Blog - Page 46 of 77 - FunCycled - Interior Design, Kitchen Cabinet Painting, Furniture Repurposing in Upstate NY

Posted on September 20, 2016September 25, 2017 by Sarah

Retro Farmhouse Kitchen Makeover – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

I’m sooooooooo excited to share our first ever kitchen makeover with you!! Do you like Fixer Upper? If so, you’ll probably enjoy this kitchen makeover. It started back in June with the Interior Design phase. Ann hired me to be the interior designer for her dining room and entry way. The week we finished the entry way, she stopped by our store and said, “what room would you like to design next?”. I felt weird about telling her a room needed a makeover but she promised not to have hurt feelings! So I jumped at the idea of redoing her kitchen! She has a small kitchen but I knew we could breathe new life into it and make it a fun place to have friends over. Ann had other people give her quotes to redo the kitchen but they wanted to rip walls down and make it a major renovation project. Ann didn’t go for it and loved that I wanted to keep the original shape and size, but give it new life again.

To share the pictures of the kitchen after the remodel wouldn’t be the same without showing the before pictures.

Here we go!
Let’s start with the fridge wall, shall we? I didn’t like the placement of the fridge or that the island was all wood. You’ll see in the next few pictures that there is very little kitchen cabinet space so I wanted to make the island look like the rest of the cabinets and add exposed shelving above it. I sent Ann three different design ideas for the kitchen but my favorite design was one that included all retro style appliances from Big Chill. With such a small room, a retro design could incorporate fun appliances. I was elated to find out that she wanted to go with the retro appliances plan!!! We also added white shiplap to the bottom half of the wall to add even more texture to the space.
I wanted to make the fridge the focal point of the room so I moved it to the middle, then put the island on the left and built exposed shelving to go above it. We also added LED lights under each shelf to brighten up that corner. Let’s move on to the wall with the stove. The stove needed to be replaced, but I felt like this space also needed more storage. Here it is before:
Storage was tricky because behind the butcher block was a heater that couldn’t be covered. We decided to build a cabinet that looked like a counter but with metal on the bottom to let the heat out but still give her work space and built a custom cabinet to also provide more storage.
Scroll back up and take a look at the door to the left of the stove. The rest of Ann’s house has beautiful mahogany doors and I wanted these to match so we stripped off all the paint, sanded them down and stained them to match. I love the timeless look that gives this kitchen. Refinishing the doors was probably Johns least favorite part of this renovation. Now check out the difference!

Let’s take a look at the ceiling now… not so pretty wood that was an orange/brown.
With a light that needed to go for sure!
Here it is now… sooooooo pretty, right?
Moving on to the sink section. The dark color of the cabinets made this space feel small. The doors and drawers were really basic so John added decorative trim to make it seem more modern and high end. Here’s a close up on those:
John also build the counter top from scratch using solid maple. That was probably the hardest part of the remodel. Not the install, but the build itself. It was definitely worth it though!
We went with a GE retro dishwasher because we wanted white. The hardware is all from Restoration Hardware. What would a kitchen makeover be without a farmhouse sink anyway??
The rug added another deign element that made the kitchen fun and fresh. The tile is from Lowes and we went with a dark gray grout. Since the windows look out to her back yard, I wanted to skip on curtains and leave it open and sunshiney.
Ann already had this antique coffee grinder and I definitely wanted to incorporate it into the kitchen design. Isn’t it awesome?!?
The cabinets, trim, and ceiling are painted with Benjamin Moore’s Simply White in Semi Gloss. The walls are painted with Benjamin Moore’s Simply White in Satin. When Ann walked into the house for the first time after the remodel and sent me a text saying, “I can’t stop smiling”… and that says it all friends.

Here are some other pretty pictures that we thought you might like!

We can help design or remodel your home! If you’d like help with either, use our Contact Us form! We would love to create one of a kind deigns for you!

We also have lots of one of a kind furniture for sale right now if you’re in need of that. Here are a few of those pieces:

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 finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. Last but not least, let us customize a furniture piece for you. We create custom furniture and will deliver for customers in upstate NY and also 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 furniture for sale page.

Posted on September 13, 2016September 12, 2016 by Sarah — 1 Comment

New York State of Mind Dresser Set – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

How was your week? Everyone start school ok? My kiddos started at a new school this year and I was a little nervous for them – hoping they would make new friends easily and like their teachers! Thankfully, they absolutely love it, and I’m thrilled at how easily they integrated into their new school. Oh, and having normal work hours again feels so good, too Here are a few pictures of my babies on the first day of school!

This week’s transformation is on the simpler side, but still so classic and pretty. I bought this dresser set a while ago and have been wanting time to redo it!

We painted it with Benjamin Moore’s color New York State of Mind, glazed it with Valspar’s Antiquing Glaze, and finished it with a satin clear coat. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. We also replaced the hardware with traditional bale pulls.

Ready for the after?

This set is available to purchase and you can check out other new furniture for sale on our website here ! If you’d like to purchase it, please use our Contact Us form or stop by our store at 272 River Street, Troy, NY. I also added quite a few other new pieces to the store!

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 ;)

Posted on September 6, 2016September 6, 2016 by Sarah

Go Bold! Turquoise Buffet – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

How was your holiday weekend? My amazing friends Chrisie, Dione and Bethany came for a girls weekend and we had a blast! It was so nice to get time to laugh, have fun, not work and feel like a 20 year old again! I’m so so thankful for the blessing of their friendship!
Since they are here, I’m keeping this post short and sweet. It’s a transformation of an ornate but ugly buffet that I took the risk of painting in a bold way! Here it is before:

We painted it with Benjamin Moore’s color, glazed it with Valspar’s Antiquing Glaze, and finished it with a semigloss clear coat. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. We also replaced the hardware for that extra pop with the design.

Ready for the after?
This sold quickly but you can check out other new furniture for sale on our website here ! If you’d like to purchase it, please use our Contact Us form or stop by our store at 272 River Street, Troy, NY. I also added quite a few other new pieces to the store!

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 ;)

Posted on August 30, 2016August 29, 2016 by Sarah

How to Make an Oak Gradient Dresser – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends,

How’s your week going? We are knee deep in a kitchen remodel project while getting goods restocked at FunCycled and getting the kiddos ready to start school next week. This is the time of year that I feel ready for school. The kids are ready not to be around each other all day and I’m ready to have time to catch up with work. Work has been busy this summer and we’ve had added in a lot of non-work fun, but I’m ready to feel like I’m not running on all cylinders again.

This week’s makeover is actually much harder than it may look. We took this old oak dresser:

We’ve tried to redo an oak dresser with a gradient ombre stained finish, but sometimes oak doesn’t like to take the stain colors as well as pine or a softer wood so it hasn’t come out right when we’ve tried it. But we decided to give it another go!

We painted the outside with a black enamel and heavily distressed it. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. For the drawer fronts, we sanded down into the oak pretty deeply. We needed the grain to take the stain. Then we stained the drawers in this order with these colors:
1st drawer (top) – all natural (no stain applied just a protective clear coat)
2nd drawer – Minwax 1 coat of Early American
3rd drawer – Minwax 1st coat Early American – 2nd coat Dark Walnut
4th drawer – Minwax 2 coats of Dark Walnut
5th drawer – Minwax 1 coat of Ebony

Sometimes seeing it in a picture is helpful, right? On photo day, I also had a helper to do the pictures. She’s just the cuteness.

Here are the rest of the after pictures for you:

This dresser is for sale right now and you can check out other new furniture for sale on our website here ! If you’d like to purchase it, please use our Contact Us form or stop by our store at 272 River Street, Troy, NY. I also added quite a few other new pieces to the store!

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 ;)

Posted on August 23, 2016August 29, 2016 by Sarah

Mid Century Patchwork Dresser – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

How was your week? Last week felt like the busiest week of our summer as far as work goes. John was working on a kitchen cabinet painting project. It rained quite a bit last week and that slows down our job so much. It makes for long days, drips and tricky finishes. Thankfully, I have a hard working husband who worked long days and pushed hard to finish the kitchen in one week! These aren’t the best pictures but here’s a little before and after shot of it for you.

We painted the top cabinets with Benjamin Moore’s Simply White, the bottom with Benjamin Moore’s Gray Mountain. Then we glazed, lightly distressed and did a protective clear coat.

After working long days all week, we decided to go on a day trip to Sturbridge Village after church on Sunday. My parents came along and we had a blast!

So many good things to share, right? Now onto this week’s furniture makeover. We took this mid century dresser, changed the drawers and made it new again.

For the outside of this piece, we painted the box with Benjamin Moore’s Simply White. Then we sanded and stained the drawer fronts with multiple stain colors. We used ebony, dark walnut, special walnut, and a gray wash. You could use whatever colors you like though! If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post.

We also just added a ton of new pieces to our for sale page! Snatch them up because it’s summer and things don’t stick around here long in the summer! See all the new pieces on our Furniture For Sale page.

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 ;)

Posted on August 18, 2016September 4, 2018 by Sarah — 8 Comments

What it’s Like Being on HGTV Flea Market Flip – Day 2

If you haven’t read our post about being on HGTV Flea Market Flip – Day 1, check it out here.

Today we head to day two of filming – Build Day!!

On the build day, we went to Stamford, Connecticut and the show staff brought all of the flea market items that we bought on day 1 to a large garage/warehouse type building. We were assigned a team of 2-3 people (depending on what we were working on sometimes people on our team helped the other team). Here’s what we started with:

This was my favorite day by FAR! The designer in me absolutely loved having the freedom to think up any design and then have a team of experts there to help us make it happen. We had a master carpenter and a welder/builder that helped us most of the day. You’re given a $100 budget to buy things to help complete your project. We used that $100 to buy 2 legs for our coffee table, old legs for our “Stylish Storage” project and an old burlap sack for our “Mixed Texture” project. You have about 12 hours to finish the projects. We arrived at the workshop at 9am and worked straight until 9pm with only a quick break to scarf down lunch and no dinner.

I started working on the ironing board that would become a coffee table which was our “Modern Americana” challenge. I sanded the ironing board and stained it a new color so the mid century legs we purchased could be stained to match. I’ve never welded before and was able to give it a try as we needed to weld a base plate on the old tractor gear for one side of the coffee table. It was so much fun!! I only did a little bit of it, our welder did the rest.

While I was working on the “Modern Americana” project, John started prepping the cable spool that we would be turning into a bar which was our “Mixed Texture” project. We welded a metal plate on the top of the industrial light post to attached the cable spool. John had to figure out how to drill the holes for the neck of the wine bottles to make them all sit at the same angle. He practiced quite a few times on a separate board. Then he brought the cable spool wood back to life by using shellac and sanded down the metal base a bit to make it smoother. I came in to do the finishing touches using the burlap sack and metal detailing.

Our master carpenter did most of the work on the “Stylish Storage” project! We wouldn’t have had time to finish them all if he hadn’t done the majority of the work for that project. He built the base out of the old dining room table legs we had bought. He and John worked on the dividers that would go inside of the desk. I shellacked the wood on the trunk to make it shine again. We cut it close on this project. At the end of the day the latch to hold it closed wasn’t working right and our master carpenter really pushed to make it happen for us. He was so amazing!!

The behind the scenes of filming was interesting on this day. I had a hard time initially speaking my mind! I came with all my design plans but then I had amazing people suggesting changes. I didn’t have the heart to say no. The whole time we were filming each team had their own producer and then there is a producer in the back that is watching everything on TV’s. I called her that “phantom producer”. Lol! At one point, we were filming and the staff suggested a change to our Modern Americana project that I thought would look horrible but I said OK. The “phantom producer” stopped everything and came out to me. She said, “Sarah, you’re thinking things you’re not saying, right?” I told her she was right. Then she goes on to say, “You are much more fun and interesting in real life, you need to speak up and say what you want. These are your designs and if you don’t stand up for them, no one will.” That was the moment that the show became really fun for me. She gave me the freedom to be me and be open about my thoughts. So we rerecorded and I kept to my original plan for the piece! Yay!

It felt a little weird having the team we were competing against working right next to you. The longer I watched them the less I was concerned about whether we would win. I was confident in our designs and the functionality of each piece in a NYC apartment. The producers definitely encouraged us to be playful and pick on our opponents work which John was game for but I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t sound genuine at all. Lol! It was a good balance between us I think though. :)

One thing that is interesting about day 2 is that you only have that day, if your makeovers aren’t done, you have to stop. So it is very fast pace, but the staff was so amazing and helped make it happen. Next week, I’ll share about the final day of being on Flea Market Flip and show you how the transformations turned out!

The next day of filming was the workshop day and my favorite of all the days!

Check Out Day 3 on Flea Market Flip Here!

We offer Interior Design, Kitchen Cabinet Painting, and custom Furniture For Sale.

Here’s a quick snap shot of some of our furniture makeovers. You can see more by clicking the See on Pinterest button at the bottom of the page.

Follow Sarah Trop – FunCycled’s board FunCycled Painted Furniture Projects on Pinterest.

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

Please sign up today! Last but not least, let us customize a furniture piece for you. We create custom furniture and will deliver for customers in upstate NY and will also 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 furniture for sale page.

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Sarah

Adding a Little Rustic to Chic – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends,

How was your week? We have been busier and busier with interior design (which I love by the way)! Two weeks ago we set the upcoming 5 weeks aside for interior design jobs. Starting with designing offices for the Troy Innovation Garage, then to kitchen cabinet painting, and ending with a whole kitchen renovation project. We are mid way through those five weeks! Pushing myself into new fields and designs can feel risky but it’s wonderful all at the same time. Focusing on the bigger projects has also given me time to focus even more on the design of the furniture in our store. I’ve been really giving it my all and I just want to say thanks to all of you who have purchased so many pieces in the last few weeks. I don’t say thank you enough. You are letting me create, supporting your local community and rescuing old treasures. It means more than I can even say!

One of the many new pieces that I wanted to share was this buffet. As soon as I laid eyes on it, I knew exactly how I wanted it redone. When I told my husband I loved it, he said “that one”? Lol! Yes, THAT ONE! I replied with a big smile on my face. Here it was before:
At first glance, I loved the legs and I hated the doors. I knew I could make both so much better. People often ask me what I love to do with furniture, I love to take something fancy or modern and add a little bit rustic texture. That’s just what we did with this piece.

We painted it all with Benjamin Moore’s color Simply White (my favorite white), lightly distressed it and finished it with a semi-gloss clear coat to give it a more modern finish. John built the door fronts using barn board and a Kreg jig. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post.

Ready for the after?

A beautiful part of this buffet’s story; it sold within 1 hour of me posting about it online. That makes me feel soon good! I hope it’s loved forever in its new home.

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 ;)

Posted on August 2, 2016August 2, 2016 by Sarah — 1 Comment

Yellow Distressed Vanity Makeover – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends,

How’s your week going? Sometimes in the summer I get so busy with places to go, things to see, sunshine to enjoy that I forget to make time to have friends over for dinner and just relax. This week we made time to pack the house with friends and it was so refreshing! I love having people in our home.

Speaking of sunshine, let’s talk about a sunshiney yellow vanity makeover, shall we? It’s a rainy Tuesday morning so we could all use some sunshine!

This vanity came from an old home in Wynantskill and Mary thought of us when she couldn’t use it in her house any more. Here it is before:

We painted it with Benjamin Moore’s color Imperial Yellow, heavily distressed it and glazed it with Rustoleum Antiquing Glaze, and finished it with a satin clear. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. We also replaced the hardware for that extra pop with the design.

Ready for the after?

This vanity is for sale right now and you can check out other new furniture for sale on our website here ! If you’d like to purchase it, please use our Contact Us form or stop by our store at 272 River Street, Troy, NY. I also added quite a few other new pieces to the store!

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 ;)

Posted on July 26, 2016July 26, 2016 by Sarah

Red Desk Makeover – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends,

How’s your week going? We’ve had a really nice one here. I could talk family and fun trips, but I want to talk design and work for a bit. It’s been a great design week for us! We booked our first kitchen renovation project. It’s going to be complete with Retro style appliances, chrome accents, shiplap, and subway tile. Oh yes friends! I’m excited about this! Here’s a little color board to show you some of the designs. I’ll do a new post with more info about the products we’ll be using, but couldn’t help but share a sneak peak!

I also am part of a collaborative design effort for a new coworking space that’s coming to Troy called The Troy Innovation Garage. We will each be creating an office to showcase all of the designers in Troy. I love working together with other creative minds in our city. I’ll be sharing more information with you about this effort as well. Here’s a sneak peak to one of those designs:

For this week’s furniture makeover, we have a really unique desk that desperately needed a makeover. Here’s the before picture:

We painted it with Benjamin Moore’s color Exotic Red, heavily distressed it and glazed it with Rustoleum Antiquing Glaze, and finished it with a satin clear. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. We also replaced the hardware for that extra pop with the design.

Ready for the after?

This desk is for sale right now and you can check out other new furniture for sale on our website here ! If you’d like to purchase it, please use our Contact Us form or stop by our store at 272 River Street, Troy, NY. I also added quite a few other new pieces to the store!

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 ;)

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Sarah — 2 Comments

Yup, I painted a Stickley ;) – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends,

Let’s talk furniture painting dilemmas for a moment, shall we? So often people come into our store or comment online or recognize me on the street, you get the point, to tell me how terrible it is of me to paint furniture. I usually have a response like this. If it’s not a rare antique piece that’s worth a lot and it’s ugly, I like it more painted. Our painted pieces sell for more than if they were left as is. There are a few older furniture pieces that I like the patina of and wouldn’t paint. Old single door cupboards or some sideboards that don’t have any yellow or orange tones to the wood. A good rule of thumb when wondering if a piece of furniture is worth money is by seeing what company made the furniture. Stickley furniture is usually the most valuable. That being said, a customer came to us asking us to paint not just one but multiple Stickley pieces. Gulp! I explained that they would probably be worth more left as is but in the end here’s what it all boils down to – they didn’t like how it looked so they didn’t want them if the furniture stayed as is. Here’s another important thing to remember – people hire me to paint their furniture so sometimes it’s not my choice, it’s theirs.

Here is one of the pieces before:
You wouldn’t want to keep it either, would you?

We painted it all with Benjamin Moore’s color Simply White (my favorite white) and finished it with a high gloss clear coat to give it a more modern finish. If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. We also replaced the hardware with a more modern gold finish. The hardware was from Home Depot. You have to order those online, they aren’t stocked in the store.

Ready for the after?
See! She made a good choice, right?? I love the end result and if I were in her shoes I would have done the same thing. That being said, if you decide one day to make it your job to strip off paint and stain it, I won’t pick on your for it. Because after all, we all just need to get along. :)

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 ;)