There’s no doubt that most of us would like an extra way to earn more income. Stop binge-watching Netflix and use a couple of hours in the evenings to knuckle down and earn some dosh.
There seems to be an endless number of ways to earn some extra cash online, with the internet bursting at the seams with opportunities for web developers, proofreaders and bloggers. What if you are not technical or don’t want to spend yet more time in front of a screen? If you’re good with your hands then upcycling old furniture can be a fun and
profitable hobby. Think about it – every charity shop, house clearance and skip have your raw materials in for a few pounds or even for free! The only drawback is that once you’ve worked your magic on an item, you might have difficulty selling them.
Furniture upcycling can actually become a full-time job once you’ve worked out how to sell your finished pieces. You might think you need a shop. Well, you don’t! You don’t need premises, you don’t even need much advertising; all you need is a spare room or garage and a Facebook Business page and maybe a Pinterest presence.
You don’t need mad artistic or creative skillz… Of course, you need a certain amount of competence and vision, but if you’re upcycling, most of the design work has been done
for you! If you are very creative or artistic, then that’s even better, but it’s not essential.
Find Furniture
You must have heard the old adage, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” It couldn’t be truer in furniture upcycling. Start with family and friends and gather all their unwanted wares – for free. Find discarded furniture at places like thrift shops, Gumtree,
house clearances, auctions, flea markets, freecycle, at the side of the road
and at garage sales.
Something that is very important is learning to identify the quality of old furniture. You don’t want a dilapidated piece of wood that could be rotten, for example. You will not be able to sand and re-stain fake wood (veneers), as you’ll just end up with plywood.
When you start to upcycle, you need to start small. Look for unique pieces like small dressers, nightstands or sofa tables. Try to avoid a previously-painted piece though, as you will slice some of your profits with the additional work that will be required to scrape, burn or dissolve off the paint.
But I’m No Carpenter!
You might think you are not a cabinet maker, joiner or wood specialist, so you can’t do it. The joinery has already been done! You don’t need any special skills or be a qualified carpenter to upscale. You just need a keen eye for quality and some elbow grease. You will obviously need to clean the piece. If the wood is very shiny, you should sand it down with
sandpaper as it gives the paint a grip. You might not have to sand down to the bare wood, but at least sand down the shiny paint or varnish it could have. Even if it’s not shiny, good advice is to sand it, nonetheless to smooth out any scratches or dents.
You might need to use some wood filler to fix holes and damage. You can buy it as putty in a range of colours which you can then mix to get a good colour match.
Then you need to paint, which is easy! Watch some YouTube videos and check out a few furniture painting tutorials.
Don’t Go Cheap!
It takes money to make money, as the saying goes and it applies to furniture upcycling too! You want to make as much profit as possible, but don’t skimp on the sealer and paint quality. Keep in mind that quality supplies will result in quality products. When
you have to buy knobs and drawer pulls, don’t to buy the absolute best, but skip the really obviously cheap end parts.
Finishing touches like handles can transform a piece furniture so always keep on the lookout for good suppliers and keep up to date with what they have in stock. You can also use wallpaper, magazines and newspaper to surface some or all of your furniture. Cut it to size carefully, use wallpaper paste to glue it on and then, when it’s dry, use a clear top coat of paint to seal and protect.
Spray paint is expensive but it is easy to use and comes in some great finishes including sparkles! You can find spray paint for plastic, wood, metal and tile. The best bit is that it is great for getting into those hard to reach places and it won’t leave brush marks.
Zero Waste
We are all trying to use less waste and no thrown things away that can be reused. Why not make some money from this? There are loads of ideas of ways to be creative with plastic and other waste – just do some Googling and browse though Pinterest. You can turn rubbish into products that people will buy!
Learn to take great pictures
They will be your selling point after all. You need to take high- quality pictures with the finer details clearly visible. People also like to envision the space allocation and uses for the piece, so try to create scenes that demonstrate how the pieces can be used.
Create a Facebook Business Page
It’s free and simple and when you have enough followers, you’ll find it an amazing platform to sell. Everybody’s on Facebook and it’s certainly one of the first places that anyone goes when looking at buying or selling stuff. Other platforms with great selling potential are Gumtree, Amazon, eBay and Etsy.
Pricing your upcycled furniture
Do a cost-benefit analysis. Consider the cost of the furniture and your supplies and be realistic in considering your selling price. Check out the prices of similar furniture pieces and keep in mind that you if you overprice several pieces that you advertise,
nobody will look at the pieces you apply next time. Don’t be greedy; if people are regularly coming to you with offers £10 below your listing price, then maybe that’s the sweet spot.
