From downsizing to upcycling

INTERIORS:Some people are putting a creative spin on these recessionary times by revamping old furniture and rediscovering their individuality and self-expression, writes KATE HOLMQUIST

UPCYCLING CAN BE homely or sophisticated, a way of life or a business. It can reach the level of art, or be a form of recessionary self-expression for DIYers. Once you start, it can be a bit addictive, says Lucina Lennon, an architect who moved from refurbishing interiors in the US to upcycling furniture at home. She was inspired by her mother, interior and fashion designer Aida Lennon who is best known as the founder of the Childhood Originals shop in Dún Laoghaire.

Outside Lennon’s Galerie Lisette in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, she opens her car boot to reveal two bedside lockers bought at auction for €2 each. Like many an auction find, they look old, cobbled together from various wooden pieces to create a pleasing shape, with nicely turned legs. “It’s the shape you look for,” she says.

“It’s uplifting. People have slowed down. . . with less money and more time. It’s natural, the desire to create within your home environment, especially when things outside are beyond your control,” she says.

The upcycling trend took off about a year ago in Ireland and it’s as much a philosophy as an interiors trend, combining recycling with the new mood for making-do with style.

It can also be a way of coping with redundancy. Aedín Twamley started upcycling a year ago when she was turning 40. Having been made redundant from her administration job the year before, she was looking for a new direction based on her training in environmental design and her lifelong hobby of home crafts. Her charming blog, retreasure.me, is as much a philosophical reflection on enjoying life with very little money and lots of time as it is an upcycling guide.

“I was the fourth child of six in the last recession in the 1970s and 1980s, so you had to make things for yourself,” she says.

Her great-grandfather was a tailor in London and passed the art of clothes-making down to her grandmother, mother and aunts. When Aedín’s husband, Tony, a draughtsman, was also made redundant a year ago, they got to work on their garden to create a unique space entirely from “junk”. It was such a success that Aedín’s husband is now upskilling in horticulture so the couple can share their style with others.

For the moment, though, it’s more about saving money than making money, says mother-of-two Aedín, whose first CD holder was an old toast rack. “It’s a lifestyle: we don’t throw things away without thinking about what we could do with them. I hope to make the idea provide income eventually,” she says.

Sisters Paula and Maria Quigley are graphic designers. They started upcycling as a hobby less than a year ago. Their mirrors, tables and chairs proved so popular in markets that they set up prelovedstyle.tumblr.com. “The hobby turned into a thriving little business, mostly through word of mouth and via our blog,” says Paula.

The pair’s distinctive style comes from covering vintage and retro furniture with decoupage, using old comic books, magazine adverts and music sheets. Their Marilyn Monroe chairs, with old upholstery replaced by screenprints, are a treat. They source most of their furniture through Paula’s husband’s vintage furniture company, retrorumage.tumblr.com.

“The upcycling trend is empowering women,” says Lennon. “It’s about making do with what you have. What can you do to keep your interior fresh without moving house? It’s fun.”

Meanwhile, in Belfast, Jill O’Neill is busy empowering painters, sculptors and other artists to find a connection with the public by upcycling tables and chairs. O’Neill, a Glasgow University art history graduate, lived in New York, San Francisco and London working for magazines such as Spin, Grazia and Heat. She also helped to launch the first issue of ReadyMade Magazine, later acquired by Martha Stewart. On her travels, she furnished each apartment with vintage finds, always upcycling, then sold them on every time she moved to the next job.

When she returned to Belfast in 2007, she missed the “crafty, vintage, funky” markets and shops. It was harder to find old unloved vintage furniture in Belfast – the joke was that it all went on bonfires, she says.

She started refoundonline.com in Belfast and has opened two pop-up shops, one in June and another last weekend. Highly regarded artists give old junk a makeover and turn it into gallery-standard work. It’s a way of bringing their vision to the public in a city where galleries are not seen as being for ordinary folk. One of the participants, textile artist Rachel Hutchinson, says: “Refound is a wonderful way of promoting artists to the masses. Arts in Belfast can seem to be very insular . . . furniture is more accessible.”

Upcycling can result in a homely personal touch or a high aesthetic, but you’re defeating the purpose if you throw money around to get the look. You can acquire and upcycle a piece yourself for €30 to €50, including furniture, sandpaper, paint and other materials, or you can buy someone else’s creation at prices ranging from €5 to €100 at prelovedstyle.tumblr.com, with a maximum price of €399 at refoundonline.com. You can commission a piece – a nice idea for a wedding or anniversary present when the upcycler incorporates your personal memories, or you can take on the job yourself over an autumn weekend. Do it yourself or not, you won’t get it in Ikea – unless you decide to upgrade that flatpack into something really special.

WHERE TO BE INSPIRED

retreasure.me

retrorumage.tumblr.com

prelovedstyle.tumblr.com

cowslanedesignerstudio.ie

refoundonline.com

galerielisette.com

WHERE TO FIND FURNITURE TO UPCYCLE

Friends and family, thrift shops, charity shops, Oxfam Home (Francis Street, Dublin 8), Herman Wilkinson auction rooms (Rathmines, Dublin 6) and Buckley’s Auction Rooms (Sandycove, Dublin). Strictly speaking, upcycling is about recreating unloved old materials and helping to save the environment but you can also use new items from the likes of Ikea and Woodies.

WHERE TO LEARN

Lucina Lennon’s next Junk Into Treasure workshop is at Airfield House in Dundrum, Dublin 14, on Saturday and Sunday, November 27th and 28th, €85.

If you have a relative who can sew, upholster or do woodwork, ask them to teach you.

INSIDER TIPS

The piece doesn’t have to be wood or antique. Replica antiques, metal utility furniture, glass and stainless steel can all be upcycled.

Look out for interesting knobs and hardware; the experts will buy a piece just for the drawer handles, though a good inexpensive source of new is mableandviolet.com.

Interior design shops get rid of old fabric and wallpaper sample books. Ask if you can have them and use the fabric samples to make cushion covers and the wallpaper to use in decoupage.

Don’t be shy. Getting rid of unwanted junk is expensive, so people will thank you for taking items with potential off their hands.

Look for woodworm and treat it. Don’t worry about marks or scratches.

If you need woodwork done, find a traditional workshop, such as Woodworkers, Mount Tallant Avenue, Dublin 6W.

Look out for trimmings, beads and fabrics. If you’re not lucky enough to have a grandmother with a goodie-laden attic, try Rubenesque on South William Street, Dublin 2, and Murphy Sheehy nearby at Castle Market.