Is OLD the new NEW?

I LOVE new things. Not necessarily in a materialistic fashion, but the gleaming, room transforming change of new. I love new things; things that are new to ME.

A piece of furniture is very often a small permanent fixture; sometimes it has always been there through countless generations. But then suddenly sentimentality loses out to fashion. The age-old loved sideboard is no longer “on point”. It remains that loved, cherished piece; often tactile, much knocked and disregarded although still wanted. But it does not fit.

Upcycling is not just an eco-drive, it’s a saviour of our heritage albeit with a bit of make-up and a whole lot of bling to boot.

Now is not the time for never-ending matching “1980s Laura Ashley chintz”. Blend rather than match. An ancient dressing table from a great aunt can be whirled into a splendid statement piece of family history with a lick of paint and imagination. It becomes new…old new. With a story. New paint, new knobs but the same family heirloom, nonetheless.

A dark brown bureau from a grandmother, can be re-fashioned for her grandson. The same goes for trinkets and nick-nacks. Have some new ornaments and vases jostling for prime position alongside charity finds which you buy because you like, not necessarily because they match. They may not be worth much, but they are valuable to you. With furniture, someone else’s heritage can become yours but in different clothing, setting out on a new journey.

 

So that old-fashioned family heirloom, that piece you can’t part with but can’t bear to look at either, can be upcycled into new. After all, old is the new new.