Recycling a Cast Iron Stove into a Side Table
I’ve never understood how someone can just throw away a piece of history, like this cast iron potbelly stove that we found when we were on holiday recently. Bits were missing, and it had been painted vibrant green. I don’t know, maybe the color wasn’t right, or someone just didn’t know how special these old cast iron stoves are. Maybe the previous owners threw the old wood stove out when they upgraded to gas? Either way, I fell in love with the color, the rust, and those cute little legs and round belly, so she came home with us. Unfortunately, we stay in a thatch roof house, so restoring her to her former wood-burning glory wasn’t really an option, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t use her for something else 😉
Isn’t she just too cute? The cooking area on top was missing, and the hinged door had been welded closed, but the little vent in front still worked.
Our first thoughts were, let’s just put her on display so everyone can admire her while talking about the good old days. Then we had a light bulb moment. Well, actually, we had a few beers and then the light bulb moment 😀 She would make an awesome side table for our boho-gypsy lounge. We just had to figure out what to use for the table top. A few more beers later and… Bingo!!! A roasting pan would be perfect.
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Turning a cast iron stove into a side table
This repurpose couldn’t be easier. All you need is an old roasting pan, some Dragon’s Belly Unicorn SPiT and sandpaper 😎
We started off by applying the Unicorn SPiT directly onto the roasting pan and sanded the edges using 100-grit sandpaper.
It was a good start, but I really wanted to try to get that pitted rusty effect. So out came the spices. We added a coat of Mod-Podge then we just sprinkled different spices randomly on the still-wet Mod-Podge. If you don’t have mod podge, clear craft glue will work too.
Once it had dried, we brushed off any loose bits and added another layer of SPiT.
Attaching the top for the cast iron stove
To attach the table top, we simply drilled a hole through one side of the roasting pan and into the stove pipe and screwed them together.
Time for a little happy dance around our new herb-encrusted, pot-bellied, cast iron side table 😉
And there’s enough space to hold all kinds of little side table things.
Not bad for 20 minutes of work 😉 But I’d love to know what you think. Was she worth saving? Would you have done something differently?
If you like the idea of repurposing a cast iron stove into a side table, don’t forget to pin it for later.
And as always, wishing you a wonderful, crafty week filled with lots of love. Thank you for popping in for a visit.
Great idea. I was thinking of selling our very vintage potbelly stove, but no more. Imma gonna do this too. THANK YOU.
? So happy you like it Liz, thank you
I would have snapped that up in a heartbeat if I was ever lucky enough to find one! Love what you did to it! Clever use as a side table!
She’s a beauty Florence and it was a super lucky find. I’m really glad we could re-purpose her into something useful without damaging her core structure
Ooooh — I love that! There was a little kerosene stove/heater thing at an estate sale a few weeks back for dirt cheap but I couldn’t figure out what to do with it that wouldn’t give us all monoxide poisoning. Now I’ll be keeping my eyes out for something else like it!
I hear you Michelle. They’re all so beautiful and really cheap. I’m glad you like the side table. Hope you find something else soon 😉
I really like how things can be upcycled into something else thinking outside the box. That now side table is amazing, and I love you used spices to get the rusty look, how creative!!
Thank you Pili, the spice trick worked out really nicely
Very cute and I doubt it would ever get knocked over…LOL by kid or dog.. Great idea
Your right about that Cathy, this side table isn’t going anywhere 😉
I LOVE this. If you ever get tired of it, let me know, and I’ll come pick it up. Awesome idea.
Lol, thanks Laura. I’ll let you know 😀
Now I know what to do with my pot belly stove!!!
Oh that’s great Betsey, let me know how it works out and send some pics, I’d love to see.
Great save. I too appreciate ‘old’ things with history and a story. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much Diana. I love old things, it makes my heart so sore when people just chuck something away.
Great save, she was worth it. I think your pot belly side table turned out adorable, and I love the color as well. The old roasting pan makes a perfect top for the table. I have never heard of unicorn SPIT I will have to look that up.
Thank you Linda and you’ve got to try some SPiT. I love the stuff, I’ve never seen such vibrant colors before and the Jasmine smell is just sooooo divine.
Ha, what a cool idea Michelle. To actually put a tray on top is very clever. I would have been boring and put a piece of wood or glass. I like your idea much better.
If we’d taken all our power tools down on holiday with us I’d probably have done the same, lol. Our holiday home is in a really small town and finding the right piece of wood or glass would have been almost impossible. I’m really glad that we had to try make a plan with what we had.
She will look stunning on my new stoep too.
Yay!! That’s the best place for a koolstoofie.
Michelle, Yes she was definitely worth saving!! You guys did such an awesome job on making her beautiful again and what a fantastic idea to make her into a table. The spices to create a rusty effect was genius!! I love it!!
Thank you Keri <3 I wish you could have seen hubby's face when I hauled out his favorite spices 😀