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Changes to FunCycled from Coronavirus and a Dresser Set Makeover

Hi Friends!

How are you all doing? No really… How are you? I ask that because I would love for you to comment below and let me know. We are based in upstate NY and our state has been heavily affected by the coronavirus this week. For many of us, our days this week will look nothing like past days. We have a mandatory state PAUSE which means we are suppose to all stay home as much as possible. Our schools are closed so we are a homeschooling family now. Here’s a picture of our first homeschooling day:

The PAUSE also required us to lay off much of our staff, close our retail store, and adjust our business in many ways. There are so many other small business in our area taking a huge hit and my heart goes out to them. Many small businesses don’t have the extra to survive for a long time without business and as of right now there’s very little governmental help for small businesses. If we close, we don’t get unemployment. If we can’t make our bills, there’s not much more than offers for loans with more interest for small businesses. If you’re a small business who’s struggling, trying move your products online, and create new avenues of income, feel free to share a link in the comments below.

On the bright side, hard times can cause us to try new things, change the scope of our business, or see where there is excess. It can end up being a good thing in the end even when it doesn’t feel like it while it’s happening! We have definitely been trying new things already and it’s only been one week. So I wanted to share some of the changes as of right now… stay tuned because I’m sure there will be more changes in the weeks and months ahead.

1st… we were required to close our storefront for now. We will reopen one we get the ok to do so! If you have custom orders with us, we can still meet you to give back your finished furniture by appointment. We will finalize the payment online before we meet and have the furniture ready and waiting for you at our home shop instead of at our storefront in Troy.

2nd change… We added some of our most popular custom made signs to our shop page on the website. The good news? We can now ship the signs all over the country! If you’d like to help our small business, but don’t live around here, head to our Home Decor section and order a sweet sign for your home! It would mean so much to us! Here are just a few for you to take a look at:

3rd change… I now offer online one on one design consults through FaceTime or Skype. You can do this from wherever you live!! This is an exciting change and I’m offering it at a discounted rate until 5/1! Use our Contact Us form to schedule your consult.

We also just finished up a dresser set that is absolutely beautiful! I wanted to share the before and after pictures with you here. Remember that now through 5/1 we will delivery any of the furniture on our online shop for free if you live less than 30 minutes from our store ($75 value).

Here’s the dresser set before:

We painted the set with Benjamin Hale Navy on the outside and Simply White on the drawer fronts. We also sprayed it with a protective clear coat. We painted the original a sweet brushed nickel. This set is solid mahogany and so well made! It would be an awesome heirloom quality piece for your home.  

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

Here are the after pictures:

Hale Navy and White Mahogany Dresser
Hale Navy and White Mahogany End Stand

 This set is available on our website now or you can check out other available furniture on our For Sale page, too:

  • Tall Geometric Dresser
  • Tall Blue Mid Century Dresser
  • Long Geometric Mid Century Dresser
  • Navy Mid Century Long Dresser
  • Custom Built Barn Doors
  • Kitchen Cabinet Painting

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.

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Coronavirus and a China Cabinet Makeover

The past few days have been filled with waives of concerns, shock, disbelief for so many. As a small business owner, as a mom, as a daughter, as a friend, as a wife… my heart goes out to each and every person affected by #coronavirus #covid19. 

It’s easy to be scared during dramatic, unprecedented times. I wanted to encourage you with words that encouraged me today. We will choose not to be consumed by these times because we know that God loves us. We will have trying times ahead, but God is faithful. Let’s take one day at a time and leave the worry for tomorrow. Let’s do what we can to not spread germs, and prepare to help others… not just stock pile for ourselves. Let’s touch base with those struggling with anxiety and those who aren’t. Let’s be thankful for the time with our family and kids even when we don’t know how we’ll possibly juggle it all. Let’s find ways to be creative while we are alone… learn a new skill; do something creative each day.

So many small business will feel this hit… many may not make it. I encourage you, while practicing social distancing, to also consider supporting the small business in your town. So many in our town of #troyny are offering specials like free delivery right to your door – everything from lunch to books! Even gift cards for future purchases can be a huge help! 

Here at FunCycled we are offering free furniture delivery on any in store furniture purchase from now until the end of March (within a 30 minutes drive from the store – a $75 value). We’ll also be doing a couple give aways this week on Facebook to brighten your spirits! We can all have some fun online, can’t we?? That’s a safe distance! ;) We also are doing more frequent cleaning at the store and limiting our store hours over the next two weeks to Friday 12-5 and Saturday 10-2:30. 

This may look like a new season for so many of us. Risk has a new meaning to small business owners this week. We will do what we did from day one. We will work our butts off, we will sacrifice at home to make sure our staff is paid, we will have sleepless nights, we will find new avenues of business when others have dried up, and most of all we will trust God with the results. So many of us want to be in control, but in the end we need to remember that we just simply are not. Day by day, little by little, let’s pursue a joy that’s rooted in something deeper than just our surroundings. In the end, that’s what it looks like to be truly successful, doesn’t it?

Now it’s time for a china cabinet makeover!
Here’s the china cabinet before:

We painted the cabinet with Benjamin Moore’s Smokey Taupe #983.

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

This desk was done as a custom order so it’s not for sale. You can check out available furniture on our For Sale page:

  • Hale Navy and White Mahogany Dresser
  • Hale Navy and White Mahogany End Stand
  • Tall Geometric Mid Century Dresser
  • Navy Mid Century Tall Dresser
  • Long Geometric Mid Century Dresser
  • Long Mid Century Dresser

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.

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Navy Mid Century Dresser Set

Hi Friends!

How’s your week going? It’s a beautiful, sunny day as I write this… the flowers have started to pop out of the ground and it’s almost 60 degrees. That means spring is just around the corner and I can’t wait! I love all things spring and summer in upstate NY!

This week, I wanted to share a makeover that I don’t have the before pictures of. I completely forgot to take a before picture and then it was too late… but I still feel like this set is worth seeing the finished products.

We painted the boxes Hale Navy, stained the drawer fronts with Early American, added a white stripe on two of the pieces, and sprayed it all with a protective clear coat.

Navy Mid Century Long Dresser

This set 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:

  • Tall Geometric Mid Century Dresser
  • Long Geometric Mid Century Dresser
  • Kitchen Cabinet Painting
  • Long Mid Century White and Wood Dresser
  • Sage Buffet
  • Gray French Provincial Hutch

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.

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Geometric Mid Century Dresser Set – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends,

How’s your week going? This past weekend, we were able to do a fun little project with our friends Kori and Mike. They’ve been redoing a bus to turn it into a tiny house. They didn’t have the tools they needed to install a counter or sink, so they parked the bus at our house for the weekend and John helped them install it! You should follow along on their fun journey at 382North.

They’ve done such an amazing job on their bus so far. Being able to be a small part of the project was so much fun!!

This week’s furniture makeover was less than fun, but so worth the time and energy. I purchased this dresser set because I loved the clean lines on it:

The base is unique, the hardware is sleek, and it’s all so well made! That’s a winning combination in my book.

I knew I wanted to do more of a geometric pattern on this piece because I’ve been wanting to try that for a while. The hardware was already gold so that was perfect. We started by darkening the stain color on the whole piece and then clear coating it. We wanted to do stripes just along the front of the box, but even with the gentle FROG tape which usually works wonders, it just kept pealing and not doing what we wanted.

After redoing it twice, we decided we had to go ahead and sand it all down to get better adhesion and paint the whole box Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore.

We also played around with the designs on our phones to make sure we liked out it looked.

Looked good to me! On went the painted! If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. 
Ready for the transformation???

Mid Century Geometric Dresser Set for Sale
Mid Century Geometric Dresser Set for Sale

This set 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:

  • Navy Mid Century Long Dresser
  • Navy Mid Century Tall Dresser
  • Long Mid Century Dresser
  • Tall Mid Century Dresser
  • Sage Buffet
  • Black Carpenters Tool Chest

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.

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Build a Wall or Add a Barn Door? – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

We took our annual trip to South Carolina last week to visit our sweet friends during winter break. This year it was a work trip combined with visiting our friends Marcie and Bobby. When you walk in the front door of their house, there is a large room on the left. That’s a common set up for many center hall colonials and other newer homes. The rooms tend to be too small for a dining room or living room, so they end up being an office, kids play room, or exercise room. Most often, those rooms aren’t the rooms you want to be on display as the first thing people see as they walk into your house. That was the case for Marcie and Bobby’s house.

They were trying to decide if they should build a wall and have a standard door installed. They asked about creative ways to close up that space. Since we would have to do most of the work at our shop before we drove down south because we couldn’t fit all our tools and wouldn’t have time to build out a whole wall, we recommended a double barn door as the solutions. We build one door to act as a stationary wall and the second door to slide open and closed. This saved a lot of work and money. We didn’t have to match the wainscoting or sheetrock or make a mess. Win win!

Here’s the area before:

We’ve done this in the past with a basement closet. You can check that out here. It worked really well for this space and a large barn door is a really beautiful statement piece when someone walks into your house.

Here’s the finished product!

Continue reading Build a Wall or Add a Barn Door? – Tuesday’s Treasures
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Repurposing a Hutch into a Dog Feeding Station – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

How are you?? If you’re in upstate NY and have kiddos, your kids probably have winter break this week. We have a fun makeover to show you that even the kids might think is cool! 😉 Sandy reached out to us to see if we could help her find a hutch and then turn it into a dog feeding station for her two adorable golden retrievers. So fun!

Here’s the hutch we found and purchased for her:

We took the bottom doors off and John built the inside sections where we removed the doors up to 10″ high. The dog bowls were already at that height so Sandy wanted it to be the same height. Then we used a jig saw to create the opening for the dog bowls; we cut them 9″ wide.

We painted the whole hutch with Benjamin Moore’s Gentleman’s Gray, glazed it, and sprayed it with a protective clear coat. We also added new hardware. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post.

Ready for the after pictures?

This hutch was done as a custom order so it’s not for sale, but we can custom make one for your home, too. You can check out available furniture on our For Sale page:

  • Tall Mid Century Dresser
  • Long Mid Century Dresser
  • End Stand
  • Gray French Provincial Hutch
  • Sage Buffet
  • Hutch

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.

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Creating Core Values and a Cute Makeover

Hi Friends!

The Downtown Troy BID asked me to write an article about core values for their business development program this year so I thought I’d share it here as well.

FunCycled Store and Design Team
Pam, Store Manager | Debbie, Store Clerk and Upholsterer | Sarah, Owner of FunCycled | Kelly, Design Assistant

Team Work

Let me first say that this team right here is my absolute favorite on the planet. Each person does their very best every time I ask for help. Pam runs the store like it’s her own – I can’t even imagine running the store without her. She makes signs, keeps up on inventory, has the friendliest personality, and always has my back. Debbie (my mom) has worked with me from day one. Doing anything from upholstery to cleaning toilets. No job is below her and that’s a true servants heart worth emulating. If you’ve met her in the store, you know she can also talk to anyone about anything and will probably make you laugh before you leave. Kelly always understands exactly what I’m looking for in a design. She has the instinct to pull together a room design without any hesitation. Not to mention, when we work together, it feels like we’re not even working. It’s always so fun! She’s sweet, smart, and the perfect design assistant. They are all gems in my book! I’m so thankful for each and every person God has brought under this umbrella of work called FunCycled.

Core Values

As I was working through the core values for FunCycled, I needed to be reminded that core values are the shared principles that guide your team and define your culture. Too often businesses (just like my business did at first), jump to create a logo, website or marketing strategy without having clarified their brand core. Whether you just started a company or are 10 years in, if you haven’t created your core values, now’s the time! When you successfully identify and communicate your company’s core values, it will help guide your motivation for change within the company and with your employees. 

Core values also provide important boundaries within which the business will operate and pursue its mission. For small businesses, your values need to come from you. What do you believe to be true? What are the most important characteristics of your company’s work? What is your desired culture? Which values are you most passionate about? Which values are non-negotiable? Which values are you willing to lose money for? 

For example, at FunCycled, we reassessed our plan for core values with Dylan Hall – who was amazing! – at Guide and Porter (a brand strategy and design consultancy) and developed these: 

Work Hard. Play Hard.

To create a culture where home and work have a healthy balance. 

Kill Them With Kindness

Kindness is spread generously in the workplace and with our clients to build relationships that last.

Selfless Drive

By seeking the highest good in craft and customer service.

Developing 3-5 clear values is a critical step to guide all aspects of your business. From customer service, sales, marketing, messaging, positioning, hiring and firing, strategic plans and building your company culture; developing clear values serves as the foundation for developing your brand identity, consumer relationships, and marketing. 

While your mission statement answers the question “why do we exist?”, your core values answer the question, “how do we behave?”. 

When someone visits your business they are experiencing your values in action! Remember that as you go over it with your team. You could even create a sign for your workplace as a consistent reminder. It’s easy to forget what you’re striving for when you get busy or discouraged; a daily reminder is always healthy for your mind and heart.  

Core values are the ideals that you esteem highly as a company. They are more than a nice set of words that hang on your wall because they define what you hold dear. They guide decision making and keep you on track. They are what you believe—no matter what. However, if they are to be more than mere platitudes, your values must be actionable. Name the behaviors and then make them actionable. It helps you know what to expect from yourself and your team! It will help differentiate your business from others and lead your team well into a more successful tomorrow. It’s already been a game changer for us!

Cute Makeover

I promised a cute makeover… so here’s that for you, too!

Secretary Desk Makeover with Benjamin Moore’s San Antonio Rose

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

This desk was done as a custom order so it’s not for sale. You can check out available furniture on our For Sale page:

  • Long Mid Century Dresser
  • Tall Mid Century Dresser
  • Gray French Provincial Hutch
  • Sage Buffet
  • Black Carpenters Tool Chest
  • Hutch

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.

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Updating a Galley Kitchen – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

How’s your week going? Last week, I had the chance to go photograph some of the kitchens we have been working on over the last three months. I love getting to see the completed projects and hearing happy clients tell me about their experience with our staff. Similar words like… kindness seemed to resonate throughout the conversations. I’m so very blessed and thankful to have a team who spreads kindness generously to the clients we work with. It’s such a joy and comfort when people take time to share positive feedback.

I thought I’d share one of the kitchen makeovers with you today.

Here are the before pictures:


We painted the cabinets with Benjamin Moore’s Advanced paint; color Chelsea Gray, sealed it with a water based protective clear coat, and added new hardware. We also removed one of the cabinets and installed floating shelves in its place which made a huge impact in this space. Natasha started working with us in 2017 when we redid her dining room set. She most recently asked me to do the interior design for the kitchen, and our most recent project was painting the cabinets! I’ve so enjoyed working with her through the years. Thank you for working with us, Natasha!

Ready for the afters? 

Galley Kitchen Painted with Benjamin Moore’s Chelsea Gray
Continue reading Updating a Galley Kitchen – Tuesday’s Treasures
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Mid Century Modern Bedroom Set For Sale

Hi Friends!

How’s your week going? People seem to be wanting to plan out the designs and projects in the new year to prioritize and set aside tax money. That’s a really smart plan! When clients come to me first, we can talk about the overall design of their house and project list. Deciding on an overall plan and style will make everything come together so much more smoothly! A solid plan often saves you money, too. You’re not buying something that you think might work, but doesn’t end up working. Your whole space will feel cohesive, not just one room. If you are interested in more information about our Design Services, head here.

For this week’s furniture makeover, I want to show you the before and afters of a mid century modern bedroom set that we just finished and brought down to our storefront. Here’s a picture of the set before:

We painted the outside of the box Decorators White by Benjamin Moore, painted the legs black, and stained the drawer fronts to make them a little darker. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. 
Ready for the transformation???

Mid Century Modern Tall Dresser for Sale
Continue reading Mid Century Modern Bedroom Set For Sale
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Dining Room Transformation by Painting the Furniture

Hi Friends,

How’s your week going? I hope all is well and you’re staying warm in the northeast with this chilly weather. Our brand new furnace broke down this weekend and no furnace company was available that we called for help. So, John called the manufacturer, went to the wholesaler to buy a part, watched YouTube to learn how to fix it, and in the end saved us a couple hundred dollars I’m sure! The best part? We were warm that same day! He’s one handy guy to have around.

We also started the kids bathroom remodel. We’re only in the gutting stage right now, but I thought I’d share it anyway.

Before:

Now:

There was no way to make a tub fit into the space without it sitting in the window so we expanded the bathroom out a couple of feet. We also found beautiful hard wood floors beneath the plywood and linoleum. Yay!

For this week transformation, I wanted to show you how a customer changed the whole look of her dining room by repurposing the furniture she already had and buying new dinging room chairs.

Here’s the set before:

Katherine knew that she wanted it painted a glossy black for a much more modern look! She wanted a lacquer finish, but I don’t like working with lacquer because of how toxic it is. We went with a black enamel and a gloss clear coat to get a very similar finish without as many chemicals.

Here are the pieces painted before they were delivered:

Black Enamel Hutch Makeover
Black Enamel with Gloss Clear Coat over Oak Table
Black Enamel Table Makeover
Close up of oak table with black enamel and gloss clear coat.

Finishing the pieces made me really excited to see how they’d look in the space. Notice that Kathleen didn’t change much out other than the chairs and the centerpiece and it completely transformed the room!

This set was a custom order, but you can check out even more new pieces on our For Sale page.

  • Gray French Provincial Hutch
  • Sage Buffet
  • Navy Trunk
  • Black Carpenters Tool Chest
  • Hutch
  • Light Gray Dresser

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.