Upcycling gives headboards a new life

Reina Kemble has started a small refurbishing business by transforming old headboards into benches, giving them a new life.

Upcycling allows Kemble to waste fewer resources by taking something that is already made and giving it a new purpose. She finds headboards everywhere from Facebook market to the dumpster.

“The headboards that I found on the side of the road and those things were going to be picked up and put in the trash and they were going to go to a landfill somewhere. They were either going to be burned or broken down or wood chipped,” Kemble said.

The refurbishing process starts with a sketch. Will she need to cut things off? Will she add stuff on? Then she takes measurements and builds the frame.

Kemble sells her creations on Instagram. She posts pictures of the raw headboard and customers get to choose the color and wood stain.

“The first one I made I pulled it out of the trash. I remember coming full circle. I’ve seen where it went, too. And I’ve seen the mom with her children on a Sunday afternoon and eating ice cream in summer. And that was on the side of the road and it was going to go to the trash. And now it’s someone’s memories. Those children are going to remember sitting with their mom on Sunday,” Kemble said.

For Reina Kemble, being benched is not so bad.