Blog - Page 20 of 75 - FunCycled - Interior Design, Kitchen Cabinet Painting, Furniture Repurposing in Upstate NY

Posted on June 15, 2021June 15, 2021 by Sarah

Update Your Traditional Kitchen With Small Alterations and Painting the Cabinets

Hi Friends,

How are you? Do you have a traditional kitchen… maybe one that looks like this? It’s not ugly, but you’re sick of the wood cabinets and lack of backsplash? Or the two tiered height counter?

Diane started by hiring me for a design consult where we could talk through what she did and didn’t like about her kitchen. We agreed that a couple things could be moved and changed as well as the cabinets painted to give the kitchen a whole new look at a fraction of the price of a kitchen remodel (plus it’s much less messy).

Here are some changes that may seem small but make a big impact:
1. We took out the microwave above the stove and replaced it with a hood vent (so much prettier!)
2. We removed the outdated bookshelf on the end of the cabinets next to the sink and custom built one to fit a smaller microwave.
3. We took the doors from the cabinet above the stove and moved them to the wine storage cabinet above the fridge. We had to alter them to do it, but it worked out great. It gave Diane extra storage by removing the wine bottle holder.
4. We removed the high level of counters by the seating area and made it all counter height. Then installed shiplap on the back. Such a huge difference!
5. We added backsplash and new hardware.
6. We painted the kitchen cabinets Simply White by Benjamin Moore.
7. Diane ordered all new quartz counters.

Ready for the after photos?

White Quartz Counters + White Kitchen Cabinets + White Subway Tile

If you’d like to see how we paint Kitchen Cabinets, click here to check out our video on YouTube.

A huge thanks to Diane for choosing to work with us on this project. She was kind and thoughtful every step of the way!

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!

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 June 8, 2021June 8, 2021 by Sarah

A Trip to the Poconos in 2021

Hi Friends!

This past weekend, John and I celebrated our 18th anniversary. We decided to go back to our honeymoon spot for the first time in 18 years. The beautiful mountains of the Poconos! We stayed at the same inn and hiked the same mountains. It felt so good to unplug (because most places didn’t have cell service) and have no real plans, but also get to enjoy being spur of the moment.

One of the things that I forgot about when we were looking to book the trip was that the Poconos really aren’t that far away from upstate NY! We were there in less than 3 hours. Which flew by when we were chatting. Plus, I’m a car napper so OF COURSE I needed to get an hour nap in. 😂 John may disagree, but it felt like a really quick trip.

We stayed at The French Manor just outside of the Poconos. What I love about this spot is that it has beautiful views, the rooms are decorated really traditionally, but sophisticated, and the restaurant on the property is high end. Pricey? Yes. That, too! John doesn’t ever really ask for gifts; he just loves a good meal (You remember, he went to college for culinary arts, right?) and I love beautiful designs. So it was better than gifts for both of us! 💕

The weather was perfect and we arrived just before dinner.

The next morning, we went on a horse back ride that was about 35 minutes away. I LOVE horses so this made me really happy! I use to work at a horse farm when I was a little girl and my parents let me do riding lessons as birthday presents a couple of times. It was really fun!

After that we drove to Bushkill Falls to hike the 8 waterfalls on a little over a 2 mile hike. We hiked this spot during our honeymoon, too, and it was one of the highlights.

Look at all of this beauty that God created!

While we were there, we were able to snap a picture in the same spot that we took this picture on our honeymoon.

I was so excited to be in the same spot and snap a picture. Does that make me a hopeless romantic? I’m not sure! lol!

Then we enjoyed the salt pool a the manor and headed into their restaurant for a delicious dinner. This is the view from the outside dining area!

As we drove around the town, we were surprised that a lot of the stores and larger resorts have shut down or changed hands. They didn’t look as nice as we remembered. We still recommend this trip for a quick weekend away and here’s an itinerary we think you’d enjoy.

Stay somewhere with beautiful views like The French Manor on Friday and Saturday night.

Saturday, check out the local antique shops in the morning (many of them close on the early side and aren’t open on Sundays).

Go to Bushkill Falls or a couple other local hikes to unplug and enjoy nature!

Mosey home slowly through Rhinebeck, Hudson, and the Catskills. It’s low key, beautiful and there’s just something about being unplugged and surround yourself with calm for the weekend. Do you all have any favorite go to spots in the Poconos? Share a link to it in the comments if you do!

If you need any upstate NY design help, remember… I’m your girl! If you’d like me to help with the design in your home (can be done virtually to help anyone in the US), let me know.

Thanks for being the best funcycler’s around!

Sarah Trop

Posted on June 1, 2021May 31, 2021 by Sarah

Turquoise Ornate Buffet For Sale

Hi Friends!

How are you? I hope you had a nice weekend and were able to take some time to think about the sacrifice so many have made for our freedom. Such a humbling, overwhelming thought. I’m more than grateful for the freedoms we enjoy… that were anything but free.

On another note, I wanted to give huge thanks to Melissa Schuman from the The Record for the beautiful write up she did on FunCycled yesterday. Check it out online or if you have the paper from yesterday, we’re on the front cover. Yay! We feel so blessed to be doing what we love every day. A huge thanks to each of you for making it possible! 💕

For this week’s makeover, I wanted to share an ornate buffet makeover that we recently redid and is available on our shop page.

Here’s the buffet before:

I loved the ornate detailing of this piece so I wanted to keep the color fun, bright and let the glazing cause all of the detail to pop. For this piece, we used a turquoise color from the Chroma Paint line that you actually can’t get anymore.

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

This buffet is available now to purchase! Contact us to purchase!

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 May 25, 2021May 24, 2021 by Sarah

New Turned Leg Dining Table

Hi Friends,

How are you? I hope your week is going well! I just wanted to take a quick break this week to show you a new table style we are offering. I absolutely love the legs on this table and we did a unique finish where we burned the table in parts to give it an authentically old look. It’s such as show stopper!

For this finish, we stained the first coat with Early American and the Second Coat Antique White by Minwax. If you’d prefer it to be more of a brown tone, just add another coat of Early American stain over top. Then we sealed the whole thing with two sprays of a protective clear coat.

Here’s what it looked like after we built it and burned it, but before we stained it:

Burning a table top to make it look older.

You can order this table in a size custom built to fit your space. If you’d like to order it, please use our Contact Us form to request a quote for the size you’re looking for.

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 May 18, 2021May 18, 2021 by Sarah

Modernizing a Kitchen With Cherry Cabinets Without Painting the Cabinets

Hi Friends!

Say what?!?! Keep the cherry cabinets?? If you know much about us, you know that painting the cabinets are almost always my first go to, but in this case, our design client, Andrea, wanted me to make her kitchen feel more updated without painting all the cabinets. Part of doing repurposed designs is looking for ways to keep what’s existing and make it work again. In many cases, painting the cabinets is the way to go. In this case, the coloring wasn’t orange or yellow so I thought it was doable and got to work seeing how I could make it work for her.

Check out the kitchen at her design consult: (don’t mind my paperwork and laptop on the island)

Not only were the cabinets staying, but the flooring was staying as is. The flooring had a mixture of green and gray in it so we decided to bring in some hunter green color in the space. That happened with the hunter green stools that Andrea found and I LOVE them.

Even though the majority of the cabinets were going to keep their original finish, Andrea was ok with painting the island Benjamin Moore’s Black, adding an X to either side. One side is a door so she can have storage behind it and the other side is stationary because there isn’t room for storage. She also had quartz installed on the top of the island. The outside counters are black granite already so I felt like they could work with the design, but the granite on the island made the kitchen feel outdated.

Check out the island alterations:

See how the gold, black and hunter green bring in all the coloring the floor, but make the kitchen feel updated now? Such a HUGE difference in this kitchen.

Another big change in this kitchen/dining area is the lighting. Check out the new light over the table.

The backsplash in this kitchen was aluminum sheets and that definitely made it feel outdated. So we switched it out to an oversized subway tile with black grout. Black grout was key because it feels more modern and brings in the black on the island and dining room chairs.

When you’re working with existing wood cabinets and you want to modernize them, you should try a bold finish like gold and a more modern style to make a stark contrast against the cabinets and bringing them a more updated feel.

In the eating area, we kept the original table, but added new chairs and a new rug.

We also created a little gallery wall (we still have to add the flattened greens to the glass), but you get the idea.

Oh, and we custom built an oversized sign for her that said HOME. It’s about 4′ tall!

Here’s the whole kitchen repurposed design!

Cherry cabinets with white quartz island.

Cherry cabinets with black island and gold accents.

What a difference a good design can make in an outdated kitchen, right?? Thank you so much for the business, Andrea! I loved working with you on this and on your living room makeover. Oh…. and just so you can all see, we added green to her built ins in the living room off this room. Look how pretty! This color is Goodwin Green CW-555.

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 May 11, 2021May 10, 2021 by Sarah

Polo Blue Dresser Makeover

Hi Friends,

We had a sad weekend with the passing of our 13 year old lab, Mel. She was such a sweet girl and we’ve had her our kids whole life so it’s been an adjustment since Saturday. We are so thankful for all the beautiful years we had with her though. Way back then, John picked her up from a house in Troy with a pizza box top sign that said “free puppies” and called me at work to tell me. I was 8 months pregnant with Josh then and I didn’t want a dog, but John wanted to raise our kids with a family dog. I took one look at her and there was no looking back! She’s been such a good dog for the last 13 years. Sweet spirited, never chewed anything up, house broken instantly (never made one mess as a puppy), gentle with both tiny kids, and trained our animals well. We’ll miss you Mel girl.

On a happier note, we just finished up a beautiful dresser makeover and added it to Our Shop page. Here’s the dresser before:

It needed quite a bit of external repair. So we repaired the missing veneer, sanded the wood smooth, and painted the whole thing with Benjamin Moore’s Polo Blue. We also painted the original hardware gold to make it pop off the blue. I LOVE how it turned out.

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

This set is available to purchase! Contact us to purchase!

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 May 4, 2021May 4, 2021 by Sarah

Updating a Living Room Built In

Hi Friends,

Last week, I shared one of my favorite kitchen makeovers fro Jim and Johanna. Check it out here! Today, we’re headed one room over to their living room makeover.

Here it is before:

A big change that we didn’t do the work on, but I love how it came out, was on the fireplace. They added oversized tile all the way up which anchors the space and distracts from the angled ceiling.

Our part of the project was repurposing the existing cabinets by adding shaker style trim to the doors, added a new top on one of the side where there was electric coming through, installed shiplap, and installed floating shelves.

Ready for the afters?

Added shaker trim and new hardware to the doors.

Installing shiplap and floating shelves to built in.

A huge thanks to Jim and Johanna for choosing to work with us on this project. They were kind and thoughtful every step of the way!

Could your living room 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.

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 April 27, 2021April 27, 2021 by Sarah — 2 Comments

Transforming a Kitchen from Modern to Farmhouse Style

Hi Friends!

This kitchen makeover is one of my all time favorites! Jim and Johanna reached out to us about painting their kitchen cabinets in early 2021. When I met them at the house, we talked through design ideas and they agreed to some big changes. The cabinets were really nice, but had a flat front. Johanna has beautiful style and wanted a more modern farmhouse style for the whole space. I recommended an optional extra where we add shaker style trim to the flat panels to make them have a shaker look!

Doors after we added the shaker style trim and painted them!

What a difference that makes!! We could have added it to the drawers, too, but decided we liked the doors having the flat front.

We also added a new farmhouse sink which creates visual interest and value to the home.

To make the sink install work, we had to be creative. We actually had to do corner pieces on either side of the sink because of the way that the cabinet angled back on each side. Then we cut down the doors and rebuilt them to the correct size. Such a HUGE difference, right?

Mid project, we talked through how the island shape was a little odd and recommending adding a center base cabinet to make it rectangular instead of leaving it the same shape. It’s hard to see but we also added shiplap to the back and side of the island.

After: Black Shiplap island with Thick Top Quartz

Although we didn’t install the flooring, counter or backsplash, Jim and Johanna had that all redone as well to really bring new life to this space.

As you know, we are passionate about repurposing instead of buying new! This kitchen really showcases how repurposing can take a $100k kitchen makeover and have it be done at a fraction of the price. You’d never know these cabinets weren’t brand new when you walked into this house. It’s green, it saves money, and it look AMAZING.

We painted the cabinets with Sherman Williams paint color Snowbound SW-7004, sealed it with a water based protective clear coat, and added new hardware. The island is painted BM’s Lincoln Cottage Black.

Here are some more of the before and after photos for you:

Quarts Counters with White Beveled Subway Tile

White Quartz with White Shaker Doors and Black Modern Hardware

If you’d like to see how we paint Kitchen Cabinets, click here to check out our video on YouTube.

A huge thanks to Jim and Johanna for choosing to work with us on this project. They were kind and thoughtful every step of the way!

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 April 20, 2021 by Sarah

Join Us! FunCycled’s Repurpose Project Competition Award Ceremony on Earth Day!

Hi Friends!

Happy Earth Week!! Here at FunCycled, we love celebrating all things repurposed, reused, and recycled. If you’ve followed our story for long, you know we’ve been encouraging people from the Capital District and abroad to repurpose ANYthing. Then submit before and after pictures for a chance to win some amazing prizes. Well, this week, we will be announcing the winners live in our store at 1pm on April 22nd (Earth Day). You can RSVP for the event here. You can also check on the submissions for inspiration here. We’ll have snacks and the airbnb open for you to tour it that day, too! Remember – we have a parking lot so parking should be a breeze, too!

In honor of this fun celebration, I thought I’d share some of my favorite repurposed projects that we’ve done over the years.

Old World Style Maps Added to an Antique Buffet

Industrial crate repurposed into a coffee table.

Vintage TV repurposed into a retro bookcase.

Old cabinet repurposed into a lego storage cabinet.

Old door repurposed into a coat hanging hall tree.

Hutch repurposed into a dog feeding station.

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.

We also offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. I’m sure you’re busy and it mean so much to our small business. 💕

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Send us a note anytime using our contact page. Or buy something that we’ve already designed from our online shop.

Posted on April 13, 2021April 13, 2021 by Sarah

Hutch Makeover with Gentlemen’s Gray

Hi Friends!

How’s your week going? Today, I’m sharing a hutch makeover that may be hard to appreciate all the work it took to create this transformation. This hutch was a custom order for Britany. This was originally her partner Brandt’s mother’s hutch. They wanted to keep it in the family and keep enjoying it for years to come, but it had a lot of surface damage and they wanted it to be a color instead of stained.

Here’s the hutch before:

It took quite a few hours of sanding and filling all of the scratches and dents to give us the professional finish we wanted on this piece.

We painted the whole hutch Benjamin Moore Gentlemen’s Gray and we also added new hardware and sprayed it with a protective clear coat.

If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post.

Ready for the afters?

This hutch was done as a custom order! Thank you for the business, Brittany.

Please take a minute to check out our online shop for repurposed furniture for your home.

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 ;)

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.