DIY furniture restoration space opens in SLO. Take a look inside

A national nonprofit’s local chapter is opening a new space for furniture restoration and do-it-yourself projects.

Habitat for Humanity SLO County unveiled its new DIY ReMaker Space at its SLO ReStore location at 2790 Broad St. on Sept. 30.

“It’s just another opportunity for the community to come in and engage, and it’s a way for us to give back and give an opportunity for people to continue to improve their housing situations,” CEO Anthony Overton told The Tribune.

The Remaker Space was first envisioned a few years back, but once Habitat SLO received a generous donation from the Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo, things got serious, Overton said.

“That really allowed us to buy some of the things that we really needed to be able to do the space effectively,” he said. “We’ve also had a couple of local donors that either donated money or tools to help us outfit the spaces with the tools that we would need to be able to offer that, so that’s kind of ultimately what ended up jump-starting it.”

The community space will be open to the public with woodworking tools, power tools and an open area for furniture repair and reusable materials. The ReMaker Space makes it simple for community members that don’t have the space in their homes for big DIY projects, or even an old desk or furniture piece that needs a little TLC, Overton said.

“Periodically, someone would say, ‘Oh, I’d love to redo this, but I just can’t do it at home,’ or ‘I live in a small apartment,’ or ‘I don’t have the tools,’” he said. “We’re really looking at our clientele and saying, ‘How could this potentially create that?’”

The ReMaker Space also offers free workshops by local experts, with an official schedule still in the works, Overton said. Basic repair techniques and restoration practices are on the workshop menu as well as volunteer-led open hours scheduled for Fridays and Saturdays.

While SLO County’s first ReMaker Space is in the SLO ReStore location, Overton said it’s only a matter of time before Paso Robles’ ReStore location has one of its own.

“We’re going to use San Luis as our flagship, and then we are still looking for any donors or anyone that would like to donate funds to get the same kind of space open in the Paso store,” he said. “We’re hoping it takes off in San Luis and that we can replicate that up here in Paso.”

For now, the ReMaker Space needs building materials and tools — wood, paint, fasteners, knobs and anything that can be repurposed or help repair a broken piece of furniture is perfect, Overton said. Materials can be dropped off at either ReStore location in SLO or Paso Robles.

For more information

The DIY ReMaker Space at 2970 Broad St. is open Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the new space, visit its website at habitatslo.org.

This story was originally published October 6, 2025 at 5:00 AM.