How to upcycle furniture in your own home

Upcycling is all about breathing new life into old items. It means you can refresh your furniture and create something unique which compliments your style and taste, without spending too much money on new items.

Upcycling covers all manner of projects; from simply painting a picture frame, to reupholstering an armchair, and although it may seem daunting at first, we have some simple top tips and ideas for you to get started:

1.Born again belongings

Whether it is an old suitcase, curtains or jam jars, you can always give something a new lease of life by thinking outside the box. Could that suitcase be turned upside down and used as a coffee table? Could you turn your curtains into a hammock? Or could those jam jars be used as hanging lights? With a little imagination anything is possible.

2.Wow with Washi tape

A quick and simple way to upcycle anything is to add some washi tape. You can use it to decorate everything from pen pots to furniture in no time at all, with minimal effort to give anything a new look.

3. Get painting
Paint isn’t only for use on the walls, you can spruce up your old furniture with a number of paint effects and they are super easy to achieve.

You’ll need a paint brush, stencils and a paint colour of your choice…  Then you can get creative. You could stencil a pattern onto an old table, or create an Ombre effect on some old chairs. Or, buy special chalk board paint, and make your child’s wardrobe into a chalk board – not only are you creating something unique, it should also eliminate any unsupervised wall drawings.

4. Striking shelves
Shelves are so simple to upcycle, and can have a huge impact on the room they’re in. With a bit of careful sanding, a splash of paint or some bright paper you can transform a dated pine shelving unit into a fashionable set you’d be proud to hang in any room.

5. Add some fringe or tassels

Adding fringes or tassels to your furniture or cushions can give your belongings a new lease of life… And with hundreds of ways to add them, your items will be completely unique. You can pick up fringe or tassels from any craft store and then grab your sewing kit and get stitching!