Furniture Upcycling and Sustainability Workshops – bring your own

Description

Join a small group for a fun and intimate day getting painty with a piece of furniture.

You will not only learn the basics of upcycling old furniture into new, but how the process has a near-neutral carbon footprint thus promoting sustainability and longevity. You will see how to appreciate eco-friendly lifestyle practices and your day may also spark entrepreneurial ideas for the future.

Everyone is welcome to come and paint a piece of furniture however, you can accompany a Young Upcycler age 10-16 where they do the upcycling and you attend for free!

REVIEW: “A special and fantastic day spending quality time with my teenage daughter, learning how to upcycle furniture. Kirsty was amazing providing a well structured day, learning techniques, plenty of choice of colours materials; every detail thought of, including endless drinks, biscuits and homemade cake and of course expert support throughout the day! Plus an addition to our house of a beautiful upcycled piece of furniture fashioned by my daughter. Can’t recommend Kirsty and the course highly enough, both my daughter and I really enjoyed ourselves and our initiation into furniture upcycling – thank you, thank you Kirsty!”

This is an opportunity for parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, godparents or carers to spend quality one-on-one time bonding with their young charge.

Upcycling by its very nature is extremely eco-friendly and the day will help impress this ethos onto everyone whilst letting you loose on pots of very colourful paint. You will learn how to successfully upcycle a piece of furniture to your very own design.

These workshops are being supported by Buckinghamshire Council who have been on board from the beginning. “We are really happy to support this project – it’s a fantastic way to get young people thinking about and learning the skills behind upcycling furniture to help our waste prevention strategy.”

Another supporter of the initiative is Oxford based Annie Sloan whose chalk paints have revolutionised furniture painting around the globe. “We’re in awe of Kirsty and her noble mission to bring upcycling to the environmentally conscious youth of today. Her workshops will inspire confidence, as well as teaching participants important, useful and FUN life skills so that they can enjoy a life of self-sufficiency, sustainability and independence. I look forward to seeing the projects these young eco warriors create!”

For more information concerning my inspiration for these workshops, read my blog about how to get the Gen Z generation upcycling.

Design: choose from many colours of professional paint by Annie Sloan, a wide selection of stencils and decoupage papers. Go for a windswept beach theme, a tropical holiday theme, gentle meadow flowers, a vibrant boho colour explosion or art deco decadence. The options are limitless.

Preparation: clean and sand the cabinet if necessary, remove hardware if planning to replace.

Get painting: learn how to achieve a professional finish, apply the chosen décor to make your cabinet unique not amateurish, appreciating that it’s the little things that make a piece pop.

Protective finish: clear waxes provide a water-resistant durable finish which can be buffed to soft sheen. Dark wax can add atmosphere, depth and age to a piece of furniture.

Bring along a small piece of furniture which is easy to carry and can sit on a table. A bedside cabinet can be provided on request, see the other workshop product for £115.

Go to Furniture Upcycling Workshops – Upcycle Arcade for more details.