Hi Guys,
It’s been a while! It’s pretty obvious from my recent Instagram
posts that I love an upcycle. I love the process of restoring the beauty in something
or changing it into something unrecognisable (I have a friend that once made a
fair ground bumper car into garden furniture… it was amazing). Not only the
process fascinates me- but the time, dedication and skill involved is both
lengthy and admirable. Whether it’s a complete rework, repaint or reupholster,
however big or small- the end result is always so satisfying; all that hard
work on display! It also makes each piece unique in its own right- one of a
kind.
My own personal experience with upcycling extends to cushion
re-upholstery and sanding/ repainting a chest of drawers. Given this is not a substantial
amount but I loved it- and will definitely be doing more in the future. The
main reason I wanted to do this post is to credit one of my best friends
Shelley- who has taught herself to upcycle and create some beautiful pieces.
Artwork and woodwork, she is a little pro- proof that perseverance and
dedication pays off. One of Shelley’s first projects was converting an old
single bed into a bench, and since then she has progressed into working with
palettes; creating garden furniture and most recently my fabulous coffee table (this
was a personal request) J.
It’s not just about sticking or nailing panels of wood together- there is so
much more to it, having the knowledge of how to cut, sand, treat, oil and the
overall finish. There are so many possibilities in achieving the end result you
want. The beauty of an upcycle is the
element of trial and error, half the fun is in learning all these techniques;
cracking paint, engraving, embossing, the use of Brixwax, or screen printing to
revive a fabric or wallpaper. Those are just a few examples, the world of Pinterest
and YouTube has made learning these techniques accessible to us- wonderful resources
to have.
Please take a look at Shelley’s new Instagram page:
Gishniph_designs the images are just a taster of what she can do. You can see
the time, effort and skill that has gone into creating each piece. Enjoy!
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