Upcycling is currently very popular in the interiors and furnishing world with many designer/makers focussing solely on upcycling furniture, creating unusual pieces from already existing items. This method sits well with the well-recognised consideration for sustainability in our designs and purchases. The image above displays several pieces that moved with the owners from their previous home and were reupholstered or refinished to refresh them for their new home.
Renewing and repurposing furniture can also be a fun project, looking at how to change the item and then using a professional to do it or having a go yourself. Furniture and items aren’t the only things to consider when upcycling. Materials can be used for a different purpose to originally intended. You can look at fabrics such as curtains, scarves or even sweaters which can be used to make cushions or trims on existing cushions, curtains or even curtain ties. The benefits extend beyond sustainability as you can save money by changing a piece you already have. You can uplift your interior with upcycling: the old becomes new, the dated contemporary and the worn-out becomes revitalised.
Martino Gamper is a London based Italian designer with an array of award-winning furniture and object projects. His Off-Cut tables, shown in the photo above, are made from teak from English school laboratory tops, oak from Scottish church benches, and poplar from the London Patent Office.
The award-winning designer describes his concept as “Three types of timber are merged together to create the surface. Off-Cut reflects the fact that a dining event is only ever complete when the different people around the table share the same experience.”
At Tacoma based rePly Furniture unique, hand-crafted pieces are made from salvaged plywood from local cabinet shops. Pieces range from tables and chairs to cabinets and boxes. The plywood is layered beautifully giving an effect similar to marquetry.
Honeycomb table by rePly Furniture
Box made from salvaged plywood by rePly Furniture.
UK based Touchwood Vintage Designs can upcycle a piece that you already have, accept pieces you would otherwise discard and source pieces for you. From applying papers to using paint, pieces are given a completely new decorative and intricate look.
1950s upcycled sideboard by Touchwood Vintage Designs hand-painted in Fusion Mineral paint in a beautiful bottle green shade and finished in decoupage Cole & Sons designer paper creating a unique piece.
A great example of upcycling with a charitable purpose is homeless charity, Renu Barnabus, in Manchester, England, which provides opportunities to homeless people to upcycle furniture teaching them skills including repairing and designing. All the money raised goes straight back into the project.
Here we show 5 key ways to get started with an upcycling project:
Paint furniture
When a piece is looking tired or you don’t like the finish anymore, painting is a simple and effective method to refresh furniture. You could pick a colour from other furniture in your room or an artwork and use that to tie your piece to the rest of the scheme.
Salvage an item and repurpose it
Visiting salvage yards is a great way to spend a day. You never know what you can find from vintage lights to old fireplaces and unusual decorative objects. Each piece will have a history. This staircase is given a curious design feature with an old survey ruler which has been repurposed as a handrail. It gives the ruler a new lease of life and adds a fun element in the design of this space.
You can use old pictures frames you have, or find second hand ones in charity shops, and use them for art or photos. This mix of frames in different styles adds a curious decorative touch to the bathroom.
Change or add an element to a piece of furniture
You may have a table top which you love but the legs are broken or the look isn’t to your taste. One way to keep the piece usable is to change the legs. French company Tip Toe produces stylish metal legs with clamps that can be used with table tops. Another way to upcycle a piece is to add to it to make it more usable. The desk in this photo is an old sewing desk. It was repurposed as a study desk and two drawers were added to make it more practical for its new purpose.
This desk was revitalised with handles taken from an old piece of furniture. They fit perfectly adding elegance to the drawer fronts.
Reupholster existing furniture
The sofas in this reception room were loved by the clients and had moved with them from a previous home. We reupholstered them in new fabrics giving them a fresh lease of life and fitting them harmoniously into the new interior scheme.
The doors of these wardrobes were reupholstered giving them a new look. The wardrobes needed a bit of freshening up so we chose a fabric that fitted well with the rest of the furniture in the room. Using fabric on the wardrobe doors adds a soft tactile touch to the textures of the furnishing. These two methods are great ways of creating a completely new look.
Reclaim tiles
Often reclaimed tiles are only available in small batches. A clever way to use them is by inserting them into timber or tiled flooring adding an interesting design element. They can be cut to size to match an existing tiled floor or inlaid grouped together in a hallway delineating the space or around a fireplace. You can also use reclaimed tiles for other small areas such as splashbacks in bathrooms or dotted throughout a splashback in a kitchen or on a kitchen surface. This room has many upcycled pieces including glass pendants that are repurposed from chemistry labs, the doors are reclaimed barn wood and the handles were salvaged.
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