Sarah Moore is the fairy God-mother of junk. It doesn’t matter how dilapidated; with the wave of a glue gun, she can transform an old cupboard into a French style armoire using just a bit of chicken wire and a gingham tablecloth.
The most entertaining thing about her day time telly series Money for Nothing (M4N; catch-up on BBC i-player) is watching her rooting through people’s car boots at the tip. As some poor soul in their gardening slacks drags granny’s Victorian sideboard from the back of a Toyota Aygo they are greeted by the wildly enthusiastic Sarah chanting ‘Can I have it – can I have it?’.
‘And what does Keith think she’s going to do with granny’s whatnot?’ asks the lugubrious voice-over man (none other than comedian Arthur Smith). We are then treated with a bemused face saying ‘Oh, I’ve no idea – burn it I hope as it’s been in the shed for years and it’s full of woodworm’….
Well, I have seen a whole series of these programmes so I know the answer. Sarah (winner of The Great Interior Design Challenge, 2014) turns our trash into treasure. Sarah and her team take municipal tip cast-offs – old gate posts to fusty Axminister carpets – and they ‘up-cycle’ the items into something you would buy in a high end store.
And this makeover invariably results in a cash profit for the people who donated the junk.
Because an awful lot of people are either (a) out at work (b) too posh for day time TV or (c) both; here are some of Sarah’s best up-cycling projects.
Vintage cushions
The joy which could be seen in Sarah eyes when – on M4N – someone pulled up at the tip with some vintage Sanderson curtains is something which could melt the hardest heart. Back to Sarah’s HQ for some cutting and sewing and hey presto – country chic cushions were ready for sale.
Get the look: Sarah admits she is a fabric hoarder and if you want to imitate our heroine…start scouring flea markets, charity shop and granny’s actual attic for remnants which can be turned into cushions/lavender and linen bags of your own design.
Vintage clothes
Sarah’s hubby apparently laughed when his saw one of her homemade dresses and accused her of ‘wearing the curtains’. Of course the laugh was on him; her dress was made from a Sanderson curtain which she had transformed on her trusty Singer.
Get the look: Sarah often customises old hacking jackets. Grab a little attention from your own hubby by doing the same. If you are not up to a whole re-vamp; then sew on some mis-matched buttons (not just replacing the real buttons but adding quirky ones in between), some lace on the cuffs and a hand-made corsage on the collar. If you find some vintage brooches – stick them on the pocket. Remember, it’s a vintage look and you cannot be overly-twee for the country fayre.
Vintage toys
How I laughed when – on M4N – Sarah pounced on a poor guy trying to quietly off-load some surplus wooden flooring at the tip. Even though I have watched this episode many times (yes, sad is my new middle name) I still don’t know how she managed to produce a cute little village of houses from just some paint, nails, tin, branches and slate. I do know they flew off her website shop for around £35 a plot; earning her wood donor a nice pot of cash to take home.
Get the look: In her book Vintage Home (Kyle Books) Sarah kindly shares instructions for making a ‘simple’ doll’s house. Start by sourcing a set of old shelves and adding wall-paper/carpet cut-to-size and fixed in with PVA glue. Stick in some paper windows and doors and ‘paint’ as many window scenes as time, money and skill will allow. Just make sure old shelves are thoroughly sanded before you pass your handmade heirloom onto anyone with little fingers. (Photographs in Sarah’s book are by Debi Treloar).
Vintage sofas and chairs
Sarah is often joined by some skilful upholsters on Money for Nothing (BBC1) including Ray Clarke who turned a granddad chair into a cheeky little monkey by using his own hand-painted textiles. While it did not sell in time for the show (it sold the next day) the makeover certainly gave a lot of joy to Ray who describes himself as a ‘frenzied furniture womble’ of recycling.
However….
My favourite sofa transformation is the one executed by Sarah when she re-booted an old settee into a patch-work of utter loveliness.
Get the look: Now I am not going to pretend you can re-upholster a sofa in an afternoon and you must apply the buyer beware code when purchasing chairs and sofas at auctions and car boots – if the springs have gone you are in for a mighty repair bill. But you could re-cover the pads and cushions with some vintage fabric and a fair wind.
Vintage bags
One of Sarah’s personal bests was turning an old carpet into a carpet bag. But she’s also re-vamped fabric scraps into lavender bags and tapestries into purses. But when the project is a little more taxing – she’ll rope in the ingenious Neil Wragg (Ragsto) who has been known to turn an old sofa and a canvas tent into luxury holdalls.
Get the look: Buy some plain tote bags and fabric paint your own design on the front.
Vintage jewellery
I have long thought the little ‘icons’ which come with a set of Monopoly are far too cute for a rather boring game and Sarah certainly agreed. She took the little doggie and top hat etc from a guy with a vintage copy of the board game and, before you could pass go, Sarah had silver plated the lot and sold them as charms for pendants and bracelets. Genius.
Get the look: Search online for a company which can silver plate your items but make sure they are inanimate objects only.
Vintage lamps
Whether it’s revamping a lampshade or turning an old tool into a lamp; Sarah and her M4N colleagues never turn down a challenge. Thanks to steampunk style, any old lead pipe can be wired into a table lamp. For instance, under Sarah’s encouraging eye, Smithers of Stamford turned a surveyor’s tripod into a lamp fit for a Manchester loft conversion. Sarah’s own crafty ways regularly sees her up-cycling lamps with chalk paint and some floral fabric.
Get the look: Look out for old lamps in charity shops, especially those with metal framed shades. If you do recover with vintage fabric make sure there is plenty of room between bulb and fabric and that the lamp is electrically sound and the fabric non-flammable. In other words, safety first…but that doesn’t mean you can’t do pretty second.
Vintage gifts
There used to be a snooty divide between homemade and shop-bought gifts – now everything you see in the stores looks rather home-spun so you might as dip your brush in the Modge Podge and have a go.
Sarah makes bespoke items you cannot buy in shops. Allow her creative projects to inspire you to have a go at up-cycling. Since M4N hit the screens, you’ll find handicraft workshops in every town and city in the land so book yourself a place. In no time at all I am sure you’ll also be able to make fabulous felt song thrushes just like Sarah’s (they sold on M4N for £35).
Get the look: If you want to recreate Sarah’s projects then buy the book (see details of Sarah’s book above). Sarah also contributed craft projects to Country Living magazine so scour back copies (and the internet) for past projects including cute bunnies, vintage fabric hair bobbles and crocheted corsages; perfect for the collar of your hacking jacket.
Vintage Christmas
There would be something terribly amiss if a vintage up-cycler like Sarah didn’t go completely crazy at Christmas. From November, around Sarah’s idyllic barn in Sussex, you can smell cinnamon and hot glue for miles.
Get the look: buy homemade cracker sets and snaps from Hobbycraft – just add vintage looking paper, red buttons, and holly leaf decorations cut from stencils.
Address book:
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