upcycle 7 ways to… household items

This month, we’re helping you to repurpose old, tatty or unwanted furniture and bits and bobs from around the house into new and improved objects

As a society, we are fuelled by consumerism — conditioned into wanting to buy and then throw away new items again and again on repeat. But this is catastrophic for planet Earth — we are squandering so many of our planet’s precious resources, creating mass amounts of waste, causing water shortages, habitat destruction and unnecessary greenhouse gases. But we really do not need to throw away so much, because it is easy to upcycle — the process by which existing things are made into new or improved items. To upcycle something, you don’t even need to change its function, you can simply upgrade its look to enhance it in some way. Of course, you can entirely change its use if you want to!

Just about any material can be transformed — an old rug can become a cushion case, a broken stair spindle can be made into a lamp stand, or an old chest of drawers can be painted to look like new! Upcycling ideas are only limited by your imagination.

Not only can upcycling provide you with gorgeous new items; it will help to prevent unwanted objects and materials piling up on landfills, whilst simultaneously preventing the need for new materials to be sourced.

Here are seven creative ideas to get you started on your upcycling journey.

1. Add a marble effect to old tins

Transform old coffee, biscuit and sweet tins with this easy craft from Claire Armstrong of Pillar Box Blue (pillarboxblue.com). The faux marbled effect is simple to accomplish, but looks beautiful, allowing you to reuse these tins for storing baked goods and other items. You could even use them instead of wrapping paper to store Christmas gifts for loved ones!

Faux Marbled Tins

You will need:

• Old tins, e.g., coffee, biscuit, sweet or other tins. Any and all shapes and sizes will work well.

•

White/cream spray paint (make sure it’s vegan-friendly and cruelty-free)

•

Vegan and cruelty-free nail varnish of any bright colour (not fast-drying)

•

Large plastic container

1. Remove stickers or labels from the tins. A soak in hot, soapy water should make the labels easy to remove.

2. Spray paint your tins and lids — a cream/white spray paint works well. Two coats are recommended.

3. Prepare for marbling the tin cans. Fill the large plastic container with warm water. Then, pour the nail polish over the surface, you may want to use a cocktail stick to spread it out a bit.

4. Now, the fun part! Pick up your tin, and then gently roll it over the surface of the water. The varnish should cling to the surface of the can as you go, leaving a lovely, marbled pattern.

5. Add more nail varnish to the water and repeat with the tin lid.

Top Tip: If you want to protect the upcycled tins, spray a protective acrylic varnish to the outside of them.