Transforming trash into treasure

With over 62,000 followers on her Instagram handle (@designdecortravel), design influencer Navneet Sandhu Singh is all about upcycled and hue-heavy decor and design. “My social media journey started in September 2018, out of a desire to connect to fellow decor enthusiasts and find the right audience for my upcycling adventures,” she shares.Singh is an architect by profession and is currently working as an assistant professor with MBS School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi. “In between teaching architecture and designing spaces, I was bitten by the passion of breathing new life into exhausted pieces of furniture. And thus the idea of exercising my creativity towards designing more sustainable spaces was born,” she says. This passion led her to restore and revamp things for her home as well as clients. Soon she realised that any discarded item could be transformed into a beautiful conversation starter. “Every corner of my house started narrating a trash to treasure story,” says Singh.“My content evolves around styling spaces which narrate these sustainable practices. I also share DIY ideas and tips on styling spaces. I love greenery, so the content also overflows with garden decor tips,” she adds.Singh believes that every door has a story to share and every wall has a tale to tell. “All those who know me say I have a love affair with old doors, windows and everything cast off,” she says. In her own home, while one window is repurposed as a bookshelf in the gazebo, the other is upcycled into a wall art. In fact, doors have been repurposed as shelves to place plants in her lawn. “Two years ago I transformed a fruit cart into a six-seater dining table and tyres (thrown away in the trash previously) into comfortable poufs, the video of its making grabbed more than 6 million views,” she says.Currently located at Roorkee (Uttarakhand), Singh grew up moving and travelling all around India sometimes even to remote areas (she is from an Army background and is married to an army officer). “Whether it was the rich heritage of a region or its vibrant festivals, the colourful monasteries or the majestic havelis, the narrow corbelled streets or the aroma of local food, every place I stayed in, inspired me and I went on picking colour from every aspect of its local architecture. I borrow my inspiration from these travel tales while playing around with the colour, texture and patterns,” she says.As for styling tips and tricks. “All through the years, being in the design field, the one thing I’ve come to believe is that every space evolves from its surroundings blended with your personal style. I follow a very simple mantra: imagine, explore, execute. All you need to do is imagine the look you want to give to the space, explore the available resources and go on to execute the plan. Let it reflect your personal style,” says Singh.Published By: Vishakha SharmaPublished On: Oct 23, 2021 01:21 IST--- ENDS ---

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Transforming trash into treasure

Giving discarded pieces, from tyres to old doors, a new lease of life, we map the journey of an influencer with a passion for upcycling.

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