Upcycling is a new trend that encourages us to use our imaginations to combine the old with the new and to use our own skills to make our furnishings.
Many of our community members have been using upcycling with great success. Everywhere you look in ernesdtplani’s project, casa entera piscina7.3, you’ll find upcycled and totally new features, including the pool itself.
The patio, columns, wall facings and even the overhead beam and timber structure are created using Free shapes (Rooms>For all rooms>Free shapes). An imaginative new feature is added by simply changing the size of existing HomeByMe plants.
Everything in the kitchen except the appliances was designed and then created using Free shapes. Upcycling and the creative combination of existing elements is key to this home.
One of HomeByMe’s best upcyclers is carlota. Her home, Single, is a great example where she has used upcycling concepts throughout. Steel girders and timbers make up the roof overhangs. Vertical beams make the posts and resized Free shapes with a glass material make the panels in the railing around the terrace.
The shelves over the kitchen counter are actually a resized bookcase that normally sits on the floor. There is an eclectic mix of styles as you move through the home. Modern pieces are set off by the vintage half round table and lamp over on the right.
Careful matching of wood grains and using a majority of neutral tones helps set off the vases (resized of course) and the two containers with very different finishes. This is small house that is big on the details, look carefully and you’ll find more.
In contrast, Deadmonkeys3000’s project, Concrete Modern is a large two-story home. It is filled with examples of upcycled furnishings and new creative details. The fire pit and barbeque areas are almost completely constructed using Free shapes. The grille itself is buried in the main block so that it appears to be custom built and the railings around the patio are made from the same set of shelves that Carlota used.
The kitchen is dominated by the central cooking surface with a unusual countertop and shelves. It was upcycled by resizing a coffee table and using a granite material.
The home’s main columns are added using the rectangular column (Rooms>Outdoor>Outdoor decorations). The dining room table and chairs, you can see them through the stairs, are on their own platform created with a Free shape. Look for many more examples on the second floor too.
Martin69’s home, Maison 2.0, is quite unusual and filled with many architectural elements that give each space a sense of adventure. The entire wall to the right of the yellow stool was created using Free shape cubes.
In the grilling courtyard the window and door accents were created using Free shapes.
The bedroom has its own share of custom elements, including the window details and two shelves. Please take a moment to open the project and take a look around yourself. There is much more for you to discover!
For more about upcycling you can learn from the experts. Read the Academy article New trend: upcycling.
It’s your turn!