Repurposed furniture is seeing a surge in popularity and last week I launched a rather more personal website project.
My husband, the original “Man Who Can” handyman, has branched out into a sideline, creating stunning dining furniture, console tables, garden furniture, and coffee tables from repurposed scaffolding boards.
Upcycling or repurposing has become more popular in recent years and I think we are all becoming more and more aware of the unnecessary overconsumption of goods in the world today. I am in my mid-40s, and I remember that my parents and grandparents used to repair and mend things before they ever considered throwing them out. The last 30 years have seen people become very accustomed to a throwaway culture. The clothing industry is certainly the most guilty in this regard. We buy cheaply and then throw items away at the end of a season. It’s rare to buy a quality item and expect to keep it for years to come.
For this reason, I have been so delighted to see an increase in upcycling and repurposing of old furniture, scaffolding boards and even pallets.
The idea to create Bee-purposed grew from a Mother’s Day gift my husband made for his own mum this year. She needed a new garden table and he designed a beautiful one with scaffolding boards and some gorgeous hairpin legs. Having nosed around Instagram and online, we came to the conclusion that this small business might well be worth a go! Being from Manchester, with the symbol of the industrious worker bee, Bee-purposed was born!
This e-commerce website enables customers to select the exact dimensions, leg designs and colours of their choice and then takes them directly to their cart to check out and pay with either PayPal or Stripe. The website design also allows the business owner to check the orders, find customer details, and print shipping labels and invoices. Every stage of the small business transaction is taken care of and is secured with Wordfence security and of course an SSL certificate.
