Firstly what is upcycling? Upcycling is a process of turning an old discarded item into something of higher value, for example a piece of furniture might be worn, tired and ready for the skip in some opinions, however with a little TLC the piece could live on for many more years to come!
Just like clothes, furniture and interior trends are constantly changing, however there are many reasons that upcycled furniture will never go out of fashion and is only getting more and more popular.
Read on for my top five reasons why commissioning a piece of furniture or buying upcycled is great for us and the environment!
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Sustainability
Purchasing upcycled furniture is a great way of preventing pieces from heading to landfill. It is said that every year in the UK we throw out around 1.6m tonnes of furniture and bulky waste which is absolutely staggering and unnecessary. Not only this but buying new furniture increases the need for new materials to be produced. Furniture production can involve the use of harmful chemicals, as the finishes, adhesives and use of synthetic materials produce pollution to the environment. As upcycling furniture reduces the need to produce new raw materials this in turn means a reduce in air pollution, water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
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*As you can see this piece pictured below was in a bad way and heading for landfill however this chest of drawers now painted in Farrow and Ball ‘Light Blue’ proudly sit in a little boys beautiful bedroom*
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Choose exactly what you want
The beauty of commissioning a piece of furniture to be upcycled is you can choose exactly what you want, from the paint colour be it bright and bold or something more neutral and classic, to different handles or using wallpaper and drawer liners to make sure the inside looks just as good as outside. Your finished piece can be totally customised to suit your taste and the style of your home, you won’t find that in your local IKEA.
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My client Melissa chose this wallpaper for her little girls nursery and wanted the same for the chest of drawers, we painted the body in Farrow and Ball Sulking Room Pink to compliment the paper and kept the handles simple in cream.
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Bespoke
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Bespoke
With the previous point being said you can be pretty sure that no one else will have anything in their home like your bespoke piece of furniture. You will have a complete one off piece that you have helped to design! How cool is that!
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This dressing table was bought by a lovely client Shelagh who ended up turning it into a vanity unit for her bathroom, how cool? You can be sure no one else has anything the same in theirs!
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Better Quality
Generally vintage furniture is of much better quality, back in the day pieces were built to last. It doesn’t make sense to replace great quality vintage furniture for lower quality pieces that are on the market today, when your current furniture would look completely transformed with some TLC and have many more years left in them. Vintage furniture pieces also have beautiful touches such as dovetail joints, wooden furniture runners and intricate hand carved details which adds character that you don’t get on pieces that are mass manufactured today!
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This chest was old when it arrived in my workshop but all it needed was some TLC despite its age it was of great quality and therefore has so many more years left in it!
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Talking Point
As cliche as it sounds, each piece of furniture has a story to tell and is a great conversation starter. Where it came from, how old it is, why you chose it’s new design, who owned it before you. A much more exciting story than ‘I bought it from Neptune or The White Company and my friend has the exact same too’.
This drinks cabinet belonged to my client Lottie’s Grandmother, now with a new lease of life and bone inlay stencil design she is a real talking point for Lottie and her family who get to enjoy this piece for many more years to come.
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If you have a piece of furniture you would like us to transform for you and at the same time prevent it ending up in landfill, then get in touch for a quote or let us answer any questions you may have. You might also find the answer to your question on our FAQ’s page.
If you are looking for a piece of furniture in particular we also offer a sourcing service, it may be that I already have the perfect piece waiting in my inventory of stock!
I look forward to hearing from you
Stacey x
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