Hi! I’m Antonia, a London-based freelance copywriter and content creator with a life long affection for art and design.
Some years ago, whilst writing about interiors for magazines, I was looking for something that would allow me to curate beautiful things that I thought were worth talking about.
Around this time, my very good friend (and talented illustrator) Sophie Crichton was trying her hand at transforming furniture she’d found on the street with detailed illustrations. It highlighted to me the imagination and skill required to create a truly beautiful, durable and desirable product from ‘waste’.
And so, in 2011, Upcyclist.co.uk was born – a blog reporting on extraordinary buildings, rooms, furnishings and objects made from redundant materials.
It began as an online space that featured expertly upcycled works of art and design. Often there was no eco-conscious motive for these pieces. Old materials and objects simply offered something that cannot be created from new. These designer-makers demonstrated resourcefulness, but also drew attention to our attitudes to waste, how we produce and how we consume.
Today, products and ideas featured on Upcyclist are based around an interior style that I’m particularly drawn to. It celebrates handcrafted, natural, vintage and repurposed elements. Whilst driven by a love of beautiful interiors that reincarnate objects with a history, you’ll also find info on new products from today’s designers and brands and their efforts to be kinder to the planet.
Whether it’s a bedroom furnished with vintage finds, a table made from salvaged wood or a blanket made from biodegradable natural fibres, Upcyclist inspires readers to create beautiful living spaces, alongside a mindful curiosity towards the things that surround us; the stories behind them, the people who make them, the materials they are made from and where they will end up.
If you have a story that you think may be of interest, please contact antonia@upcyclist.co.uk
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Antonia Edwards is the author of Upcyclist: Reclaimed and Remade Furniture, Lighting and Interiors (Prestel Publishing, 2015) and Renovate Innovate: Reclaimed and Upcycled Homes (Prestel Publishing, 2017). In 2015, she was selected for the The Evening Standard’s Progress 1000 list of influential Londoners.
