Love, Love, Love seeing things created from items that people put to the side as old, dated or used beyond repair.
I always try to add at least one up-cycled piece into my designs. The Velveteen Rabbit was always one of my favorite books as a child, so in making something old new again, I feel as though I am giving life back to something that was given up on.
The following is an example of up-cycled kitchen islands. Hopefully they will give you some ideas for bringing something tossed to the side back to life again.