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Revamp, repair, recycle Give a

REVAMP, REPAIR,

Re c c le

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Transform an old chest of drawers into a modern painted masterpiece with this super easy upcycle

Found a second-hand chest of drawers in need of a little TLC? Now it’s time for the fun part! Get sanding, lling and priming, and be creative with paint for a purse-happy makeover. Combine candy pink with a hand-painted monochrome confetti eect to give it a bold, graphic look, and swap the plain handles with leather tab pulls. e result? Instagram-worthy storage.

1Use a well-ventilated workspace and cover the floor and surrounding surfaces before you start. Remove all the old hardware from the furniture. Spray the surface with sugar soap and leave for around a minute to lift any dirt and grime on the surface. Wipe with a lightly dampened cloth.

2Wearing a mask and gloves, sand the surface in the direction of the grain with a medium sanding block or sandpaper that’s around 120 grit. Sand every area that will be painted. With the brush attachment on the vacuum cleaner, vacuum the dust from sanding the piece. Clean the area you’re painting in as well. With a tack cloth, remove any leftover dust from sanding.

3Fill the holes left by the old handles using wood filler and a scraper. Use the corner of the scraper to push some wood filler into the hole. With a small amount of wood filler on the scraper, scrape along the surface of the hole to make sure it’s flush with the rest of the drawer surface. Repeat this step for any other holes left on the original hardware.

4Using painter’s tape, mark off any areas you don’t want to get paint on, such as

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the edges of the drawers and the inside where the drawers slide in. Priming is one of the most important steps. With a flat paintbrush, apply primer, painting around all the awkward areas first, then cover the larger areas with the roller.

Leave to fully dry, then apply a second coat.

5Once dry, sand with fine sandpaper to remove any uneven surfaces, then remove the dust with the tack cloth. Paint the areas to be kept white using the same methods as above.

Apply two coats, leaving to dry in between each.

Once dry, tape around the chest of drawers on top of the white paint to section off, ready to paint the pink area – use the main image as a guide and a tape measure to make sure the line is kept straight.

6Using the roller and the pink paint, cover the rest of the chest of drawers, swapping to a brush for the legs if required. Apply two coats of paint. After the second coat, remove the painter’s tape immediately and leave to fully dry.

7While the pink paint is drying, paint the black confetti detail onto the white section.

With a flat artist’s brush, paint black strokes of roughly the same length in different directions, using the main image as a guide.

8Cut the leather into 2.5 x 10cm strips – you’ll need one to replace each of the original handles. With a pair of scissors, round off all the corners. Fold the leather with the top part folding over the end, as shown, and punch the leather where it overlaps, adding a gold eyelet to hold it in place. Using a pencil, lightly mark the placement of the new handles on the drawers. With a screwdriver, add a screw to attach each handle firmly in place.

Add colour and comfort to a bench seat with this bright cushion

Abench is a versatile seating solution for a hallway, conservatory, garden room or porch – and it can add a much-needed injection of colour and print, too. If your bench doesn’t have a cushion, or has an existing one that’s seen better days, get out the sewing machine and whip up your own to transform a plain seat into a statement piece.

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YOU WILL NEED

Main fabric: see instructions for quantity Foam: 3.5cm deep x bench width x bench length Pattern paper Matching

thread Sewing machine Pins Scissors

1Measure the bench and cut the foam to size. It is always best to cut it a little larger first, then trim it to fit to avoid it being too small.

Once it is at the correct size, measure the width and length of the top of the foam and add 2cm to both measurements for seam allowance. Do the same with the depth of the foam, measuring the width and length of these edges and adding a 2cm seam allowance to each measurement.

2Use these measurements to sketch out the pieces in small scale on paper, remembering that you will need a top, a base, two long side panels and two short side panels. This will allow to you calculate the amount of fabric required.

Draw the cushion pattern onto paper. You will need to draw and cut out three pattern pieces – one for the top/base, another for the long side panel and a final pattern for the short side panel. On each pattern piece, add a 1cm seam allowance onto each side.

3Press the fabric flat, then fold it in half lengthways. Pin the pattern pieces onto the double thickness of fabric then cut them out. Before stitching we recommend marking the corners on the wrong side (WS) of the fabric.

Do this by measuring in 1cm at the end of each edge and marking a short line, then make a cross at each corner when the lines overlap.

These crosses will help to line all of the corners up neatly and act as stitching guides.

4With right sides (RS) facing, pin and sew one of the long side panels to one long side of the top piece. Start and stop stitching at the marked crosses, backstitching at each end.

Repeat to attach the other long side panel.

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5Attach the two short end panels in the same way, making sure you tuck the long panel seam allowance out of the way. Pin along the four corner edge seams then place the piece you have just sewn over the foam to check that it fits.

Adjust if necessary. at the marked crosses or new points if you have made any adjustments. Place the cover over the foam again to check the fit. 7 Pin and sew the bottom of the cover along one long side and both of the narrow ends,

6Sew along each corner, starting and finishing again starting and finishing at the crosses you have marked.

8It is much easier to fit the foam into the cover with the last seam fully open. So, put the foam into the cover and make sure it is sitting correctly in all corners, then turn the seam allowance of the open edge inwards and neatly hand-stitch the seam closed to finish.

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top tip

Make sure when mixing mortar that you wear gloves, goggles and a dust mask to prevent skin irritation.

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top tip Remember to leave the ventilation gaps unrendered to avoid problems later on.

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and press the first brick into place. Some of the mortar will squeeze out slightly. For the second brick, you’ll need to add mortar to either end of the brick before placing it next to the one you’ve already laid. Use your trowel to tap the brick up against the one you just laid.

Any excess mortar that squeezes out should be removed with the trowel, then put it back into the bucket to be re-used. Don’t worry if it looks messy at this stage.

3Add ventilation gaIt’s important to leave spaces between some of the bricks to allow the fire to breathe and burn well. The easiest way to do this is to leave two gaps either side of one brick in your bottom layer, where you would normally put the mortar.

4Apply the render We rendered the fire pit to give it a modern look. This is a bit like plastering, but using cement, and it’s a great way to cover up uneven brickwork. Start by cleaning the brickwork with a brush to remove any dust or debris. Then use bagged render and water. Mix it in a bucket and use the plastering trowel to spread the render over the brickwork, try to get it as smooth as possible. Work on one side at a time, allowing it to set slightly before moving onto the next side.

5Smooth the render Once the render is firm but not completely dry, take a damp sponge and rub in circular motions over the whole surface. This will remove any trowel lines and blend out any imperfections. Keep re-dampening your sponge as you go. Once the render is completely dry, use coarse-grade sandpaper to get a smoother finish.

6Paint the fire pit You’ll need to use exterior masonry paint for this step. Apply two coats for the best coverage. Tester-sized paint pots are perfect for small jobs like this and less expensive. Leave the first coat to dry fully before applying the second.

7Add a gravel base Before you use your fire pit for the first time, you’ll need to add some gravel to the base. This will give a decent

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bed for burning logs or charcoal on. Any gravel will do and should be laid about 2cm deep, so the bottom of the pit is completely covered.

8Cut the mesh If you want to use your fire pit as a barbecue as well, then you’ll need a rack for the food to sit on. We used galvanised wire mesh, which is cheap to buy and easy to replace. Measure the inner dimensions of your fire pit and cut the mesh 4cm bigger on all sides.

You can use tin snips or pliers for this. Fold all four sides of the mesh inwards and upwards, like an upturned box lid, so there’s a 2cm edge around the outside. This will stop food from resting against the brickwork or rolling off the mesh. Then place a brick on the gravel at either end for the mesh to sit on. This will keep it off the coals, but low enough for the food to cook.

9Add a cover The last step, if you want to use it as a table, is to add a cover. This has the added benefit of keeping the fire pit dry on rainy days. Simply cut treated timber to size and lay across the top.

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