- Build a make-do and mend mentality
Brands and stylists are increasingly encouraging us to up-cycle and mend fashion items in order to find something new to love in an old garment. While it makes economic sense, it also helps us to identify the things we really value and refine our style accordingly.
- Recycle packaging
With high streets closed and many of us spending our time working from home or self-isolating, online shopping prevails. Deliveries typically arrive in cardboard boxes or polythene bags that would usually end up in the bin.
Imagine what you might do with an old wine gift box or even a shoe box – why not get green-fingered and turn it into a windowsill herb garden? You can even transform those non-recyclable bags into a waterproof liner – all you need is some creativity, the soil from your garden and some seeds.
And it’s not just exterior packaging that can be recycled. Glass objects such as cosmetics and perfume bottles can make stylish home-made reed diffusers and vases.
- Create something new
Stuck for ideas? Look to the internet for inspiration. Apps such as Pinterest, Influencers and YouTubers have great hacks for home resourcefulness. Channels like HGTV Handmade upload weekly videos giving step-by-step guides on transforming old light shades into vases, clothes into pet beds and even old leggings into a plaited pouffe.
It’s about stopping the throw away culture and encouraging people to rethink how they might re-use the items they are clearing out. Old belts, jewellery and shoe fabrics could generate stunning and personalised pieces that give an individual a regained affinity with their old goods.
- Resell old clothing
With growing concerns about entering into financial hardship, society is turning towards more affordable options for items that would usually be considered a ‘treat’. Pre-owned fashion websites such as Front Row, Amarium and Bagista are leading this movement in the current climate.
With the encouragement of pre-loved clothing websites doing deeds of good while still generating revenue, people should be inspired to resell or donate authentic and value items to the secondary buyer market to enable a product to fulfil its life for longer.
- Style your working from home office space
From old paper bags, kitchen foil right through to left-over wallpaper, there are plenty of materials laying around our homes which we can use to style our space. Try covering notebooks and folders or using old boxes and upcycled jars as storage solutions. You can transform almost anything into something that adds colour, texture and character to your space.
