Flip it: We have a go at furniture upcycling. See what happened

We roadtest Irish upcycling queen Joanne Condon's book aimed at everyone from beginners to advanced furniture flippers 

Joanne takes an old brown dressing table and converts it into a desk by removing the mirror, giving it a paint makeover and adding some fabulous drawer handles.

The idea of upcycling really appeals — although my enthusiasm nose-dives at the thought of producing something I wouldn’t want on show as I do a sweep round the local second-hand shop in pursuit of a target.

I’m thinking paint drips, rogue brush hairs painted in permanently and shabby chic chips, an interior style that just doesn’t do it for me. You can either be shabby or chic but not both.

Learn how to paint the intricate structure of a wicker chair for a standout piece in the home.

I’d hate an imperfect finish even though I did a really rewarding workshop last year with the fabulous Irish queen of upcycling and furniture flipping, Joanne Condon. I even have a finished side table to show for it of which I’m quite proud and retain bragging rights.

That was a year ago and for all my talk about starting a project on my own, I didn’t even get as far as acquiring a paintbrush as it didn’t seem quite the same as participating in the workshop where I had the security blanket of Joanne’s supervision and the camaraderie of fellow students, some of them absolute beginners like me.

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But when a new interiors book landed in my inbox recently on the topic of flipping has-been pieces of furniture and I saw it was written by Joanne, I got a second wind of enthusiasm.

Joanne Condon, furniture artist and author of Furniture Flips, a guide on how to choose, upcycle and transform a piece of furniture.

The pictures alone of techniques I used or saw others use in the workshop popped out at me, and lots of new things too, but I thought a chat with Joanne was in order first.

When she’s not driving around the country teaching workshops, she’s at home in Clonmel where she started penning her book last year, Furniture Flips, which hits the bookshop shelves on June 13.

Furniture Flips by Joanne Condon, published by CICO Books (€23.02).

It seems the planets were in alignment or maybe it was good old-fashioned serendipity at work when the opportunity to write this book came along, having self-published her first.

“I was already keeping notes on techniques I hadn’t used before for a second book when I got a message out of the blue on Instagram from the editor at CICO [Books],” she says. 

A finished daisy project piece.

“I felt it was a sign and I went with it.”

Her own step into upcycling began with a visit some years ago to her brother’s house where she spotted a pine unit outside by the bin.

“He said I could have it but he was laughing at me for sanding it back and painting it.”

It was, however, Joanne who had the last laugh. “When I opened my shop he didn’t recognise it and he bought it off me. It’s still hanging on his bathroom wall. Just because it’s an old piece or it was the cheapest doesn’t mean it can’t be your favourite piece in the house.”

Joanne takes an old brown dressing table and converts it into a desk by removing the mirror, giving it a paint makeover and adding some fabulous drawer handles.

It just goes to show that one person’s rubbish is another’s treasure and Joanne has developed her favourite destinations for picking up little pieces that are perfect for the nervous and novice.

“Charity shops will always have a stool in the corner.”

Inspired by the book’s pictures of finished beauties, from sideboards to old knotty pine chests, I’m tempted by a look which is partly painted and part timber cleaned up and ripe for a drink of beeswax finish.

This half-and-half technique adds a refreshing element of paint with the original wood edged in a photocopy transfer.

In need of some self-coaxing, I honed in on the book’s section, Easy Flips, directed at beginners. Further sections are for intermediate and advanced upcyclers to help really hone their skills and techniques, but Joanne sensibly reminds me that the beauty of upcycling is if you make a mistake you can paint over it.

“I’ve painted things 10 or 11 times,” she admits, even finding that sometimes mistakes yielded a better outcome.

Creating colour accents like these arches can be achieved with measuring tape and using plates or saucepan lids to achieve the shape.

“Tools are basic, nothing fancy or expensive,” Joanne says encouragingly. “Paint brushes are cheap. Get a medium sanding block, a mask, sugar soap for €2 will last 20 projects; a good brand of primer and paint, a nice brush and roller. You can get a pack of five Dosco brushes for under a tenner.

“You’ll save on a good brand of paint with fewer coats and you won’t be fighting drips. Go for one that works on wood and metal.”

Carol took Joanne's advice when choosing paint for this side table, and used Acres Hall ('a sort of Irish Farrow & Ball', says Carol).

Choosing paint is often where a project succeeds or fails and I remember Joanne’s advice about using Acres Hall - a sort of Irish Farrow & Ball - on my sidetable. A year on and there’s not a scratch or chip.

'A year on and there’s not a scratch or chip,' says Carol.

• Furniture Flips by Joanne Condon is published by CICO Books on June 13, €23.02
• Instagram - joannecondon

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