The art of upcycling heirlooms and refreshing furniture with a personal touch in 2024

Step into a world where nostalgia meets sustainability, and creativity intertwines with craftsmanship. In 2024, a new wave of mindful living is set to sweep through our homes, and at the forefront of this movement is the art of upcycling heirlooms and refreshing furniture with a deeply personal touch. Join me on this journey as we explore the enchanting benefits of breathing new life into treasured pieces and transforming forgotten furniture into cherished gems.

So why should we look to upcycle furniture?

Its a way to preserve family history through upcycling our heirlooms: Often clients come to me when they have inherited an heirloom piece of furniture, these tend to be pieces that have huge sentimental value but just don’t fit in with their current room decor. Sometimes, they are perhaps too dark a wood or perhaps the style just looks out of place. They are often well built pieces with ‘good bones’ but most need some repairs or updating, and a refresh. This consultation process is most enjoyable where we look at the function of the piece and what sort of look/ feel the client wants it to have and how best to get it to compliment their current room scheme. Sometimes I will create mood boards to help communicate design ideas. I like to think of upcycling heirlooms as a way of honouring the past while seamlessly blending it into a clients current lifestyle. I love to learn about the history of these valued treasures and what stories they can share and tell us. Its lovely to think that these pieces, once refinished, will continue to be passed down from generation and generation to come. I love hearing about how intertwined with the families histories these pieces are and memories they help keep alive. One such piece I upcycled for a client is this gorgeous Remploy utility desk. It had been passed down to my client from his late mother and he had fond memories of her sitting at the desk writing letters and he wanted to continue to use the desk himself, but it just didn’t look right in his room. So we decided to give it a complete makeover while still respecting its past. Here are a few photos below showing the before and after.

In the 'before' photo, you can see the Remploy utility desk in its original state, carrying the weight of history but not quite fitting into the contemporary aesthetic of the room. The faded wood and traditional design were at odds with the client's vision for his living space. However, the 'after' photos tell a different story.

In the transformation, the desk has undergone a metamorphosis. The plain faded wood has been replaced with a striking midnight blue colour and been given much more of a contemporary feel and the traditional design has been infused with art deco elements. The result is a piece that not only pays homage to the past but seamlessly integrates into the client's present lifestyle.

The Remploy Utility Desk in its original state, a piece with a rich history but not fitting the client's current decor.

Upcycling also allows you to unleash your creative spirit in the most personal way possible. Whether it's giving an old treasured desk a vibrant splash of colour and makeover or refinishing a wooden table to reveal its natural beauty, the canvas is yours to paint. In 2024, I think the trend will continue to be all about celebrating individuality and infusing your personal style into every stroke of the brush. Sustainability is at the forefront of everyone’s minds now and the thirst for having pieces of furniture that mean something to us has never been stronger. Since Covid, homes have become much more our havens and the desire to be surrounded by nice things which evoke happy memories all the more meaningful. It’s much more about a slower, more conscious way of living and enjoying where we spend so much of our time rather than putting up with the fast paced throw away culture of yesteryear, with now an even stronger push away from mass produced flat packed furniture towards more conscious-led buying and preserving pieces we already have .

So there is very much a strong eco-benefit to upcycling also, as by upcycling and refinishing furniture and heirlooms; we consciously help in reducing waste and by breathing new life into pieces that hold sentimental value, we also contribute to the environment’s well-being while maintaining a connection to our own roots.

In the heart of 2024, let's embrace the transformative power of upcycling heirlooms and refreshing furniture with a personal touch. This art not only allows us to honour the past but also creates a future where every piece of furniture is a canvas for self-expression, storytelling, and sustainable living.

So, please do get in touch if you would like to book a consultation, and start perhaps by dusting off those family treasures, and let the magic of upcycling help weave a tale of memories and storytelling into your families lives’ and create a home that reflects the unique tapestry of your life.

Choosing a dining table: round versus rectangular?

So I often get asked what shape of table will suit my room? and Why choose a round dining table versus a rectangular table?

When selecting what shape dining table to choose, you need to consider a few things - shape/ style and substance.

Its also key to look at what shape will work best in your room and provide the best aesthetic.

Firstly, I always look at the function of the table aswell as the space provided. Tables are quite often not just used for dining and enjoying family meals together but are also used for crafting, baking, and some even double up as home office space now with the ever-changing environment we live in. They are often as much a centre-piece as a functional piece of furniture, but we want them to look beautiful too!

Think about how you’re likely to use yours.

If it’s your only dining table in the house and you have the space to accommodate one, a rectangular table may be best, or even one that extends in this shape or oval.

If your room is long and narrow, a rectangular table is best rather than forcing a round one to work and loosing out on the floor space you’ll need to easily walk in, around and through.

Another advantage of a rectangular table is their flexibility; they can be placed against a wall to save space or pulled out to accommodate an extra guest. And with a co-ordinating bench, or pair of benches, that can be tucked under the side, can be a great space saving option.

If its a secondary table, maybe only used for dining occasionally, and one you can style decoratively when it’s not in use, then maybe a smaller round table would work well. You can then use chairs when needed and move them in other spaces when not needed, such as hallways, bedrooms etc.

Consider what can my room take?

If you have a room slightly on the small side, a round table works well.

It allows for better space and flow in the room - there is more space so people can walk around to get to their seat and no sharp corners to bump into.

Also if it has a pedestal base, there is much more table top space and no legs in the way.

If like me, we all hate that seat on the corner of an oblong table, where you have to sit with a leg in the way!

Round tables create a more intimate feel when you have a small number of people, whilst if you have an option to also extend to a larger oval shape, it enables you to still seat more guests when you want to.

The extendable option is great for those happily-accidental drop-ins, because you can comfortably squeeze more people around its perimeter.

Round tables also work well in a square room.The combination of different shapes sitting with each other can make for a pleasant aesthetic and appeal to a room.

Points to consider when choosing a style of table:

Don’t forget to measure and I would suggest once you have the dimensions of your dream table, to also tape, mark out on the floor the dimensions and space required. It’s very hard to just visualize a table in an empty room.

It may help to consider the ‘1 metre rule’ too - it is advised you leave at least one metre between the back of the chair when you are sat on it and the nearest wall or object behind it.

So hopefully, this blog has given you a few tips to help you decide which shape table may work best in your room.

I sell all shapes and sizes of tables and I make bespoke benches too, so please get in touch if you would like to see some photos and dimensions of tables I am currently stocking.

Happy shopping x

Hall Makeover & Moodboards

We recently decided to give our hallway a make over! It was desperately in need with us having an old farmhouse and a leaking chimney! So we started with the chimney repairs and then were ready to begin on the inside.

It all began when I read a blog about Farrow & Ball ‘s ‘green smoke’ colour and fell in love as soon as I saw it! So I wanted to try and create a calm, serene yet welcoming hall way with some wooden panelling going up the staircase using this lovely deep green and some ‘james white’ to compliment it. I wanted it to be in keeping with the age of our house but just put a modern twist to it. We get asked to do this a lot with our farmhouse dining sets, to keep the farmhouse character but give them a modern country vibe. This is where the choice of colours and finishes we can use really helps. We don’t just use one brand of paints but lots of different quality brands from Farrow & Ball to Little Greene, Frenchic and Fusion mineral paint to name but a few, so we have a huge spectrum of tones to select from. This can make picking a little more tricky as there is so much choice.

I don’t know about you, but its often which ‘white’ to select that causes me the most difficulty as there are just so many!

So to begin with I started with creating a mood board on Pinterest. I find it is a really useful tool to soak up any inspiration and then narrow down your design scheme and help pull it all together as a seamless look. I tend to look at lighting options, curtains/fabrics and then the colour scheme. I also love ‘Escape to the Chateau’ and was really keen to include the ‘potagerie’ fabric, which Angel designed somewhere in my design scheme, so was over the moon when I managed to get some curtains in this fabric!

I also have a bit of a thing for plants and love the trailing artificial ones, mainly because you don’t need green fingers to keep these going! Low maintenance is a win-win for me!

So I hunted down a few accessories and then was ready to start…

We live in an old farmhouse so before we could start painting, we had to remove all the old woodchip wallpaper and then have the walls re-plastered. I love old period houses but they do come with their own problems and histories! This house is no exception!

Anyway once all the plaster had dried, we painted the walls initially and then popped to buy the wood ready to begin making the sections and paint all the beading for the panelling. This did take a while and we opted for an eggshell for extra durability.

Luckily my husband is pretty good with angles and could work out a design for the panels going up the staircase relatively easily. I had the easy bit of painting it all!

We also made some lovely rustic shelves from reclaimed scaffold boards which I stained to match my oak staircase.

I will attach some photos of my mood board and the finished hall way.

We still have some tweaking to do and more accessories and perhaps a gallery picture wall up the stairs, but it looks a whole lot better than before we began and we have really enjoyed the transformation.

Mood board created for my design scheme:

Photos of the finished Hall way design:

Upholstery by Upcycled by M

So we finished the year with lots of lovely dining tables and chairs just in time for Christmas! And this time of year always sees an increase in sales of beautiful upholstered sets.

Here at Upcycled by M, we are always looking at ways to further enhance our offering and develop our skills. We have been re-upholstering chairs for a while now.

And my husband, Roy completed a chair upholstery course to help hone our upholstery techniques even further. This led to the purchase of an electronic upholstery stapler which I must say has been a life saver!

Here is an example of some of our beautiful sets which we have recently refinished and re-upholstered.