Recycling Objects

Use empty glass bottles and jars to create a relaxed flower arrangement. Retrieve them from your recycling bin and group together en masse. Choose a variety of heights, shapes, sizes and colours to maximise the eclectic look. Add vibrancy by painting bands of colour around some of them – don’t worry if it’s not perfectly painted: this heightens its appealing nonchalance.

A garden trug creates a rustic alternative to the traditional china cachepot and is capacious enough for several pots. Keep the plants in their plastic pots with saucers so you can water them without anything leaking into the wood. Intersperse with cut branches – which can be pushed down into the soil – to create height and counter-balance the bottom-heavy trug.

Cover an old chair with a vintage flag to hide a multitude of upholstery sins and to fly the colours where everyone can see them.

With a bit of lateral thinking, unusual finds such as these wooden lasts (traditionally used in shoe making) can be turned into unique coat and bag hooks. Think in odd numbers when grouping items together, in this case three, but five would work well too.

Pile a collection of old boxes one on top of the other for a vintage take on a tallboy. Keep to one palette of colours to unify the look but alternate the shape of the boxes to create an interesting silhouette.

Replace traditional window boxes with a row of old-fashioned Brown Betty teapots for a quirky take on the English window sill. Line them up facing the same direction to increase the humorous tone and plant them with cottage-style flowers for a charming shabby-chic look. The spout is ideal place for watering the plants.

A cast-off piece of wood is ideal for creating a rustic headboard. Cut it down to size to fit the width of the bed and fix it high enough to have it floating on the wall to fully appreciate its shape and texture.

Transform pavement finds into a beautiful corner. An unremarkable armchair is covered with a throw to give it a new lease of life and an empty crate is turned upside down for an improvised side table. Put a vase of flowers or table lamp on the crate to create a sense of place.