De Coup' to rejuvenate the old

Every home has an attic or room filled with old, broken or unusable knick-knacks. Breathe life into these objects with upcycliing, recycling and designing to change your home decor without spending a penny

Sarah Thomas
From time to time, people feel the need to revamp their homes. Having the same decor for long periods of time can become monotonous and the desire to redo a space can come at a rather exorbitant cost. As a solution to this, and a means of enhancing one’s creativity DIY enthusiasts have begun upcycling old home items to make them beautiful decor pieces for the home.

Pooja D Gupta, a decoupage artist, and founder of POSH Creative Studio, specialises in decoupaged, up-cycled and innovative home decor says, “From furniture, wall art, tiles, plastic stools, shadow boxes, lamp shades, photo collage, storage boxes, planters, trays, boxes, cutlery caddys, oil containers, coasters, placemats, clocks, fridge magnet, I do not feel there is anything left which cannot be up-cycled.” There are several techniques you could use to upcycle and revamp old unused items.

Use of Old Fabric
Merlyn D’costa, a DIY enthusiast and self-taught interior designer states that she ensures she keeps anything she thinks can be redone to make them fresh pieces. She makes cushion covers out of old sarees, “The beauty is that you get to keep something that is close to you alive, and at the same time, they are unique and lovely. You need to cut the fabric and stitch it,” she advises. Explaining it’s uniqueness she elaborates that it is a very creative technique, if you have little fabric, you can use fabric glue and stick them on the cushion cover for an artsy and kitsch look.

Decoupage
Pooja turns trash into beautiful and artistic pieces. Passionate about the craft of decoupage which is using paper cutouts to decorate objects, she has created several spectacular pieces. Decoupaging old items gives them a completely new look. “If you have an old coffee table, bring those old Archie comics (or any other comics) out and start cutting them into little pieces. Stick them on the furniture and it will give it a complete make over,” she explains. You not just create art but give old things a new artistic value.

Along with comics, old newspapers, tissues and even rice papers can be used to upcyle old tin boxes and turn them into vintage storage boxes. You can create beautiful flower vases, fridge magnets, distinctive looking suitcases with the same technique, she suggests. Decoupaging doesn’t stop with small items alone, it can be done on the walls, and on large furniture. “We recently did two decoupaged walls with distressing techniques and stencils, and they were absolutely beautiful,” says Pooja.

Bottle Art
Bottles can be aesthetic pieces that can be used for various functional purposes. With the aim to encourage recycling and upcycling, Anokhi from Anokhi Planet, a family venture dedicated to upcycling discarded materials, feels that there is a growing community of people in Bengaluru committed to the reduce, reuse and recycle ethos.

Speaking of bottle art she says, “There are many interesting possibilities — glass bottles come in so many different shapes and colours. You can use them as window décor with a money plant or flowers. Bottles can be cut at the bottom and put over tea lights to create a glowing balcony or garden décor.” Everyone has a throw away glass bottle that can be reused. Speaking of her chalk board bottles, she adds that these bottles are painted black and the neck of the bottle is decorated innovatively, with a quote written in chalk.

Old Windows
Old windows make beautiful decor elements. You can use them as photo frames, or hang them on a wall to create a minimal pattern. “It needs no work, and is perfect for those who do not want to get their hands dirty. Many places in Bengaluru like Shivajinagar, JC Road, have old windows and doors on sale. Just pick one, redo it, if you want to. They look beautiful in their old state too,” she states.

Upcycled art for interior decoration requires zeal and passion along with creativity. If you are looking at redoing your home, try these with your own personal touch.