Stick Art T Shirts

Chapter One: Upcycling Ideas for Decorating

When I was nineteen years old, I left my parents’ home in Reading, Pennsylvania for Washington, DC where I worked as a part-time lobbyist for nonprofit environmental group while simultaneously writing my very first book about my teenage activism years. Living on my own, I was intent on having a studio apartment that was beautifully decorated and looked grown-up. But with modest means, that also meant I couldn’t go to a fancy furniture store and buy all new pieces. Instead, I slowly searched for bargains at local flea markets, thrift shops, and even Dumpster dived when other tenants would move out of my apartment building. My first upcycling project as a first-time tenant involved an old church pulpit I found on the street: I took it home, painted it with three coats of gray paint, added wheels, and turned it into a TV stand. The shelves on the back that once held Bibles now held cassette tapes and DVDs, which could be easily accessed by simply wheeling the podium forward. I called it sacrilegious chic.

I still have that TV stand today, and it just goes to show that with a little elbow grease and ingenuity, timeless pieces can be created with very little money. Upcycled items for the home aren’t just economical; they can also be one-of-a-kind pieces that add character to one’s home. While it’s tempting to order everything on the pages of a catalog when it comes to decorating your home, why would you? If your family and your home are unique to you, why decorate it in a generic, one-size-fits-all style? It doesn’t take much to turn a ho-hum room into one that could easily be photographed for the pages of a magazine. Try an upcycled rug, a collection of upcycled decorative accessories, or make an upcycled pillow for the boring sofa you’ve been thinking about replacing. Think of these handmade items like sprinkles: sure a cupcake on its own tastes good, but that dash of sprinkles makes the experience even better.