Fancyafurnituremakeover?

Fancya furniture makeover?

Hilary &Alice, afurniture up-cyclingand restoration businessinDiss,haveworked on hundredsof piecesof furnituresincethey openedin 2016.Theirethosis to reduce landfillof oldfurnitureby giving it amakeover, creating one-offstatementpiecesand bringingtired, oldfamily inheritanceitemsbacktolife. VillagePeople asks owners Pamand Amandaabouttheir business.

What areyour favourite pieces to workon?

We love working on oldpieces offurniturewhich have been inherited or passed downthrough families.Thestory those pieces tell –survivingwars,performing differentrolesin homesover theyears, remindingpeople of theirchildhoods –makethemso special.The piecemaynolonger fit in today’sstyle of home,but we canturnitintoa show-stopping featurepiecein aroom.

Isthereany furniture youcan’tup-cycle?

Notreally!If woodhasbeenwet andswollen itcanbedifficult to repair,andoldpiecesoften have woodworm, whichcanbetreated andfilled/repaired, or oncethe wormhasbeenkilledtheholes can addamazing character.Ifyou think youmighthave inherited apricelessantique,it’s worth getting aprofessionalopinionon its valuebeforewepaintit!

What isthehardestpartof thejob?

Oldfurnitureishandmade and solidand canbequirkyinits construction!Bits only fitin certain places, oldhinges don’t like beingmessedwithandutility furniture(wartime)is varnished in alacquer thatbleeds abrown sludgecolourthrough most paint.Over time, doorscandrop, drawersswellandhinges break –allofthesethingscanbe really trickyand timeconsuming to fix!

Howare youhelping theenvironment?

Foreveryitem offurniture we paint,it’s onelesssent to landfill or burnt. We’vepainted hundreds,possibly thousands,of pieces!Italso reducestheneed formanufacturing,albeitina small way;ifpeople aren’t buying new,they arereducingtheir carbonfootprint.It’sabout doing ourbit to reduce waste.

Can Idoitmyself?

Absolutely!Westock allthe preparation equipment,paintand decoratingsundries forpeople to startpaintingtheirownfurniture. We’realso on handtoofferhelp andadviceand willberunning more workshops to gethands-on experiencein2022.

If you’ve gotapiece of furniture you’dlikethe H&A team to paint,send them apicture via email

hello@hilaryandalice.co.uk

or Facebookfor aquote. Hilary &Alice isopen Monday–SaturdayinMereStreet, Dissand online(including onlineshopping)at

www.hilaryandalice.co.uk.