Decorative Finishes…Upcycling

with Rosie Tatham

Do you find every odd looking old table, or ancient tray, looks like a potential project? How do you start upcycling to cheer up the shabby old pieces lurking around the house?

Rosie Tatham is the person to show you how. She plans to show you an easy way to achieve a cheerful finish on a standard tray…as a starting point for all those other upcycling plans.

When you arrive you will be given a tray. The day will be spent learning how to prepare your object, and plan how you are going to decorate it. Rosie will bring a selection of designs to inspire on a natural theme in keeping with our studio’s setting. She will help and advise with a wealth of knowledge about painting, design and paint finishes.

Your design will be copied onto the tray – you may be stencilling, using decoupage, or painting directly onto the tray.

Picnic lunch in the garden by the river and then back to work aiming at finishing your design. Finally, if time allows, we will apply a coat of varnish to protect it. If you have run out of time the completed design can be varnished at home.


£90/day

Friday 13th August

10.00am to 4.00pm

£90/day

Incl. all materials. Take home all your discoveries, experiments and creations.

Please bring an apron and old clothing – it could get messy

Tea and coffee available all day, please bring your own picnic lunch


13th August



10.00am – 4.00pm



Max 12 per class



Suitable – all


About Rosie Tatham

Rosie Tatham started doing decorative painting 15 years ago. Her skills have lead to painted floors, walls and objects in a variety of guises.

The first ‘faux’ Rosie learnt was how to paint faux marble, and she has transformed countless wooden mantlepieces into  marble. This has been followed by, among other things, faux bois with walnut doors finished off with gilded beading, and faux oak on some shutters, matching them to the original oak panelling.

One of the most practical and useful decorative ideas are painted faux carpets – moppable carpets fringing and all – on floors. Rosie has done these on any number of unlikely surfaces, including ceramic tiles, stone, wood, vinyl and cork, in bathrooms, loos, a corridor and dining rooms, including Riverside Cottage, by the Studio at Bransbury. They tend to be a simple design and colours to suit the client’s taste and decor.

So many other wonderful ideas; from painting trees on walls, to gilding a ceiling in a very opulent cloakroom in London. 

Then there is upcycling to cheer up the shabby old pieces lurking around the house. Hence this course, when Rosie plans to show you an easy way to achieve a cheerful finish on a no-longer-at-all-standard tray.

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