Savvy mum upcycles an old wooden unit into a chic modern sideboard for £50 – using cheap material from eBay and a lick of paint
- Charlotte Jones, 30, bought an old unit at auction for £30 and upcycled it
- Savvy homeowner transformed the sideboard using £20 paint and £3 material
- Charlotte, from Newton Abbott, restores furniture in bid to help the economy
A savvy homeowner has told how she upcycled an old wooden unit into a sophisticated, chic and modern sideboard without spending a fortune.
Charlotte Jones, 30, from Newton Abbott, bought an old unit at auction for £30 and transformed it using £20 paint and £3 material.
‘I’ve done a few items similar in the past,’ the mother-of-two said, speaking to money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk.
‘It was just about making something that outdated into something that can be a beautiful focal point for a home once again, and recycling what there already is available.’
Charlotte Jones, 30, from Newton Abbott, transformed an old wooden unit into a sophisticated, chic and modern sideboard. Pictured, before the transformation
The savvy homeowner bought an old unit at auction for £30 and transformed the sideboard using £20 paint and £3 hessian. Pictured, after the transformation
The mother-of-two (pictured) has been refurbishing furniture for eight years, and prefers to restore rather than to buy new as it’s cheaper and more economic
The furniture restorer added: ‘It’s lovely to see an item of furniture with so much history behind it, yet now so unloved and unwanted, to finally be a part of a family home and loved again. It’s also keeping furniture out of landfill.’
To renovate the unit, Charlotte spent around £50 and flexed her best DIY skills together with her partner Tom.
‘We deconstructed part of the unit, mainly the old wooden top and doors and remade the top of the base section using old scaffold boards,’ she explained.
‘We made a heart template, drew around that onto the doors, cut the shape out using a jigsaw, reattached the doors and painted the whole unit.
‘We then used hessian material on the backs of the hearts for a bit of a contrast and obviously it also means what’s inside of the cupboards isn’t visible.
‘The cost was about £50 in total. The unit was £30 at an auction, the paint cost £20 and was called “Off Black” from Brewers, and the hessian cost around £3 per metre from eBay.
Charlotte (pictured) says she is delighted with how the unit has turned out, adding it just proves how some TLC can transform an old piece of furniture
The thrifty homeowner told how the top of the base was removed as it had terrible water damage and so she used reclaimed boards instead. Pictured, after the transformation
Charlotte was nervous about the colour initially as it was quite dark but added she think it looks sophisticated
‘The top of the base was removed as it had terrible water damage and we used reclaimed boards instead.’
Charlotte, who shares her creations on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/misschicinteriors, is delighted with how the unit has turned out, and says it just proves how some TLC can transform an old piece of furniture.
‘I always love seeing furniture come back to life and seeing how much difference a bit of paint and love and care can make,’ she added. ‘I was nervous about the colour initially as it’s quite dark but I think it looks very sophisticated!’
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, commented: ‘Charlotte’s sideboard looks like it costs thousands of pounds from a posh interior designer, so it’s amazing that she managed to transform it herself for just £50.
‘If you have an unloved piece of furniture in your own home, consider using Charlotte’s tips to give it a new lease of life – or, if you’re on a budget, snap up old pieces of furniture on eBay or Shpock to overhaul yourself!’
Charlotte (pictured with her family), who is a furniture restorer, shares her creations on her Facebook page