“I grew up loving arts and crafts and have always been drawn to making something or upcycling,” she says. “Part of that stems from working within a tight budget and having to be more creative.” With an unflinching can-do attitude and an eye for graceful contemporary style, Erena creates items that fit seamlessly in her mid-century-meets-modern-elegance home. “I’m forever inspired by the things I see offline and in everyday life; the shape of a building, the cobbles on a footpath or an interesting pattern on a piece of fabric,” she says.
Among the raft of ideas and possible projects that are dreamed up, what brings a potential DIY job over the line is simple; “I have two small children and time is squeezed, so I assess a project on whether it is something that I can do easily using tools I have at home and also, perhaps, more importantly, I need to believe that the end result of the piece is worth investing my time and energy into,” Erena explains.
“I think anything you do yourself is always going to have an element of mystery and trial and error to it, but as you are in control of the materials and the process of how it takes shape, it will naturally evolve in a way you might not have imagined but that you are still very happy with.”
So, with this wisdom to guide you, take a scroll through some of Erena’s projects (that’s right, these are things she did herself) to see where DIY can take you.