Fun on our handmade upcycled wooden garden swing

My husband made this child's swing from upcycled wood for Magoo last Summer. It's been a firm favourite with our daughter and her friends ever since. I thought it was about time I wrote about it & shared some photos of the project. We bought the wood from Somerset Wood Recycling for a bargain price of £10. They also threw in the two large bolts we needed to attach the swing ropes to the frame.

Somerset Wood Recycling is one of our favourite places to visit on a Saturday morning. They have a large warehouse full of wood waiting to be repurposed into new things. Much of the wood is donated and we like walking around looking at the crates, pallets, railway sleepers, old doors and piles of floorboards. Somerset Wood Recycling also sell a range of products made by volunteers and adults with learning disabilities. They have a fantastic selection of wooden benches, deckchairs, tables, chopping boards, garden planters and even upcycled wooden coffins.


Once my husband had chosen the pieces of wood he wanted to use, he started to put the swing frame together. Magoo helped with making holes to put the screws through. She loved being involved with the making-process.
Once the frame was complete, we attached the swing ropes and seat. Magoo couldn't wait to try it out and it was given the thumbs up.
Once the swing was in place we gave it a coat of cornflower blue wood paint.
This swing is made with upcycled wood which would have otherwise gone to waste. It also really solid and much firmer than mass-produced plastic or metal counterparts. Magoo loves her swing and has been playing on it in all weathers ever since it was finished...


I'm linking up with the lovely Country Kids #countrykids over on the Coombe Mill blog, Let Kids be Kids over on letkidsbekids.co.uk, #ordinarymoments over on www.mummydaddyandmemakesthree.co.uk, Image of the Week #IOTW over on www.trulymadlykids.co.uk, Point + Shoot over on youbabymemummy.com, Trash to Treasure over on www.coombemill.com

Breathing new life into old furniture

Since moving to a 1930s house, I'm determined to furnish it with quirky, one-off pieces rather than mass produced stuff. I've already blogged about my beautiful (bargain) dining table. Now I want to show you a cabinet and shelves I recently repurposed with help from my other half. I haven't done anything fancy or ground breaking with them...but it just shows how a simple lick of paint can breathe life back into something deemed a bit 'scruffy'.

In fact the small cabinet was considered so scruffy it was making its way to the municiple tip before my Mum and husband rescued it. My Mum approached the man who was just about to fling it into the 'wood' section and he happily handed it over. They bought it home for me and declared proudly that they had 'bought me a present'. Now, I know lots of people would be a bit annoyed about their presents coming from a waste-sorting centre, but my family know me better than that...

My husband sanded it down and chiselled off the yucky cork matting which was glued to the top. It was then painted in an ivory shade and once dry, we put it in our conservatory. It's the perfect place for me to put my cup of tea and my daughter has filled it with her books. It's a sturdy, little multi-functional piece of furniture and I love it.

A few weeks back my Mum gave me a set of shelves. They had been hanging in her garage for years and were looking a bit unloved, but I could see they still had potential! We repeated the same process with the shelves as the cabinet, sanded it down and a coat of ivory paint to spruce them up a bit. They now hang in our bathroom and keep all our toiletry gubbins tidy.

Even Mr Bump is amazed by the transformation!

**update**

Since writing this blog post I have watched the first episode of "Kirstie's Fill Your House For Free". I wanted to write a quick update. I've always been keen on getting my hands on furniture for free or at a bargain price. I've been using Freecycle for years and often scour Ebay and Gumtree for second hand items for our house. I had a quick look on Twitter after the first episode had aired and there was alot of cynicism and negativity. Many people were saying the items aren't truly 'free' if you have to use power tools, paint and the skills of top designers to alter them. But I think that misses the point. This is telly-land after all and lots of these shows are based on the 'big reveal' at the end. Even by employing designers, there was nothing on the show that the average Joe couldn't replicate. Well, maybe sawing an iron bath in half with an angle grinder isn't for everyone...but most of it was pretty do-able. Some basic DIY and a bit of elbow grease is all you need to start filling your home with quirky, one-off pieces. I think any show that encourages people to re-use rather than buy new is good in my books.

What I do hope this show encourages, is not just getting stuff off freecycle etc...I hope it encourages people to donate to freecyle, charity shops, local recycling projects. We need people to think twice about taking old furniture to the tip. What's not to like about clearing your clutter via freecycle? People come and get stuff you don't want direct from your house - you don't have to lug it into the boot & drive to the local waste centre. And many charity shops & furniture projects collect items from your house for free.

In fact, after watching Kirstie's program, I was inspired to write to my local MP. I've been to our local waste recycling centre with garden waste on a number of occasions and seen wonderful pieces of furniture being chucked into the wood section. On one occasion a perfectly usuable cabinet was thrown away & I approached a member of staff to ask if I could have it. I was told that staff are not allowed to pull things out of the containers because they will get sacked for 'theft'. I think it's awful that my local council does not seem to want to send less waste to landfill. It's actively discouraging the reuse of furniture and encouraging more waste. It's a case of trying to join up the people who want to get rid of stuff with the people who want to reuse the stuff.

I'm still awaiting a response from my MP, I'll keep you posted......

Vintage love: draw leaf dining table

We moved into our 1930s home back in November 2012 and we've been settling in over the past six months. This is the oldest house I've ever lived in and it has lots of period charm with picture rails, original doors and wooden floors. As I am a vintage addict, I can indulge my addiction and furnish the place with older pieces of furniture.

We needed a larger dining table and we did the usual thing of looking at newer pieces of furniture from the usual suspects such as Ikea. But I was really hankering after something older and stronger and dare I say, better made. I trawled ebay and there were lots of lovely pieces on there, but many were too far away or the auction price went too high for me.

A few weeks ago my husband was looking in the classified section of the local paper and saw 'Barley Twist Draw Leaf Table and dining chairs for sale'. Well, I only need to read the words "Barley Twist" and I'm sold. We rang them immediately and bought this beatiful table and four chairs for £50!

As a keen recycler and I like to buy pre-loved items as often as I can to reduce the strain dwindling natural resources. Obviously the table isn't in its first flush of youth, and there's obvious wear and tear to the piece. But I've always loved that about vintage items, they have a history.