Upcycling Outdoors ─ 20 Creative Garden Projects Made from Reclaimed Materials

Ever thought about transforming that rusty old item in the garage into something awesome to impress visitors to your garden, or fancied refurbishing the random old dining chair in the shed but don’t have the tools or know-how?

In Upcycling Outdoors, Max McMurdo teaches you how to discover your inner design genius, where to find great scrap items, and techniques on how to transform them into great design for your garden and outdoor spaces. Divided into Planters and Containers (copper-edged wooden planters, vintage suitcase planter, nautical style planter), Outdoor Structures (fabric teepee, mindful dressing table corner, firepit), Eating and Entertaining (car bonnet BBQ, outdoor domino set, bicycle picnic set, wheelbarrow beer store), Furniture (repurposed picnic bench, concrete-skimmed occasional table, living grass chair, swing), Lighting and Accessories (bird cage lights, dog-feeding station, outdoor chandelier, lampshades), Max shows simple design ideas throughout the book that will inspire you to roll up your sleeves and have a go. Step away from the chipboard and venture out of your comfort zone into a glorious world of doodles, sanding, waxing, stunning colours and the satisfaction of telling people that you made that! 

Max McMurdo officially started his career turning junk into treasure as a child crafting washing up liquid bottles into spaceships! After graduating from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 in Product Design and Visualisation in 2000, Max fulfilled his boyhood dream and became a car designer in Cologne, Germany.

In 2003 he established his business reestore ltd with the aim to design and create a range of upcycled furniture and accessories from objects destined for landfill. By 2007, reestore had won several design awards and featured in many galleries and exhibitions. Max successfully pitched it to the BBC’s Dragons Den for investment, and left with investment from Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis. Reestore now has a client list that includes The Body Shop and has completed several installations for Google’s head offices globally. In 2014 the company won gold at the Chelsea Flower show with Kate Gould Gardens.

Max is also a TV presenter. After two series of George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces, Fill Your House For Free and Channel 4’s summer hit, Shed of the Year, he is now the go-to presenter for product design and repurposing. He has recently co-hosted a National Geographic Channel TV show called Machine Impossible and will be a co-presenter, with Sarah Beeney, of Mortgage Free Homes due to transmit in late 2017 on Channel 4. Brand partnerships have included brands like Frenchic Furniture Paint and Sugru and projects have included Beetlemania, where he bought a run down Beetle online and created 25 upcycled items from it, which were then sold for charity.