Sara Tereshinsky has been upcycling for over 10 years. What started as a hack to make inexpensive but unique clothing for her young daughter turned into her sustainable DIY her design career.
“I've always worked in the world of reuse, and designing rooms that show people how they can rework and reuse what they have, or buy second-hand. “I was doing it,” she said. newsweek. “So whenever I do a design project, I try to reuse about 80%, because if something is that old and looks great, it will last much longer than something you buy in a big box store. ”
Tereshinsky was featured in architectural digestsame as above today The show with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager The Drew Barrymore Show. Recently, Tereshinsky has branched out from sharing designs with his more than 118 million followers on his Instagram (known as redeux_style) and also tried his hand at TikTok. That's when things “started to take off,” she said.
“I teach people how to pick up trash and actually take out things they already have at home, and really easy DIYs that anyone can do. [create] “It’s a beautiful space,” she said.
The concept of upcycling projects has been popular in home renovation and interior design circles for decades. But in recent years, with the rise of social media and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, more people seem to be drawn to DIY projects.
Bear's head of marketing, Andy Lopez, said the pandemic has sparked a “DIY boom” as people, especially millennials, are spending more time at home and spending time on updates and projects around the house. Ta. And those projects weren't just enjoyed by the people who remodeled their homes, they were shared with millions of other people online.
“I think the feeling of working on a project, the feeling of actually doing something yourself, there's this dopamine feeling of, 'I just finished it, I'm excited, I want to share it,'” Lopez said. Told. newsweek.
Behr was recently featured as one of the newsweekRanked #1 in America's Most Trusted Brands 2024 for Interior Painting, Exterior Painting, and Exterior Staining.
newsweek In partnership with BrandSpark, we surveyed more than 26,000 American consumers to find out which brands they use and trust the most. Behr's overall credibility stems from the durability and quality of its products, ease of use, price, color range, and in-store availability.
During pandemic lockdowns, people stuck at home spent their time on social media, especially the emerging platform TikTok, where people around the world were making sourdough starters, doing viral dances, and knitting crocheted sweaters. I was watching it go by. Soon, the hauling of thrifts and room makeovers captivated viewers.
“There are a lot of people who do really great DIY, and there are a lot of different styles of DIY,” Tereshinsky says. “People have been flipping trash and DIY reusing forever.”
DIY projects not only allow people to be creative, but they are also a sustainable and cost-effective way to transform or improve your wardrobe or living space.
Behr recognized the growing influence of online DIY influencers and was able to leverage some of that influence with the To DIY For competition.
In 2022, Behr brought together DIY influencers to compete in projects using the company's products over four weeks on TikTok, aiming to be named “Behr's Ultimate DIYer.” The winner was voted on by users in the comments section and took home the title and his $20,000.
Teresinski and North Carolina-based DIYer Ashley Basnight (known on social media as Smashing DIY) entered the contest in the first and second seasons, respectively, primarily because they were already They used Behr products and wanted to connect with fellow influencers and users on TikTok.
After successfully completing a variety of flipping and design tasks, both creators were named Behr's first and second “Ultimate DIYers.”
“They are very supportive of the DIY community,” Tereshinsky said of Behr. “They're companies that are focused on creators, designers and influencers, especially painting companies, and I think that's really great. They're really smart in the way they do that.”
Buzznight said the main reason people enter the DIY field is because of budget.
“Especially now with inflation and material prices so high, people want to save money,” she says.
Basnight said she “stumbled” into DIY because she wanted a new dining table but didn't want to pay $800 to have someone make it for her.
Instead, she created the table herself and posted her creation online. Basnight began documenting her carpentry and home improvement jobs and eventually quit her job as a software engineer and began working full-time, influencing her DIY work. I did.
“People want to be able to do things themselves and cut costs,” she says. “Perhaps they just bought their first home and used all their savings on the down payment, so they don't want to pay for someone to come and fix it. So they're doing it themselves. We're looking to DIY influencers to help us get started.” ”
As people online turned to DIY and home improvement influencers for inspiration, Behr began seeing an increase in social media engagement from audiences the company hadn't previously reached. Marketing Her team began leveraging social media channels to provide training and guidance on DIY projects and introduce new colors and products.
After the pandemic peaked, Behr was determined to keep the DIY boom alive. The company focused on capitalizing on the surge in social media and leveraging online influencers to best serve its newly acquired audience.
“Younger generations are not getting the same knowledge that has been passed down to them from older generations,” Lopez said. “Millennials and their Gen Zs don't spend as much time doing projects with their fathers and grandfathers, so they use YouTube and social media all over the world to understand how to do projects easily. I’m paying attention to it. Just like the picture.”
Another important factor that increased trust was the brand's positive reputation and recommendations from both professional and personal stakeholders. Teleshinsky said organically combining advertising and influence is the best way to bring new products to consumers.
Teleshinsky said that when viewers see a trusted influencer “standing behind” a video, which is more natural and less like a commercial actor, they are more likely to buy the product. more likely to use it.
Basnight's work has been featured on HGTV. battle on the beachNBC's make And in publications such as better home and garden and Country lifeas a creator, authenticity is paramount.
“The reason I've had so much success over the past seven years…is because my followers know that I'll always remain authentic,” she said. “I will always remain true to the product. I won't use something I don't like, and I won't work with people unless I try the product first. And I will always give.” 100 Percent true. ”
Although Basnight doesn't consider herself a trend follower, she does notice how online trends influence people's decisions about what to put in their homes. To make DIY a sustainable hobby or career, Buzznight encourages people to avoid letting trends dictate their style and to “choose what you like” even if it's not trendy. He said he was there.
“I've been doing this for seven years, and trends come and go,” she said. “But what I'm doing is [is] I can decorate my home the way I want, so even if the trends go away, I'm happy with what I'm doing. ”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, finding common ground and finding connections.