Do you know how to turn an old, worn out piece of furniture into an antique?
Haneen Yahya offers new ways to bring back to life pieces of furniture that their owners have discarded because they have become old or because they prefer to buy modern, ready-made furniture over renovating the old.
Through her Instagram account, Hanin displays the old faded pieces, then shows on the video how to completely renovate them, change their color and shape, and then display them in one of the corners of her home with other decorations, after it became an exquisite piece.
This is how it started
Haneen imagines herself creating decorations from basic materials such as roses, woods, transparent glassware and ribbons, transforming them into very beautiful and elegant shapes, and decorating her home with them.
An old piece of furniture before Haneen changed it (Al Jazeera)
Hanin herself does the work of painting, quilting, finishing and making decorations, enjoying this as she says, and adding - in her interview to Al Jazeera Net - that she loves handicrafts and various arts from a young age, but the professionalism of design, decoration, repair and rehabilitation of used furniture, a profession that I started 7 years ago.
It helps her in her hobby and work, providing tools and special shovels and materials for removing paint, trimming, polishing and installing parts, and so on in many of the famous large stores in America.
A piece of furniture that Haneen painted and repaired (Al-Jazeera)
About the beginnings, she says, "In 2014 when my husband and I bought my first house, I started with woodworking. I liked changing the furniture in my house, but I did not want to give it up because it is solid wood, so I thought to renovate it, and I looked for different ways on search engines and video on YouTube, and it helped me the presence The tools and materials used in the videos are in many major stores, and I started experimenting with small pieces. "
The next video shows the stages of work to renovate a piece of furniture.
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7 years of experiences
Hanin explains that she found herself a fan of the craft and innovated in it, and says, "I started looking for durable pieces of furniture in antica stores, so I would change their shape, cut and paint them in beautiful colors, and after 7 years of experience I became a master of this craft."
As for her activity on social media, it did not start until 2020, where she says, "I created my page during the quarantine period because of Corona, and my goal was to help women and teach them the crafts that I am good at, and I did not expect my page to start spreading."
And she continues, "The page suddenly grew and started to offer ideas for renewing furniture, pieces and antiques, and I hope that I have helped women fill a void or do things on their own, or even save them financially."
A piece of furniture after changing and renewing it for use in a different way (Al-Jazeera)
The image of the woman in the craft
Haneen is surprised that some people think about this craft as not suitable for women, as she sees the exact opposite, and continues by saying, “I heard a lot of comments about how a girl paints, carves and repairs, but I always answer that it is very reasonable, because I am one of the people who like to do the work themselves. Certainly there are those who like to comfort themselves and seek the help of another person to do the work, but nothing prevents women from doing such work. "
She expressed her happiness with what she is doing, saying, "Do not imagine my joy when I see a woman doing manual work in her home, and how happy she is for what she has accomplished, so if I am able to do this, any woman can do it."
The profession of repairing, painting, and other household work is considered one of the highly paid professions in America, and therefore most people try - according to Hanin - to do home repairs and work such as painting, dismantling, installing and others by themselves, especially the simple things.
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Safety at work
Haneen is concerned with safety at work, as she always emphasizes wearing a muzzle when spraying different colored materials or dyes, and wearing gloves for each process, because the paint has gloves and wood quilts have different gloves, and she usually does these works in the backyard of her home so as not to cause a lot of dirt due to Dust, and put plastic pieces under the furniture when spraying or painting, and it advises its followers to follow these methods for their safety and to reduce the effort of cleaning after the completion of the work.
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Designer home decorations
In the recent period, many accounts of people engaged in renovations, repairs, and changes to furniture and home decor have spread.
Hanin works independently with a real estate company, and about the beginning of this profession, she says, "When I learned that I work with wood, a real estate agent suggested to me that I work with them in the renovation of homes and decorating them before selling them, and I actually got a work permit (home staging license) and so I started working. Certified interior designer before selling them.
Hanin Yahya, a Palestinian-American, holds a BA in Business Administration from the University of Jordan, and an International Diploma in Business from Talal Abu Ghazaleh College in Amman. She is married with two children, and lives in America.