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The Best Places To Buy Upcycled Furniture Online
Secondhand furniture that began its life as something else
By | 2 years ago
We’re here to tell you the best places to buy upcycled homeware online, finding the statement pieces to revamp your home.
Have you bought a secondhand piece for your home? If not, it’s time to join the movement. Gone are the days of vintage sofas being the bread and butter of the farmer’s market crowd on dusty antique weekend trips. It’s now wildly popular. In fact, it’s how the fashion types, hipsters, and all round ‘it’ folk are curating their homes as of late.
But more than a status flex, it’s pretty pressing for the planet. ‘Around 22 million pieces of furniture in the UK are either buried in landfill or incinerated each year’, Harriet Wetton, founder of the interiors answer to Depop, Narchie, told us.
Upcycled furniture is furniture that is old, broken or outdated and giving it a new life – whether by painting it, reupholstering it, or completely changing its function. It’s an opportunity to extend the life cycle of furniture that otherwise might be defunct, on its last legs or otherwise a bit drab and out of mode.
Ready, Steady, Re-use: Upcycling Lessons With Lynne Lambourne
Yet, the word ‘upcycling’ has amateur connotations, perhaps bringing to mind freshly painted tables, reupholstered chairs pedalled from Facebook Marketplace, and magazine-collaged dressers. Not so with our list. We’ve compiled the ultimate edit from the creme de la creme of online secondhand furniture shops (and scoured their sites so you don’t have to).
If the eco-credentials haven’t convinced you, maybe Harriet will. ‘Decorating with vintage and secondhand pieces is an easy way to create more unique interiors aesthetics’, says the expert herself – and we certainly think you’ll get a kick out of telling friends, family and general admiring onlookers that your new coffee table once acted as an egg incubator.
Shop the Upcycled Homeware Edit:
Statement Furniture
What’s the vibe? Properly restored antiques and vintage pieces curated by duo Andy and Lisa – in particular, excellent elm and oak homeware stand out.
Our pick: Coffee side table which began its life as an egg incubator on a farm, £325, statementfurniture.co.uk
The Old Cinema
What’s the vibe? Art deco, midcentury furniture, exciting finds from all over the world… From period antique to Asian arts, the collection you’ll find at the Old Cinema is impressive and varied. Great for secondhand, and you will find some upcycled gems hidden in its online showrooms.
Our pick: Coffee table containing decorative nineteenth-century window shutters from Rajasthan, £585, theoldcinema.co.uk
RE-found Objects
What’s the vibe? Think colourful, think dopamine dressing for the house. Selling an eclectic range of homewares, RE-found objects restores and recycles items that would have otherwise gone to waste.
Our pick: Old glass bottle lamps and handwoven shades, £169 a set, re-foundobjects.com
Pearl Lowe
What’s the vibe? Check out the vintage section of the site for antiques which need a bit of loving. Best for a home upcycling project, but some ready-to-go picks.
Our pick: Crochet cafe curtains, from the diner to your home, £95, pearllowe.co.uk
1st Dibs
What’s the vibe? Check out this online auction house for the most unusual upcycles – amidst their collection of one-of-a-kind secondhand designer homeware.
Our pick: Victorian Print Rollers turned Table Lamps, £4,000 a set, 1stdibs.com
Narchie
What’s the vibe? Small makers and independent sellers on this app marketplace offer the best in secondhand and upcycled homeware. Find something that nobody else has on Narchie.
Our pick: Patchwork cushions from repurposed fabrics, £42 a cushion, Narchie App
Main image: Old glass bottle lamps and handwoven shades, £169 a set, re-foundobjects.com
READ MORE:
The Best Places to Buy Antiques Online / The Best Antique Shops in London
