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Upcycling is a cheap and easy way to transform the look and feel of a home, creating pieces of furniture unique to your space.
In addition to the design element, it is also a very good way of reducing waste, therefore creating a positive impact on the environment. With economical and mass made options available, people become used to buying new furniture for their homes as trends change, rather than looking for longer-lasting, classic, and timeless options.
Seasoned upcycle-rs will understand the buzz of completing a task and seeing their creations around the home. But where do you begin?
Here are a few ideas on how to start your interior design, upcycling journey.
Get Online
The first port of call these days for most people wanting to learn a new skill is to get online and look for inspiration. Pinterest is a treasure trove of information around many areas from planning weddings, to learning new recipes and to create quirky spaces at home. YouTube gives you practical training around certain things, like how to prepare a surface ready to paint. The internet is a great tool to use to do your research, gain inspiration, and develop your skills.
Look Around for Potential
You never know exactly what beauty could be hanging around your house. Get in the spare room, dust off that chest of drawers just collecting junk and dirt. Even a quick sanding and a fresh coat of paint can restore the look of an item.
Maybe there are people in your local area getting rid of furniture, too. Again, using the powers of the internet, get on websites like freecycle for odd bits and pieces that could use a little loving.
Boot sales are excellent places to pick up items that may be in slight disrepair, too. TV shows offer great tips for spotting antiques, so make sure that if you do spot a bargain, that its not a priceless antique that could diminish in price at the sight of a glue gun and paintbrush.
Experiment and Have Fun
Small details can really change the overall look of a piece. Try using mismatched knobs on each drawer for a fun addition to your dresser. Can’t decide what colour to paint it? Pick a base colour for the frame, and choose complementary shades or decoupage to create your unique look. True creativity is about having fun and making room for error with experimentation. This is no different with upcycling. Unless you choose to saw off pieces of wood in the name of changing the shape of a table, nothing causes too much damage. A bit of sanding and paint stripper will take you back to where you started.
Like any projects of love, don’t expect to be brilliant immediately. It’s important to be patient and persistent with your practice. It takes a while to find your niche with these things, but you will always have things in your home lovingly created by your own fair hands.
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