Upcycle: 24 Sustainable DIY Projects
Laurence King Publishing have just released Upcyle by Rebecca Proctor. It is full of original, do able, interesting high end upcycling projects and it is rather fabulous.
I love a bit of upcycling but sometimes it an look a bit rubbish can’t it? Let’s be honest here. But these projects well they dont look like rubbish at all really they are works of art. Check out these amazing upcycled plastic bottles….
Flowers that last indeed!
Ot how about learning to make this beautiful cross stitch chair?
All you have to do is follow the designers’ individual step-by-step instructions . I thought this could really interest the readers of Thrifty Home!
Other projects include a clever waterproof mat woven from marine rope, a geometric lampshade made of strips of Tetrapak carton, a hanging rail using leftover copper plumbing pipe and many more. With clear illustrations and how-to diagrams, each project is easy to follow and complete at home.
I’m really enjoying this book and feel inspired to have go. i think you will too!
How to win
I have 2 copies to give away..simply complete the rafflecopter below for a chance to win
my chair
My 2 Lloyd Loom chairs, found thrown out many years ago, and repainted many times!
My dressing in the kitchen, which I have painted a bright red
My favourite piece is an 8 drawer chest of drawers that I bought from a boot sale for £10 and have repainted it & upcycled it and it now looks really impressive 🙂
My pine blanket boxed I’m currently up-cycling 🙂
Corner wardrobe in back bedroom
We have an antique sideboard that I just love.
I love my corner leather sofa
I love my dressing table!
I have a cuddlechair (it is larger than an armchair but smaller than a two-seater).It is so soft and I just sink in the middle! It is a great size for me and my chihuhua to snuggle up on! My kids call it mam’s cuggle chair!
My Sheesham 12 Drawer Storage Trunk/Coffee Table
I would love this book to get some fab ideas for my tired, lacklustre home
my brother got an old bedding box witch he gave me i painted it and placed fabric squares on it i really do love it now and so glad i decided to keep it x fab giveaway
I LOVE MY BED X
has to be my bed 🙂
An old brown leather corner suite which is more comfy than my bed!
my dressing table
My sofa!
At the moment my favourties are my two pine wardrobes and matching drawers in my bedroom. They were given to me by my aunt and I’m looking forward to finding something interesting to upcycle them soon.
The smallest table from my nest of tables,its uses are numerous,childrens eating place,colouring/painting table,coffee table,card table
My sewing box on wheels which doubles as a padded footstool
My writing bureau which I bought from a second hand junk shop all unloved and very dark stained wood.
I removed its grubby knobs, sanded it, primed it and painted in a dip-dye/two-tone forest green effect finished off with pretty floral knobs 🙂
Its my most favourite piece of furniture as well as the cheapest!
Love up cycling ,re spay my pine bed to old English white for a rustic effect
A lovely old sideboard bought by my husband & I in 1978 for our first home. It was the apprentice piece belonging to the owner of the house we were buying so totally unique, made in oak, scarred and worn but loved and cherished.
A set of drawers that we worked on for one of the kids bedrooms
Coffee table
I love my dressing table – it’s a vintage kidney bean one with a glass top 🙂
my fave piece is a footstool that we keep putting different fabric on just with the stapler
I love my bed lol.
Don’t get to see it often enough with 4 children buy I love just snuggling up and watching tv. Plus it’s gorgeous x
My bed.
Deffo my trunk that we use as a table
my chair in my bedroom
My battered old toy box/blanket box, passed down through the family with lots of memories!
I’m struggling to think of a “favourite” piece. I don’t think I have one. Possibly my makeshift bedside table that I put together. 🙂
the bedside cabinets because I’ve upcycled them myself 🙂
My favourite item in my home is my sofa. I bought it from a secondhand store for a very low price & wasn’t sure if it was even going to fit in my room – I didn’t measure it before buying because I fell in love with it. It’s like the ideal ‘coffee shop’ sofa & really squishy so I love sitting on it & pretending I’m in ‘Friends’, haha!
My chinese cabinet that I have had for over 20 years, it cost nothing weighs a ton & is stuffed full.
My 1960s Louis XI reproduction bedroom set; shabby chic!
I upcycled a Welsh dresser and love how it came out
My sofa is my fav piece it’s so comfy and lovely.
I love the ‘table’ I am currently resting my laptop on. It was once upon a time the stool for an organ, but has turned itself into a really decent wooden table which can open to put things inside!
an old wood veneered chest of drawers which was very solidly made. I stripped it down and painted it light blue and it is gorgeous now.
My favourite piece of furniture is a vintage (antique?) piece of furniture that I inherited when my dad died. Its about 10 feet long, in 2 sections which is hung on the wall and made up of lots of drawers, shelves and a tiny cupboard. Great for putting my sewing bits and pieces in and different odds and ends like pencils etc.
Definitely my bed!
My bookcase, as I love its simple style and I have many interesting little bits on it. x
The sofa. It’s leather and now after a couple of years it is starting to look good.
My pair of shabby chic claret red sofas
My Fave Armchair
My computer chair!
I love my vintage chest of drawers. My gecko vivarium sits on top of it for all to see 🙂
My wooden bed as I got it second hand and it had a very bad paint job where the wood had bled through so I sanded, primed and painted it and it now looks lovely!
My very comfy bed, with my amazing wool filled British Made Mattress.
My sideboard which I got at an auction very cheap!
My coffee table 🙂 x
I love my table and chairs in my dining room
I love my bed
A coffee table that my boyfriend’s mum upcycled for us – it now features a mosaic in the form of the famous Japanese wave painting!
chest of drawers in my spare room, filled with all my handicraft equipment and bits and bobs.
i love my Conran writing desk, Its a lovely oak wood with a leather covered drawer. it sits perfectly in the corner of my bedroom. love it!
my slob settee!
I love my captains chair
My bean bag 🙂 just comfort
Has to be my bed. x
Got to be my Lloyd Loom ottoman that i found by a bin many years ago and brought home on the bus!
I have a dresser that was my friends parents, then hers, and now mine. I know that one day I will give it a refresh and it will be like having a whole new piece of furniture.
An old Parker Knoll chair I have had for years
My late parents bedroom furniture
My gorgeous comfy tub chair
my dining table.
A small quirky table that reminds me of the Magic Wishing Chair from the Enid Blyton book – it has the same legs! 🙂
an antique oak bureau I inherited from my great-grandparents. I’m hoping one day to also inherit the matching bookcase which currently sits in my nans lounge (although not too soon of course!!)
my desk in my little office.
My sofa, It was £20 and is as good as new! 🙂
My sofa
my armchair
My old computer desk
My sofa.
my bed – its so comfy
has to be my bed!
My personal “dad” chair
My sideboard
A Tallboy made of Burr Walnut
My favourite piece of furniture is my 20’s dark wood, barley twist table with mix and match chairs found from all over the place!
My sofa
Love our rocking chair
Love my old bookcase which I’ve painted and lined the back board with old wallpaper
love my television cabinet
my vintage bed (with modern technology mattress .. best of all worlds) xx
An old orange box that my grandmother turned into an ottoman during the 2nd world war.
Love my welsh dresser
My fave piece would be my big comfy sofa
My bedroom furniture is third hand and I am busy renovating it at the moment. Hope to have unique items when I have finished. I am new to doing up furniture but have been inspired by Kirsty Allsop.
An old bureau that my grandparents bought when they married some time before 1910. It means the world to me.
My setee, it’s so comfy and so stylish!
My dining table. Where we all sit together, I love family meal times.
Sideboard – not yet upcycled! & bedside cabinet successfully upcycled.
My bed 🙂
My sofa it’s battered and scarred but so darn comfy
A very large oak bookcase.
My bed is my fave piece of furniture – however my fave upcycle project is my bedroom chair 🙂 I got an old grotty looking chair from freecycle – recovered it in a gorgeous piece of pink and gold material (from a charity shop for a massive price of 50p!) I sprayed the metal frame gold with left over paint from xmas decs and drilled holes in 6 golf balls which I also sprayed gold and then fitted to each of the feet and either side. It looks fab and is very comfy and unique noone else has the same seat 😀
Our L Shaped Sofa 🙂
The bureaux I inherited from my grandparents 🙂
A repro medical cabinet which houses my medical collection
It has to be my sofa
My marble coffee table,it’s oblong and quite low and looks so good.The other thing is that I have young grandchildren and it’s perfect for them having meals.They can also draw and paint there as nothing marks it,any spills or mess can be just wiped away x
Our wardrobe
coffee table lamp
An old wooden trunk. It has so much character.
I love my bed!
My favourite piece of furniture is my bed, 🙂
I’ve just made a footstool from an old futon mattress and curtain fabric
My sofa to lounge on with the laptop
My bed… self explanatory really! 😉
My favourite piece of furniture has to be our two-seater sofa. Great way to unwind after a long day at work 🙂
I have a table made of books, I love it because its different and fun
My sofa just pity I can’t sit down so long to enjoy it
My settee. I love to curl up on in to relax and it being a bed settee it means my son and his family can come to stay with us often
My favourite piece is an old fashioned chair which still looks great!
My dresser 🙂
My three piece suite. Although now very shabby and wrecked by an over zealous cat it is still so comfortable. I feel it could become my first upcycling project 🙂
my favourite piece of furniture is an old chest with brass decoration that we bought over 40 years ago. It gets better looking every year and has built up a lovely greenish tinge round the edges of the brass.
My Rocking chair
love my bed lol
My favourite piece of furniture is my corner cabinet where I store all my china ornaments.x
My favourite piece of furniture in my house is my wooden bed.
A Lloyd loom chair I bought 25 years ago it’s been everywhere I’ve lived since and painted more times than I can remember
My favourite piece of furnature in my house is an original oak Art Deco sideboard which I found in a junk shop for £40.It was covered in layers of dirt which I painstakingly cleaned off and after lots of beeswax rubbed in looks beautiful and is so usefull.
I love my bed because it was a second hand bargain on ebay and it gorgeous french carved oak.
My Sofas
To be honest my favourite piece of furniture is my bed!
My Art Deco leather arm chair bought off a Woody Allen film shoot 🙂
I love an edwardian table that I picked up. It is now my TV table 🙂 I won’t paint as it would destroy the patina. But I’m always looking for ideas for upcycling other things.
The Drawers I have in the living room
I love my coffee table that I wood burnt a heart design onto.
A toy box I painted for my son, I decorated it with stars 🙂
My fave piece of furniture is my huge bouncy chair! Mega comfy and did I mention it was bouncy! 🙂
My bed
my daughter’s desk.
my trunk that’s been passed down from my grandma
I’ve got this huge wicker chair which is just perfect for curling up with a book!
My wardrobe which I purchased for £20 from a charity shop and upcyled it myself. Still learning a lot about upcycling but enjoying it
My nan’s old horse hair armchair – still the most comfortable in the house!
A chest of drawers in my bedroom
I have a gorgeous shabby chic set of bedside drawers that I adore
Its an 88 year old library table which my Grandmother had as a wedding present ..mu Auntie had it then she passed it on to me
my chair xx
My 1930s walnut bedroom set… I love the cuteness of his and hers wardrobes, even though I have them both to myself! And to top that all off, I got the two wardrobes and the dresser for £26 on eBay! Beats IKEA stuff any day.
My vintage chaise lounge xxx
Mine is an old folding table I found at a charity shop. Was a bit of a mission getting it home but well worth it!
My dining room table.
I have a beautiful old unit in the dining room which I love however it does need to be resuscitated.
I love my bed! We spent a LOT of money on it and it was worth every penny.
My copper table which was my grandparents , it’s a pain to polish but when clean looks gorgeous
I’d like to reupholster my old sofa to modernise the look.
The sofa
Grandfather clock passed down the generations 🙂