One of the things that moving has made me realise is that there are some things that I am good at (or at least good at having a go at) like gardening, scrapbooking and knitting and some things that I would love to be good at but I never seem to be able to get into. One of these latter things is upcycling. To give something a new lease of life, to preserve the vintage but update it with a personal or modern twist.
The reason I realised this is because in the process of packing and unpacking I came face to face with some items of furniture that I had grand plans for that never even began to materialise. Among these is a G Plan gate leg table and chairs; the table is ok but the chairs desperately need recovering and I haven’t even chosen any fabric. There is also a very sweet folding bookcase with peeling paint that the kids use that I was going to paint and personalise for them. Added in to these is a lovely Ercol sofa just passed on from my parents that could also do with a bit of TLC. And I’m sure there’s even more that I can’t (or am embarrassed to) recall.
Luckily, I have a lovely, very talented friend whose brain I can pick over all things related. Lynne (and her husband Pete) recently opened up Pepperwhite Vintage which can be found at 14 North Street in Exeter. As well as selling specialist Authentico chalk paint and lots of beautiful things for your home she also runs regular chalkpaint workshops. Lynne is an absolute font of knowledge and incredibly friendly, if you’re stuck with a project, would like to get into upcycling or need some advice on paint techniques I’d encourage you to pop into the shop for a chat. She’s always happy to help and I bet you’ll come away inspired and enthusiastic to take what you’ve learnt home.
I’m looking forward to going in to browse and hopefully come up with an action plan for the kids bookcase and chairs. I love the idea of making old things look nice rather than buying new so think I have found my go to place and person for advice and information!
My lovely landlady is also incredibly keen and talented at turning junk into treasure. She is a regular visitor to Tiverton tip and always seems to be effortlessly transforming items other people have chucked into useable and lovely pieces.
With these amazing women around I’m determined to get my head around upcycling and give some of the forlorn items in my house a new lease of life. Watch this space to see how I get on…
the starlings gather here 