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Tips for visiting Jean Stoffer Home and The Established Home Episode Features

Hi Friends,

Are you planning a trip to Grand Rapids? Maybe you love Magnolia Network’s show The Established Home or follow Jean Stoffer’s Designs online. If that is the case, I do too! We went on a trip to find some of the local favorite to share with all of you!

We kicked off the day of fun by visiting The Bradbury Cafe that Jean designed and her son started. The coffee was delicious (we had lavender lattes and a matcha) and the manager was so kind!

The Trop’s at the Danbury Cafe
Delicious latte’s from The Bradbury!

Once we finished our coffee, we perused through Stoffer Home which is Jean’s home decor store. It’s attached to the cafe. One of the things I love about this store is that there is is something for anyone. You can find a $6 tea egg or a $2,000 high end light fixture. As we were shopping, guess who walked in to film with her daughter Grace?? Jean Stoffer did!! I was like a giddy school girl. The kids were grabbing me and going mom, mom, mom… they are here. I said, everyone stay calmmmmmm. lol Trying to play it cool as best as I knew how, I looked at her and waved and smiled as if to hopefully say, “Can I please say hi?”. She smiled back, waved, and told the producer to give her a minute. Then walked over to me… I had played through everything I wanted to say to her “just in case” I was able to meet her one day.

I thanked her for her genuine faith on display, for the inspiring designs she creates, and for loving her family well; it’s just so clear when you watch the show. Those three things are so important to me, and I wanted to her know how much it means to watch it be displayed in such a public way. She was so kind and genuine. Exactly how I imagined her being. Then I asked Grace about what lessons she could share with me from working with her mom. Harmony has been showing interest in interior design and working with me so I thought I could learn from a mother daughter pair who have done just that. Grace was so sweet to Harmony which warmed my heart, too. Then we talked about what Enneagram numbers they were because of course we did… lol. It was just such a fun, sweet memory I know we’ll cherish for years to come.

Then we snapped a picture together… my heart is full!

Harmony and Sarah Trop | Jean Stoffer and Grace Start

Harmony said this might have been the best day of her life… she got to meet Grace and she found out that Grace likes matcha just like her. Grace says they are matcha latte soul sisters! 💕

Then we drove around to check out some of the homes on different episodes of The Established Home.

Season 1 – Episode 1 & 2

415 Lakeside Dr SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Lake Drive House – The Established Home

Season 1 – Episode 5

815 Plymouth Ave SE Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Plymouth Road – the Established Home

Season 1 – Episode 6

430 Madison Avenue Southeast, Grand Rapids, MI (go on both adjoining roads if you want to see the front and the back of the house)

The Maddison – the Established Home
The Maddison – the Established Home

Just a couple obvious things… please don’t pull onto any of these properties, try to approach the houses, or stop traffic because you’re gawking. Give people their privacy please. This is meant for a fun drive around town to check out some pretty houses!

If you’re in Grand Rapids because you like the Established Home show, that probably means you enjoy interior design, too, so I also wanted to share a couple restaurants and shops we enjoyed that had absolutely beautiful designs.

Tupelo Honey Cafe – 140 Ottawa Ave, NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Tupelo Honey Cafe – Grand Rapids

The Found Cottage – 2460 Chicago Dr, Hudsonville, MI 49426 (a bit of a drive but worth it in my opinion)

The Counting House – 758 Wealthy St, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 (just down the road from Stoffer Home)

You can also tour one the homes Frank Lloyd Wright designed called the Meyer May house (it’s free, but you do need an appointment).

Meyer May House – Grand Rapids, MI

Lost and Found – Treasures of Old and New – 445 Century Ave SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

One last stop before we headed off… lunch at Social Misfits and I couldn’t love it more. The design, the coffee, and the waffles were simply outstanding!

If you end up visiting Grand Rapids and find other spots you like, drop the in the comments for other readers to see and enjoy!

Oh, and Jean or Grace, if you end up reading this. Thank you for taking time to say hi! 💕

There is a box at the top right of this page to enter your email address to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Please sign up today!

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

If you like what you see, please like FunCycled’s Facebook page to keep up to date on the newest travel tips, interior design trends, and kitchen and furniture repurposing projects.

Send us a note with if you’re interested in our design services or custom furniture using our contact page. Or buy something that we’ve already designed from our furniture for sale page.

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Specialty Door Finishs – Paris Cloudy Day

Hi Friends,

If you missed our prior post or are new to the FunCycled blog, we started specialty finishes on furniture inspired by old doors. This door was another door from our Paris trip and will be part of our specialty finishes posts.

Here’s the door we loved:

Door from Paris, France

I was keeping an eye out for a piece with the right color and feel to recreate this door finish and came across this beautiful on Facebook marketplace.

Dresser before

I loved the look of the maple veneer and wanted to keep as much of that showing as possible, but so much of it was damaged. So we repaired the damaged sections and painted over them and then kept the wood in good condition as is. This piece even had the original key that locks all of the drawers.

Color: Benjamin Moore Smoke Embers with a dark glazing.

Ready for the after photos?

Added hardener to the legs to give it a look like it’s concrete.

Sooooo the only problem is…. I loved it too much to sell it. This beauty is staying in our home! I hope you enjoyed the transformation! We can redo your furniture piece in the same specialty finish if you’d like us to! Contact Us today!

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 ;)

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Kitchen Makeover with Bird Tile and Teal Accents

Hi Friends!

How are you? I hope your week is going well! Diane reached out to me to her design her kitchen. She was very easy going and kind to work with. She wanted the kitchen design to incorporate as much teal as possible, and she wanted me to somehow add birds or nature into the design. I like a good challenge and went to work to create a kitchen that would be timeless, but also that would have the color and finishes that Diane would enjoy from day to day!

Searching to find bird tile is an interesting adventure…. many of them I didn’t like or should I say most of them I didn’t like, but I finally came across one that I loved. I worked from there to find a complimenting teal subway tile.

We wanted to go neutral but not white on the cabinets, and, I think, Classic Gray did the trick on her cabinets. Warm, neutral, but also timeless.

Here are the design boards for the products. As part of the design consult, you can just click on the links to order everything, but you’ll have to hire me for that option. :)

We did a really unique design on the back and side of the peninsula by adding custom made arches. I wanted to tie in the fact that the doors have a bit of an arch and also give a unique design feature as you walk into the room. I think this does both and I hope we’ll be able to do this in more kitchens across the Capital District!

Custom Arched Detailing Installed on Peninsula

Here are the before pictures:

We painted the kitchen main cabinets BM Classic Gray OC-23 and peninsula BM Gentleman’s Gray. We also added new hardware, crown molding (this made a huge difference in my opinion), built the custom arches for the peninsula, and sprayed everything with a protective clear coat. We also did the tile install and interior design for this project.

What an beautiful transformation!!

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

Ready for the after photos?

Bird Accent Tile

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 ;)

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Ethan Allen China Cabinet Makeover

Hi Friends!

I hope you had a wonderful week! We spent some time in Ocean City, NJ on our annual family trip. The weather was wonderful and it was so nice to hear the waves and relax in the sun. I also started reading a really good book called Live Love Now. If you have teens or know teens that you want to connect with better, I highly recommend it! I’ve learned so much from it already and wish I had read it years ago.

This week’s makeover is from a dear client/friend. She was moving and couldn’t fit this armoire into her new house so she reached out to see if we’d be interested in it. It’s an Ethan Allen china cabinet so it was well made, but didn’t quite have the look I liked. Here it is before:

We painted the box with Benjamin Moore black, but my favorite part about the makeover was that we sanded and stained the drawers and doors to show the beautiful grain that was hiding behind the dark stain color.

Check it out:

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

Ready for the afters?

This china cabinet was snatched up by a design client so it’s not for sale, but I still wanted to share the transformation.

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 ;)

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Lake House Kitchen Makeover

Hi Friends!

Remember the kitchen lake house I’ve been working on for almost 2 years? Well, today is the day that I get to share the kitchen makeover.

Here it is before:

Beams are going in, too, but that’s for another post. :)

We didn’t repurpose anything in the space and we changed the layout. We changed the windows under the cabinets to make them bigger for a better view of the lake. They needed the cabinet space so they didn’t want to remove the upper cabinets all together. The peninsula was removed and an island was put in its place. All new counters, flooring, hardware, hood vent, and cabinets.

Ready for the after?

Would you like help redesigning your home? Let me help you with the design! Check out more details about our Interior 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. 

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 ;)

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Early 1900’s French Bedroom Set For Sale

Hi Friends!

How is everyone in upstate Ny holding up to all of this heat and humidity? Don’t hate me… but I love it! I swear I was designed to live in the south. I’d take this any day over being cold.

Want to see a really unique bedroom set? I found this one online and couldn’t wait to get it!

It had some veneer damage, but nothing that we couldn’t fix! We wanted to go with two tone and I’m really happy with the results. We painted it Benjamin Moore’s colors Simply White and Silver fox, then painted the hardware black, 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?

If you’d like to snatch up this set, it’s now available (online only). Check our online shop to see if it’s still available by clicking here: Shop Page. 

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 ;)

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Traditional Bathroom Design

Hi Friends!

Do you love a good bathroom makeover?? Good, good! So do I. :) This bathroom makeover doesn’t have a before picture because it was just an empty storage closet that was turned into a bathroom. It was part of a full lake house design project that I’ve been working on for the last two years.

So… imagine. An empty room with concrete floors. There, you’ve got it. :) I started with taking measurements and working on a design board for the space.

This design was done almost all virtually… I created the design board with product links for the contractor and he did an amazing job installing it all.

Love the vanity from Pottery Barn! I also really love the combination of tiles used for the flooring in the room, in the shower, and on the shower walls.

Herringbone Shower Tile

The counter top on the vanity was stunning, too!

Shower Sliding Glass Door

Would you like help redesigning your bathroom? Let me help you with the design! Check out more details about our Interior 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. 

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 ;)

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Specialty Door Finish – Paris Moody Seascape

Hi Friends,

When I started FunCycled over 10 years ago, the passion to pick this style of business was driven by a love of painting and recycling. I loved painting acrylic on canvas actually, but furniture seemed to bring art into the home in a timeless, practical way that attracted me. I’m always looking for design ideas; whether that’s in creation, old abandoned buildings, or even the color gray in my daughter, Harmony’s, eyes. It’s all beauty that I hope to capture and share in unique ways.

I’ve always loved looking at old doors and taking photos of them when I travel so on our recent trip to Paris and London, I snapped lots of pictures of Paris Doors and London Doors. Click either to see them on our Instagram page. As I was looking at the doors, I felt inspired to start a new speciality finishes project. I’ll take door finishes and artistically translate that finish to furniture. Because art is in my heart and I just love sharing beauty in unique ways.

Without further ado, here’s our first Specialty Door Finish – Paris Moody Seascape. A mix of chipping, dark glue gray paint, glazing and bright gold accents.

Our inspirational door…

This hutch felt like the perfect piece given the detailing at the top of each door and of the piece. It just felt right!

The finished furniture…

Also, Lydia, who is new to FunCycled in the last year, has been such a great addition to the team. She agreed to use her artistic ability to paint miniature paintings of each door in the series.

If you’d like to snatch up this first piece in the series, it’s now available (online only). Check our online shop to see if it’s still available by clicking here: Shop Page.

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 ;)

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Helping You Design a Successful Airbnb

Hi Friends!

As you may already know, we own an Airbnb in Troy that is very successful, but what you may not know is that we also help property owners create one of kind designs for their Airbnb’s as well. Check out this short video for more information.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I did a design consult helping a developer in Schenectady pick the layouts and set up for his new properties on airbnb.

Last week, I was able to help my friend MaryGrace design and finish setting up her airbnb. She had bookings the very next day after posting the listing on Airbnb. That’s because design makes a HUGE difference when you’re trying to get your Airbnb booked.

Check out some of the photos!

A huge congrats to MaryGrace and Mark. They worked so hard to create this beautiful space and I’m thrilled to get to see their dreams coming to life. If you’d like to book it, click here.

Would you like help redesigning your airbnb or creating a new airbnb? Let me help you with the design! Check out more details about our Interior 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. 

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 ;)

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Small Half Bathroom Design

Hi Friends!

I’ve been working on a lake house interior design project since 2020! It’s been a whole house remodeling project and I just went to photograph it last week. I’m so excited to start sharing some of the project with you!

There are plenty of rooms and ideas to share, but I wanted to share the smallest room in the house that we designed. We changed the layout of the house a bit and with the new design, we were able to add a small, half bathroom by the new front entry.

There’s not a great before picture because it was originally part of a bedroom that turned into an entry way, closet, and half bathroom.

Here’s the design board for the original product selections.

Here’s the entry way now that it’s all done!

Entry way created from where a bedroom was.
New half bathroom installed.

Would you like help redesigning your bathroom? Let me help you with the design! Check out more details about our Interior 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. 

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 ;)