Blog - Page 24 of 75 - FunCycled - Interior Design, Kitchen Cabinet Painting, Furniture Repurposing in Upstate NY

Posted on September 8, 2020January 12, 2024 by Sarah

FunCycled Stays Airbnb Master Bedroom Makeover

Hi Friends!

Who doesn’t love a beautiful bedroom when you go somewhere to escape normal life for a bit! Today, I’m sharing the master bedroom makeover in the airbnb. If you’re looking for a place get away and relax; book your stay here!

This is the master bedroom when we went to look at the building to purchase it.

It doesn’t look it, but the walls were a light gray and my least favorite part of the room was the huge pine baseboard! It was 12″ tall!

So we ripped that out and repurposed it to be shelving in the kitchen.

We painted the headboard wall Newburg Green by Benjamin Moore in a Matte finish and the rest of the walls Simply White.

We custom built the headboard with lights and end stands on it to save floor space and to be the focal point of the room.

We also repurposed an antique dresser for this room and built an adorable ladder. At the footboard, we took an old piece of reclaimed lumber and added hairpin legs to give it a rustic, modern feel.

We also added a little electric fireplace and a tiny office off the master bedroom.

It would mean so much if you would share this link with any friend you think might be interested. You can book your stay on Airbnb’s website today!

We loved being able to do all the design for this space. We focused on using as much repurposed items we could for accents and furniture throughout the space! Making it green, beautiful, and one of a kind for your home away from home stay.

If you’d like me to help you with design in your home (can be done virtually to help anyone in the US) or if you see anything in the photos you’d like in your home locally, let me know. We made most of the signs ourselves and build many of the furniture items throughout the space.

Thanks for being the best funcycler’s around!

Sarah Trop

Posted on September 1, 2020August 31, 2020 by Sarah

Reusing your hutch as a buffet! – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

How was your weekend? I hope all is going well! This week, I wanted to share a simple way to update an older hutch. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good hutch makeover, but sometimes a hutch can also be completely transformed by keeping just the bottom of the hutch and turning it into a buffet. It really modernizes the piece and also gives you room above it for some exposed shelves or decor.

Here’s a hutch that we recently redid in that way:

We painted the buffet/dresser with Benjamin Moore’s Simply White. Then we lightly distressed it, sprayed it with a protective clear coat, and added new hardware.

Doesn’t it look like a complete different piece?

Adding glass knobs made it look so much more farmhouse, chic!

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

This buffet/dresser is available to purchase on our website or in our store now, but you can also check out even more new pieces on our For Sale page:

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 August 25, 2020January 12, 2024 by Sarah

Airbnb Kitchen Remodel by FunCycled

Hi Friends!

How’s your week going? I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I wanted to share the kitchen remodel at our #funcycledstays airbnb. Here’s what we started with – basically an empty room that needed a lot of love.

The first thing we did was rip up the subfloor to find hardwood floors underneath. I forgot to take a picture of the kitchen with the subfloors. Here’s where you can see what we ripped up.

Finding the wood floors was such a nice surprise! It gave the room a lot of character and we were able to repurpose something old instead of buying something new.

A nice part about the kitchen was that it had all the plumbing and electrical in place so we didn’t have to do anything like that, but it had nothing else.

We had some cabinets from the first floor of the new building and also took cabinets that were going to be trashed from a kitchen job that we redid. So we took them and painted them Newburgh Green by Benjamin Moore. Colorize in Clifton Park offered to let us try their new paint product called Gemini EVO. It’s a water based lacquer for kitchen cabinet painting. I’ve heard great things about it, but wanted to wait for a project for ourselves before we tested it out. I wanted to see how it sprayed and check the durability before I offered it to our clients. We use an air sprayer for the doors and drawers and brush the boxes. Both applications of this product worked really well. It went through the sprayer without thinning it out and it rolled onto the cabinets without showing brush marks. We loved using it and will now be offering this option for our clients for an upcharge (because it costs about double what normal cabinet paint does). We also waited and did a scratch test and it adhered really well to the cabinets. Thanks to Colorize for keeping us up to date on all the new products and for providing stellar customer service.

We installed IKEA faux concrete counters. The light above the island wasn’t in a good spot so instead of moving all the electric, we built a box and installed two island lights from Ikea. Then we installed subway tile and black grout.

We removed the baseboard that was 10″ tall in the master bedroom. Why would anyone install that big of a baseboard?

Then we repurposed the wood from the baseboard to create exposed shelves in the kitchen.

We took an old white dishwasher and spray painted it black! It still worked great, so, why not? Thanks for the dishwasher, Christine!

The island was a buffet from FunCycled where we extended the top to make it a place for people to sit an eat. We purchased the bar stools on Facebook marketplace.

Installing barn board to the soffits gave it visual interest and charm.

This teal lotus ceiling light above the sink is yummy! I love it!

We are so happy with how this little space took shape into a one of a kind place for people to stay, enjoy cooking together, and make family memories for years to come!

It would mean so much if you would share this link with any friend you think might be interested. You can book your stay on Airbnb’s website today!

Thanks for being the best funcycler’s around!

Sarah Trop

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Sarah

Kendall Charcoal Ornate Buffet for Sale

Hi Friends!

How are you? I hope you’re doing well! We had a beautiful weekend! Took whole Saturday off and enjoyed kayaking and having dinner out! It was such a fun time!

I wanted to share a buffet makeover that we just finished and added to our shop online and in our store.

Here’s the buffet before:

We sanded and primed, then painted it with Benjamin Moore’s Advanced paint. Color: Kendal Charcoal. Then we lightly distressed it and sprayed it with a protective clear coat. The hardware is all new. I could not love this one more! If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post.

This is available to purchase on our website, but you can check out new pieces on our For Sale page:

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 11, 2020January 12, 2024 by Sarah — 1 Comment

Airbnb in Troy, Ny

Hi Friends!

Our FunCycled Stays Airbnb in Troy is available now! If you’d like to book your stay, you can book it here!

This urban home is nestled on the front side of Prospect Park on upper Congress Street in Troy, NY. The parking lot of the house meets up with Prospect Park where you could take a morning run, play free disc golf in the summer, or bring your favorite sport equipment to play it in the wide open field right behind the house. Take a 5 minute stroll to a local bakery for fresh cinnamon buns; then go just past the bakery, to the right you’ll see the GORGEous view of the Mt. Ida waterfall.

Rainy day? No problem! The house has 3 floors of fun for you! The first floor of the apartment has a game room with classic board games and cards, an air hockey table, and a comfy pull out couch where you can snuggle away with a good book in front of the electric fireplace to keep warm or sleep to make room for more friends.

Game room with electric fireplace. Locker with some games for you to play!

It also has an open floor plan on the same floor to enjoy cooking in the full kitchen (all pots and pans and dishes included), a dishwasher for easy clean up, a dining table for 4-6, and a large sectional in the living room. The living room has a smart TV with fast wifi for you to log into any of your favorite streaming services with your own accounts (no cable).

Open Floor Plan Living Room, Kitchen, and Dining Room

Custom furniture, a comfy sectional, designer lighting.

Not up for being with the group or need to work a bit while your friends play? No problem! The 2nd floor of the apartment has two beautiful bedrooms that will make you want to sleep in and soak up quiet time with your loved one.

The master bedroom has a desk and small room for you to hide away and get those emails done quickly so you can enjoy the rest of your fun filled day.

The 2nd floor also has the full bathroom with a rain shower head and spray handle to give you the most soothing shower.

Teens that want to get away from the crowd or friends that want to watch a movie together? We’ve got you covered there, too! The 3rd floor of the apartment (4th floor of the building) is one big movie room! Watch your head with the sloped ceiling, but that ceiling will give you an amazing sound and theater experience. The movie room has a smart TV with fast wifi for you to log into any of your favorite streaming services with your own accounts (no cable or streaming service included). It also has a DVD player and a selection of DVD’s for you. There’s a microwave and popcorn in the movie room for you to enjoy your movies without needing to leave the room!

One of a kind getaway for your whole family or group of friends!

Perfect for short trips or longer stays! Only .6 miles away from RPI, 1 mile from Russell Sage College, and 1.5 miles from the Emma Willard School. So close! A perfect spot for EMPAC artists, RPI visitors, Emma and Russell Sage parents, or corporate travelers. Out of town guests that might want a special place to stay? Give them the treat of staying in this designer space.

Other close venues or attractions:
Countless restaurants and shops in downtown Troy (1 mile)
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall (1.2 miles)
Albany (15 minutes)
SPAC (33 minutes)
Saratoga Race Track (32 minutes)
Jiminy Peak Mountain (45 minutes)

It would mean so much if you would share this link with any friend you think might be interested. You can book your stay on Airbnb’s website today!

Thanks for being the best funcycler’s around!

Sarah Trop

Posted on August 4, 2020August 3, 2020 by Sarah

Kitchen Cabinet Painting in Troy NY

Hi Friends!

How are you? I hope all is going well! We wrapped up almost all of our projects at the #funcycledstays airbnb over the weekend. In less than 2 months we finished it and it was the hardest we’ve worked in our lives. Next week, I’ll share the before and afters of the airbnb as well as a link to book your stay! Stay tuned friends! Here are a couple sneak peeks for you though!

For this week’s makeover, I’m sharing a Troy kitchen cabinet painting, tiling, and wall painting project. Donna reached out to have us paint her kitchen cabinets. She has cherry cabinets so they were tricky to paint. Bleed through is a common problem with cherry cabinet. When the cabinets are painted, the stain color bleeds into the paint and changes its color. You can usually stop that from happening with the right primer, but sometimes even with the right primer, it happens.

Here’s the kitchen before:

We painted the cabinets with Benjamin Moore’s Advanced paint; color White Dove OC-17 (satin finish), sealed it with a water based protective clear coat, and added new hardware. We also paint the walls White Dove in an eggshell finish and painting test trim White Dove in a semi gloss finish! When we paint kitchen cabinets, we also offer tile install. We installed this subway tile for Donna as well! The flooring was installed by Revival Renovations.

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!

Check out some fun new furniture for sale in our store now:

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

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on July 28, 2020July 27, 2020 by Sarah

Navy and Wood French Provincial Hutch for Sale

Hi Friends!

I hope you all enjoyed the weekend and have had a good start to the new week. We spent almost every free moment working on the new FunCycled Stays airbnb last week. We are pushing hard to finish it up this week. We’d like to have it ready to rent starting August 7th. Stay tuned! Here’s a first sneak peak of the master bedroom!

I love my house, but I want to stay here myself! 😍

For this week’s furniture makeover, I wanted to show you a before and after of a hutch that we recently redid to sell at our store.

Here’s the hutch before we worked on it:

We sanded and stained the inside shelves with Early American stain by MinWax. We painted the outside of the hutch Old Navy by Benjamin Moore. Then we painted the hardware a bright gold and sprayed the whole thing with a protective clear coat. I could not love this one more! If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post.

Navy French Provincial Hutch with Gold Hardware

This is available to purchase on our website, but you can check out new pieces on our For Sale page:

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

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on July 21, 2020July 20, 2020 by Sarah

French Provincial Buffet for Sale

Hi Friends!

How was your weekend? We’re plugging along at the airbnb and pushing to open it the second weekend of August! It’s really looking beautiful! I can’t wait to share all the details with you!

Here’s a silly picture of me and my bestie, MaryGrace, painting the ombre steps to the Airbnb. 😂 She’s pretending to drink the paint and I’m apparently grossed out by that. Hahah!

For this week, I’m sharing the before and after’s of a French provincial buffet that we recently redid. My friend Miguel is moving to Texas so he couldn’t keep it and asked if we’d be interested in redoing it for FunCycled. Thank you so much for thinking of us Miguel!

Here’s the buffet before:

We sanded and stained the top with Minwax Early American. Then we painted the base with Benjamin Moore’s Newburg Green color. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post.

Ready for the afters?

This is available to purchase on our website, but you can check out new pieces on our For Sale page:

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

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on July 14, 2020 by Sarah

Kendall Charcoal Buffet For Sale

Hi Friends!

How’s your week going? I hope all is well there! I hit a wall of complete exhaustion this weekend. It’s been too many long days, endless projects, and financial stress. We chose to buy the new building on Congress Street, but we had no idea when we signed a contract for it in November 2019 that we would be in the middle of a pandemic and economic crisis in the middle of 2020. We still believe it was the right choice for us, but it’s also been a trying time for us. We just took out our first business loan and have been doing the work almost completely alone. That definitely weighs on me. I’m trying not to compare my life today to my life a year ago. It’s stealing my joy. It’s hard not to… some days I have victory in that and this weekend I didn’t. I cried a lot, made myself get up, and reached out to a few friends to ask for prayer, a listening ear, and better perspective. What a blessing those people were to my heart. We will make it through and be stronger on the other side; like every other business hurtle in the past. Please know your prayers and words of encouragement mean so much right now.

Here’s one sneak peak picture of the back game room at the #funcycledstays airbnb that also has a pull out bed for more of your friends to stay with you. We used a vintage dusty rose couch (thank Monica), a coffee table made from old repurposed wood, and modern pops of design with the funky rug and aztec pillow. :)

For this week’s makeover, I wanted to share a buffet that we recently redid for our store. Here’s the buffet before:

We painted with Benjamin Moore’s Kendall Charcoal, sanded the top and left it original, then we sprayed it with a protective clear coat. We also installed all new hardware. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post.

Here are the after pictures:

This is available to purchase on our website, but you can check out new pieces on our For Sale page:

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

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on July 7, 2020July 7, 2020 by Sarah — 1 Comment

Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Design and Cabinet Painting

Hi Friends!

How was your holiday weekend? We had such a beautiful weekend. Last week, we were suppose to be on vacation for our family camping trip, but it was canceled because the camp site closed from COVID restrictions. We decided to hunker down and do long days at the new building trying to make good progress on the #funcycledstays airbnb. A big thank you to the friends, family, and neighbors who helped make it a fun week for my kids while we worked hard. Over the weekend, we unplugged and spent some much needed time relaxing with family. Kayaking, picnics, and lots of swimming. 💕

At #funcycledstays, we finished redoing the floors, painted almost all the walls, added new window trim, baseboard, and wood beams. We also painted new kitchen cabinets and ordered everything we need to do the finish work. We installed all new lighting throughout the space and that made the biggest difference in my opinion. I can’t wait to show it all to you! Here’s one sneak peak picture for now:

In this picture, you can see the window trim, barn wood, refinished floors, and baseboard. I also created a faux concrete wall straight ahead. I’m really happy with how that came out!

For this week’s makeover, I wanted to share a project for our client, Kelly, who asked me to design their kitchen, family room, dining room, living room, and then this week the exterior colors for their home, and entry way. I’ve so enjoyed working with her every step of the way and being able to see some of the progress last week was so fun!

Here’s the kitchen before:

During her 1 hour design consult, we picked out new flooring, lighting, colors for the cabinets and overall look for the room. She didn’t even need a design board for this room (other rooms we did a design board and I’ll share those more later).

We painted the cabinets with Benjamin Moore’s Advanced paint; color Simply White, sealed it with a water based protective clear coat, and added new hardware.

Ready for the afters?