40% of Brits are looking to transform their outdoor spaces this year

With 40% of Brits set to transform their outdoor spaces this year, Jeyes Fluid, the British heritage outdoor cleaning specialist, today announces that it has joined forces with award-winning stylist and interiors writer, Melanie Lissack, to launch its ‘Creative Spaces’ Initiative, to inspire Brits to upcycle and repurpose leftover and forgotten items, to help transform their outdoor spaces.

This is in response to the uptake in garden makeovers, as new research reveals that 73% of Brits admit that having an outdoor space has become more important since the pandemic. Also, a whopping 73% of Brits are set to continue working from home following lockdown (27% part time, 46% full-time), with people planning to spend an average of 18 hours a week minimum outdoors, as the weather gets warmer.

The initiative kick starts with a series of five crafting and DIY guides this June. The series includes how to upcycle a work from home garden desk; upcycling tins to create stunning garden pots and vases; turning mason jars into terrarium lamps; creating a kids / family garden game and a delicious edible garden area.

There is a growing interest in using outdoor spaces, 56% of Brits would like to transform their outdoor space to unwind and relax; 31% want to start growing their own food such as herbs and vegetables, and 37% of people are keen to make it nice for guests to come over after months of lockdown. In addition, 1 in 10 want to create a ‘work from home’ area for the warmer months.

Top items that Brits want to upcycle include:

1. Furniture e.g. chairs + tables

2. Cardboard boxes

3. Garden/outdoor furniture

4. Wooden crates/pallets

5. Picture / photo frames

6. Tins/cans

7. Kitchen utensils

8. Mason jars

9. Wellies/boots/shoes

10. Ladder

TV show celebrities have also been an inspiration to Brits to get DIY-ing, gardening or upcycling. The top one revealed is Alan Titchmarch; followed by Kirstie Allsopp; George Clarke; Jay Blades and Sarah Beeny.

Charlotte Blampied, a spokesperson for Jeyes Fluid, comments, ” The Creative Spaces initiative also coincides with the Jeyes heritage tin being replaced with a new recyclable plastic bottle with an updated formula as part of its commitment to help pave the way for a more sustainable future. Having seen that 51% of Brits are getting more inspired to upcycle items following the pandemic, we really hope that this initiative will encourage Brits to get creative. In fact, one of the guides shows how you can upcycle any old Jeyes tins one might have around the house.”

Melanie Lissack comments, “Just because an item can no longer fulfil its original purpose, doesn’t mean it can’t work really well as something else. I hope these easy guides will inspire people to look in their homes and try their hand at upcycling rather than throwing away old items. The great thing about upcycling is that you can be as creative as you want and personalise with your favourite designs and colours.”