea House for your baseball fan’s room. Reuse baseball jerseys for the pillows and substitute old baseballs for pucks for a baseball-themed lamp base.
9. Catch Everything in Old Baseball Gloves for Extra Storage
Also from the Bachman’s Spring Ideas House, these old baseball gloves make for unique wall storage. You can adhere the gloves to netting as the Bachmans did or onto another surface. Your kids can then use the gloves to hold their trinkets. Decorate the rest of the surface with cards, medals, and other baseball-related memorabilia.
10. Turn Homework Goals Into GOOOAAALLLLSSSS With This Desk
A soccer-inspired wooden workspace will make homework time more enjoyable for your young athlete. To make the desk XO In My Room designed in the photo above, you can craft the desk yourself or purchase one.
Paint the bottom and legs in alternating black and white to signify a soccer ball. Then add a bit of netting to the back to make it look like a soccer goal!
To take the design further, you can use netted areas on top of the desk to organize supplies or decorate the piece with some colors or logos from their favorite teams.
Our Conclusion
Upcycling sports gear into children’s furniture is a win-win solution that combines sustainability with personalized decor. These projects give new life to old equipment and create unique, meaningful pieces that celebrate your child’s athletic interests. They might even inspire you to start reusing other old pieces of gear you have lying around the house.