One20Grit

After many years pursuing a career I lacked the passion for, I decided to take a leap of faith to pursue the hobby I had sitting on simmer for far too long.

My father had spent most of his life in the furniture industry, starting out learning the trade of old school manufacturing and upholstery which would eventually take him into senior management. So when I was a child, Dad spent a lot of time teaching me the process of furniture manufacture from concept to delivery. In the absence of more strict WH&S procedures which we have today, there was much I

could do, see, feel and smell on the production floor when I was a child. As if it was only yesterday, I can still smell the different timbers and leathers being cut to size. Whilst having that time with Dad was valuable, the connection I would have with the industry he was so passionate about, didn’t click for me until much later in life. It was not until I purchased my first property in early 2000s, where I first discovered the architectural design trend of blending the old with new. Developers were converting old buildings from the early 1900’s into loft style apartments, with modern kitchens and layouts to meet today’s lifestyle, whilst maintaining so many of the original features. This rapidly growing trend of architectural design seamlessly expanded into all aspects of furniture and the concept of refinishing something old into something new and unique for someone’s home, was fascinating to me, a light bulb moment that hadn’t occurred up until then. Just as in a cut of timber, a hide of leather, every piece of furniture was unique, one of a kind feature pieces with a story, created for a home as individual as the person who would buy them. Back in the early 2000's however, I was at the height of my career in human resource consulting, a career path I had fallen into after finishing school rather than one I had actively pursued. My parents had come from the belief that careers are built in an office, so despite being a high performer across all of my Arts subjects at school, I needed to find a career in an office. AAARGH!!! I therefore started to spend some of my spare time researching and experimenting with different trends in furniture refinishing. All done from the balcony of our high-rise apartment in inner city Brisbane. It wasn’t until we bought a house in the burbs in 2010 when my hobby of furniture refinishing took on a whole new level, our entire garage level in fact. We lived on a reasonably busy road where people would sometimes stop and watch me at work on my driveway. The name of One20Grit comes from one very important item in my toolkit that is across everything I create, everything I sell, and I simply could not do what I do without it, and that is my most used tool, my sandpaper, 120 Grit.

15/05/2026

Price reduced to $590 ONO!

08/05/2026

Hey Everyone,

I am very sad to say, I am going to be calling time on my furniture refinishing work.

Since January 2026, the changes to the Facebook Marketplace platform are making it very challenging for businesses to sell.

Essentially, random one-off listings are unaffected, but for listings on Marketplace which are identified as part of a regular pattern for the advertiser, the listings are being demoted as soon as they are listed, as it is seen as business activity.

Meta is pushing for identified business advertisers to use their Boost function which is paid advertising to increase your reach. However, after using Boost advertising on some of my pieces, it has made little to no difference for me. I also don’t do high volume work to justify a larger advertising budget.

I also list my work on many Buy / Swap / Sell pages from Gold Coast to Sunshine Coast, I have used AI to restage my pieces to create different options for buyers and I have also used AI to reword my listings to work positively with the Facebook algorithm. Nothing has changed and my current view count on my listings on Marketplace barely reaches double figures.

Basically, unless you already have a strong social media presence across multiple platforms, it is very difficult to sell.

Below is my final piece, which is currently listed for $610, however there is some room to move on this.

More details on this piece can be found in previous posts.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me and my work. It has been the greatest feeling to know something I have created with furniture is being used in homes across South-East Queensland.

If at some point I learn of another method to successfully sell my pieces, you will be the first to know.

Mel🌻

25/04/2026

22/04/2026

So I decided to go back to my love of charcoal and refinish this beautiful cabinet. It is amazing how dramatically different a piece can look, all just from colour. I love it and I hope you do too!

Measurements are 161cm x 81cm x 50cm.

Listed for $675.

22/04/2026

SOLD!!!☺️
After much over-thinking, I decided to change up this gorgeous earthy green apothecary unit I had recently refinished. The drawer fronts were sanded to bare timber before applying a light tan wash to reduce the orange tone from the teak. The natural tone pairs beautifully with the earthy green.

Measurements are 101cm x 97cm x 43cm.

Listed for $495.

11/04/2026

SOLD!!
I’ve recently sanded and recoated these tree stumps which we love using for side tables. They are also great to have in the bathroom.

Measurements are approximately 58cm x 27cm.

We have one remaining as two have been quickly snapped up. If you would like the last one, we are selling them for $60.

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Brisbane

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Brisbane, QLD

One20Grit

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