Upcycling for beginners
If you’re looking for cost-effective ways to improve the look of your home, have you ever considered upcycling? You can save money, get some really unique furniture to have it just as you like it, as well as being more sustainable with your furnishing choices – you can use what you already have or look for things that you can get second hand.
Where do you start with upcycling? Here are some key points for any newbies, so your home doesn’t end up looking like a completely homemade explosion!
Preparation is Key
You do need to have a certain flair or creative streak to just go out and get the things to reupholster a chair without any forward planning; which is why planning is really key. Having a plan means you know what you are looking for, and can get all of the things in that you need, from fabric to more precise items like 15mm glue sticks and a glue gun. There are great resources online to help you, and to start with, following an example could be a good idea while you get used to things. So plan out what you want to do, perhaps making a new lampshade or repainting the bedside tables…and then make a plan of how you are going to do it and what you’ll need.
Use Your Imagination
The old saying goes that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure and that is never more true than when it comes to upcycling. There can be so many things that you might think about throwing away, that can be used in many other ways around the house. So use your imagination and get creative. Old ladders can be sanded down, painted and used as storage or a place to display plants, for example.
See Beyond the Furniture
When it comes to getting items of furniture, you do have to use your imagination and see beyond the item itself. For example, a retro 1950’s looking side table might look quite drab and plain by itself sat in the charity shop, but think about what you could do with it. Changing the feet on it (or adding them) could bring it up to date or simply change the drawer pulls or paint it a different colour.
Paint Brushes
A small but still important point for beginners in this, is that you should make sure that you get some good quality paint brushes. Cheap ones can almost disintegrate and the bristles fall apart, making painting anything a nightmare. So a big tip would be don’t scrimp when it comes to the paintbrushes that you use!
*This is a collaborative post.
