Home looks: recycled chic and flea market art
Whether you browse flea markets, car boot sales or charity shops, there are lots of great ideas you can adapt for your home to great effect.
Old frames, new photos
Remove paintings or prints from cheap secondhand frames and use them for your own photos or even your child’s art. (Look at the frame not the picture – the worse the picture, the cheaper it’s likely to be!)
Lace edging
Add a quaint feel to sofa throws and tablecloths by using the lace trim of outdated fancy clothes to decorate them.
Hats on
Give a guest bedroom a whimsical, cottagey feel by digging out old straw hats you don’t wear anymore and hanging them on the wall, two or three in a row.
Cool Crockery
Get a cosy kitchen effect by simply overlapping a few old teaplates standing on their sides, along the top of a shelf to create a charming display. Or fit little hooks underneath a shelf and hang old china cups off them. Ideally a mix of vintage designs, but all the same size cups.
Pretty prints
Create new covers for cushions from old skirts and dresses that no longer fit or have worn out. Even old striped cotton shirts can work well.
Choose enamel
Use old enamel pots, teapots etc around the home for standing up cooking utensils, pens and for other storage. Even more contemporary enamel pieces look retro and might cost you less, secondhand.
Savvy tip
Buy old stools of varying heights, sand down and varnish to use as plantpot stands, small coffee tables and bedside shelving.
Pass it on – hunt through salvage
Doors, fireplaces and all kinds of other treasures (and loveable junk) can be snapped up at architectural salvage yards around the country. Whether you want something that fits the era of your home or a curiosity to create a new centrepiece in your lounge, it’s worth seeking out a yard near you – they don’t just sell to trade!