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New, Nearly New or Used?

1st April 2018

It’s Easter Sunday, children everywhere are eating far more chocolate eggs than their tummy’s can manage and Spring has officially sprung!! That means longer days, new season fashion and the promise of warmer days are coming… woohoo!!!

 

What’s new at BEAD INTERIORS HQ?

Well over the last few weeks I have been on the lookout for old and interesting or quirky retro furniture in need of some TLC. I have recently added the new ‘upcycle workshop’ service to our ‘Alternative Approach’ package, where I will be redesigning and restoring items of furniture or using elements from it to create a new more relevant piece of furniture or accessory. It will then be used in a future project or sold on this site as a new totally unique one-off piece. If it’s your own item you would like us to makeover I will personally ensure your previously loved item is handled with care and returned to you better than it was before.

It seems nowadays buying second hand is now cool and totally acceptable. That can be said not only for furniture but also personal fashion items and especially when you slip the word “vintage” in the mix (which I think sounds better than saying ‘second hand’), it then becomes ‘on trend’ and current. Although most vintage labelled items are brand new versions of past trends and iconic pieces, many however are original pieces from that time and have been previously owned and “once loved” hopefully from someone clean and somewhere well-kept and not from an undesirable household or storage facility with bugs and rodents. Online shopping plays a huge part in the options now available to us regarding sourcing specific styles and trends past and present.

The idea of it not being yours first or having been in someone else’s home may not sit right with everyone; strange when the majority of us all buy used cars and move into homes lived in by other people. “It’s not the same!” I bet you’re saying but when you simplify it, it really is. When you get a used car, you get it valeted or the dealer does it for you and you get that ‘new car smell’. When you move into a new property, you give it a good spring clean and begin making it your home. The same can be applied for furniture or fashion finds, you make that item your own and where possible remove any signs that it belonged to someone else if that’s what bothers you. When shopping for new things it ultimately comes down to it being the right product, the most suitable to compliment the design and/or styling, and that can be new off the shelf, made bespoke or to order, or from a previous owner.

Gone are the days when as a teenager I wouldn’t be seen dead in a charity shop or car boot sale, now I have to resist the urge to pop into those odds and sods shops or house clearance sites as I could quite happily browse for hours, with concepts floating around in my mind of what it would look like painted a particular shade of grey or if that chair was re-upholstered in that fabric I’m dying to use, the possibilities of revamping an item are endless.
The thought of the good we are doing buying from a charity shop supporting a good cause doesn’t always cross the mind unless you have a personal connection to that charity or cause. Nowadays reducing your carbon footprint is also much more important than ever before, so doing our part to help our environment means buying things with less packaging and manufacturing processes.

I think we should all try not to be “buy new” snobs. Why not explore the possibilities of upcycling some of your own bits and bobs, go Vintage! Most fashion trends do a 5-10 year cycle and so this seasons on trend items was probably on trend back in the 90s or before, and some of those pieces are better than what you’d find in the high street’s now. You never know, your older family members may still have some items you could update to modern day, then ‘voila’ you have your own original item that no one else has, and just like that you have become a trend setter and fashionista in your own right.

If you have a once loved item of furniture or fashion, why not get in touch and see if we can do something special with it. Fill out the contact form on this page and let’s get the ball rolling.

Be Experimental, Artistic, Distinctive.

Nicola, Creative Director – Bead Interiors Ltd