To think that a lot of 'upcycling' is bollocks?

[thereareflowersinmygarden]

Lots of it on Facebook selling sites.

People get a lovely old, wooden piece of furniture, slap some white paint on it and think they've actually done a good thing. Often, they've taken a beautiful 1930's walnut sideboard or such like, and vandalised it.

Just why? Why can't these people get a useful hobby?

Couldn’t disagree more.

No upcycler will pay decent money for something to paint - it’s throwing away profit. They often take only free items, or those that are really really cheap.

And all this ‘original and beautiful’ furniture is only free or cheap to them because no other bugger wants it as it’s so massively unfashionable.

So imo they’re doing a good thing - they’re taking the furniture that nobody wants and changing it so that somebody will.

Less going to landfill. Bravo to them imo.

Is brown wood furniture really "out"? I have lots of it, some antique, some not old at all (sheesham). Oh well, it'll come in again eventually I expect.

There is a shop locally that sells shabby shit furniture. I don’t mind painted stuff, but it’s just tatty furniture with off white paint slapped all over it.

Isn't this what AIBU is for? To discuss opinions?

Is AIBU populated entirely by cunty twats then?

I was sitting here nodding my head furiously in full agreement with OP and thinking ProfessorMoody should away and bile her head was aptly named. Then I went to google for Annie Sloan, who I've never looked at.

By God, I like it!. You shut your mouth, OP!!!

Ooh, maybe I shoudl start buying stuff like this?

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Shabby-Chic-Bedside-Cupboard-Upcycled-Industrial-Metal-Bathroom-Cabinet/262742576772?_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20170912102017%26meid%3Dca9533ca22c444d3a32a30a1ab9ec65c%26pid%3D100706%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26%26itm%3D262742576772&_trksid=p2045573.c100706.m4781

I love painted pieces of furniture that are painted well, not a fan of chippy/distressed look though. Properly done (as another post said) with proper prep of filling dents/scratches, sanding smooth, primer and correct paint with top coat is stunning and lasts years. No one is wanting the heavy, dark wood pieces so I do believe changing them to fit into modern decor, holding pride of place saves these pieces. Painted furniture has actually been around for hundreds of years - look in Italian villas and French chateaus for example, even painted pieces in English mansions etc. I have seen stunning pieces on Etsy and Vinterior.

Now slapped on paint is another matter and just looks messy.

I'm in camp upcycle! I have a solid wood TV unit inherited from my parents. It's heavy and was expensive, but dark wood and ugly! I'd love to sand it and paint it white, however my DIY skills are non-existent I probably would ruin it

(And my mother would never let me hear the end of it!)

You mean this sort of thing? The after pic makes it look like something to store rabbits in, before you skin them for cushion covers. Just evil.

Butchy google Frenchic

@thereareflowersinmygarden the after picture is much nicer!

Apart from the barbed wire look on the glass, that just gives me a headache!

£132 (plus £45 postage) for that Ebay monstrosity??

You'd need a tetanus shot before you touched it!

Chalk paint has a lot to answer for OP. My mum has a friend that bought old bits of furniture from car boots/auctions and completely vandalised beautiful old wood by painting and gilding it in the most horrific way. Should be a criminal offence for antiques.

ButchyRestingFace I worry what might be inside it!

You’d hate it in my house then, we’ve ‘upcycled’ most of the wooden furniture 🤣

At the time, we couldn’t afford new good quality furniture, so bought good quality brown stuff that nobody wanted and painted it off white. We’ve now redecorated and repainted to downpipe grey because we love the furniture and didn’t want to get rid of it. It may well be hideous to everybody else, but we love it.

That cabinet on eBay is hideous though, looks to me like they’re selling rubbish with some fancy buzz words!

So what should I do with my Ducal sideboard, then? Very good quality, hardly used, but so 1980s . "Antique Pine" was the complete rage back then, but now screams the age of the householders.

And the mid-20th C stuff so trendy now? My parents had a bonfire of their Ercol chairs/coffee table in about 1989 before treating themselves to a nice loose-covered three piece suite with matching knickerblind curtains. No doubt our dcs will be wailing at some future date that we chucked out our Oak Furnitureland tv units (no, I don't have one!).

What are knickerblind curtains??

I'm not a fan of the barbed wire but I like the paint job on the after pic.

Yes the first is a lovely piece of furniture but it's old fashioned and just not the sort of thing people are after these days. I've seen loads of furniture like that on my local Facebook pages and generally they sell for hardly anything because people don't want it.

small-scale, historical vandalism

Is it also vandalism when it gets dumped in landfill or burnt? Should it just sit in dusty corners of charity shops?

You can completely transform pine by taking the original layer of polish off, preferably with an electric sander and using wire wool with light coloured wax. You can get block wax then to gild the edges if you want a two tone effect.

I agree, they should get a useful hobby such as joining mumsnet and whingeing about other people's hobbies.

Except intelligent people don’t negate the opinions of others they don’t agree with, nor do they announce their so called intelligence. Narcissistic much?

I love the midcentury stuff but I wish people would stop "restoring" it by sticking out of proportion fucking hairpin legs on the bottom. Look up g plan furniture on ebay and you'll see exactly what I mean.