Happy Kitschmas
ZOE POCOCK’S INTERIORS EMPIRE BEGAN WITH A CHARITY SHOP FIND UPCYCLED IN HER ECLECTIC LONDON FLAT, SHE TELLS CLARE MORRISROE
NOTHING goes to waste in Zoe Pocock’s home. The Christmas tree is festooned with plastic bananas that were destined for the dump. To save them from clogging up landfill, she sprayed them neon pink and hung them alongside the polystyrene rings she’d transformed into glitter doughnuts.
‘My husband Mike is as bad as me,’ laughs Zoe. ‘He walked through the door one night with three boxes of fake plastic fruit that someone was chucking out. I used the bananas on my tree then gold-leafed the rest of the fruit to add to our Christmas wreaths.’
Her wreaths are a work of kitsch genius. Made from old kids’ toys, discarded plastic and bits of unwanted tinsel that would otherwise end up in the bin, they sell out as soon as she puts them online. ‘There are some real treasures at the bottom of children’s toy boxes – plastic dolls, Disney characters, My Little Ponies and Ninja Turtles,’ says mum-of-two Zoe. ‘What better way to remember your kids’ childhoods than to add all their favourite toys to a wreath that you’ll use year after year? Totally unique, very kitsch and a lot of fun. I love Christmas. If Lidl did Barbara Cartland, that would be my style.’
Zoe’s eclectic threebed flat in south-east London is testament to that. On the bookcase sits an Action Man transformed into cross-dressing artist Grayson Perry, complete with blonde bob wig and dress.
There’s a leopard-print carpet, a fake pink flamingo in a glass cage and religious artefacts everywhere – a tongue-in-cheek nod to Zoe’s Irish catholic roots. ‘The giant rosary beads on the wall glow in the dark and I bought the plastic Last Supper in a charity shop for three quid and sprayed it gold. People contact me all the time on Instagram to take their old stuff. They prefer to see it get used as a piece of art rather than end up in landfill.’ Zoe’s upcycled passion started as a single mother, aged 18. ‘I was skint and covered some white plastic garden furniture in fabric and it looked great. Having no money makes you creative and thrifty.’ Zoe and Mark started the Muck N Brass business after buying an old bookcase from a charity shop for a few pounds, painting it in her kitsch style, then selling it on eBay. It sold in an hour. They now have a studio space big enough to create in – and business is booming. With 43,000 followers on Instagram, she also has a celebrity clientele – Towie’s Gemma Collins bought a pig coffee table and neon gorilla lamp.
‘We get damaged stock from a guy who makes animals for zoos and farms, we fix them up and turn them into one-off lamps and tables. We have no idea what’s coming in – last time Mike came home with a gorilla, two giraffes and six pigs.’
Zoe has also turned her hand to wallpaper and fabrics. Her kitchen cupboards are covered in her pinkand-blue Virgin Mary wallpaper. ‘It’s a great way to pimp up your kitchen for no money. When we moved here the units were high-gloss white and the walls yellow – the colour palette of a vegan sausage roll. I papered and lacquered the units so you can wipe them down. Not that I cook. The only time the cooker gets used is to light a fag,’ she laughs.
‘I love my surroundings to be fun, but I never follow trends. Why would I spend ten grand on a new kitchen when I will get bored? I wanted a Smeg fridge but Mike thinks they’re too small, so I painted Smeg on our fridge instead.’
Zoe has dismembered mannequins which were heading for landfill. ‘We make wall lamps from the hands, bum plant pots (inset), body lamps and leg planters. Nothing goes to waste.’
But the star of Zoe’s Christmas tree is always Pat Butcher. ‘I just loved everything about her character when she was in EastEnders,’ she says. ‘The Pat Butcher tree decoration is our biggest seller every year.’
■ Check out Zoe’s upcycled furniture,
art and workshops on instagram.com/mucknbrass