How many times have we stood amidst a pile of odds and ends, scratching our heads and muttering, "What on earth do I need this for?"
We're living in the era of swift swaps, where bidding adieu to our belongings is as easy as swapping out yesterday's outfit for today's trend. But hold up! Before we send yet another toaster or a chair off to the landfill, let's pause and give these "things" a second chance. Not only do we snag some seriously unique finds, but we also save ourselves from dropping rent-sized bucks on new knick-knacks.
Now, let's talk about Slowhop's groovy take on the circular economy. Picture this: our hosts are like upcycling wizards, transforming "waste" and cast-off items into treasures, prolonging their age so much that they could outshine even cats or Tibetan lamas. And it's not just about sprucing up old nightstands—these eco-warriors are turning forgotten curtains into works of art and even resurrecting entire houses from the rubble of demolition! Check out our stellar hosts rocking the eco-tag "A large part of the furnishings come from recovery (e.g., recycling, upcycling)." Get ready to meet the true heroes and heroines of circular art!
Meet Karolina and Marek, the upcycling duo extraordinaire!
A whopping 95% of their home's furnishings come from second-hand sources, creating a charming blend of styles in their 120-year-old Masurian cottage, once a rectory.
They've worked their magic on most of the furniture, turning everyday items into quirky treasures. Picture a stool crafted from a bicycle saddle, a lamp ingeniously fashioned from coat hooks, and bedside lamps repurposed from old bicycle lights. Even a medical cabinet has found new life as a wardrobe! Their creativity knows no bounds – a table made from sports hall flooring, mirrors from old manor house windows, and lamps from fishing sieves add character to every corner. And let's not forget the floor lamp, a delightful fusion of an antique photographic tripod and an old ceiling lamp!
For over a year now, they've been curating a mini vintage shop filled with amazing finds from Swedish loppis (garage sales). Step into their world of whimsy and wonder!
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In Iwona's two cozy wooden retreats, ancient wood from a rustic Łomża cottage has been reborn, bringing back its former glory. This rustic charm not only adds to the ambiance but also treats guests to a refreshing microclimate and a subtle whiff of pine-scented aromatherapy.
60-year-old renovated material was used for the construction of the conservatory, while the beams forming the walls, structural beams, windows, doors, and floors are all original and have seen over 100 springs. The conservatory's windows don't particularly stand out from the rest of this historic interior, as they were bought for a pittance after being dismantled from another building.
The hostess made sure that even the thermal insulation drew from the idea of a closed-loop economy, as it was made entirely from cellulose sourced from recycling.
If someone wanted to run a campaign promoting the circular economy, they would find excellent scenery here. No need to lug in props because the vast majority are salvaged and revamped.
One standout upcycling masterpiece by Wojtek is the kitchen-dining area. It's crafted from beams of an old Prussian house, with a table at its heart made from discarded stonecutter waste and pre-war steel beams from Warsaw (complete with bullet traces!). Completing the scene is a pizza oven built from shattered roof tiles, along with other restored odds and ends.
There are sinks made from old copper bowls, lamps fashioned from salvaged parts, and furniture and mirrors sourced from various antiques.
Siedlisko Borówkowo enchants with its old timber. When you're there, take a closer look at the ceiling beams, where you'll find original numbered markings. The hosts aren't shy about their DIY upgrades, and from their hands came, among other things, wardrobes in every room.
Hardly anyone can pass by a dresser - designed and made by the hosts - made from an old window, without noticing it. Another member of the dresser family was found in the depths of an old barn, and, although the initial layer didn't offer much hope, Krzyś consistently and diligently restored it. Now it stands under the canopy, providing a Mediterranean aura with its azure coating.Furthermore, all the armchairs were given a furniture spa, so guests can choose from comfortable horizontal surfaces; all the furnishings have been given a second life.
"Our barn, which we meticulously care for, is also slowly gaining a rosy glow," summarizes Beata. The enthusiasm for upcycling has resulted in cleaned bricks and spackled crevices. Now it's time to clean the original roof tiles so that they can match the charm of those that can be admired on the roof of the house after renovation.
Most of the furnishings in Kotowo might intrigue with their own history, as they have been refurbished from existing equipment or supplemented with treasures found at flea markets. The ruin of the house from around 1880 underwent intensive rehabilitation. "Our biggest upcycling took place during the construction phase," recalls Paulina.
"We dismantled the roof and ceiling due to the need to replace structural elements. We kept everything: old roof tiles, which we washed and laid back on the new roof; bricks, from which we built walls, chimneys, etc.; beams, boards, and other wooden elements, from which we made furniture, tables, shelves, etc. We bought old cobblestones from a pre-war road and made a driveway. We collect furniture, fabrics, and trinkets.
Besides the ecological aspect, it is also a matter of the intangible heritage of the region - preserving the roof tiles, restoring the facade, using cobblestones instead of concrete blocks - these are elements that embed the building in the historical context of the area. They make it blend into the surroundings, avoiding dissonance in the idyllic landscape." As you can see, circular economy runs in the blood of these hosts.
Here also one could write an entire saga about the circular economy. It could probably serve as a textbook with plenty of practical examples. The hosts rescued the house from ruins, restoring it in accordance with the art of ecological construction: natural materials (including breathable clay plaster) and reclaimed, still good resources (such as wood, used roof tiles, or floorboards from old rafters). The wooden facade harmoniously blends into the surrounding landscape. Interestingly, this is probably one of the few places where you won't find PVC - not even in cables, sockets, or pipes! Here, furniture is upholstered with fabrics from thrift stores, old ceramic drains are turned into homes for mason bees, and jars are given to a neighbor who makes preserves. Nothing organic is wasted either, as the hosts diligently compost.
"We have kayaks from decommissioned military assets. We’ve already grown a sizable grove from Christmas trees that we buy and then plant. Even citrus peels dry on the tile stove and serve as kindling, unless I turn them into candied treats or limoncello," lists Iza. The idea of a floor made from old, Prussian demolition bricks, once met with indulgent smiles, now makes a bigger impression than Mexican terracotta and stands as a source of upcycling pride for the hosts.
The hostess rescued a lot of old furniture, from which new kitchen fronts were made, and the stones securing the stove came from excavations for the foundations. Local materials were used in construction, such as local stone and hazel branches from the plot, which were handwoven into a fence. The dresser, bedside table, and desk also received new life.
But that's not all. Even grandma got in on the upcycling action – the living room wall is made from the dismantled boards of her old house.
Have you ever seen reclaimed bricks sliced into tiles? Well, in Trzy Stawy, you can admire such decorations on the walls in the living room. Here, various "waste" materials have found asylum - from unwanted building materials to forgotten books.
"When furnishing the interior of the house, we were guided, on one hand, by the comfort of being in it, and on the other hand, we didn't want to overshadow what's most important here: nature and the views from the windows," writes Ola. In the upcycling collection, the hostess mentions a dining table made from reclaimed wood (which her mom hunted down because her parents are also into the idea of the circular economy), a vanity table from a piece of attic wood, a vanity from staircase steps (yes, that's a hit!), which was left over from stair construction, and scraps from the workshop of a friendly carpenter, which the hosts turn into coffee tables, bedside tables, and plant pot stands.
Meanwhile, the kitchen boasts cutting boards made from leftover kitchen countertops. Word of Ola's upcycling passion led to their living room bookcase being enriched with books from the closure of a bookstore, so they can still delight interested readers.
In the saga of salvaged treasures, Monika breezes through her list, proudly mentioning the front doors to their pondside cottage. These doors, rescued from a vintage Podlasie cottage straight out of the swinging '60s, hail all the way from the depths of the Knyszyn Primeval Forest.
"Let me paint you a picture: back when we were still Down Under in Australia, Dad scored this classic Podlasie beauty on a whim – a rustic gem made of stunning logs. This cottage lay spread out in our barn, waiting for us to decide to return to Poland to assemble it and live in it. But it turned out to be too small for our needs, so it was taken over by a friend from a neighboring village. All that remained were its windows and these glorious doors." reminisces Monika, with a twinkle in her eye. "Now, they stand proudly, sporting a fetching shade of deep red, adorning the entryway to our charming cottage by the pond."
At Pieńki Wiewiórki, they're like eco-warriors, dodging the ecological time bomb of electronic waste. "You know how it is," Tomek chuckles, "Everyone's swapping phones faster than you can say 'upgrade'!" But not them – they proudly boast a 41-year-old Pioneer music system, a real family heirloom. "We gave it a little facelift, and now it's the star of the living room, resting gracefully on an old sewing machine table made from spare stair parts."
Pieńki Wiewiórki also have a knack for turning trash into treasure. "From pallet scraps to compost bins, we've got it all covered!" They've even got a moss-covered compost bin blending in with the scenery. And those lamps rescued from the trash? Now they're lighting up one of their houses. As for the table in Łoszak, their second home, it’s a spool repurposed from old cables.
Their private forest is also tenderly cared for, so when their 150-year-old linden tree deteriorated, instead of cutting it down, they called an arborist. Thanks to that treatment, the old tree is buzzing with life again, with bees and woodpeckers making themselves at home among its branches. Now that's what I call a green thumbs-up for nature and circular thinking!
When it comes to upcycling and embracing the circular economy, these hosts deserve more than just a pat on the back – they'd probably need a whole constellation of stars!
"We've always had a soft spot for antiques, and it seems I've passed that trait down to our daughter," admits the hostess, who is an archaeologist. Their treasure hunting adventures range from local scrap yards to online groups with unwanted goodies. While they may not personally chase after the "Uwaga śmieciarka jedzie" calls (they're happily tucked away in the countryside), their daughter occasionally swoops in with some urban gems from Warsaw, like quirky vases and vintage dishware.
But the real jackpot? That's their homes, rescued from the jaws of destruction. They're not shy about diving into demolition sites (with permission, of course) to unearth treasures like 19th-century samovars and antique fire trucks. Their places aren't just filled with refreshed gadgets; they're practically museums of inventive creations made from pallets, crates, and salvaged odds and ends. And don't even get them started on their food waste strategy – they're composting champs!
Here, not a single piece of wood goes to waste. Even after the construction was completed, when the craftsmen suggested making a bonfire out of leftover siding, the hosts cringed at the thought of such wastefulness. Instead of sending the scraps up in smoke, they repurposed them to create a cover for the air conditioning unit, as well as benches and a patio table, perfect for reviving with a cup of coffee. Looking at the panorama from the photo, we nod in approval.
"My dad was a carpenter, and that's where my respect for wood and certain skills, which he passed on to me, come from. Now I try to pass on this knowledge to my son," adds Piotr.
It's also worth mentioning the hosts' efforts in rewilding their piece of nature. Natalia and Piotr meticulously mapped out the terrain before building their home, so they could faithfully recreate all the smaller and larger hills, along with their plant life. Around the house, they've created an unfenced wild meadow with field woodlands (under the watchful eye of the Director of the Suwałki Landscape Park herself). Only native plant species thrive here, supporting biodiversity and the local ecosystem. Importantly, animals have full immunity here, freely roaming every nook and cranny.
You'll find a lot of love for upcycling and keeping the "second-hand circuit" alive in many corners of Ale Miejscówka! There's a funky refurbished 60s table, a chill-out spot by the river crafted from old pallets, terrace steps made from leftover building bits, and even planters born from scraps of the house's exterior.
But the real star of the show in the host's upcycling adventures? It's gotta be the lamp fashioned from a vintage coffee table straight out of the communist era.
"This fabulous old lamp got a fresh coat of paint, and we whipped up a magazine rack from some leather straps. The lampshade was a puzzle though—our curtain leftovers were too narrow, so we decided to get artsy and arrange them diagonally," shares Alina.
Check it out, the result is fantastic!
When asked about the top recycling gem in Kolonia Mazurska, Danka cheerfully responds:
"Well, you've got to see our roof situation - both on the house and the stable, covered in several tons of old tiles. Fun fact: cleaning them up involved a dozen or so ladies from the Mazurian village where the tiles originated. But that's not all on our list of marvels! We've got classics like loads of refurbished furniture (think dressers, tables, chairs), rugs woven from old scraps on traditional looms, and even stable manure turned into fertilizer for our veggies. And believe it or not, even the stepping stones come from the old house's foundation!"
Agnieszka and Marek could basically teach a masterclass on creating beautiful homes almost entirely from reclaimed materials. Both their Dr Świerk and Modry Ganek are practically second-hand wonders – the only new items being the windows they purchased.
Their homes serve as perfect examples that from used materials, you can craft stunning pieces that visually match store-bought ones, yet have soul and significantly lower environmental impact.
For Tadeusz, Wiesława, and Ania, transforming unwanted items into surprising projects is a passion that they continuously refine. They have already refurbished several pieces of furniture, completed a veranda from reclaimed materials, and are currently finishing an upcycled bathroom.
"At our place, all the houses are covered with reclaimed roof tiles, which we buy locally," Wiesia reports. "The entrance to the forest consists of old, two-winged doors, which create a magical atmosphere and are a frequent subject of our guests' photos. We built the entire veranda of our house from wood from an old barn, and its red windows were brought from the other end of Poland. They got another chance with us. The wall in the bathroom and in the living room is made of planks from an old barn. Personally, I renovated several cabinets, including the one in the bathroom," adds the hostess.
At this table, which you can see in the photo, the hosts often sit with their guests because they run an open house. See for yourself how this upcycling looks like!
Ublik doesn’t take the easy path because they sneak in upcycling wherever they can. The hosts scout local junkyards, flea markets, old furniture sold for a pittance, and online portals for second-hand treasures. As Monika adds, every salvaged beam and plank found its place with them because the hosts have a particular fondness for old wood, and no layer of old paint can change that.
You can read about many of Ublik's upcycling masterpieces on their profile, but you probably haven't heard the story of how Monika and Paweł decided to bring a circular ray of enlightenment to their neighbor's thatched roof. The old Prussian twin, celebrating its hundredth birthday this year, underwent a thorough renovation in the spirit of circular economy. Instead of generic pieces from a furniture store, it gained a totally beautiful and warm interior that complements its traditional character (a kind of interior "make-up no make-up"). Together with their neighbor Andrzej, the homeowner, the hosts patiently scraped old floors, walls, doors, wardrobes, chairs, and shelves. They also managed to restore the original tiled stoves. They undertook this action pro bono to support their neighbor and promote the idea of circular economy. Huge kudos!
In Koronczarna, upcycling was literally done from A to Z, touching upon every Ą and Ę along the way. The hosts relocated and restored an old Podlasie cottage, meticulously labeling every rafter, beam, post, rafter, and other elements. This marked the beginning of Monika and Serhij's grand renovation project, back when upcycling was only a term known in hipster circles.
Apart from the challenge of moving the house from Podlasie to Warmia, the biggest challenge was renovating the old windows, still mounted on pegs, and sealing them with putty. Monika and Serhij are masters of natural construction, so they even wove the framework of the bathroom walls from young maple trees from the plot, and used glass bottles as light diffusers. The room walls, covered with breathable clay plaster, are adorned with hand-printed lace patterns, among other designs. The interior is also filled with a plethora of salvaged equipment and refurbished furniture.
If you're curious to see what the house looked like before the metamorphosis, take a peek at the hosts' presentation (attention: only on Slowhop!).
When we asked Magda for examples of their upcycling efforts, the list was so long, you could practically cover every fourth roof tile on their property. And there's quite a few – a whopping 43,000 century-old pieces that the hosts gathered from all over Lower Silesia. They used them to roof their buildings, as flooring in the cellar, and as a base for the parking lot (for the cracked ones).
At Dzikie Róże, nearly everything is salvaged. The only new items in the guest rooms are the beds, because those from the 19th century were only 180 cm long. But fear not, they didn't go to waste! Their headboards and footboards were repurposed into a 14-seater table (along with salvaged floorboards) and a kitchenette. Now that's some serious circular ingenuity! The hosts used stones from local fields for stairs, fences, and walls, garden clay for grout, and salvaged bricks, floorboards, window fittings, doors, hinges, handles, locks, and latches. Railings from old kitchen stoves now serve as curtain rods. Who could ask for more?
"All these salvaged items are of great quality, but it takes a lot of time to renovate them," emphasizes Magda. "First, you have to find them (fairs, online markets, friends, friends of friends), then restore them to their original state, and finally, figure out how to use them well. For example, 130-150-year-old chairs just needed to be disassembled, refreshed, reassembled, and glued back together. Some didn't even need paint stripping," adds the hostess. The hosts' circular artistry extends to the garden, where the greenhouses were made from old windows, and a wind turbine will soon join the photovoltaic panels.
Jelonki 2 is a giant upcycling project in itself. You won't find even half a new piece of furniture here because everything is second-hand.
"For me, the key is to let go of excess," Ana writes. Their passion for upcycling has led to, among other things, window sills made from beams taken from 120-year-old Victorian homes in England. Marek's dad collected them for the hosts, pulling them out of containers beneath London houses. You could say they traveled with the hosts to Poland in search of a new life. And they couldn't have found a better home, as now they’ve created a genius loci layer by layer, a place where one seeks refuge from stimuli and never-ending rush.
Mark personally crafted the kitchen fittings (countertops included) using leftover wood from building the terrace. The doors you see in the picture with the hosts are the "perfect" ones, sought after for 2 years on online platforms for used items. Every piece of furniture here can tell you a story about its previous lives, and instead of synthetic scents, you'll be greeted by the aroma of dried herbs, flowers from the garden, and plants from the forest in containers on the radiators.
Marzena let us in on a little secret: their large house is almost 100 years old, and the small cottage was practically built entirely from reclaimed materials. Almost all the structural elements and interior decorations are original and lovingly cleaned by hand.
"We're antique enthusiasts, and we often give objects a 'second life'," she adds. "We turn old shutters into planters, and structural elements into benches or bathroom furniture. We try to make use of every old item and create something interesting," the hostess adds. And as we gaze at those intricately carved woodwork and the warm wooden interior, we can't help but sigh with admiration.
"Grind it for the ground," said the experts upon seeing the settlement the hosts purchased. Despite the odds and the skeptics' opinions, Karolina and her family embarked on a systematic effort to revitalize Przyborowo.
"For 25 years, we've been cleaning, renovating, and writing the next chapter of this place's history," the hostess adds. And so began the adventure of upcycling and the concept of a circular economy, as the entire settlement is reclaimed. Ceiling beams (hand-cleaned), second-hand lamps adorned with garden oak branches, 90% of refurbished furniture with reupholstered upholstery, structures from old sewing machines repurposed as tables and sinks, and even colorful dressers that have been with the hostess since she was 15 years old. It's an upcycling collection that's definitely worth bragging about.
"We buy most of our furniture from charity shops. I like the idea of giving objects a second life while also donating the proceeds to noble causes," adds Karolina. Even the lamps have unusual life stories, made from waffle irons, spindles, or wheel hubs. The fireplace is tiled with reclaimed tiles, the vanity was refurbished by Małgosia - a friend of the hosts, also committed to the concept of a closed-loop economy. The banquet hall is illuminated by director's lamps made from factory lamps and brooms, and you'll find an unconventional decoration under the ceiling - old windows. The mirror and dresser were rescued from burning. The PRL-style bar belonged to the hosts' parents. In summary, here the upcycling to-do list stretches for miles.
The hosts made sure not to strip away the spirit of bygone eras from their place. Giving a second chance to wood from old Prussian barns, Piotr and Aga repurposed it for doors and many pieces of furniture.
"The idea came about because Warmia is a historical region of East Prussia, so we felt it was necessary to add a historical accent during the interior design phase," explains the host. "The barn from which we sourced the material was located in a neighboring village, owned by our friend who offered us the boards. Our trusted carpenter then crafted the doors and furniture," adds Piotr.
