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- Giving furniture a new lease of life: Meet Nicola
For Nicola, working at the Reading Superstore is the perfect combination of creativity, purpose and giving back. As the Home Studio and Repair Shed Assistant, she spends her days helping to transform preloved furniture, giving unwanted pieces a new lease of life before they find their next home.
Nicola joined the Reading Superstore just over a year ago, following a 20-year career with a large global corporate company. Although her professional background was very different, she had always enjoyed upcycling items at home and was keen to explore a more creative path.
She initially joined the Superstore as a volunteer. Within a couple of weeks, she spotted an advert for a role in the upcycling studio and decided to apply. It was a decision that has allowed her to turn something she loves doing at home into a role that also supports a cause she cares about.
“I get to do the thing I love and get to give back to a great cause. It feels as though I’m retired but I’m living my best life,” she says.
Nicola’s connection with Thames Hospice is also particularly personal. Having come from a healthcare background, she strongly identifies with the organisation’s work and the difference it makes to patients and their families.
She is continually amazed by the scale of the operation at the Reading Superstore, from the volume of donations arriving to the way the shop floor is carefully designed. She particularly enjoys the room sets, which showcase furniture in a way that helps customers imagine how individual pieces could look in their own homes.
Behind the scenes, Nicola and the wider team are constantly assessing donated furniture and deciding what can be sold as it is, what needs repairing and what could benefit from a creative transformation.
Donations arrive from across a wide area, with the collection teams travelling as far as Oxford and Newbury to collect preloved furniture. While much of what comes into the store is already in excellent condition and can go straight onto the shop floor, other pieces need a little more attention.
For Nicola, that is where the real fun begins. Her approach to upcycling is both creative and responsive to customer demand. Much of the furniture is transformed in neutral shades, creating versatile pieces that can work in a variety of homes. But there are also pops of colour, with the palette changing throughout the year. As the seasons turn, darker and richer colours begin to appear during the winter months.
There is also something particularly satisfying about working with older furniture. Nicola appreciates the quality often found in older pieces and loves seeing what can be achieved with something that might otherwise have been overlooked.
“There’s something really special about taking a piece of furniture that no one wants, doing something with it and seeing it go back onto the shop floor with another 20 years of life ahead of it,” she says.
The upcycling studio is also a vibrant community, supported by around 45 volunteers who come in on different days and at different times. Together, they contribute their time, skills and creativity to help keep furniture in use for longer.
For Nicola, watching the transformation is one of the best parts of the role. A tired or unwanted piece arrives at the Superstore, is carefully repaired or given a completely new look, and eventually returns to the shop floor ready to become part of someone else’s home. She loves seeing that journey unfold, particularly when a piece she has worked on finds a new owner.
“It’s wonderful to see something come to life again and then find a new home, knowing it can be loved and enjoyed for many more years,” she says.
For Nicola, upcycling is about far more than paint, repairs and furniture. It is about recognising potential, reducing waste and giving something that might have been discarded another chance, while raising vital funds for Thames Hospice along the way.
And after making the move from a corporate career to the upcycling studio, Nicola knows she has found somewhere that combines the things she values most: creativity, community and making a difference.
“I feel incredibly lucky to do something I love every day, while knowing that the work we do gives furniture another life and helps support such an important cause.”