As fashions have diversified over the last five years, many people have begun to question the expensive nature of shop-bought ‘handicraft’ style items, in both clothing and interiors, and have realized that they are paying a large amount of money for products easily created at home for a fraction of the price. Add that to a modern revival in popularity of knitting, sewing and other handicrafts, and it’s clear that people are starting to see the practicality and limitlessness of reclaiming the home-grown touch.
Practically speaking, handmade design is all about having a workable collection of materials and ideas to hand when you are working on a project. You might want to take a long time collecting something entirely suited to a pattern and a style; you may enjoy the spontaneity of placing incongruous items together to make something totally unique in your home. Either way, it’s good to have variety, and to start off with a place to store all your materials together is a good way to pool these ideas and resources. So get yourself a printer to keep ideas you find online and a box or a file and start hoarding.
What often drives these projects is the tendency towards creative redecoration – the best projects come when you re-use and re-appropriate off-cuts and used items in your design. There’s a pleasing quality to the finish, and you’re turning free, unwanted materials into something new. With items such as cushions and rag-rugs, you can even quickly give back a unique bit of creativity for all the off-cuts you’ve been supplied with.
When you’re thinking of throwing away tired wooden furniture, are you sure that you couldn’t redecorate the piece to give it another turn? With solid, structurally-sound tables, chairs, consoles and the like, it’s often possible to take off the finish of the piece back to the natural wood, then re-stain it in a more lively tone, or add a touch of fresh country style with some stencilling in bright colours. Printing out stencils from home on layers of old paper is a great way to court the re-usable effort at every step all you need is a simple mono printer.
Home made gifts are a great way to ensure your gifts are thoughtful and, of course, unique. What about a kitsch, rugged pouch bag or satchel made from off-cuts of corduroy or khaki, with a handful of button badges that really tell the person you know their tastes? These take only a rudimentary knowledge of the sewing machine and a bit of interface material for the inside, and the odd quirky button to top things off.
What’s essential to remember is that creative redecoration is the original of the factory copy; manufacturers often use a host of methods to achieve this look, but there’s a finite number of ways they bring them to you, along with the extortionate price tag, to boot. Break free and start collecting your own creative redecoration materials, and bring that unique touch to your home this new year.