1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse by Garth Johnson

1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse by Garth Johnson is a fantastic reference and idea resource book for “creative reuse, remake, restyle, recycle and renew.”

I originally thought that this book was more of a “how-to” style book. It isn’t and I really didn’t mind after looking through all of the 1,000 images. Each image is numbered and lists the artist’s name and country. If you look at the back of the book though, you can lookup in the “Image Directory” what the picture is of and what materials were used. This makes for a fun game while browsing through the book.

Here are some of my favorites in each of the sections:

Paper, Collage & Assemblage – paper teddy bear, many beautiful magazine collages, re-used books and even wearable jewelry.

Couture & Soft Goods – this was my favorite section because it concerned fashion. It has some really cool reconstructed fashion and even some that would be very wearable. Some were just for photos like the couture cardboard and plastic dresses. There were some cute accessories too like the measuring tape purse and an old Victoria’s Secret bag reused as a sturdier and reusable bag.

Jewelry & Adornments – this section also sparked many ideas for me. It has beautiful ideas for reconstructed jewelry of all types. There were also some very interesting steampunk fashionables. There were some photos in here that were rather odd or scary featuring jewelry made with many Barbie doll parts.

Geek & Man Craft – this section has some really fun things related to computers, jewelry and robot-like things. All very unique!

Housewares & Furnishings – this section features some fascinating ideas for reusing items for furniture like a chair made out of a shopping cart, a sofa made out of an old bathtub, candles out of old wine bottles and a beautiful light fixture made with many glass bottles all around it.

Art, Interiors & Installations – there is beautiful artwork featured in this section from ordinary things like credit cards to laundry detergent bottles and artwork made out of clothing.

The resources found in the back of the book are fabulous. The “Image Directory” does a great job explaining further what the pictures are of and what was used. The “Directory of Contributors” is an even better way to find more information on the ideas featured and even ways to purchase some of them.

Overall, I found this book to be an excellent eco-friendly book that gives great ideas and inspiration on reusing things you may consider junk and turn it into something beautiful.