9 Tips on How to Upcycle Furniture

Interior design styles come and go, but two things that are always in fashion are sustainability and cost-effectiveness, both of which are manifest in furniture upcycling. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that there has been a surge in interest in furniture upcycling fashions in the UK.

Here are just a few tips and tricks for upcycling your furniture into something special.

Good interior decorating is a fusion of form and function; great interior decorating often means playing with the latter to reignite some spark of inspiration in the former.

The great ethos of Modernist artwork was “Make it New,” and furniture upcycling has a similar ethic.

Old wine bottles and washing machine drums? Instead of tossing them out, why not recycle them into candles or planters for your foliage?

There are plenty of minimalist bookshelves that use a ladder-like design anyway, so if you already have a ladder, why not simply employ it to give yourself a “free” bookshelf with some bohemian chic?

Remember, part of the point of furniture upcycling is sustainability and affordability. A trip to the high street doesn’t do much for either of those goals.

Besides, there’s every chance that you can find a homemade or small business equivalent to many items for which you might otherwise pay far more on the high street. Set a budget and stick to it.

One of the great sins of interior decorating is clashing styles or eras. Victorian, Edwardian, Art Deco, and Minimalism all have their pros and cons, but that doesn’t mean that they mix well. Just as you want to stick to a budget, you should pick a style ahead of time and stay true to it.

This in turn will help you determine which upcycled furnishings go with your aesthetic and which clash and can be safely jettisoned.

Sometimes, addition by subtraction is the best way to add to a home’s aesthetic.

Getting rid of items that simply don’t fit with your style can help reduce clutter, and if you sell them off they might even fetch a few extra pounds to help you afford some other items that can better mesh with your overall style.

One item on which you will want to invest a few extra pounds are your paint brushes. Whether you plan on repainting your entire home, want to do some accent work, or simply need a bit of a touch-up here and there, good paint brush quality is essential. The last thing you want is to spend days or weeks redecorating your home only for patchy scratchy flaws in your paint job to become apparent due to subpar brushes.

You will also want to be careful to make sure that you are using high-quality paint.

To extend the life and freshness of the paint and paintbrushes (as well as any rollers you might use) wrap them in cling film or tin foil when they aren’t in use during your paint job.

(A word to the wise about painting drawers and cabinets – remove the knobs first and reattach them afterward to make the paint job smoother and easier.)

One thing you don’t want to have any doubt about is when you’ll need to repay the higher rates for your Stamp Duty as required under certain conditions such as those described above. For example, if you purchase a new main property but experience delays while selling your old one, you’ll still have to pay the higher rates for the Stamp Duty as mentioned above for those with two properties. You may not have “intended” to be “owning” two properties simultaneously, but intent aside, you now technically do and thus need to pay these higher rates until such time as you sell off the latter one.

However, if you sell or give that previous main property away within three years of purchasing that second, new property that you now count as your primary home, you can apply for relief. This comes in the form of a refund on the elevated SDLT rate in your Stamp Duty.

To be eligible for this, you’ll also need to claim that refund within three months of selling that property, or else within 12 months of your filing date for that SDLT, whichever is later.

As important as these sources of inspiration can be, they cannot take the place of the individuality and uniqueness that is at the soul of all good artistic endeavours, furniture upcycling and interior design included.

Try not to use the exact same fabric styles as others in your old furnishings, or consider arranging them in a different way. Think outside the box and define your space for yourself.

Nothing says “sustainability chic” quite like a lovely garden decked out in upcycled furnishings. Consider the layout of your garden and yards and think about which furnishings might fit with them.

Old kitchen tables and chairs can be transformed into lovely garden sitting spaces. Properly covered, an old armchair can find new life outdoors.

The last thing you want is for all your hard upcycling work to go to waste because you failed to protect them from the elements.

If you are going to move your furnishings outside, make sure they are properly covered. Inside and outside, you should make sure that you varnish things so as to protect them from the elements or the ravages of aging.

“Everything old is new again.” That old line from All That Jazz still holds true, and embracing vintage chic with your old furnishings can be a great way to jazz up your décor.

Just because something is old or worn doesn’t mean it can’t be a dynamic part of your interior design.

If you are designing things after a certain period, old furnishings can fit right in. Investing a little bit to have these old furnishings refurbished can give them whole new life.

What’s more, older, vintage furnishings are often rarer than newer ones.

Upcycling the right old furnishings can thus give your home a somewhat rarefied air of classic oldness made new once more.

With a thrifty spirit, creative eye, and some estate agent savviness, you can upcycle your furniture and inject new life into your interior decorating.