Sluttery Fantasy: Antiques By Design

Tap lighting, £265

I love recycling furniture - the non-Ikea pride and joys of my flat are all either things I've found in charity shops or bits of furniture that belonged to members of my family at one stage or another.

Antiques By Design is an Essex-based firm run by the wonderfully-named Guy Chenevix Trench, specialising in reclaimed furniture and antiques, a tiny proportion of which I've picked for your delectation here. As I have a colossal lamp addiction (and an addiction to colossally-sized lamps) I could spend hours purring over the incredible collection of lamp stands which have been made from everything from gas masks to ceiling fans. This lamp is made out of a tap from 1900.

Single ski standard lamp, £295

My ancient standard lamp leans at an angle usually only achieved by the seriously drunk. Would that I could replace it with this beauty!

Fluit lamp, £280

One of Antiques By Design's many niches is upcycling musical instruments into lamps. This wonderful 1940s fluit (not flute, I checked) is cracking.

Tank table, £1395

 What do people do with old water tanks? Turn them into tables, naturally! This one is made from a recycled 1920s galvanised water tank and comes with a glass top.

K2 Telephone door mirror, £550

Another tremendous idea is their reclaimed mirrors, which have been made out of beautiful old windows. My favourite is this stunning effort made out of an old phone box door, but there is a lovely one made out of an old clock face which is just amazing!

Tractor seats, £750

And what about seating eh? Well, you could always buy some fairly standard dining chairs from their furniture collection, OR you could get some nifty bar stools made from 1930s tractor seats.

So what do you think? Upcycled stuff always tends to be expensive, but given that everything here is old, rather than dug out of your cupboard from 1993, it feels like you're buying into a story as well as a piece of lovely furniture. And actually, those tractor seats look rather comfy...