If you're looking for a fun weekend activity that will also benefit your home aesthetic, then upcycling is for you! Taking your existing furniture and reinventing it into something new and beautiful is super satisfying and fun to do. Plus reusing what you have and shunning fast furniture is a great way of helping the environment. Check out our list of upcycling ideas below!
1. Rug Revival
If you have an old rug that is looking a little tatty, take it to a professional rug repair service and get it fixed up. Once it's free of frays, use some fabric dye to give it a whole new color. Or if you're feeling particularly creative, use fabric bleach and then paint a new pattern with dye. Sew some beautiful trim or pom-poms around the edges of the rug to jazz it up.
2. Fancy Seating
If you have some old dining chairs that are looking worse for wear, paint the wooden legs and back supports in a contemporary color. Create a seat cushion with a chair pad wrapped in your favorite fabric. You can a staple gun to wrap and fix the fabric to the cushion pad. Use a hot glue gun to secure the cushion to the chair and voila! You'll have cool and comfortable dining chairs for cocktail hour!
3. Teacup Candles
If you have some old teacups and saucers you can turn them into beautifully scented candles. All you'll need is your cups, some essential oils, some soy wax beads some wicks. Start by placing your wick upright in the center of your cup and hold it in place with a clothes peg balanced on the edge of the cup. Melt the wax beads and add in your favorite oils for a lovely scented blend. Pour the liquid into the cup and leave to set.
4. Ladder Shelving
Use an old A-shape ladder to make a stylish new shelf unit. You'll need some extra wood or MDF to make this work and a drill. Space the wood at the height you want the shelves and use the drill to secure them to the ladder legs. Make sure they're stable enough to take the weight of anything you place on the shelves. If you like natural wood then sand your new unit and use wood stain to make it look beautiful. If you prefer a pop of color then paint the shelves in a bright tone.
5. Candle Holders
Use empty tins and wine bottles to create stunning candle holders. Use metallic glass paint to paint the lower half of the bottles then stick thin fluted candles into the top of the bottle. Wash out empty tins and use a metal hole punch to add a pattern of dots around the tin. Place a tea light candle inside and your tin candle holder will cast pretty patterns of light around your room.
Which of these upcycles will you be doing this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
