Ethical Inspiration....Upcycle your furniture!

I always seem to love everyone else's homes more than my own. I think I have house jealousy!! As we are only renting I have never invested in any "nice" furniture and am quite ashamed to admit that most of it is from Ikea. ( slap wrists! ) Trying to collect nice vintage furniture at a good price is very difficult in the UK...you have to scour the carboots and markets and it is mostly too overpriced! I do love the idea of upcycling though, finding an old, unloved piece of furniture and turning it into something beautiful is such a great way to get something unique. With the looming credit crunch as well - there has never been a better time to look at your old furniture in a new light!! You just need some imagination!! Check out the ikea hacker blog for inspiration and I love design sponge online's before and after posts.