Up-cycling pays off
RE-USING ITEMS IS ONE WAY TO DECORATE YOUR HOME AND SAVE THE PLANET. REPORTS
ATRISH BEAVER
S THE world moves towards a more sustainable way of living – one Howick couple has embraced up-cycled decor as a business. Globally, it has been estimated by environmentalists that we produce a colossal 1.3 billion tons of landfill waste annually. Projected figures estimate that people will be throwing away 2.2 billion tons of rubbish by 2025.
But luckily one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. For the Sneedons, their interest in up-cycling came when they bought a historical house in Howick after they moved to the Midlands from Durban.
Their home, Forestgate, is listed as a historical building – which means the outside must be preserved and any new additions must be made in keeping with the original style.
They intended to restore their red brick home and also source materials cheaply. It is a charming red brick house with wooden floors and bay windows and is a landmark in the town. It was owned in the past by a mayor and a wealthy spinster.
In their quest to maintain the old home, the couple developed a love for antique items. Dee Sneedon, the wife, is a creative person and a whizz with the paint brush and her background in textile and media design has meant she has a flair for seeing potential in old items.
Kevin, Dee’s husband, knows all about wood and how to maximise design to accommodate function and aesthetics. He is mechanically minded as he used to be a millwright and as a child, he learnt a lot about furniture from his father who was a carpenter. Together the couple combine their skills to make up-cycled furniture.
They have a room in their home which is a showroom of their talents.
“We learnt to look for things that had unusual textures and curves and we would forage around old scrap yards looking for items that still had charm and value. This led us to auctions where we would be able to pick up items for a steal and with some effort and imagination we could create something beautiful and usable,” said Dee.
Their home is the perfect canvas for their talents. It has a mixture of new and old ideas. In their home, they have a chapel that was built in the 1970s. It has a winding metal balustrade that leads up to a stunning round window.
They also have an annex which was probably used as a garage and servants quarters – built according to the exact plans from the Gillitts railway station.
The annex has been renovated, and they have created accommodation units packed full of character and charm.
The courtyard area has become a communal vegetable garden area, and the tenants all grow their favourite veggies. One of their aims was to make their character-filled home a resource for earning income.
They have been told that under their home there is a secret tunnel leading from the house to the centre of Howick.
“The owner of our house Mr
Simons was also the hotel keeper of the Howick Falls Hotel – he came from Forestgate in England and built the tunnel to protect his family. Some people think this tunnel was used for the smuggling of guns during the Boer War,” said Dee.
Over the years the couple have hosted annual craft markets and opened their home to the public, to enjoy the home’s eclectic ambience. They also enjoy musical gatherings and host a monthly drum circle. A giant tepee is a feature on their lawn, and it is surrounded by walkways of succulents and wooden logs waiting to be used.
Most recently they applied their skills to using a 27-metre giant pencil cedar tree that had to be felled in the garden. The wood has been salvaged and planked, and some of the stumps have been transformed into miniature fairy houses.
“The trunk was enormous, and we were able to get some good quality planks from it and then we wanted to use as much as possible. Trees have a magical texture, and the bark and the shape can be used for many purposes,” said Kevin.
Dee has always collected items like shells, beads, wire and driftwood and she adds these small touches to the wooden stump that Kevin carves. A zip becomes a miniature door knocker and shells are transformed into mushrooms. Tiny little steps are carved around the trunk to form a stairway and bits of bark are made into door awnings, and a rusty horseshoe becomes a door.
Dried lichen and old vines are added to the exterior to give it a livedin feel, and these fairy homes are straight out of a fairytale book.
Dee sells her goods on the internet and her clients are from around the country.
“We do research on the value of things and what items are collectable. We offer a more competitive price as we don’t have overheads that shops do. In their display room, they have up-cycled lace doily lampshades and old tins collected from the early 60s. They have also up-cycled old teapots into planters and have created wall hangings with vintage lace.
“We live in a throwaway society