News / Upcycled

Custom Furniture Painting - Geometric Cabinet

A much brighter on trend addition to a little boys room. Another custom painted piece off to its rightful home. Inspiration for this piece was taken from a Pinterest board the client had been collating. She wanted it to go in her 3 year old sons room, not be to childish and for it to grow with him. We worked together to create a unique piece to be used for many years to come.
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Custom Furniture Painting - Dining Table & Chairs

This weekends work...

I was asked by a lovely lady to help transform her dining room furniture. These chairs had already been some upycling before getting to me. The chars originally had an open style back - the client has had this set for some time and wanted a complete new look. She had them re-upholstered locally with a gorgeous teal fabric, they filled in the back and added stud-work to finish off the look. They turned out fantastic. Time for a lick of paint to freshen them up - that is where I come in :)

Before
Handpainted Dining Table & Chairs Before 1

Handpainted Dining Table & Chairs Before 2

Handpainted Dining Table & Chairs Before 3

The client wanted a nice modern clean look with a bit of texture to the finish - Chalk Paint is the obvious choice for this type of finish. Handpainted using Antique White chalk paint by Annie Sloan for the chairs, table legs and surround, finished off with a high gloss varnish for the table top. This dining set has been completely transformed and re-loved to be enjoyed for many more years to come. Take a look at the after shots below.

After

Handpainted Dining Table & Chairs After 1

Handpainted Dinding Table & Chairs After 2

 

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Garden Upcycle

Garden upcycle! Not finished yet, but getting there.
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Stripped Wooden Floors

Whenever I've gone quiet on social media and my blog it usually means I'm up to something in my own home. This time is no different! We've had to get works done in the house (damp coursing, fully rewired - the joy of an older house!) so while it was already a mess, I started uncovering this beauty of a floor in my kitchen! I had no idea it'd still be good under all the thick layers upon layers black paint. Lots of work to go, but I do love a challenge! 

We used some fairly potent smelling paint stripper - caution and lots of ventilation and a mask is advised! Our house is an old Victorian redbrick oozing with old world charm and loveliness, however being 120 odd years old, in places the paint is 120 layers thick! This floor was no exception, and again because of it's age we needed to be careful with sanding as there was a risk of old paint containing lead, and being our kitchen floor, with an open shelving style galley kitchen - it would not be a good environment to have tiny lead particles floating around in. I am also fairly sure that the final coating of paint was an industrial style garage floor paint, quite the mess to remove. It was black, layered on until all definition between board was lots and scuffed to bits, never looking clean and very dark in an otherwise bright kitchen. It had to go.

I have always wanted a painted wooden floor, and although my head says to varnish or stain to a darker wooden finish (after all it will help to hide some of that dirt amiright?), alas the heart wants what the heart wants. Painted floorboards are notoriously not as hard-wearing as a good old fashioned varnished one, and although this will be quite a high traffic area I'm still going to give it a whirl. This will only be a temporary solution until we save to get something else, and is our first house after renting for many years so its great to be finally about to do what we want with our own home. Those trusty converse have seen quite a few upcycles in their time! Check back in to see the progress. Wish me luck!

Sanded wooden floor

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I love my city

No need for upcycling  
There is nothing better than spending an afternoon in Dublin with no agenda, just having a wander and a look at all the amazing architecture and forgotten signs of the city.

This is one of my favourite buildings in Dublin, and not just because of its contents! To get a pic in the sunshine, and with a Guinness truck right outside, on Paddy's week - how much more patriotic can you get! I love my city 💖

O'Neill's Suffolk Street Dublin St Patrick's Day

 

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Junk Kouture - Recycled Fashion Competition

Junk Kouture is an awesome recycled fashion competition held in Ireland for secondary level students to create their own recycled and wearable fashion items. What a fantastic way to get teenagers thinking about what they can do to help recycle and preserve the environment around them for their own and furture generations. Below is some amazing work by the kids in CBS Westland Row - all made from recycled materials! The materials they used were all sourced from Recreate Ireland. Recreate Ireland is a fantastic initiative that partners with businesses to recycle their waste for use as art & craft materials. Well done to the talented kids in CBS Westland Row, incredible work and all made from 'junk', some serious talent and creativity- best of luck in the competition! 

Recreate Junk Koutre Competition 1

Recreate Junk Koutre Competition 2

Recreate Junk Koutre Competition 3

Recreate Junk Koutre Competition 4

Recreate Junk Koutre Competition 5

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Great Interior Design Challenge - Upcycles

I am completely obsessed with The Great Interior Design Challenge!! I love seeing how each designer interprets the clients ideas, but especially love the upcycle challenges set each week by the judges. The designers are given a random selection of items to create something unique for their room.Take a look at some of the amazing things people have come up with here.

Great Interior Design Challenge - Upcycles

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Upcycle your leftover wrapping paper

I love Christmas, but really don't like all of the waste that comes a long with it. 
Why not put that leftover paper to some create good use by trying some of the ideas on Buzzfeed here. Some of theses are very adorable, and anything that saves waste from going to landfill is a win in my book!

Recycle Wrapping Paper

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Merry Christmas to All!

It's been another amazing year for The Makery and wouldn't have been possible without all you wonderful Makery fans, and for that I am truly grateful. It is because of you that I get to do what I love and that means the world to me. 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and all of the very best for the New Year ahead. Have a great day wherever you are, eat, drink and be merry. ✨🎄

 

Merry Christmas from The Makery

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Upcycled 7up Bottles

Hats off to 7up for this clever marketing campaign. As I always say, anything can be made unique and fabulous if you just look at things differently. 

By simply using some glue, tape and glitter, empty bottles have been upcycled to make them sparkle for the festive season. So simple to do, the kids will love it. 

Upcycled 7up Bottle

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