Waste Not, Want Not: DIY Your Way from Trash to Treasure

Us Brits love a good makeover. Whether someone is overhauling their wardrobe on YouTube or giving their kitchen the ‘before and after’ treatment on Insta, we’re here for it. But with 350,000 tonnes of clothing sent to landfill in the UK each year and 1.3 million fly tipping incidents in 2021 alone, we’ve got to ask – how much is our passion for fashion and love of interiors really costing?

Luckily, the upcycling trend is one that’s taken off faster than Wordle, which means it’s super easy to create a fresh look without tossing old clothes or homewares into the rubbish. And while you might never have transformed tired trousers or given a vintage table a modern makeover, getting a bit of creative know-how under your belt will soon take you from fast fashion zero to repurposing hero. So if you’re an upcycling novice don’t worry, we’ve got your back!

1. Get ready to rummage 

If you’ve got a specific piece of furniture or some textiles that need a little love, then great – you can skip straight to the second tip! But if you’re after a fancy fresh frock for your friend's wedding, or your overflowing book collection really does need a bigger home, you’re going to need to get creative about where you look... 

• Flex those scrolling fingers, put your feet up, grab a cuppa and spend a happy few hours trawling through Instagram, Depop and Vinted to snag some preloved clothing at bargain prices. You could also check out vintage kilo sales for items with bags of character - with your newfound mending skills, it won’t matter if they’ve seen better days!

• If it’s furniture you’re after, check out secondhand furniture stores and websites, such as the British Heart Foundation and Sue Ryder, Gumtree and finally, Freecycle, which is exactly as it sounds – a place packed with unwanted items that people are just dying to give you for absolutely no money at all! 

• If you’re really dedicated to eco-friendly crafting, take the plunge, don some old clothes and leap into skips, search around the streets and even head into the woods to find unwanted furniture. Once you become a woodworking wonder and learn some advanced painting techniques, you’ll be able to turn even the tattiest tables into furniture fit for a banquet!

2. Boost your crafty know-how 

Painting a cupboard or sewing up a ripped seam is pretty easy, but if you want your project to really stand out, you’re going to need to get some technical skills under your belt. Not only will it help your finished piece look amazing, it’ll also help it stand the test of time – that’s the name of the game, after all!

If you’re trying to overhaul your wardrobe, heading off to a sewing class is going to be one of the best things you do. From sessions where you learn the basics, such as using a sewing machine and mastering the art of the perfect seam, to more specific workshops that will teach you specialist darning and mending skills, pattern cutting and embroidery work, there’s a class out there that will help make all of your dressmaking dreams come true!

Found an old shelving unit that needs a bit of TLC? Maybe your chairs have seen better days, but you’d rather sit on the floor than buy new ones? Whether you’re looking for a home for your books or your bottom, a beginners woodworking class is going to teach you everything you need to know to restore your furniture to tip top condition. You’ll be mastering those dovetail joints in no time!

3. Celebrate beautiful imperfections and fabulous flaws 

Let’s be real for a minute; while you can get some pretty good finishes with a salvage project, it’s never going to look brand new. But why would you want it to? Rips and tears on clothes and dents in furniture are as beautiful as scars on bodies; they’re signs that you’ve lived through something, survived and come out the other side!

In times gone by, a repair was only seen as a success if it was as close to invisible as possible, but the new trend of celebrating and showcasing those faults means that you can let go of perfection and get really creative with your mending. If you’ve got textiles that need fixing, whether it’s torn trousers or a duvet that needs darning, embrace the art of visible mending and have a go at Sashiko, where you’ll learn how to embellish those imperfections and make them into a beautiful feature with traditional Japanese embroidery techniques. 

Got some ceramics that need fixing? Whether you’ve chipped your favourite mug, or your most precious vase has sprung a leak, don’t panic – cracks, chips and breakages don’t have to mean your best dinnerware needs to be resigned to the rubbish. Kintsugi, the centuries old Japanese method of repairing cracked and broken pottery with gold coloured adhesives will help you to turn your sad ceramics into beautiful works of art! 

If you’re really not sure where to begin, you can also find specialist upcycling classes that will show you how to master the art of the humble transformation. Designed with complete beginners in mind, they’ll show you how to resize and recreate clothing (think of all those charity shop jackets that are two sizes too big!) and repair, paint and finish furniture so it looks as good as new.