Reclaimed Renovations 

One bedroom, one bathroom, one garden, one kitchen…which was transformed into a walk-in wardrobe, and one woman taking her first steps into sustainability (and salvage yards).

Rewind 8 years, I’d never stepped foot inside a salvage yard, but my job enabled me to buy my first home in west London and I vowed to renovate it with as much reuse of reclaimed materials as possible.

One foot in fashion, one foot in salvage, often up to my knees in reclaimed building materials, but refusing to part with my knee-high tassel boots, whilst dancing in mud with reclaimed radiators from the roaring 20s.

I love fashion, but whilst I was exposed to the storied pieces I was designing my home with, I became disillusioned with a job that felt like being on the production line – along with fast fashion and fast furniture that’s made to tick-off trends rather than resonate and add value to our lives or the lives of the people that made them.

This planet is our only home, so connecting the environmental impact of the decisions I made for my own home helped me make a total life change. I left my job to connect my career and conscience and now I am CEO of Salvo, the marketplace and network dedicated to reuse.

Now embarking on reclaimed renovation two, I’ll be applying the lessons I learnt and sharing the journey of things I am yet to discover.

Sara Morel

Woman reclaimed.