2023 UpScale ReSale ReCap - Part 1

It’s hard to believe the UpScale ReSale has already come and gone! It was such an incredible event with so many talented designers and I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to participate and to meet so many wonderful people over the course of the weekend. In case you didn’t know, there are some really kind and generous people here in the Wilmington area and the event raised ~$35,000! I am truly blown away and so happy to know that that money will be helping families in our area to have safe and affordable housing.

In case you haven’t heard about UpScale ReSale, here is a little insight into the event:

This is the 7th year the design competition has taken place and this year there were 16 designers participating. Each designer was tasked with upcycling, repurposing, and redesigning items from the 3 Habitat ReStore locations in Wilmington to create a vignette in which all items were available for purchase with proceeds going back to Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity. We were given the items free of charge and all items were catalogued at the stores. Each designer was gifted 2 quarts of chalk paint by recolor in the color(s) of their choosing. There were no rules regarding what type of space you should create, no theme, and no maximum/minimum number of items allowed. The only limitation was what you were able to find at a Habitat ReStore. Anything that did not sell was then returned to the Habitat ReStore and available for purchase at one of the stores.

Over the course of the past few months I have given a few sneak peeks of what I was working on but now that it’s over I can give more details. For this particular post I will give a brief recap of the furniture found in the space and how I transformed them. Check back next week for information on the decorative pieces I completed!

For this year’s event, I completed a Coastal Tween Bedroom complete with bed, desk, chair, dresser, bedside table, lighting, and art.  The client I had in mind was an 8-11 year-old who was looking to make their room more sophisticated but not stuffy, youthful but not childish. I took inspiration from the styles and trends we are seeing in home décor (e.g. cane accents, calming neutrals, etc.) as well as the Tweens I know and love who are into all things beach and flamingos.  Put it all together and voila!  A Coastal Tween bedroom perfect for any home or vacation rental.

The main piece for the room was this twin bed by Ethan Allen. The honey colored solid wood bed was in great condition however it was quite dated. I decided to give it a classic yet contemporary coastal facelift by painting it “Glass” by recolor and applying radioweave caning to the panels on both the headboard and footboard. Instead of leaving the matte finish of the chalk paint, I covered the piece in a few coats of polycrylic to protect the paint job and give it a satin sheen.

The bedside table was originally a matte black with black cane detail and black hardware. The thing that makes this piece so wonderful is that not only does it have storage but it also has 2 outlets and 2 USB ports on the side of the table. The overall design of the piece was cute but felt bland. I painted the whole piece in recolor “Canvas”, covered the piece in a couple coats of polycrylic to protect it and give it a sheen, and painted the drawer pull and covered it with several coats of clear spray paint to make the finish last. However, what I love most about the transformation was the wallpaper detail I applied to the inside of the drawer. The wallpaper was also found at the Habitat ReStore and the whimsical pattern and color scheme were perfect for this room!

This adorable swivel chair is perfect for a vanity or desk. The wood needed to be minimally cleaned however the fabric was very faded. I initially thought I would recover the chair however, upon further inspection, I realized that the upholstery had piping and multiple seams - DEFINITELY beyond the realm of possibility for me. I took a gamble and decided to paint the fabric. I had seen this done before but had never tried it myself. I used the same “Canvas” chalk paint by recolor and finished with Soft Southern Strokes clear wax and I have to say, I am AMAZED at how well it turned out! The fabric is pliable and doesn’t crack and feels like leather due to the wax finish. I have a full fabric painting tutorial coming so if you’re interested in further details, check back soon! Everyone who asked about the chair was astonished when I told them the fabric had been painted. At one point, one of the volunteers at the event came over and said “ok I have to feel this chair because I keep hearing people call their friends over to check it out!”

This desk was in great shape but there were many scratches on the piece and the keyboard drawer wasn’t working properly. I used “Canvas” by recolor once again to keep the piece neutral so that it could be used in nearly any space while remaining cohesive with the pieces in this particular vignette. I ultimately decided to remove the keyboard drawer to increase functionality. When I tried to clean the hardware with Brasso, it returned to it’s original brilliant brass but became splotchy in many places, looking dirty rather than aged. I decided to paint the hardware a color similar to its original brass and covered in multiple layers of clear paint to increase durability. My favorite parts of this desk are the discreet retractable writing surfaces which I decided to leave in their original stain to provide a natural accent and increase the sophistication level of the piece.

The one piece of furniture I did nothing to but clean it was the dresser/secretary. Once I saw the beautiful woodgrain on this piece I knew I had to have it! When I was checking to make sure all of the drawers slid properly, imagine my surprise and absolute delight when I discovered the secretary hidden in the second drawer! Such a fun detail and I know I would have thought it was the coolest hiding spot for all of my treasured items when I was a kid. When I picked up the piece, the associate at that store asked warily, “what are you going to do with this piece?” When I told him I only planned on cleaning it up he immediately looked relieved and said “oh thank goodness! I was worried you were going to paint it!” Paint over that beautiful perfect wood?! No way! My only regret with this piece is that I don’t have a place for it in my own home!

So there you have it, a quick recap of what took countless hours to complete. What questions do you have? What do you like or dislike? Let us know in the comments and come back for next week’s post about all of the details in the space!

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