Upcycling

I bought these delightful little "sol d'or" narcissi from the market yesterday, it was the gorgeous colour of them that grabbed my attention (am I right in thinking that sol d'or translates to golden sun in English?). But oh my goodness, I really hadn't bargained on the scent of them, and as I sit at my desk to write this morning, there is the most incredible scent of Spring in the air. It's absolutely knockout! Thinking that three vessels on the table is possibly a little excessive so I'll be moving one of the little jugs up to scent my bedroom later. I've already got some in the bathroom....ahhh, you can never have too many fresh flowers in the house.

Anyhow....this post isn't supposed to be about the whiff of flowers, I got distracted a bit there, sorry. What I want to yarn on about today is my recent upcycling exploits. I've kind of grown to like the word Upcycle, even though it annoyed me for a while with it's trendiness. I used to think why say upcycle when it's just about giving something a makeover? It's the same with vintage and retro, which is really just a trendy way of saying old isn't it?

I bought this last weekend, on a complete whim when I went out to buy eggs. Instead of going straight to the butcher, I detoured past the second hand shop and saw this quirky little (vintage? retro? old?) wire veggie rack sitting forlornly on the pavement amongst the second hand furniture. It called out to me, begged me to take it home and love it. And for the price of £6 how could I refuse the call? So I came home to the Attic with half a dozen eggs, a bunch of daffodils and a wire veggie rack tucked under my arm.

On Thursday I was lucky enough to have a precious child-free day and the weather was gorgeously bright and sunny, so out into the back yard I went to put my upcycling plans in motion. First stage, a good ol' rub down with some hot soapy water.

Second stage, lots of newspaper and a can of spray enamel paint bought in the sale from a local discount shop. Teal Treasure indeed. My favourite colour of all time (although I prefer to call it "Tiffany"). I don't have any experience of using this spray stuff, and truthfully I didn't do a very good job. I didn't listen to the words on the can and was a bit heavy handed with it. So it dripped a little, and also the can ran out before I had truly finished covering all that wire. So the upcycling is a little bit patchy and blobby. But the colour............oh the colour!!! Look see.......................

......isn't it lovely? So much more appealing than mucky old cream.

I do believe I managed to transform this unwanted item into a colourful thing of beauty. A real treasure. Useful too....can you guess what I'm going to use it for? What do you suppose those wire baskets will be crammed with? Of course......yarn, glorious yarn!!! Yippeeeeeee for the thought of a whole colourful rack of yarn that can be maneuvered about on dinky little wheels! I will of course bombard you with pictures when I've got around to filling the baskets, it'll be a visual feast.

This was my other spontaneous upcycling project this week, yesterday to be precise. Another impulse buy, this (vintage? retro? old?) wooden cutlery tray was sitting in the window of the Oxfam shop as I walked past, price £2.99. I do happen to like aged wood, but I am not too keen on the colour brown. So after lunch yesterday, I set to work with my upcycling plans. I have a modest stash of Decopatch papers left over from previous projects, so I trimmed some to size and finally managed to wrestle the lid off the top of my decopatch glue. It worked a treat...the decopatch papers are very thin, a bit like tissue paper, but the magic glue transforms it. Not only does it easily stick the paper down, but it provides a very durable finish, making the whole thing very hard wearing and practical.

So this old wooden tray has been successfully upcycled and repurposed at the same time, how about that? I'm going to be using it as a desk tidy, to hold essential bits and pieces on my new " Lovely Shabby Chic Solid Pine Farmhouse Kitchen Table with Farrow and Ball Painted Legs!"...haha, LOVE the dramatic Ebay descriptions with Lots Of Capital Letters! Yes, I have a new piece of furniture being delivered later today after a frantic, nail biting finale to an Ebay auction a few days ago. Oh the drama of those last 30 seconds!

The farmhouse kitchen table is not going to be living in the Attic though. Nor is the upcycled wire yarn rack, or the upcycled wooden tray, no no. They are all destined to go and live in my new studio. Studio. St-u-di-o. Oh that word!!! Makes my heart flutter, it still seems so dreamlike and unreal! I am desperately desperate to tell you the whole tale, but whilst we (my studio buddie and I) are busy renovating the room we will be sharing together, I feel inclined to keep it under wraps. There will be an overexcited post all about it very soon though, as soon as we have finished the dirty work. There has been much hard graft going on. Lots of cleaning, scraping, sanding and oiling (the floor), and now lots of filling, sanding, priming and painting (the rest of the room). Soon though.

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Edit to add :: Interesting article HERE about defining antique/vintage/retro (be sure to read the comments!).

I think the rough conclusion is thus ::

Antique = at least 100 years old
Vintage = 20-99 years old, from the era it represents
Retro = newer, but made to look like an item from the older era.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Kirsten]

Wow! I love the colour you put on the rack! And the divider probably will come in handy if you lose everything constantly(like me...). I try to upcycle/recycle things as well.. Last night we created a new kitty scratching post out of 2 old ones (it's enormous now), and I use lots of things from the thrift store like teacups and frames and so on.

Love, Kirsten

[Hannah@HomeBaked]

Great job on the basket, Lucy, spray painting something like that can be really tricky to get right - and what a great find!
I'm looking forward to seeing your studio reveal :)

[Carole C]

That's a lovely colour...what a makeover ! It will look stunning when filled with all your colourful yarn.
Can't wait to see your studio post.Its going to be well worth all the hard graft.
Have a lovely weekend x

[maypole]

Love that colour, great idea too. I love bargains ME!

[Katie]

Can't wait to hear more about the studio :-) And I love both upcycled items - I have a metal rack similar to that which we use for shoes but I'm now considering turfing the shoes out and spray-painting it! Great idea to use the cutlery tray for a desk tidy too :-)

[Johanna]

Good idea, I bought such a veggie rack at Ikea and it's great to stack it with what you are working on and roll it around to where you need it.
Keeps everything a bit more tidier.

[Clare]

A studio how exciting can't wait to see it. I do love a bit of upcycling, I keep covering tin can with fabric to make pen/crochet hook pots. Yarn storage rack what a great idea, I never know how to store my many balls of yarn, they look so sad in a cardboard box.

[Gail Carroll]

So enjoyed this blog. I like the term, "repurposed" I find it more fitting because, usually, the item is not being used as it was first intended. You are such an inspiration in your color filled world. Thank you.

[Carolyn]

fantastic work on the rack...one of my favourite colours too :D
I have "upcycled" a pair of small terracota sparrows (which i have had for years) this last week, and paint them in a pearl white acrylic paint...they look fabulous in my lounge room, i am doing some small photo frames next
Your crochet work is inspiring and your eye for colour combinations is a delight..thank you for sharing your part of the world
kind regards from Australia :)

[Howard's House]

That looks fantastic, Lucy! I adore that teal colour. (As I write this my 5 year old is colouring in, with it…..that boy has good taste!)

You have far more patience than me with the painting. All of those spindly wires…..*shudder*….I'd be the procrastination queen, or take 3 weeks to finish it.

Ali
xx

[Annette]

Nice make over. The string basket look great. Isn't it the greatest satisfaction to turn something old into something new. Well done girl!
Happy yarns Saturday
Annette
My Rose Valley
PS Child-free day - VERY precious indeed. I wish for a handfull this spring, that would be great.
PS 2 Loving your paper dressed tray too. Love the your face colour.

[Karin Muir]

Lovely bit of upcycling! Just had a wee peek at the other blog (she has shown little glimpses of the s t u d i o! ) How exciting and I can't wait to hear you tell us all about it. Good luck with it!

[Catherine Anderegg]

Very beautiful, great idea! I love the color!

"Sol d'or" could also mean "golden floor", oh, I long for Spring.

Kisses from Switzerland

[cristina]

A great idea and a happy post! You are a great artist and a hardworker, Lucy! Congratulations!

[Karen]

Love what you've done with your new purchases! Can't wait to hear about your new studio. How exciting!! xxx

[Tina]

Very lovely! Can't wait to see your studio too! Ooh!! xxx

[Inge]

What a beautiful colour Lucy!
Good luck with your new studio!
Have a nice weekend.

[Stick Horse Cowgirl V]

Very pretty, and yes, I do love the Tiffany blue!
I will be working on my very own studio too as soon as the school where I work lets out for the summer! I do a bit of rug hooking and need my workspace!

[Kate]

Very exciting Lucy- a studio- brilliant.Love the description on the paint tin "perfect for a multitude of objects", this is making me laugh immoderately.Great little trolley!

[Ginny]

Love your blog it is always so bright and cheerful, love your new purchases look great now you have upcycle them can't wait to hear bout your studio good luck with your new adventure best wishes ginnyx

[Jo Roberts]

Oh my god! this is so exciting, can't wait to here about your venture. Mine started today too. I lost my job last week so I have been pushed into the fantasy world of giving crochet lessons which I have advertised in my local town today but not in a STUDIO! How posh. Waiting with anticipation... Jo

[Ariadne]

IKEA has a metal rack in a similar colour so you made something very trendy with a lot less and it is ....gorgeous! Looking forward to seeing all your studio story. Don't forget to take before and after photos!AriadnefromGreece!

[eskimo*rose]

Gosh, you have been productive - I so need a child free day too, isn't it incredible just how much you can accomplish in a short space of time when the kiddos are elsewhere!!
Em xx
P.s. 'vintage', 'retro' and 'upcycle' = higher price tag, I am convinced that some sort of spin doctor is involved!!

[Mónica]

¡quedó como nuevo!

[Helen]

Such exciting studio news! That wire rack is lovely, the perfect colour and such a smart way of storing yarn so you can see it
http://ahandfulofhope.blogspot.co.uk/