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An introduction and guide to furniture upcycling and reupholstering for beginners who want to add their own creative stamp to their home.
Upcycling is a growing interior design trend, as it’s a great way to give a new lease of life to an old piece of furniture, letting you put your own individual stamp on your home’s style.
Doing up furniture and reusing it rather than throwing a piece away simply because it looks like it’s seen better days is not only less wasteful in terms of the environment, but also your bank balance. Unleashing your creative flair and upcycling a chair or table will be much cheaper than buying a brand new piece of furniture outright.
Never tried upcycling before? Test your skills with these easy ideas before moving onto something a little more creative:
Simple furniture upcycling ideas for beginners
Furniture upcycling a piece of furniture doesn’t have to mean completely dismantling it and totally changing the way it looks or its function. Instead, it could be something as simple as painting an item in a new colour.
For example, if your wooden dining chairs are looking a little worn and in need of a polish, a lick of white paint will help to breathe a fresh lease of life into them, making them look like whole new chairs, but with very little effort and no more materials than just a pot of paint and a brush.
If you’re not so sure about completely covering your current items, little touches such as painting chair or table legs can be just as effective. Perhaps try this out first before going all out to test whether you like the idea and see if furniture upcycling is for you.
Changing the knobs or handles on a wardrobe or set of drawers is another simple way to really make a piece your own. You can buy replacement knobs and handles in most vintage furniture shops, and perhaps even your local charity shop, so this is a really cheap and effective trick for making your existing furniture look brand new.
Weekend projects
Once you’re feeling a little more confident with furniture upcycling, have a go at trying a slightly bigger project that incorporates some reupholstery too.
If you’ve got a gorgeous vintage chair or pouffe that is starting to look a little threadbare and worn, there’s no need to throw it on the scrapheap just yet, as you can replace the cover with a new, more modern fabric instead, making it look like a whole new item.
Firstly, check how the fabric seat covering is attached to the chair; it might be stapled on, or it might be fixed with some sort of tacking. If it’s simply sewn in place, you should be able to cut it out, but you might need a staple remover or some other tools if it’s been attached more firmly.
If the chair is pretty old, it’d be a good idea to replace the padding inside while you’ve got the chance, so fill the space with new stuffing or cushioning to ensure an even covering and guarantee its life for a good few more years.
Then you’ll need to cut your fabric to size, making sure there are no edges that will fray – hem them on a sewing machine if you need to – and fix the material in place. Again, you could sew it in place, or use a stapler, depending on what’s easiest for the design of your chair.
To make sure your finished result looks as glorious and new as possible, take advantage of our upholstery cleaning service here at FastKlean. Our team of professional cleaners are well-experienced in using both wet and dry methods to clean all kinds of upholstery so it remains in the best condition for as long as possible. Contact our team today to find out more.
Source: House Beautiful
Photo credit: North Warwickshire & Hinckley College
