My Resene Upcycling Award entry

Marilyn from The Brook

My up-cycling used some old furniture on my deck. It also required a new deck which was rotten and dangerous. I was looking at new furniture for the deck but decided to posh up the old pieces which have more interesting stories. The brown bench seat was a throw out on the side of the road from one of the Brook St, Nelson neighbours. It was barely holding together so I used some screws and bolts and filler to get it stable and tidy. A sand and coat of stain helped bring it back to life. My kind deck builder (who I found on Neighbourly) suggested he use some of the mesh (used for a corner of the deck to support my pot plants) to infill the ends. The church pew came years ago from the Church of Christ in Rutherford St in Nelson and was falling apart after sitting on my deck for so many years. Again my kind builder repaired it voluntarily so I diligently sanded, filled and undercoated with Resene undercoat and top coated with Resene Paradise. The table was old untreated wood, grey with age and with no protective coating so another sanding job and some more filling. Undercoating and a number of test pots of Resene Bullion saw a golden top, and legs in sparkling deep blue Resene Sputnik. The framework of the deck roof I sanded, undercoated and top coated in Resene paint, this time in Sunflower. A coat of the same Resene paint I used to paint the bamboo screen. I finished off with a recycled duvet cover in mustard and white fabric to line the roof. Last weekend a lovely woman was selling a bench seat squab on Neighbourly in the exact colour I needed and perfect size! The finishing touch was a Smashing (Resene match) hibiscus in a Hot August (Resene match) pot from my daughter for Mother's Day. This project was completed over a number of months. Had I realised I would be entering this competition I would have been more careful with my photography and the odd unintended props!

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