A nifty couple have transformed a derelict 19th century mill with no electricity into a stylish home using old furniture they found in fields and skips.
Elvis and Kresse Wesling, both 43, are pioneers of the zero waste movement and applied that ethos to decorating Tonge Mill in Sittingbourne, Kent.
After spending £40,000 just to make it habitable in 2013, the savvy couple were left with no cash left over to buy any decor or furnishings.
Elvis and Kresse Wesling, both 43, have transformed the Tonge Mill in Sittingbourne, Kent, with old furniture they found in fields and skips. They maximised the light and space while using as many reclaimed pieces as possible
A light and airy bedroom shows off the building’s character with wooden beams, floorboards and original bricks being given a brush of white paint. The couple spent 30 hours a week working on the mill alongside their usual jobs
The 19th century mill has been renovated into a mezzanine-style space with a living area down stairs and dining room above. It exudes a utilitarian interior with a monochrome colour scheme and original features like buckets hanging upside side for lights
They spent 30 hours a week working on the mill alongside their usual jobs and drove around for hours every day looking for finds in bins and on the roadside.
Among top treasures were sinks and taps hunted down on Freecycle, and they renovated five of the mills’ bathrooms for just £12 using other people’s castaways.
Their bathroom splashbacks are traditional Welsh slate and taken from a roof, while the steel bath was dragged out from a skip.
A local fitter gave the couple off cuts, used for their kitchen, without charge as they cost a huge amount to take to landfill.
A minimalist theme runs throughout the Grade-II listed property, pictured left, the bathroom and right, dining area. Elvis and Kresse showcase the great height of the property by adding modern drop lights (pictured right)
The couple, who live with Springer Spaniel Poodle cross Monty at the Mill (pictured), admit they were called ‘crazy’ and ‘heard every joke under the sun’ when they started their major DIY home project
Elvis and Kresse (pictured at their breakfast bar) met in the early 2000s when they were both working in Hong Kong, and went on to set up their own sustainable business in 2005
Bar stools embossed with their names are part of their sustainable business. They now employ 25 people at their mill and sell ethical luxury bags and accessories made with the discarded hose reels
The worktop is a mismatch of marble pieces put together with an angle grinder, and the Italian-style deli shelves are binned scaffolding boards.
Metal lights hanging over the breakfast bar are old buckets turned upside down.
And even their pride-of-place chandelier was created from farming material left to rust in a field.
Elvis and Kresse met in the early 2000s when they were both working in Hong Kong, Kresse for a vice chancellor and Elvis for a British design consultancy.
The couple, who have been together for nearly two decades, were left with no cash left over to buy any decor or furnishings after making it habitable in 2013 (pictured)
Pioneering: The bedroom features a sleek headboard, bought from a car boot sale at a meager £5, with retro lights propped on the side
The couple set up sustainable business Elvis & Kresse, where they made bags from unwanted materials, when they returned to the UK together in 2005.
Kresse said: ‘I got all the stats on waste and in 2004, 100m tonnes of material went to landfill in Britain and I couldn’t conceive of it.
‘It didn’t make sense to me. I thought this is a tiny little island where is it all going?’
Elvis and Kresse now employ 25 people at their mill and sell ethical luxury bags and accessories made with the discarded hose reels.
Kresse (pictured with Elvis) hopes to encourage other people to love waste by displaying the products as ‘beautiful for everyone’ which ‘means amazing craftsmanship and design’. They are dedicated to producing ethical products at their home
Another sideline is making rugs and reupholstering furniture from off cuts of leather given to them by British designer Burberry. Pictured: Natural light seeps through the tartan curtains of this cosy bedroom, kitted out with industrial light fittings and a simple coat hook on the walls
Among the treasures were sinks donated by friends and family (pictured left) and a bath lifted from a skip (pictured right)
They give 50 per cent of their profits to charity, including the London Fire Brigade.
Another sideline is making rugs and reupholstering furniture from leather off cuts gifted by British designer Burberry.
‘If there’s a skip we always have a look in and if there’s something in it then we’ll talk to the owner and ask if we can have it.’
She admitted to feeling ‘more interested in walking down a back alley’ and looking in a skip rather than a high street of shops.
An arm chair, which is made out of old, up-cycled whisky barrels and a coffee bean bag, nestles in the corner of one of the property’s rooms
A steel bath is lined with wood panels for a sleek finish in the guest bathroom. The nifty female designer suggested ‘people have to find new ways of deploying their talent and that’s the reality’
Renovation work on the mill was tough though – it had 22 rotten windows, no heating or power and wasn’t configured for living in.
They took ‘perfectly good’ toilets, sinks and taps from friends and family, and hand-me-downs like headboards from a car boot sale.
Even the base of their bed is engineered from an unwanted climbing frame and chairs are made from old whisky barrels, while Nato parachutes which failed safety tests line their windows.
One thing they did spend a few hundred on was their Danish leather corner sofa – but even that was a bargain as it had gone mouldy.
They simply washed it down and left it in the sun to dry.
Kresse and Elvis, who live with Springer Spaniel Poodle cross Monty, now hope others will come to share their view of home decor.
The female designer said: ‘We love waste. The only way to convince people that this may be a valid way to buy products and interact with the world is to make it beautiful for everyone and that means amazing craftsmanship and design.
‘I mean when we started, we were weird. Definitely outliers. And a lot of people thought it was crazy and we heard every joke under the sun.
‘The tide is turning but unfortunately it’s not turning fast enough because the main thing you have to give up on if you want to commit to this journey is to consume in an entirely different way.
‘There are a lot of businesses that are just going to have to stop. And it can work. We could have a renewable energy revolution instead!
‘People have to find new ways of deploying their talent and that’s the reality.’