Did you catch it last night?
I’m so excited that Kirstie Allsopp’s Fill Your House For Free is back for a second series!
I know that some people said last time that it was unrealistic as they had a whole team searching the country for the best of the free stuff the likes of Freegle and Gumtree, but I just love it and I think that it introduces the concept of secondhand and re-use to a whole new audience-which is pretty rad (told you I would be using that word more..!)
And as Kirstie points out in the intro, with over 10 million items of furniture being discarded every year, every bit of help to halt/reverse this trend is desperately needed.
If you had been inspired by some of the things in the show, I have done a quick Pinterest search selflessly scoured the internet for hours, and compiled some tutorials and pictures to help you reproduce some of the upcycles from last night’s episode.
From the featured home
Comic/Magazine Mirror
-a bit like this!
Picture from Etsy via Pinterest
I couldn’t find a tutorial for the exact same mirror they had in the house, but here is a tutorial for making the rolls of magazine/comics, and here is a tutorial for a slightly different version
Hanging Branch
For well, hanging things…!
Here is a great post from Apartment Therapy with some ideas for ‘branching out’!
Pic from Apartment Therapy
Scaffold Plank Worktop
The couple in the programme had made a beautiful worktop for their kitchen from reclaimed scaffold boards. They glossed over a bit how exactly to do it, but if you’ve been inspired to re-use some scaffold boards-I’ve made a whole new Pinterest board, just for that very thing!
From the rest of the show
Cricket Helmet Lamp
Charis, one of the designers on the show, made a lamp from a cricket helmet. It is very cool!
There is a tutorial here from Charis Matthews herself, on the C4 site
Apple Crate Storage Boxes
In the show, they had some great boxes for strong the kid’s toys in, made from old apple crates, with cushioned hinged lids, a bit like this
Picture from Pinterest
And it turns out, that apple crates are almost as versatile as pallets-I’ve had to set up yet another Pinterest board!
So, hands up who’ll be tuning in next week for episode 2? I know I will be 🙂
My Make Do and Mend Year 
I haven’t seen it yet, will have to get it on catch up. Excited! As you say it is spreading the word about upcycling/repurposing and providing inspiration – we all know TV dolls everything up! 🙂
Do try and watch it on 4 OD, I really enjoyed it!
Reblogged this on Linda's wildlife garden and commented:
Awesome update thank you for sharing
Sounds like a show they should emulated the world over! The amount of stuff I see on kerbs, esp at the end of university semesters, is INSANE!
Yes, there really should be a show in every country. And it should be on year round..!!
What an excellent idea for a post Jen, expanding on the DIY projects of a TV show! (& you’ve inspired me to catch up on Kirstie’s latest series too 🙂 )
Thankyou! Do let us know what you think after you’ve watched 🙂
Great post Jen. Well done!
Apple crates or wooden crates of any kind are like hen’s teeth. Finding them is more of a challenge than doing something with them. Unless I’m missing a trick somewhere??
I agree-very rare, and very expensive. Same with wine crates. Lovely though, if you can get your hands on some!
I love the cushioned hinged lid, one to try out in the future! Great post.
Thankyou!
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