Ingrid Anita Meyer, owner of Bedfordview-based Anita’s Interiors, is always encouraged when clients ask her about up-cycling their well-loved and used furniture.
Benefits of up-cycling:
Reduces carbon footprint
It is everyone’s responsibility to try and reduce their carbon footprint. In a small way, we can all do this when decorating our homes, offices and spaces that we occupy. Viridescent is the word that is currently being used for this – meaning ‘green or becoming green’.
Money saver
There was a time when ‘brand new’ furnishings were the peak of sophistication and the sole approach to interior design. However, second hand objects are starting to take over as the pinnacle of style: re-use, restore, recycle and definitely up-cycle – thus promoting viridescence.
Up-cycling saves you money, whether it is the story behind a driftwood-carved coffee table that was found in a second hand store or the character conveyed by the crack formed in an old and loved wooden table, the charm of dated or outmoded furniture is putting up-cycling in first place. While furniture may be second hand, it can be made to be sophisticated, elegant and ‘new’ and is thus eco-friendly. Vintage and retro furniture is not simply a design statement, it is a statement of intent and lifestyle that comes at an affordable price.
Changes the look and feel of the space
Looking at the chairs that were lovingly up-cycled in the main article image: a darkly stained mahogany chair with damaged and dated fabric was sanded down, repainted in a soft grey wash and defined. It was further re-upholstered in a modern fabric and studded. This has made such a difference to the chair, and the cost of the alteration was a fraction of a new chair. Consider ramping up your eco-credentials and strive to live in a green, more sustainable and eco-friendly home.
