Owners only use recycled materials for design
A Blairgowrie restaurant has become one of the first in Scotland to be revamped entirely by upcycling.
Cargill’s Bistro and Restaurant on Lower Mill Street was transformed recently by an innovative project that saw owners Lesley and Ronny McDonald work with local upcycler Jenni Devaney.
Lesley and Ronny approached Jenni, who runs Realcycle Design, based in Leslie Street, earlier this year as they felt that the popular eaterie could benefit from a design overhaul.
Jenni said: “I chatted to Lesley and Ronny and based on their personalities - they are fun, forward-thinking and care deeply about quality - and the lights in the restaurant and what they wanted to achieve I came up with a few ideas which we then worked through together.
“I suggested quite a bold design, bright, jewelled colours and furniture, a feature wall, copper accents and a quirky coffee table made from an upcycled door.
“Everything was redesigned or reused - the only thing that we bought was paint and a butcher’s roll for the daily menu.
“What is important for me in my work is that it is something that is affordable, particularly for small businesses.
“I can give a price for everything but am happy if people want to go away and source something themselves.
“I also do tutorials on painting furniture so Lesley and Ronny were able to do some upcycling themselves.”
Much of the revamp was done in just two days when the restaurant was closed.
Jenni said: “It was a very intensive few days. Although I had done a lot of the preparation work beforehand, with the accessories for example, we still did two full, 10-hour days in the restaurant, with finishing touches completed after that.
“I think customers actually quite liked the fact that I was there just finishing the last bits and bobs while they ate!”
Lesley and Ronny are delighted with the stunning new look the restaurant, which they have run for 10 years, now has.
Lesley said: “We worked really well together with Jenni, we’re on the same wavelength, which was great.
“We have been wanting to do a redesign for a long time and the time felt right to do it now.
“Meeting Jenni got the whole thing going.
“We have always had our own style and we wanted it to show.
“I think the colours are amazing, they are the colours of nature which emphasises a theme of food provenance which is what Cargill’s is all about Ronny is all about the food and providing a brilliant meal for people from locally sourced ingredients.”
And Jenni added: “From a design perspective, it has been a big hit not just in Blairgowrie but all over the world - the photos on social media have been shared thousands of times.
“It’s been so nice to have a whole room to do an entire room design, and for an interior re-designer like myself it is a great showcase of what is possible.
“Everywhere you look there is a story and a local connection, it’s just fantastic.”