Our planet barely has enough room for all of us these days, let alone all of our waste. Which is why we think it’s great when people can reclaim materials and give them a new lease on life.

Give Mother Nature a helping hand…

Nothing beats that warm and fuzzy feeling you get inside when you’ve done something great for the planet. We encourage everyone to personally have a go at upcycling. You’ll be doing your bit to create a more sustainable planet which is pretty awesome. No project is too small – whether you’re just using an old china plate to make a new clock (see photo below) or painting tired furniture instead of buying new. Each of these little things combined can make a huge difference to preserving the earth.

 China Plate Clock by Dainty Dress Diaries

Check out Dainty Dress Diaries for lots of upcycling projects.

 

Get CRAFTY with REPAIRs

Why buy new when you can learn to fix things yourself? Repairing an item and giving it a new life is a great skill and a wonderful feeling. Grab a hammer and some nails and fix that bedside table, take those old pallets and transform them into something new. The possibilities are endless!

Pallet bird feeder By Dainty Dress Diaries

ONE-OF-A-KIND ITEMS

Whether you’re upcycling things yourself or buying products from designers, it’s always nice to know that you have something that is completely unique. Every upcycled item is one of a kind and has a beautiful history behind it – which makes them fantastic for gifts as well.

A unique and creative home:

Choosing to buy upcycled, pre-loved furniture or indeed choosing to upcycle some items of your own will allow you to have exactly the home you have always dreamed of. The perfect item for you is unlikely to come from a factory with a 'one size fits all' mentality. Why be boring and make do with having the same as everyone else when you can tailor your home to perfectly match your tastes and personality?

Does upcycling really save you money?

Upcycling furniture is the perfect way to revamp a room in a relatively cheap way.  It extends the life of something that you haven’t used for a while and you may have stored in the garage.  It could be a piece of furniture that you no longer like or no longer fits with your décor. You can also pick up furniture to upcycle in charity shops, house clearances or recycling centres at a minimal cost.  More and more people are now buying unwanted furniture and upcycling them for their own homes or to sell on.

The tools that you need to upcycle cost a minimal amount and you can use them repeatedly for your next upcycling project.

Here is a list of the tools you will need to get started to upcycle your own furniture.

1. Autentico Handmade Paint Brushes – I recommend getting a few different sizes. My top 3 sizes I use are  1” 2” & a small no 10 pointed brush - Shop Brushes Here.

2. Autentico Omni-Clean – this product is great for cleaning down your furniture prior to painting.

3. Masking tape – very useful to mask off areas that you don’t want paint to get over.

4. Small Roller – this is great to use on bigger pieces of furniture – you can get your furniture coated quickly and you are left with a smooth finish – when buying a roller head make sure and get the ‘flocked’ roller head – I have found this leaves the best finish.

5. Sanding paper or sanding blocks – A must for your paint kit. Very useful for fixing imperfections or keying a very smooth or shiny piece of furniture prior to painting.

6. Filler – whether this is a wood filler or a multipurpose filler, this is going to be your friend. You can fill in cracks, dents or even fill in holes left behind by old handles.  Just fill, let dry, sand smooth, paint over and voila no more imperfections.

7. Autentico Primer – use for preparation of timber prone to bleed through and blocking stains caused by a reaction to tannins found in wood such as mahogany, oak, chestnut and pine when in contact with moisture.

8. Autentico Paint –whatever your project is Autentico has the paint range and colour range for the job. Shop Autentico paint ranges here.

How is Autentico Paint doing their part to help…

Autentico Paint uses only the finest quality, low odour and minimal environmental impact raw materials.

It is child safe – EN71-3 compliant – Safe to use on Children’s furniture and other juvenile products.

When you receive your products through the post you’ll find that our packaging is both recyclable and biodegradable, right down to the fill.

Our tester pots are made from recycled plastic and can be recycled again.

In our distribution centre in Ireland we recycle packaging and pallets and have purchased a cardboard shredder to reduce the amount of cardboard waste within our own business.