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 for people and how to rework and reuse what they have or buy secondhand. ,” she told 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 has been featured on Architectural Digest, as well as the Today show with Hoda Kotb, Jenna Bush Hager, and The Drew Barrymore Show. Recently, Tereshinskiy has branched out from sharing designs on her Instagram (known as redeux_style) with her more than 118 million followers, and has also tried her hand at TikTok. From then on, she said, things “started to take off.”
“I teach people how to create beautiful spaces by picking up trash and doing really simple DIYs that anyone can do using things they already have at home,” 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, has that dopamine-like feeling of, 'I just finished it, I'm excited, I want to share it,'” Lopez says. told Newsweek magazine.
Behr was recently featured as one of Newsweek's 2024 America's Most Trusted Brands, ranking #1 in the Interior Paint, Exterior Paint, and Exterior Stain categories.
Newsweek partnered with BrandSpark to survey 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 get 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.
Mr. Teresinski and North Carolina DIY enthusiast Ashley Basnight (known as Smashing DIY on social media) participated in the first and second seasons, respectively. The main reason for this was that they were already using Behr products and wanted to engage with other 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.
Ashley Basnight is a DIYer and designer based in North Carolina. She is a former software engineer turned woodworker who has become a full-time influencer. Basnight is her second winner of Behr's To DIY For contest on TikTok. She competed… Ashley Basnight is a DIYer and designer based in North Carolina. Basnight, a former software engineer turned woodworker turned full-time influencer, is her second winner of Behr's To DIY For contest on TikTok. She participated in a series of design her competitions with other creators who were voted by users as “Behr's ultimate girlfriend DIYer.”See more of Ashley Basnight
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 noticing an increase in social media engagement from audiences the company hadn't previously reached. . Marketing His 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 his Gen Z's don't spend as much time doing projects with their fathers and grandfathers, so they look to his YouTubers and YouTubers all over the world to understand how to do projects easily. I'm focusing on social media.''
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” the video, which is more natural and less like a commercial actor, they are more likely to buy the product. more likely to use it.
For Basnight, whose work has been featured on HGTV's “Battle on the Beach” and NBC's “Making It,” as well as in publications such as “Better Homes and Gardens” and “County Living,” as 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. ”
Sarah Terecinski (center) poses with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on the set of the “Today” show. Teresinski is a DIYer by profession and a sustainable designer with over 120,000 followers on Instagram. Sarah Terecinski (center) poses with Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on the set of the “Today” show. Teresinski is a DIYer by profession and a sustainable designer with over 120,000 followers on Instagram.sarah teresinski
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 love,” even if it's not trendy. He said he was there.
“I've been doing this work for seven years, and trends come and go,” she said. “But what I do is decorate my home the way I like it, so even if the trends go away, I'm still happy with what I do.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, finding common ground and finding connections.