Blog - Page 17 of 74 - FunCycled - Interior Design, Kitchen Cabinet Painting, Furniture Repurposing in Upstate NY

Posted on October 5, 2021October 5, 2021 by Sarah

Traveling – a secret to staying in business (without going mad)

Hi Friends!

Wanna have a little chat about small business stuff? Most of the time I talk about pretty makeovers and I rarely talk about being a small business owner. Well, since we’re hitting the 10 years in business mark in just a couple months, I thought maybe it would be helpful to talk about some helpful tips that have kept us sane over the last 10 years.

I was at a food walking tour in Atlanta this weekend when a stranger (Tara) asked me what the hardest thing about owning my own business is. Even though I wouldn’t change it for the world, there are quite a few challenges in owning your own business. Especially a family run business where both spouses work together.

So after (probably a longer than I’d like awkward pause), I said two of the hardest things.

Home feels like work not a resting place. Many people (until the pandemic perhaps) have had home feel like a resting place. Well, for an entrepreneur who works from home, it’s the exact opposite. I WANT home to feel restful and calm, but it simply doesn’t. There are projects staring me in the face, piles of paperwork, and my laptop begging for my time. Because if I don’t do it today, it just makes for a busier tomorrow.
It’s hard on friendships. Being the extrovert that I am, I had to go from being the initiator with friends to waiting for most friends to plan getting together. Because I’m too busy to coordinate it all. Which means… I’ve lost friends because I’m so busy, but it also means I’ve found more intentional friendships. Often they are the hardest working, busiest women I know, but we work hard to be intentional and make time DESPITE the busy.

I’l save the friendship post for another day, but for today we’ll talk about travel.

People have said to me in the past that they think sometimes travel is way for people to escape life. For me, that’s just not it. I love being a designer; I love helping people make their homes beautiful. I love painting, creating, repurposing. It’s just not what I love MOST. I love my people most. My family, my friends, my own soul. To keep those things healthy, for me, I need to get the heck out of my house so I can truly unplug, soak up those beautiful people in my life, and enjoy new adventures with them.

You may be thinking that you just started your business and you’re broke; there’s no way you can afford to travel. Trust me. I get it. We really lived one sale at a time at the beginning with nothing in savings at all. So how did we do it? We went to visit friends quite a bit. A good friend would love for you to visit and that’s free. We’d grab groceries on the way so we didn’t have to eat out much. It’s about unplugging from work. We also went camping, shared a house with family to make it more doable for all of us. We never flew; we always drove to save money. We did what it took!

If you can’t get away for the weekend, plan a day trip away from work/home. You can pack a picnic or go on a hike. Go on a photo adventure where you just look for pretty scenery and take photos while driving the day away. Best photo gets an icecream. We chase sunsets. So many free options that can be impactful and memorable for you or your family.

You know what now? I have kids who would pick an adventure over a present any day for their birthdays. They love doing fun things. We have all these memories/moments in time where we stopped to enjoy our beautiful earth, our friends, our family.

In small business, you’ll need to set aside time for getting away from home. Budget it in as best you can. If you are in business and have creative ways that you’ve traveled without spending a lot, please share those in the comments.

So as I soaked up Atlanta this past weekend with my dear friend, Nicolle, (who also owns a retail shop). Check her amazing store out Blue Bird Home Decor. We both talked about how traveling helps us rest, fills us up, and brings us back to doing what we love with new creativity, energy, and joy.

If you’re headed to Atlanta anytime soon, I highly recommend these fun stops:

Ponce City Market
Krog Street Market
The Roof
Atlanta Bus Tour
Take a walk on The Beltline

We both LOVED Atlanta for its delicious food, beautiful old homes, the tours, and all the trees throughout the city. It’s so beautiful!!!

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture.

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations.

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do.

Happy FunCycling Friends,

Sarah ;)

Posted on September 28, 2021September 27, 2021 by Sarah

Demo Day Magnolia Painted Bedroom Set with White Washed Top

Hi Friends!

How are you? We are doing really well!

This week, I wanted to share a bedroom set makeover that I really love. We took this set:

The dresser and armoire both looked like giant faces to me. I just couldn’t take it. Hahha So we removed what looked like the nose and eyebrows on the dresser and the eyebrows on the armoire.

Then we painted each piece with Magnolia’s Demo Day, sanded and stained the tops and the front of the legs with a white wash, and added new hardware.

If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. Ready for the after photos?

This bedroom set is available now to purchase! Head to our Shop Page to check them out!

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture.

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on September 21, 2021September 21, 2021 by Sarah

Amherst Gray Kitchen Cabinets with a Shiplap Peninsula

Hi Friends,

We just got back from a beautiful week in Ocean City, Nj. This is our 13th year going back there and it’s the vacation that the kids and I look forward to most. We bask in the sun, shop the boardwalk, go to the zoo, have cheese nights and date nights, and it really couldn’t be more glorious.

Speaking of couldn’t be more glorious… when I walked into this kitchen once it was finished, it took my breath away!! I couldn’t believe how different it looked!

Here’s the kitchen before:

Ann Marie hired me to do an in person design consult to start the process of the kitchen design. She was such a delight to work with every step of the way. We talked through taking down the partial walls and creating a peninsula instead to open up the room. Then we wrapped the whole island with shiplap.

We also added crown molding to the cabinets to make them feel higher end and finished. I recommended adding hardware as well to give the cabinets more visual interest.

Cabinet Color: Amherst Gray by Benjamin Moore
Wall color: Balboa Mist

Sprayed the cabinets with a satin clear coat on top.

If you’d like to see how we paint kitchen cabinet, check out our YouTube video tutorial.

Ready for the afters??

Could your kitchen use an update? We’d love to help!! We can help pick out colors, finishes, product and do the cabinet painting, tiling, add new hardware. You can use our Contact Us form to request our design services or a quote for painting your kitchen. Please check out other kitchen projects on our For Sale page. We’ll need to see a picture of your kitchen, a list of how many doors and drawers there are, and where you are located to email you an estimate. This change ups the value of your home and gives you a whole new look at a fraction of the cost of new kitchen cabinets!

Please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture.

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

If you like what you see, please like FunCycled’s Facebook page to keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We also offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and furniture. We can deliver for customers in upstate NY and also help you ship throughout the US. Send us a note with what you would like using our contact page. Or buy something that we’ve already designed from our online shop.

Posted on September 14, 2021September 11, 2021 by Sarah

Kitchen Cabinet Painting and Shiplapped Island

Hi Friends!

Maureen worked with us for a custom furniture piece way back in 2014, and she reached out to us earlier this year to help her with interior design and to redo her kitchen. Her one main question was “Can I update my kitchen without replacing the counters?” As you all know, replacing the counters in a large kitchen can eat up a lot of the renovation budget. In this kitchen, we could definitely make it work! This is a fairly common granite style in kitchen in upstate NY so you I’m hoping many of you find this helpful.

Here’s the kitchen before:

Maureen started by hiring me for a design consult where we could talk through what she did and didn’t like about her kitchen.

Here are some changes that may seem small but make a big impact:
1. We painted the kitchen cabinets Simply White by Benjamin Moore.
2. We installed all new subway tile.
3. We removed the tile above the hood vent and kept it just below the vents.
4. She’s also adding new island lighting, but they weren’t in yet when I came to photograph.
5. We added shiplap to the back and side of the island and painted it Kendall Charcoal by Benjamin More for a nice contrast.

We painted the kitchen cabinets Simply White by Benjamin Moore.

Ready for the after photos?

We removed the tile above the hood vent and kept it just below the vents.

We painted the kitchen cabinets Simply White by Benjamin Moore.

We added shiplap to the back and side of the island and painted it Kendall Charcoal by Benjamin More for a nice contrast.

A huge thanks to Maureen for choosing to work with us on this project. We spent so much time having fun and laughing as we designed. She’s a smart, fun person to work with!

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture.

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on September 7, 2021September 7, 2021 by Sarah

Barn Board Dresser Set for Sale

Hi Friends!

How are you?? The kids started school today. This year, we’re doing a bit of a hybrid program where the kids will be in school 2 days a week and working at home 3 days a week. I’m hopeful that this gives me more time to get work done while also giving them more social interaction than last year. I’m excited to see how they do and we’ll adjust accordingly. One thing I’ve learned over the last few years is that we are going to take one year, heck, one semester at a time and make changes if needed. It’s definitely tricky running a business and homeschooling kids, but I also love having them around so I’m hoping this will be a win, win!

Look how grown up they are!! I can’t believe they were only 2 and 3 when I started FunCycled and now they are 12 and 13!! They are both an absolute joy and gift!

For this week’s furniture makeover, I’m sharing this barn board dresser set that we use added to our Furniture For Sale page.

Check them out before:

To be able to add barn board to the front of a dresser, you need to find dressers with what looks like picture framing around each drawer. That gives enough depth to remove the trim and add barn board to the drawer.

We did that to both of these dressers, added this new hardware, and painted the boxes Simply White by Benjamin Moore. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. Ready for the after photos?

This dresser set is available now to purchase! Head to our Shop Page to check them out!

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture.

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on August 31, 2021August 30, 2021 by Sarah

Shared Spaghetti Dinner How To!

Hi Friends!

I know, I know, this doesn’t sound like my normal blog post. It’s true! This isn’t about furniture, kitchen makeovers, or design, but this is about something fun that I’ve wanted to do for 3 years! We finally did it! I was at a fall festival about 3 years go where they had a shared spaghetti dinner that you could buy tickets for. I LOVED watching it all happen and wished that I had bought a ticket myself. They poured the spaghetti down the table, poured meat and sauce on top, and then passed around loaves of bread for people to rip off a piece of it. Everyone pulled some of the spaghetti from the center of the table and enjoyed a feast with their friends.

It was so much fun so I thought I’d share in case any of you would like to try it yourself!

First – get some fold up tables and buy plastic table cloths. We bought these:

I picked golden rod from my yard and put it in a mason jar. Then pilled fresh Italian bread all around it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and butter.

John boiled the spaghetti 6 pounds at a time in a huge pot, added oil to keep it from sticking, and kept it on low in the oven to keep it warm. We started by pouring all the spaghetti out on the table. We had 19 people over and we made 12 pounds of regular spaghetti and 2 pounds of gluten free spaghetti, 5 jars of sauce mixed with tomatoes from our garden, and about 12 pounds of meat. We did 3 tables, one for adults, and two for the kids. One of the kids tables was all gluten free to that our daughter Harmony could enjoy it without having to worry about cross contamination or without feeling left out. We also added sausage and meatballs on top! With that much food there was SO MUCH left over, but that’s ok. We sent our friends home with lots of left overs. We also asked our friends to bring a salad to share and an Italian dessert to share. 💕

Step 1 Spaghetti!

Step 2 Add the Meat
(or veggies if you don’t eat meat)

Step 3 Add the Sauce
(sprinkle some PARMESAN Cheese on top)

The Best Part! INVITE FRIENDS

Oh, and Don’t Forget to Play Italian Music

That may sound like a silly last step, but it really sets the mood!

When I told some friends about this idea, they wrinkled up their nose and said… ew. Sharing food. Gross!!! So let’s talk about that for a second. There really isn’t as much sharing as you’d think. If you’re scared of others germs, just pull a large amount from the center and then you won’t have to grab any more. It’s basically just like eating without a plate. Oh, and be sure to be the first to grab the Italian bread if you don’t like people touching your food. :)

We also had fresh Parmesan ready for the top of the spaghetti if anyone wanted it.

It definitely made for a fun and memorable night! I loved it so much and think it’s definitely worth trying if this sounds even slightly fun to you! The clean up is the easiest part! Just toss the table cloth and everything else you don’t want at the end!

Maybe I’ll have to try the shared nacho night next! We’ll see!! :)

Oh, and if you came for a before and after of furniture, I don’t want you to be disappointed.

This is a dresser that we just added to our Furniture Shop page. You can purchase it online or in the store.

Before:

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture.

Happy FunCycling Friends,

Sarah ;)

Posted on August 24, 2021August 23, 2021 by Sarah

Chelsea Gray Hutch Makeover

Hi Friends!

How’s your week going? This week, I want to share a custom order that we just wrapped up for Lisa. She had this hutch and it desperately need a rehab.

We painted it Benjamin Moore’s Chelsea Gray, sprayed it with a clear coat, and added all new hardware.

If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. Ready for the after photos?

This dresser isn’t available to purchase, but we have other beautiful pieces on our shop page! Contact us!

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture.

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on August 17, 2021August 16, 2021 by Sarah

Retro Camper Makeover Tips

Hi Friend!

If you follow our social media, you may already know this, but we bought a 2019 Gulf Stream Capri Travel Trailer this summer!!! It’s not old so we don’t have to gut the whole thing, but we did want to make some alterations to give it a look we like.

Here’s the camper the day we picked it up:

The main things I wanted to change were:

New counters
Get rid of all the retro aqua
Update the kitchen table area
Add a backsplash
Bring in a different accent color (mustard)

I’ll have links to all the products we used to redo it at the end of the post so keep scrolling until the end friends!

We started by adding peel and stick reclaimed wood to the back of the bed area to create a faux headboard. We also removed the teal and tan section over each window and replaced it with the same wood. I love how both of those things turned out.

Then we painted the counters and the table top with black chalkboard paint and sealed it with a protective clear coat. This part came out ok – not my favorite, but it’ll do the trick for a weekend getaway. :)

We added Peel and Stick Tile Positano faux tile backsplash and this is another piece that made a huge impact!

Once that was done, it was time to decorate! With pretty bedding, pillows, sheets.

We tried painted the cushion for the dining area with a vinyl fabric furniture paint and it didn’t hold up at ALL! It was terrible. So my mom added fabric to them and we did three pillows along the back which I like even more!!

The mustard throw pillows were from HomeGoods and the mustard towels were from Amazon.

We also changed out all the cabinet hardware and that was from Home Depot.

Product links:

Peel and Stick Reclaimed Wood
Counter and Table Top Paint
Peel and Stick Tile Positano Faux Tile
Sheets
Duvet Cover
Dinette Pillow Covers
Mustard Towels
Cabinet Hardware
Solar Edison Light

We also did some upgrades to the outside of our house where the camper will be year round. We installed a fence (with 3′ spikes instead of concrete) and old shutter so that we can remove it easily in the winter. Our neighbors had some extra stone that they gave us to spruce up the firepit, and Pam (our store manager) made this beautiful sign for us! We also put solar Edison lights on the fence to brighten everything up!

Isn’t that adorable?!?!?

We already had our friends from Florida come stay with us for a week and we used the camper for more sleeping space which was a huge help!!

Have you redone a camper before? If so, I’d love to see it! Share a link in the comment below!

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture.

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations.

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on August 10, 2021August 10, 2021 by Sarah — 1 Comment

FunCycled’s Repurposed Designs Pilot Show

Hi Friends!

We have been working on a pilot episode to show all of you a little more about what we do! After a couple days of recording and a couple of months of editing, we finally have it done and you can watch it here:

FunCycled Repurposed Designs Pilot — FunCycled Repurpose Designs Pilot Video

Joy and Nathan were amazing to work with and have been clients for years so we knew it would be a fun makeover. Today, I’m sharing some of the details of the project in case you wanted more info than you see in the show.

Here’s the kitchen before:

This is the first time that we created a 3D drawing of the design before moving ahead with everything.

We took the upper cabinets above the stove and moved them to the right wall where the peninsula was before. Then we made the stove section a half wall and extended out the counters so we could add more seating. By removing the peninsula on the right wall, it gave much more space in the kitchen to add a large island. We custom built the black island with a butcher block top and installed it as well.

Joy and Nathan didn’t like the style of the cabinet doors so I recommending flipping them inside out since the inside of the cabinets are shaker style. This saved a lot of money and created such a huge transformation in the kitchen.

Another small detail that we didn’t mention on the show is the soffit above the cabinets. We wrapped it in shiplap to give it visual interest, pull in the shiplap on the back of the new half wall, and make everything blend together well.

Check out all the after photos!

We also installed tiling, floating shelves and new hardware in the kitchen.

Another part that didn’t make the cut in the show was the dining room. We redid their family heirloom dining table and chairs. They bought the cream hutch from our store!

What a transformation, right??

We think a show about repurposed designs would be a great idea, don’t you?? If you’re in the TV industry and would be interest in this idea, please Contact Us. If you know someone in the industry who you think might be interested, please share this blog post or our contact information with them. We’d be so grateful to you for taking the time to do that!

A huge thanks to Joy for being patient, wonderful on camera, and kind every step of the way!

Also, I want to clap and cheer for the job that Josh at Lamplit pictures did creating this pilot show. He blew our expectations out of the water! We can’t wait to work with him again.

While we are saying thank you, you’ll also see that we now have a new logo! A big thanks to Tim over at Engine 7 Design for creating it for us. He’s so much fun!

And I couldn’t do it without my hubby, John! He went out of his comfort zone being on camera and he pushed hard to make this transformation happen in the time it needed, too! Beyond thankful for this guy!

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture.

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on August 4, 2021August 4, 2021 by Sarah

Credenza Painted with Magnolia Demo Day Paint

Hi Friends!

How’s your week going? We’ve been working hard over here redoing kitchen and doing design jobs while the kids have been away at a camp this week. My days have been non stop, but I’m enjoying the work, the lovely people I get to meet, and the friends we’ve been able to share a meal with for dinner each night. I miss those kiddos of mine though! 💕

This week, I’m sharing a dresser makeover that we did for a long time client, Sharon. She had this dresser that she wanted redone.

She wanted to paint it, but she also wanted to have some of the wood showing. We went back and forth on leaving the top or the drawers stained. We ended up going with refinishing the drawers and doors with Minwax Dark Walnut and painting the box with Magnolia’s paint color Demo Day. You know how much I love Joanna Gains, right? Remember the video I recorded about going to meet her? Anyway, I couldn’t wait to use one of her color line on a furniture pieces.

If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. Ready for the after photos?

And of course I had to stage it with Joanna’s books!!!

Look at that beautiful color!!

This dresser isn’t available to purchase, but we have other beautiful pieces on our shop page! Contact us!

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture.

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Sarah Trop