That chair that has been sat in the corner of your living room collecting dust could be your next favorite piece of furniture. Or what about the run-down table you have outside that has potential? Upcycling is all about seeing the potential in items that either need a little bit of love, or aren’t your style to begin with.

With a bit of creativity, you can transform anything into something you or someone else will love, saving it from landfill and giving it a new lease of life. If you don’t know where to start, this is the piece for you—a guide to upcycling. Let’s get into it.

Choose Your Upcycle Project

Some people like to start off small and test the waters, but other people like to dive in at the deep end. It’s totally up to you what item you want to upcycle, and what you’re interested in. Just make sure not to choose something that you care about to experiment on.

Tables, chairs, and big pieces of furniture are a popular choice, and you don’t have to have a lot of knowledge or experience to make something special. Just a fresh coat of paint can change the look of something, and even a tin for something small can be an affordable upcycling experiment!

Don’t be Afraid to Experiment

One of the joys of upcycling is that you can try whatever you want. Choose fabrics that you wouldn’t usually use, get out the fabric paints, raid a sequin stash—there are no rules.
This is a good way to find your artistic style, too, and experiment with different ideas and materials. Think outside the box, and see what you can come up with.

Are You Planning on Selling Your Creations?

If you’re learning about upcycling with the idea of selling, then there will be a couple of other things worth knowing about to help to get your plan off the ground.

Word of mouth to friends and family, and marketing will help you get your stuff known, but you’ll also want to get the right arrangements in place for when you do get a sale. Hauling furniture around isn’t the easiest thing to do, so having a shipping company to help you with this side of things can take the stress out of it all, especially if you’re not shipping locally. Take a look at Shiply and get some quotes!

It’s Ok to Come Back to It

Sometimes things don’t quite go as planned, and what you’re working on can become uninspiring. When this happens, it’s ok to take a step back and leave it until you feel like coming back to it. There can be a lot of pressure to create a masterpiece every single time you try to upcycle something and sometimes things don’t work out.

You don’t have to chuck it away, though, just leave it for a little while until new inspiration strikes. The beauty of upcycling is that there’s no limit to how many times you can upcycle something.