Hi! I’m Jaharn and I’m obsessed with thrifting and upcycling.

I love turning old things into new things. Get ready to roll up your sleeves because we’re about to rummage through piles of dusty furniture, decor and clothing to find the diamond in the rough. The messier, the better. I’ve been thrifting and upcycling for over 25 years and I'm obsessed with sharing my love of affordable, elevated and sustainable projects. My purpose is to inspire you to change the way you think about furnishing your home, whether you rent or own, and how you choose the clothes you wear. You’ll learn how to successfully rummage through thrift stores, charity shops and tip shops, discover the potential, find unique pieces for next to nothing, and transform furniture, decor and clothing with a little bit of creativity and elbow grease while learning creative lifelong skills along the way. I’ll show you how you can easily transform the pieces you thrift (may already have) using unexpected materials in unexpected ways and you’ll learn how to use a range of power tools along the way. Are you ready?

The thrill of the unknown and seeing the potential in the ordinary is exhilarating

My love of thrifting and upcycling began in high school. I remember being invited to a birthday party and had an idea for a dress but couldn’t find it, so I went thrifting and ended up upcycling a second hand dress into a skirt and a top. My friends loved my outfit, and the feeling of bringing my idea to life for next to nothing was exciting. Little did I know thrifting and upcycling would become my lifelong obsession. I continued to thrift and upcycle into university and started collecting secondhand clothes that did not fit me or suit my style, but knew they had potential. I would give these pieces to my friends and their friends and soon, I was being asked to keep an eye out for specific pieces. It was wonderful! I became known for my knack for spotting overlooked items with great potential and became obsessed with the affordability and sustainability aspect of sourcing and buying secondhand. Before I knew it, I had created a small, thriving business and wanted to help and reach more people, so I started an online vintage store called Vintage Lover which I juggled with a full-time job in fashion public relations. 

A couple of years later, I moved to London and continued building my online business in my spare time. I started to share upcycling and DIY fashion tutorials on my website, showing people the potential in what they thrifted and teaching them how to upcycle clothes. I spent my weekends trawling through thrift stores, car boot sales, and markets, finding secondhand and vintage clothes to upcycle and resell. I often had to sew new buttons, remove sleeves, cinch in a waist, or shorten a hem until each item was ready for its new home. I turned pants into skirts, jackets into tops and skirts into shorts.  On those sourcing trips, I would also bring home pieces of second hand furniture and decor, which I would revive and restore. I eventually moved back to Australia and closed my online retail business but my love for upcycling clothes and furniture continued.

Here you will find lots of approachable, elevated and sustainable projects

I never realised how valuable those thrifting and upcycling skills would become until we built our dream home and had no money to buy furniture or decor. Yup. Zero. Nada. Just like you, I love flipping through the pages of my favourite magazines, pouring over gorgeous images on Pinterest and scrolling through estate sales and home tours on TikTok, but it sometimes makes us feel like we’ll never have a beautiful home because everything feels unattainable or out of our budget. And filling our homes with low-quality fast furniture and fast fashion isn’t sustainable for the long term (or the planet).

So, off I went on a mission to upcycle lots of furniture and decor around our home. After being encouraged by family and friends to start sharing my projects on Instagram, I did not know my projects would be loved and recreated by millions worldwide. Fast forward to today and thrifting and upcycling has now become my full-time job. There’s no greater satisfaction than thrifting something you’ve been dreaming of, whether it be furniture, decor or clothing, upcycling something old into something new, especially when you save thousands of dollars, and creating something with your own hands sustauinably.

Want to learn how to thrift and upcycle?

Yay! Well, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve got over 20 years of experience thrifting and upcycling secondhand furniture, decor and clothing. Here you will find lots of tips and tricks for successful thrifting trips, as well as hundreds of upcycling, sewing and DIY project tutorials, from beginner to intermediate to advanced. You can choose whatever takes your fancy and follow the tutorials step-by-step, or change things along the way (such as paint colours, fixtures and finishes) so the project suits your style.

Every project turorial includes project time estimate, material cost, skill level, materials list, tools list, step-by-step instructions, video lessons and how to photos. If you want to learn how to use a range of power tools with confidence and ease, I highly recommend joining my Power Tool Course. Hundreds of students have already signed up and learned how to use a range of tools, with more project tutorials being shared this year. And best of all, it’s free! To check it out, click here.

Whether it's upcycling an armchair you found on the kerbside, transforming a rundown secondhand room divider using paint, or upcycling the perfect two piece set using a thrifted bedsheet you found at a charity shop, you’ll walk away feeling inspired and empowered to recreate the projects you find here. And design and upcycle your own.

Want to Work With Me?

I love working with likeminded brands both big and small to create upcycling, sewing and DIY tutorials, projects how to’s and lots more. Please feel free to get in touch and email me at jaharn@smorhome.com. I'd love to hear from you! For additional information, including brands I’ve collaborated with and projects I’ve done, click here.

Where does the name “Smor” come from?

I went to Copenhagen in 2018 and fell in love with the Danish word for butter, smør. With family roots in Denmark, I wanted to bring this slow, cosy feeling of smør back home through upcycling, making and thrifting. And Smor Home was born in 2021.