Home Sweet Home

Just because a piece of furniture looks old and shabby, it does not mean it has to stay this way or be discarded.

Old or antique furniture was usually made from quality timber and had a craftsman- like finish. Furniture makers of yesteryear had time to create well-designed pieces that were both functional and very stylish. These qualities alone make furniture recycling a worthwhile exercise.

Modern lifestyles and changing needs also demand a practical and often ingenious approach to home furnishing, especially where storage is concerned. When you are on a shoestring budget and have minimal or odd spaces to play with, you need to carefully assess how and where a piece of furniture will fit in. So find yourself some wonderful, old or down-at-heel treasure and start by analysing its potential.

Does it have ‘good bones’? Look beyond the shabby outward appearance of an object for fresh new refurbishing ideas — for example, the basic bookcase. It may be covered with peeling paint, look uninteresting and, as it stands, certainly wouldn’t fit in with a fresh, bright furnishing look. However, once it has been repaired, stripped and perhaps stained or repainted, there are many decorative and practical ways of using it.

You could fix it to a wall above floor level and make a set of feature shelves; use it as a bedhead or a room divider; fit it into or in front of a no-longerused doorway to display a treasured collection; place it in the garage for extra tool storage; cut it into two lower units and seal it with paint to make an accessible pot-plant stand; or stand it in a hanging- only cupboard as storage for folded clothes and shoes. Your once-shabby bookcase can be transformed in even more subtle ways by covering it completely with wallpaper or fabric to blend in with the rest of your decor. The list goes on — and this was only a humble bookcase!

Once you enter into the spirit of searching for unwanted treasures, you will begin to see possibilities in just about any piece of furniture. But beware, it’s important to recognise the strengths and weaknesses of your ‘find’.

Thinking about buying and refurbishing an old cupboard? There are many real advantages in doing-up an old cupboard: good-quality timber and workmanship, spacious deep drawers and generous hanging capacity, for example. There are, alas, some potential drawbacks.

• Is the timber used heavily lacquered? This may be a real problem to strip and restain; in this case you may be forced to paint over the lacquer.
• Is it solid and free of insect attack? Look for tell-tale small holes and piles of sawdust. Professional fumigation maybe required, or treatment with woodworm fluid and polish to restore the surface.
• Does it have door hinges and locks? These can be replaced but often not cheaply. Quality brass fittings can be expensive at retail outlets, so shop around. Brass restoration experts often have oddments available, and are well worth visiting.
• Do the drawers run smoothly? You may need to replace the drawer runners or use sandpaper to smooth off damp-swollen timber.
• Can you get the cupboard through the door when moving it to its new address? If the tape measure says this is not to be, is it possible to unscrew parts of the cupboard and reassemble it once moved?
• Visit auctions, fairs, church bazaars and garage sales. Check the newspaper often for auctions of office furniture (you’ll be surprised by the variety and the bargains!). Two secondhand identical filing cabinets, perhaps repainted then set apart by about 1.5 m with a wide softwood table top resting across the tops, make a fine desk. If no old table top is available, consider buying a new one from contemporary knockdown furniture suppliers.

• Remember that storage opportunities often present themselves in obscure and unpredictable ways. To help you with your treasure hunt, consider how different pieces of furniture can be adapted.
• Tables may have legs shortened to become casual occasional tables. They are perfect for stencilling or covering with fabric, and are a natural for a simple paint-over.
• Strongly woven baskets provide all sorts of storage possibilities: paint them, line them with fabric, stack lidded baskets, or use them in rows on open shelves for kitchen storage. Flat baskets with rims can become excellent trays. Old cane laundry baskets make ideal toy storage and can easily become a decorative feature when cleverly coloured. A deep, strongly woven basket with handles can be both stylish and practical when filled with wood ready for an open fire. Leave it outside under shelter for wood storage all year round, and carry it in when the weather sends smoke signals.
• Old luggage can provide decorative storage. Paint tin trunks, restain old leather luggage or refurbish a truly authentic hat-box.
• Boxes of all sorts and sizes can become amusing and talked-about storage containers (or articles). Old wooden ammunition boxes, biscuit tins, sturdy paper cartons and slatted pine fruit boxes can be painted or decoupaged, and even shoe boxes made from very firm cardboard can be covered with fabric to become a practical and attractive storage container.
• Picture frames can be used as notice-board surrounds.
• Small wooden safety ladders, providing they have a flat top, can become ideal bedside tables. Single-sided old ladders with frame and rungs of dowel can become discussion pieces when used as towel racks in a kitchen — lean them against a wall and you instantly have storage for six or so towels.
• Storage is an essential element in any household, but don’t be bogged down by the expected or expensive solutions. The whimsical, achievable, recycled, amusing and unexpected alternatives are just waiting to be discovered.

Creative wine storage

Out-of-use fireplaces can provide an ideal place for wine storage. Fireplaces are cool, in a fixed and unobtrusive spot, and easily accessible. To create your own wine storage area, stack up hexagonal terracotta drainage pipes to fit within the fireplace opening, being sure to have your lowest layer of pipes spread completely across the base of the hearth — this will prevent the pipes from ’spreading’ once they become heavier with wine bottles.

Brass luggage rack

A brass railway carriage luggage rack attached to the bathroom wall is an unexpected storage fitting. Replacing books with attractively folded towels is an option if long visits to the bathroom need to be discouraged!

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