Here’s What Happens When Four Creatives Upcycle A Vinterior Antique

From painting old dusty cabinets in the middle of charity shops to attacking straight-to-landfill junk with power tools, creators on TikTok and Instagram are increasingly showing off their furniture renovation skills for the world to see – and inspiring others to participate. Pre-loved and antique furniture site Vinterior put four creatives to the test, challenging them to give a makeover to an antique find. 

Vinterior Challenges Four Creatives To Upcycle An Antique Find

As more people decorate their homes with sustainability (both environmental and economic) on the mind – turning to Facebook marketplace and carboot sales for their next unique find – upcycling has never been more in vogue. If you’re on the hunt for some secondhand deals, one of the go-to sites for furniture lovers is Vinterior. Brimming with pre-loved pieces, it boasts a plethora of unique finds to decorate your home. 

In the spirit of upcycling, the platform recently invited four celebrated brands and creatives to take a pre-loved piece from the site and reimagine it in their own artistic language, be it textiles, art or embroidery. With clothing brands such as TOAST and Drake’s alongside decorative artist Tess Newall and illustrator-turned-embroiderer Madeleine Kemsley, each added their personal touch to the vintage finds. The results are part-furniture and part-artwork, and the one-of-a-kind creations prove vintage isn’t just about the past but can be a starting point for creativity.

As Vinterior founder and CEO Sandrine Zhang Ferron puts it, ‘In a world full of fast furniture, these pieces stand out. They’ve been made to last, and now they’ve been reimagined to be loved all over again.’

Discover The Designs (& The Designers)

Each piece in the special Vinterior collection was chosen for its character, timeless design and quality craftsmanship, as well as its potential for total transformation. The team at fashion brand TOAST – known for its functional pieces in quality materials – reupholstered a Swedish oak armchair using the brand’s distinct fabrics and a traditional Japanese boro technique. With the denim-inspired patchwork, the subtle pattern transforms this otherwise easily-missed chair into a statement piece. 

Another clothing brand, the men’s tailoring company Drake’s, took part in the challenge, fixing up a walnut and cane window seat. Founded by Michael Drake in 1977, the company originally specialised in scarves, shawls and plaids before expanding into handmade ties and handkerchiefs, with designs displayed in boutique stores across Paris, Milan, Tokyo and New York. Today, Drake’s produces soft tailoring in Italy, traditional knitwear in Scotland, and shirts in its very own Somerset factory. As part of the makeover mission, Drake’s gave the window seat a textile transformation using its signature shirt fabrics to create a coastal candy-cane design. 

Next up is multidisciplinary artist Madeleine Kemsley, who specialises in hand embroidery. Initially trained in illustration, Madeleine later gravitated towards textiles, where she could combine her eye for detail with her appreciation for texture. Rooted in themes of nature and sustainability, her work reimagines vintage garments and textiles. For the Vinterior project, she transformed an Ercol armchair with an intricate display of storks and flowers, imbuing a sense of childlike wonder. Inspired by folk art, her pieces carry a sense of simplicity that is both playful and whimsical, offering a fresh take on a traditional – and dying – craft.

A decorative artist working between Sussex and London, Tess Newall is known for painting bespoke murals and furniture for interiors around the world. Rooted in research, Tess trained as a scenic painter in film and theatre before establishing her own decorative painting studio in 2018. Drawing inspiration from historic references across a variety of mediums, her timeless designs blend texture and colour to tell stories and evoke atmosphere. The antique cupboard she re-painted from Vinterior boasts a delicate floral design in calming cornflower blue which would fit just as well in a historic home as amidst a more contemporary design. 

How To Buy

The collection will be available to shop from 8 September on Vinterior.co. Prices start from £1,000.