All you need to furnish a creative home is a plethora of pretty ladders. Well, maybe not quite, but there really are few pieces as versatile as a good looking ladder. Willing to wear many hats in pretty much any room of the house and garden, these garage sale finds can be much more than just an aid to the vertically challenged.

For instance:

• 1 A pair with connecting planks can become a cool industrial-edged bookcase. Even a standard issue metal ladder can do the trick.

• 2&3 Or suspend one horizontally for a pot rack or a display for decorative vintage kitchen wares.

• 4 Use a single one with planks as extra kitchen storage.

• 5 Prop one in the bathroom as a towel rack.

• 6-8 Or in the bedroom as a nightstand or a place to hang extra blankets.

• 9&10 In the garden they can be used as potting stations, plant stands, or trellises.

• 11-14 In the living room they can serve as end tables, magazine racks, a decorative sculptural element, an interesting etagere for displaying special items.

• 15 And in the closet, they can act as stylish shoe racks.

What other uses have you discovered for ladders?

Images: 1: The Independent ; 2: Womans Day, 3: Desire To Inspire; 4, 12: Real Simple, 5: Cox and Cox via Hall Ready; 6: Living etc.; 7: Martha Stewart, 8: Design*Sponge, 9: Sunset; 10: Viva Terra; 11: Apartment Therapy: Robin's Gorgeously Green Artist Barn; 13: Real Living Australia via Poetic Home, 14: Baileys Home & Garden; 15: Vogue Living Australia via Apartment Therapy LA