Posted on by

Weekend Trip to Ipswich, MA

Hi Friends!

This past weekend, I was able travel to Ipswich, MA to attend Soulfest which was one of the things on my 40 by 40 list! It was so much fun going to a multiple day music festival! While I was in the area, I loved so many of the surrounding towns that I thought I’d share about it.

If you’re having trouble viewing the photos on this post, click here.

If you enjoy old homes and quaint towns, heading to Ipswich is a no brainer. The houses made me drool and the landscapes were just as beautiful. Pretty gardens, old farms, and right near the ocean. So within a couple minutes, we could have been at the beach, shopping in a quaint town, going to a polo match, or even sailing the seas.

We stayed in a BEAUTIFUL airbnb that was the chauffeur’s quarters at a mansion. You can check it out here. One of my favorite parts of the stay was that they gave us a private tour of the gardens!

This is the house!

This is the chauffeurs quarters where we stayed:

We spent one of the mornings visiting Newburyport, MA. The town is so quaint and beautiful and also has plenty of beaches you can go to if you’d prefer a day on the sand.

You could also visit Gloucester or Essex!

We really enjoyed breakfast at the Ipswich Inn Bed and Breakfast. It did take a while to have breakfast served, but we didn’t mind because we met up with our friends Kori and Kristine so there was plenty of time to chat. Mary Grace and I went to Fox Creek Tavern for dinner which we loved. The design is beautiful, the food was delicious, and the server was so attentive and kind. We also had lunch at Street, and enjoyed that, too!

We went to quite a few concerts at the music festival, but we also were able to fit in another 40 by 40 by going sailing on the ocean for the first time. We went on the Fame of Salem with Kori and Kristine after breakfast and a tour of Gordon college where Kori works (loved it!).

Chapel at Gordon College

Sailing the ocean with these beautiful souls!

My pal Aubrey also loves this area and recommended things that we didn’t get to try, but thought you might find helpful if you’re headed to the area!

Ipswich:
Christchurch Mansion
Crane Beach
Crane Estate/Castle Hill

Glouchester:
Whale Watching
Hammond Castle
Cute Shops Downtown
Beauport Hotel’s Restaurant for lunch/dinner

I hope you this helps you have some fresh new ideas if you’re looking for a weekend trip from upstate Ny! If you have any other spots you love in these areas, please share it in the comments below for others to enjoy!

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.


Posted on by

Airbnb Sage Living Room Design

Hi Friends,

How are you? I hope you had a nice week! I was in Georgia last week helping with an airbnb layout/design and while I was there, I was able to do a couple more of my #40by40fun where I’m trying to do 40 new experiences before I turn 40!

If you’re having trouble viewing the photos, please click here.

I flew an airplane and visited a cat cafe for the first time.

I loved flying the plane so much and even though the cat cafe was a little…um, underwhelming, petting kittens can never be a bad thing! I wanted to take them all home!

For this week’s transformation, I’m sharing the living room design that I did for an airbnb in Schenectady! Here’s the room before:

The contractors had to completely redo the flooring since it was so uneven! It was a blank slate otherwise.

Here’s the initial design board for the space:

Ready for the after photos?

I want to say a huge thank you to Adnan for working with me on all of these projects and trusting me with the designs. If you’d like to rent this airbnb, click here. 

Could your home or airbnb use design help, I’d love to be a part of the project! Please message me today to set up a consult and get the project started! 

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 ;)

Posted on by

Apothecary Dresser Makeover

Hi Friends!

If you’re having trouble viewing the photos on this post, click here.

Happy mid summer to all of you! I hope your week is going well! Our kids are away at a summer camp this week so the house is so quiet as I type this. I miss their cute faces, but I’m excited to see how they grow closer to God and make new friends throughout this week.

For this week’s makeover, I wanted to share a before and after of a dresser that we just redid for my Bestie to use in her new house. She moved to Georgia, and even though I miss her every day, I’m so glad she’ll have something to think of me sitting in her new home.

Here’s the dresser before:

We repaired the door and painted the whole piece with Valspar’s Lincoln Cottage Black. Then we lightly distressed the whole piece 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. 

Here are the after photos for you:

This piece isn’t available to purchase, but be sure to visit our SHOP page to check out what other pieces we have available for purchase or custom order. 

Or contact us to get a quote to let us redo your furniture for you! 

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on by

Schenectady Airbnb Eat In Kitchen Design

Hi Friends!

How was your weekend? My sister and her family are visiting for the first time in 6 years and we are thrilled to have them here. We spent some of the weekend in NYC going on a boat ride and watching my nephew play chess games in Washington Square Park.

For this weeks makeover, I’m sharing a complete new kitchen design that I did for an Airbnb in Schenectady. I don’t have a great before photo, but here’s what I do have:

It was just a blank slate with nothing much in the room, and a wall full of windows looking out over State Street.

So, I started by creating a design board:

We picked the layout of the kitchen and the contractors got to work!

Here are the after photos:

I want to say a huge thank you to Adnan for working with me on all of these projects and trusting me with the designs. If you’d like to rent this airbnb, click here. 

Could your home or airbnb use design help, I’d love to be a part of the project! Please message me today to set up a consult and get the project started! 

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 ;)

Posted on by

Dark Gray Kitchen Cabinets with Board and Batten Walls

Hi Friends!

If you’re having trouble viewing the photos on this post, click here.

How are you? If you missed it on social media, we camped up at Word of Life Pines and so enjoyed our stay! I’m not much of a tent camper, but ever since we bought our pull behind camper, it’s been a game changer in the camping world.

If you want to see more details or before and after pictures of the camper, click here.

For this week’s makeover, I’m sharing a kitchen makeover from one of my favorite design clients, Corey. He hired me to redo his living room back in 2017 and has also bought furniture and home decor from us over the last 6 years. You can check out his living room makeover here.

Here’s the kitchen before:

We added board and batten to the walls and then Corey painted it and the trim Simply White by Benjamin Moore. Then he painted the top half of the walls and the kitchen cabinets with Benjamin Moore City Shadow.

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?

BM City Shadow Kitchen Cabinets

We also installed tile backsplash.

I love the hand made style tile that feels perfectly imperfect.

We also redid the table and stools by refinishing the top and painting the base Valspar’s Lincoln Cottage Black.

Look how beautiful!

What an beautiful transformation!! 

Could your kitchen use an update? We’d love to help!! We can help pick out colors, finishes, product and do the cabinet painting, tiling, add new hardware. You can use our Contact Us form to request our design services or a quote for painting your kitchen. Please check out other kitchen projects on our For Sale page. We’ll need to see a picture of your kitchen, a list of how many doors and drawers there are, and where you are located to email you an estimate. This change ups the value of your home and gives you a whole new look at a fraction of the cost of new kitchen cabinets!

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,

Sarah ;)

Posted on by

Black Secretary Desk for Sale

Hi Friends!

I hope the first couple weeks of summer have been going well for you so far! We have been trying to balance camping life and working life. It’s been fun! Happy Fourth of July!!!

I can’t wait to show you this secretary desk transformation. Here’s what we started with:

We painted the box with Valspar’s Lincoln Cottage Black, refinished the inside wood with Minwax’s Special Walnut, and sprayed the whole thing 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. 

Here are the after photos for you:

Be sure to visit our SHOP page to see if this is still available or to check out what other pieces we have available for purchase or custom order. 

Or contact us to get a quote to let us redo your furniture for you! 

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on by

Mid Century Modern Dressers For Sale

Hi Friends!

To my friends in upstate NY with kids, congrats on finishing the school year! We just finished up and I can barely believe that next year, both of my kids will be in high school! I feel like they’ve both become little adults in the last year.

Say a prayer us as we walk through the teen years. For some reason I thought I’d have more free time as they got older, but the time and days seem to be flying by faster than ever. I don’t want to miss out on this time with them!

For this week’s makeover, I wanted to share the before and after photos from a dresser set that we just added to our shop page. If you’d like to purchase it, let me know!

Here are the dressers before:

We painted the boxes of both with Benjamin Moore Simply White and refinished the drawer fronts. Then we sprayed the hardware gold, and sprayed the whole piece with a protective clear coat.

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

Here are the after photos for you:

Be sure to visit our SHOP page to check if these pieces are still available or to check out what other pieces we have available.

Or contact us to get a quote to let us redo your furniture for you! 

Thank you all for following along! If you’d like to get this blog in your email once a week, please sign up for our weekly newsletter by adding your email in the little box below my picture. 

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like FunCycled on  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest if you don’t already. Keep up to date on the newest finds, vote on colors and give your input on our creativity. We share fun tutorials, great before and after, and new design inspirations. 

We offer interior design, kitchen cabinet painting, and custom built tables, barn doors, and repurposed furniture. Thank you, again, for working with us and for taking the time to spread the word about what we do. 

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Schenectady Airbnb Design Project – Spiral Staircase Apartment Bedroom and Bathroom

Hi Friends, 

If you’re having trouble viewing the photos on this post, please click here.

Last week, I showed you the main area of a spiral staircase and half bathroom that turned into a kitchen and living room. This week, I wanted to share the rest of this design by showing you the bedroom and bathroom makeover.

Here’s the bedroom before:

The walls were painted with Chantilly Lace, I added a BOHO vibe with the artwork above the headboard and the velvet duvet cover.

Ready for the afters?

Here you can see into the bedroom from the living room.

I don’t have a before photo to show you of the bathroom because it was built in an open space in the hallway!

Check out how beautiful it is though:

The second photo’s wall color is more true to the actual color of the walls. I love the wallpaper wand the floating vanity in this bathroom!

If you’d like to rent this airbnb, click here. 

Could your home or airbnb use design help, I’d love to be a part of the project! Please message me today to set up a consult and get the project started! 

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 ;)

Posted on by

Schenectady Airbnb Design Project – Spiral Staircase Apt

Hi Friends,

If you’re having trouble viewing the photos on this post, please click here.

How are you? I hope you’re doing well! We celebrated our 20th anniversary over the weekend with a trip to Burlington, VT. We had such a wonderful time and I’ll share all the details soon, but here are a few teaser photos for you:

For this week’s makeover, I’m BEYOND excited to start sharing 1 of 5 Airbnb’s that I designed and have been working on with my client, Adnan, and his construction crew out in Schenectady, NY. Adnan met with me in June 2022 to get help with the room layouts and designs for converting 2 floors of a commercial building on State Street into 5 airbnbs.

This first apartment was just an office, hallway, half bathroom and spiral staircase into the law firm below. They had already started removing the staircase and that was the only space where we could fit any type of sitting area in the space. Here’s the before and after of that area:

This is the design board for that space:

Look how cute it is now:

There was a half bathroom in the space where we wanted to put the kitchen so we moved it to the end of the kitchen and opened up the room completely.

Here that section is before:

Here’s the design board for the kitchen:

Here’s the room once it was completely done:

Stay tuned!! I’ll be sharing the before and after photos of the bathroom and bedroom in this unit as well. If you’d like to rent this airbnb, click here.

Could your home or airbnb use design help, I’d love to be a part of the project! Please message me today to set up a consult and get the project started!

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 ;)

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Swiss Coffee and Lincoln Cottage Black Kitchen Makeover

Hi Friends!

How are you? I hope you had a nice weekend! We had a mix of baseball, church events, and time with family and friends so it was full and beautiful!

If you’re having trouble viewing the photos in this post, click here.

I’m excited to share this kitchen makeover because I love the transformation, but also because I think the couple who had us do the work are pretty great! Ann Marie and Tim have been cheering us on for years. Tim even designed our newest logo. Check out his website if you could use help with your website or graphic design.

Here’s the before photos of their kitchen:

I love their home to begin with. It’s modern, but with great art work and design (just like I’d expect from a couple who does graphic design and marketing).

We painted the kitchen cabinets with Benjamin Moore’s color Swiss Coffee, the island Valspar’s Lincoln Cottage Black, and added all new hardware.

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?

Oh and we also painted their kitchen table.

What an beautiful transformation!! 

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 ;)