If you fancy updating your home’s décor, but are not ready to spend lots of cash, upcycling may be the ideal choice for you. A bedroom, living room or kitchen can have a mini makeover with the simple addition of an upcycled chair to act as the room’s focal point.

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If you are new to upcycling, check out our nifty ideas below that are guaranteed to transform an old dining room chair that was previously destined for the skip.

1. Go exotic and 3D with textures and colours.

Firstly, paint both the back and legs of your chair in bold magenta, before enhancing the seat’s edge by painting it a deep-orange gloss. When selecting your seat cover, opt for a fabric with vibrant multi stripes, fixing it into place with large upholstery studs. If you’re feeling extra creative, hang a radiant tassel corsage and a cloth flower on the back of the chair.

2. Recycle and tailor old striped shirts

Use a variety of old shirts (or shirt fabric if you’d rather), to wrap around your chair, placing different stripe designs next to each other, going both vertically and horizontally. Textile adhesive and staple guns can be used to secure the fabric in place. If you like, stick with the theme and add some large buttons or some stylishly places cuffs. This particular chair would look great next to some Lloyd Looms chairs like those found at https://lloydlooms.co.uk/.

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3. Employ the art of decoupage

If you’re a beginner when it comes to decoupage, check out a step by step guide at Prima – https://www.prima.co.uk/craft/easy-craft-ideas/news/a21431/get-started-decoupage/. To give an old chair a sophisticated look, deploy a monochrome effect, painting it a rich grey, before pasting black and white images from a book of copyright free images using wallpaper paste. Complete the look by painting it with a clear varnish.

4. Go modern with metallic leather

Firstly, use a dark glossy paint to cover your chair completely, before gluing fitted pieces of foam to the back and seat of the chair. Finally, stretch the leather over the areas covered in foam, and staple it in place. To cover the edge you’ve stapled, simply cut out a hard cardboard template (use the back of the chair), and cover it with the leather material, before securing it into place using textile glue.