Renovating Your Home? Here’s Exactly What to Keep and What to Toss

A renovation project—whether it’s updating a little galley kitchen or a down-to-the-studs kind of job—has the potential to be incredibly wasteful. Some estimates put it around six pounds of trash per square foot. But before you call in that dumpster, consider this: About 35% of construction waste can be attributed to decisions and errors made during the planning phase, according to Kathryn Soter, executive director of the Good Future Design Alliance, an organization that strives to make the design industry a bit greener. Things like cabinetry, appliances, and bathtubs can be diverted from landfills (as in: sold, donated, or recycled). And you can update with longevity in mind. “You just need to make a plan before any sledgehammers come out,” says Jessica Helgerson, a Portland, Oregon, and Paris-based designer and longtime advocate for lowering environmental impact in the home design and renovation process.

Join us as we walk through what to do with the most common items handled during a home makeover. Your efforts could benefit the planet, someone in the community, your home, and potentially your bottom line.

Cabinets

Keep Them Good news! Cabinets are some of the most salvageable parts of your home. For a “less waste in, less waste out” approach that’s also a boon to your budget, leave the boxes in place and just replace the drawer and door faces, says Stephen Pallrand, founding designer at CarbonShack, a Los Angeles design firm focused on sustainability. Alternatively, you can take dated doors off your upper cabinets and simply go for an open-shelving look. Or add crown molding along the top for a fresh update. Of course, paint and hardware are also transformative tools to existing cabinetry, Helgerson points out.

Part with Them Have a basement in need of a kitchenette? Does your playroom need extra storage? Is a friend redoing a bathroom on a tight budget? There are many creative ways to repurpose cabinets, but if you can’t think of a new home for them, as long as they are removed carefully, you can offer them to a donation center that accepts building materials, like ReStore, a national chain of independently owned reuse stores operated by Habitat for Humanity. Or contact Aurora, an online purveyor of pre-owned kitchen and bath furnishings that operates nationwide. Sadly, if your cabinetry is beyond reuse, it will wind up in a landfill. “Most cabinets these days are made of manufactured lumber, which is unrecyclable,” reports Richard Ludt, director of environmental affairs at Interior Removal Specialists, Inc., a sustainable demolition and deconstruction company in South Gate, California. “Particleboard, plywood, medium-density fiberboard—they’ve all been treated with fungicide, pesticide, formaldehyde, and fire retardants. You can compost and mulch regular unpainted wood, but there’s nothing you can do with these materials on the back end.”

The Replacement Helgerson believes it’s best to consider what will have the longest shelf life in the design of your home. “I really encourage people to take the time to think about the house they’re renovating. When was it built? What did it look like originally?” she says. “Don’t build a trendy kitchen. Try to make the kitchen right for the house so that it doesn’t get ripped out again.”

Countertops

Keep Them “You’d be surprised how you can learn to live with something if you design around it,” says Lori Dennis, a LEED-certified designer who literally cowrote the book on the topic, Green Interior Design. Her advice: Paint your cabinets to complement the countertop and make it feel intentional. If you have heavily veined marble, for example, you can match the main color or play off one of the accent colors. For anyone with granite counters that look dated, consider hiring a stone repair company to hone them for a softer, more modern feel. And if your butcher-block counters have seen better days, fear not! You can bring them back to life by buffing out scratches and slathering them in a food-safe sealant like mineral oil or beeswax. (John Boos & Co. makes a great one.)

Part with Them Just like cabinets, consider other places that could use a new-old counter. “Kitchen countertops can be repurposed as smaller countertops for a bath vanity, for example,” explains Pallrand. Blah laminate can also be cut to size and used in places where aesthetics are less important, like a garage. If you can’t think of a direct reuse, popular materials such as granite and marble can be donated to places like a local ReStore or sold on secondhand sites like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. Or a nearby stone fabricator might be willing to take them.

The Replacement Helgerson recommends going straight to a fabricator. “They have half-slabs and cutoffs you can purchase at a discount. It’s essentially waste to them that you’re giving a new life to,” she says. Search online for stone suppliers in your area and call ahead to make sure they have remnants you can shop. While smaller slabs might not cover every surface in a large kitchen, they’re the ideal solution for bathroom vanities, galley spaces, or a little creative thinking. “Mixing in a wood counter on an island, for instance, is a great look if you don’t have enough stone to go around,” Helgerson says. Have your heart set on a giant, seam-free slab? Helgerson’s advice still applies—it’s best to pick this out directly at the stoneyard so you know exactly what you’re getting. For a recycled product, Pallrand calls out PaperStone, a composite surface known “for its beauty, use of recycled content, overall low carbon footprint, and excellent durability.” Want marble, but worry about chips and staining? Go for an engineered quartz like Caesarstone—it’s incredibly durable and doesn’t require sealing.

Appliances

Keep Them If your appliances were purchased in the last five years and you just want a change in aesthetic, don’t overlook a simple cosmetic update, says Dennis. “Paint them! It’s so much better than a wrap or contact paper,” she says, as those options can peel or bubble over time. Just be sure to use an adhesion-promoting primer (Dennis recommends the brand AFM Safecoat) and follow the prep instructions carefully—or play it safe and hire a professional. If one of your appliances isn’t operating the way it should, see if a trained technician can repair it, says Stephanie Vega Ziegler, director of environmental product strategy at Ferguson, a parts supply company. “This could give you several years of use and is often more cost-effective than purchasing a new one,” she says, adding that repairing rather than replacing minimizes environmental impact too.

Part with Them You have a few options when you’re looking to discard appliances. If what you have is in good working condition, consider selling it on the secondhand market or donating it to a local charity, shelter, or community center. For anything truly past its prime, Ziegler suggests looking to see if your brand offers take-back or recycling programs (GE does, for example) or look into your local municipality or waste disposal services, which often have special drop-off locations or pickup options. Short of that, consider a haul-away company that recycles, such as 1-800-Got-Junk?.

The Replacement If the cost of repairing your appliance is more than 50 percent of the cost of replacing it, or if it’s nearing the end of its expected lifespan, it usually makes more economical sense to replace it. (Most appliances should last about 10 years.) While you’ll have to shell out some cash now, you’ll be able to enjoy a lower electric bill later. “Newer appliances are so much more energy efficient, specifically refrigerators, so it’s often better to upgrade,” Dennis says. When shopping, look for the Energy Star logo, which means it meets strict guidelines set by the EPA.

Flooring

Keep Them Carpet and vinyl flooring do not have much life left if they’ve been worn down, but wood planks can be refinished (and restained) several times before needing to be replaced. “If your floors are on their last refinish, paint them! Helgerson says. At the very least, you’ll get to add some color or personality while also hiding newly exposed nailheads. “There are all sorts of fun ways to paint wood floors, like checkerboard patterns or even just a crisp white.”

Part with Them Most older flooring can’t be recycled, but there’s hope. “Carpet companies are getting considerably better at making something with end-of-life in mind.” In the meantime, a group called CARE, or Carpet America Recovery Effort, is working to make carpet recycling accessible on a national scale. You can check their site for a collection center in your area. In states not yet serviced, your local carpet retailer or waste management department may be able to help.

The Replacement Wood is always tops for durability and even recycling down the line. Tile is also a great choice for long-term durability. Bonus points for tiles made with reclaimed or recycled materials—terrazzo is the OG, dating back to the Renaissance when marble fragments were mixed into clay. Today, companies like Livden and Daltile have options that are made with upcycled post-consumer materials. Pallrand’s wild card suggestion? Cork, which is highly sustainable and typically less expensive than those aforementioned harder surfaces. For outdoor projects, think about longevity. Composite decking, such as TimberTech, can last 25 to 30 years compared to traditional wood decking, which can have a 10- to 15-year life span.

Doors & Windows

Keep Them Adding weather stripping or door sweeps can increase efficiency without a full replacement. Think beyond obvious drafts too. Insulating your exterior walls, rather than bringing in new windows, says Pallrand, “might be the bigger bang for lowering your energy costs and consumption.” Talk to a contractor to see what your options are for retrofitting insulation. For added historic charm, stained-glass panels can be salvaged and retrofitted over new windows.

Part with Them “If your state has energy codes, any old window will likely not be able to be reused,” Pallrand says. Search online to find your state’s requirements, but it’s a safe bet that single-pane windows won’t meet current efficiency standards. If you’re replacing quality windows, you can see if your local building resale center will accept them.

The Replacement Doors come in fairly standard sizes, so new ones are easy to buy off-the-shelf at home improvement stores, or you can find more unusual secondhand options at architectural salvage stores. A good installer can shave off the edges incrementally to create a custom fit, if need be. As for windows, new double-pane (or even triple-pane) options are going to be the most efficient choice. Look for the Energy Star certification for your climate zone (in the north, heat retention is important; in the south, solar absorption limits are key).

Paint & Tiles

Keep Them The resounding—and predictable yet disappointing—answer to whether tile could be salvaged was “no.” Tiles tend to break during the removal process, making them difficult to reuse. Depending on your design aesthetic, though, Pallrand suggests a mosaic. “It can be very elegant in the right application, but you need someone with an artistic eye to do it.”

Part with Them While tile is notoriously difficult to salvage, any new tile you install will likely be ordered with at least a 10 percent overage to account for issues during installation (cutting to fit corners or match patterns, for example). This, Helgerson suggests, can easily be sold or donated, which reduces the next renovator’s consumption; you never know when someone might need just a box or two for a sink backsplash or shower floor. As for paint, your municipality should have drop-off spots for cans that have a bit left over. Never throw cans in your trash or wash paint down the drain, as it can damage your pipes and contaminate groundwater.

The Replacement When you’re ready to pick a paint, you’ll want to find a brand that offers low- or, better yet, zero-VOC formulas. Volatile organic compounds pollute the air, and they’ve been found to cause serious health problems in large quantities. “All the big brands sell low options now, like Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore,” Dennis says. Or go the route of limewash, Roman clay, or milk paint, which Helgerson likes because they’re often made of natural materials and can yield stunning results. As for tiles, check out sustainable options from brands like Crossville, Fireclay Tile, and Heath Ceramics, depending on your budget. As long as you’re keeping this all in mind, you really can’t go wrong. Your project is gonna be amazing—and amazingly responsible!

To Sell or Donate?

The answer depends on how much time you have and how much you want the cash. Either way, you’re minimizing waste in landfills, so yay!

Donate This is definitely the path of least resistance for things like working appliances, cabinets, sinks, and more. You can usually arrange for a free pickup from resale stores. Try your local Buy Nothing group, rec centers, or charity shops. “Keep in mind that reuse tends to be local. A quick Google or Yelp search for ‘appliance donation pickup,’ or ‘building materials reuse’ will surface great options close to home,” Soter says. Bonus: Donations are often a tax write-off.

Sell If you’re looking to unload higher-end items, like vintage fixtures, try your local architectural salvage store or an online marketplace like eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or Chairish. To land on the right price, look for similar items online. Some sites let you filter results by what has recently sold—a better gauge of what people are willing to pay than the list price. Be sure to include lots of pictures and describe flaws accurately. A little effort goes a long way in getting you the right price faster.