7 Household Items You Can Up-Cycle And Sell In Your Neighbourhood.

From refreshing an old sofa to modernising a chest of drawers; more and more people are dipping their toes into the chic world of upcycling ideas.

In fact, as of 2022, four in ten Brits are turning to upcycling in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint, and to save on buying brand new (and often costly) items of furniture.

So with the demand for upcycling so high, why not present yourself as your neighbourhood’s upcycling champion?

All you need to start is a basic knowledge of DIY, a creative streak and a space to work.

To give you a helping hand, we’ve advised a list of 7 household items you can upcycle and sell in your neighbourhood.

Paintbrushes and glue-guns at the ready… Here we go!

Make A Side Table From Books:

This one’s great if you (or your client) have a bunch of old books that are just collecting dust in a corner. The tombstone books are better, so Moby Dick, War and Peace or Ulysses would be fab additions! The idea is to pile them up on top of each other and stick them together using a glue gun. It’s THAT simple. The creativity comes in how you decide to shape your pile, with lots of crafters opting for a twist-style.

Create A Self-Watering Plant Desk Of Drawers:

We probably all have a weathered desk of drawers looking timeworn and tired. Well, be it from your home or your clients, you can transform your desk of drawers into a trendy self-watering planter! The premise is that you paint and decorate the outside of your drawers to look funky and cool, and then you fill each drawer with soil and plants. Note: Make it even more desirable by customising the decorated drawers to your neighbour’s taste.

Turn A Wooden Pallet Into A Table:

All you’ll need to build your wooden pallet table is: two wooden pallets, (one for the table top, one for the legs and panels for extra strength) a drill, and some varnish (if you want to get really fancy!) Wooden pallet tables are cheap to make, and look really modern and rustic. Due to their size, wooden pallet tables make coffee tables and awesome looking patio tables in particular.

Try Your Hand At Chair Reupholstery:

Be it dining room chairs or garden chairs, there’s not a chair in the world that cannot be improved by a touch of reupholstery (Okay, maybe not King Charles’ throne!) Reupholstery is an artform in itself though, and may take you a few attempts first until you can class it as a viable means to earn money. There are a few steps you’ll have to follow, such as; removing the tired and worn fabric, tightening-up any wobbly legs, replacing the stuffing in the chair, cutting and stapling your new fabric and depending on what your neighbour wants, maybe giving the legs and chair back a chic, colourful repaint.

Transform A Vintage Teacup Into A Teacup Candle:

What do we do with all the old and chipped teacups we have in our house? Why, we upcycle them into teacup candles, of course! Teacup candles can look really elegant and cool, if you get the design right! Naturally, you’ll need to set your own wax and wick, and you’ll also need to add your own essential oils for the fragrance. (May we recommend lavender, peppermint or lemongrass). Bonus points if you have the saucer too, for that extra swanky look!

Repaint Garden Furniture:

Why not hire yourself out as the local go-to person for when someone's garden furniture needs a refresh? The tools for this job are fairly minimal: some exterior wood paint, a paintbrush, some sandpaper, and some varnish (if you want to get really fancy!) If you’re fortunate, you might get the chance to repaint a whole set of outdoor tables and chairs, in which case you introduce some real vibes by painting each chair a different colour (may we recommend pastel colours).

Try Couch Upcycling:

With all the use they get, front room couches can start to look frumpy within the first 12 months of purchase. When you consider that, on average, couches last between 7-15 years, you can see why they can start to look quite stale and tired. As the piece of furniture that our guests sit on, we want them to look stylish and pristine, right? Become your community couch upcycler and save your neighbours the embarrassment of a tatty settee!

From tufting, to changing the legs to using fabric paint; there are tons of ways to upcycle a couch!

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In order to upcycle furniture, or any household item for that matter, you don’t have to be the best DIY expert in the world, you just need a grasp of the fundamental elements of repairing household goods. There are literally thousands of upcycling ideas too. Be it upcycling clothes to upcycling fridges to upcycling old pickle jars! So, pot on your overalls, break out your varnish and fabric paint and get started today! Download Hikinjo and earn some extra money in your area.