Blog - Page 53 of 74 - FunCycled - Interior Design, Kitchen Cabinet Painting, Furniture Repurposing in Upstate NY

Posted on January 30, 2015January 29, 2015 by Sarah

31 Dreams – Furniture Fundraising Auction Tomorrow

Hi Friends! I just wanted to remind you that tomorrow, we will be starting a 2 day auction for this grey end stand.

We’re partnering with Hope International to raise money to help people and families in need… all over the world.

Instead of writing about the affects of micro finance myself, I wanted to share a a simple reference that my friend Ashley posted on her blog.

From Baubles to Businesswomen.
“If girls get a chance, in the form of an education or a microloan, they can be more than baubles or slaves; many of them can run businesses.” -Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky

Thanks for partnering with us to help those in need! 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 January 27, 2015January 26, 2015 by Sarah

If Vera Bradley Had a Hutch – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

Maybe I’m completely off base on this, but I think if Vera Bradley was still with us, she would own a hutch like on today’s Tuesday’s Treasures. With the paisley fabric and bright colors, it’s a sophisticated but still fun makeover. Do you agree??

I’m currently stuck in sunny Florida… please try not to feel to bad for me. The noreaster in New England has caused my flight home today to be changed, but I should be home tomorrow. I lalalove visiting my pal Marcie. She moved away a little over a year ago and she’s a rare, special, life long friend. I value her more and more as we are apart but still remain so close. God has taught me so much through her. You can read more about her and a hutch makeover I did for a going away present for her on the post about Marcie’s Black Hutch. I’ll share more about the trip next week when I’m home with my own computer and have more pics to share.

I’m so excited to show you this hutch makeover, too!!! Here she is before.

If you’d like to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. The hutch is painted with Benjamin Moore’s Topeka Taupe 1463 and lightly glazed with Valspar’s antiquing glaze.

Ready for the transformation??

The best part of today’s transformation?? You can buy it!! I just put it up on our Furniture For Sale page.

Happy funcycling friends!

Sarah ;)

Posted on January 20, 2015February 2, 2015 by Sarah — 3 Comments

Transformation from Traditional to Vintage Style – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!!

How are you all holding up?? We have been feeling like normal life is starting to set in. Do any of you small business owners out there know what I’m talking about? During the first few years of FunCycled, January would hit and I was sure we would be bankrupt in two weeks, have to eat tuna and beans from a can for the rest of our lives, and lose our house. This year, my perspective has changed. I’ve learned to embrace and actually enjoy it. After the crazy busy schedule of October-December… functioning in survival mode, January can feel dead. It has not been at all… we’ve had work, it just feels so different to not be overwhelmed. What will I be doing during this slower month of January? I want to plan our features and themes for the year, get taxes ready, finally do some projects around my house, and redo furniture for many friends who have been waiting for a less busy time for their projects. That’s what we are up to, and I’m loving it. John painted our living room this week.
I still have some changes I’m planning to make to the livingroom, but thought I’d share what it is so far. Say hi to our dog Mel. She feels left out. She hardly ever gets to be in the pictures. ;)

Ok, time to share the furniture makeover. This came from one of our Facebook fans, Susan. Thank you for thinking of us!

This is a really great piece and I loved the wood and black combination, but I wanted it to have a more vintage feel and I thought a cream stripe and vintage knobs would do the trick.

If you’d like to see how we paint furniture, check out our How To Paint Furniture post. This buffet is also available to purchase. You can see the measurements and pricing on our Furniture For Sale page.

Happy funcycling friends!

Sarah ;)

Posted on January 13, 2015January 13, 2015 by Sarah — 4 Comments

My Top 10 Favorite Furniture Makeovers in 2014

Hi Friends!! Happy almost half way through the first month of the new year!!! If you missed it last week, I posted our Top 10 Most Popular Furniture Makeovers in 2014. I just pulled a report to see which pages were viewed the most (aka- what you guys liked reading about the most). I promised this week to share MY favorite makeovers from 2014. They are usually quite a bit different from each other. Without further ado… here are my favorite’s of last year. You can click on any title or picture to see the “how to” for each makeover and a little of the story behind each piece.

1) Mid Century White and Ombre Dresser

I would say of all the styles that I studied and fell in love with this year, stained front with the box painted a color would be my favorite. This one took my breath away! It had all of the right lines… making it my favorite for the year.

2) Black Broken Down Buffet

This was one of your favorites just like it tops the list of my favorites. This was during a tough season for us. A slow cold winter and life changes with both of us doing this business full time. It’s funny how a furniture piece can say so much about a season of life to me. This one says… take something that everyone else would give up on, work hard on it, and it will become well worth it. We did. We are. It is.

3) Baseball Dresser

I loved this dresser for so many reasons. It was a new idea that I wanted to try. Jill let me try it. She trusted me without reservation and I wanted her to be glad that she did. It was a fun piece while maintaining a classic, enduring style.

4) Nautical Map Dresser

This is just so much fun!! Another piece for our customer, Theresa, who first came to us for a nursery dresser and now has our furniture in just about every room. She let me design this one as her son moved up to his big boy room and the next baby would enjoy the Chevron Dresser we first designed.

5) Custom Made Pieces

I’m lumping two into one… forgive me please? ;) Last year we started offering custom built furniture. From dining room tables, to coffee tables and even fun upcycling projects like my porch swing. I had been wanting one of these beauties on my porch and a dining room table for years and John made them for me. Makes a girl feel loved… loved equals on the top ten list.

6) Color Consults and Customizing a House

Another huge stepping stone in 2014… helping customers choose paint colors, custom designing furniture for their spaces, and sometimes even shopping together to pick out all of the accents. In this room, we did the interior painting, custom furniture design, decor and enjoyed every minute of it. Jess and Brent have become more than customers… our friends. This is only 1 of 5 rooms that we designed together last summer and I’ll be sharing more of the makeovers soon.

7) Vintage Teal Hutch with Arrow Hardware

Everyone seemed to fall in love with arrows this year… they were everywhere. I fell, too! I just couldn’t wait to design this whole piece around the hardware. Could anything compliment arrow hardware more than vintage teal and amazing modern fabric? In my opinion, no!

8) Mr. & Mrs. Sophisticated

This made your top 10 list as well, as soon as I saw these… I wanted to get my hands on them. That sounded weird, but you get the idea. They were so unique and I knew RIGHT AWAY how I wanted to redo them. Thankfully, Mary Kyle was on board and such a enthusiast. She made me feel like a celebrity! Thanks for being awesome Mary Kyle.

9) Aqua Mid Century Ombre Desk

Man it’s so hard to number these! I love this one almost as much as #1! This desk was so unique… I’ve never worked with one like it. Click on the pic to see both side of it and more info about the makeover. It was so cool and it was featured in a magazine. Both reasons that this was a 2014 top 10 design for me.

10) Mustard Custom Wine Bar

This is last but most certainly not least. I loved the transformation of this piece! Everything from the little details about how John made the drawer look complete to how Kevin and Melanie gave me complete creative liberty…. I’m feeling like this is a resounding theme. lol

It’s been a fun year!! Thanks to all of you who’ve ordered furniture from us and a special thanks to those (like all the ones on this list) who gave me the freedom to be creative!! I LOVE working for you and we feel so blessed and humbled to be doing what we love every day.

And the highlights of our year would be getting to be on HGTV’s Flea Market Flip.

And getting to go on the free cruise from Rachel Ray Show!

Remember! If you’d like new furniture, let me paint something to put your furniture in the top 10 list next year! Please, pretty please? You can use our Contact Us form to request a quote to redo a piece that you already own or you can buy something from our Furniture For Sale page.

Happy FunCycling friends!
Sarah

Posted on January 6, 2015January 6, 2015 by Sarah — 2 Comments

Top 10 Furniture Makeovers of 2014

Every year, I get so excited to pull the reports and see which of our blog posts were the most viewed in the prior year. Then I compile them into a quick list for you all to see and enjoy! You can click on any title or picture to see the “how to” for each makeover and a little of the story behind each piece. The story is one of the things I love the most about what I do, so take some time to check them out. A HUGE thanks for stopping by friends! The list goes from most to least viewed. ;)

1) Vintage Teal Hutch

2) Black Broken Down Buffet
3) Antique Car Dresser
4 ) Gold Dipped Dresser Makeover
5) Hollywood Regency Green Hutch
6) White and Weathered Grey Armoire
7) Mustard Yellow Vanity
8) Grey Dresser Turned Bathroom Vanity
9) Mr. & Mrs. Sophisticated
10) West Elm Inspired Patchwork Dresser

Thanks so much to all of our FunCycled followers, blog reading, furniture repurposing, upcycling advocates, and friends who have taken the time to read this blog and buy our furniture. We are designing what we love every day and we hope you love it just as much as we do when we’re done. I also wanted to share two more posts that are just as popular as most of these makeovers and the reasons make me happy. Thank you for those who read our 30 Random Acts of Kindness post and told me how you are doing them yourselves. That was the ENTIRE reason I shared it. I almost didn’t. So hearing you say you’re doing more for other because of it, bam. Knocks my socks off.

We also had the most fun experience getting to be on HGTV’s Flea Market Flip show and apparently you all enjoyed the news, too. Here’s our Flea Market Flip announcement post.

I know, I know, it hasn’t aired yet and we can’t tell you all the details yet. It should be airing soon and I will keep you posted. It was a blessing to be chosen, a once in a lifetime opportunity, a fun adventure and an out of this world experience to work with the creative, amazingly talented crew at Flea Market Flip.

As per tradition, next week, I’ll be sharing my favorite furniture makeovers of 2014. Some are in the list above, but you might be surprised by the others. Stop by again next week!! Until then, let me paint something to put your furniture in the top 10 list next year! Please, pretty please? You can use our Contact Us form to request a quote to redo a piece that you already own or you can buy something from our Furniture For Sale page.

Happy FunCycling friends!
Sarah

Posted on December 31, 2014December 30, 2014 by Sarah — 12 Comments

Hope International Fundraising Auction Today!

FunCycled desperately wants to be a part of helping entrepreneurs in developing nations. John and I are passionate about empowering the poor to provide for themselves and their families through the power of Christ-centered microfinance. We have partnered with HOPE International because we understand that a loan as small as $100.00 can change a family forever. It’s our heartbeat and we hope to show you enough that your heart will be encouraged to help in this way, too.

As we’ve previously mentioned, on the 31rst of every month that has 31 days for the next year, John and I plan to auction off a piece of furniture and donate the proceeds to HOPE. Here are the rules:

1. All bidding will take place on the Funcycled blog. You can bid by commenting on this blog post, utilizing the comment box below. Bids placed on Instagram or the Funcycled Facebook page are invalid.
2.The starting bidding price is listed under the picture, and bids must go up in increments of at least one dollar.
3. Bidding will be open for 48 hours. It will open at noon on the 31rst, and close at noon two days later. Once bidding has been closed, I will announce the winner and contact them with payment instructions. The winner has 24 hours to respond before the piece is offered to the runner up.
4. The purchaser will be responsible for all shipping fees. (If you live out of state – please check shipping pricing with uship.com before purchasing to ensure you can afford the out of state shipping costs)

You get beautiful furniture, and an entrepreneurs trapped in poverty get a chance to work themselves out of it. That sounds like a win to us!

Please help spread the word by sharing. Thank you for your support!

Solid Cedar Antique Trunk with original copper straps and antique caster wheels
Size: 17 1/2 inches wide x 16 inches high x 44 inches long
We’ve painted this antique cedar trunk grey and added antique caster wheels from old engine carts. It would make a perfect coffee table, end of the bed storage or hallway storage for your home.

Retail value: $350

Starting bid: $50

Happy bidding friends!
Sarah ;)

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Sarah

31 Dreams – Furniture Fundraising Auction Tomorrow

Hi Friends! I just wanted to remind you that tomorrow, we will be starting a 2 day auction for this grey cedar trunk.

We’re partnering with Hope International to raise money to help people in need… people like Beatha.

Celebrating blessings and healing in Rwanda

In her eyes was deep pain and loss. There was a strength about her, a certain inexcusable confidence, and yet behind it lay an undeniable burden. She smiled a smile that exuded love and sincere delight in welcoming me and my friends into her home. I knew she was going to tell us the story of her experience during the genocide in April of 1994, but I had no comprehension of the drastic impact it would have on me, nor the strength it would require her to simply share.

Her story was graphic. The details feel almost too horrific to recount or to write down, and yet she declared to us as she closed: “Please tell my story because I know it will help someone else in their life; we have to learn from each other.” And so, I will share a bit of her journey in the hopes that retelling it will move my heart and the hearts of those that read it towards deeper compassion.

Beatha is the “wife of one husband” (as they often say facetiously in Rwanda) and is the mother of five children. As of 1994, however, she became a widow and lost two of her children. Read more…

Posted on December 30, 2014December 30, 2014 by Sarah — 6 Comments

Hutch Turned Into a Wine Bar – Tuesday’s Treasures

Happy week after Christmas friends!! Have you found a new place to put all the presents or caught up on any sleep?? Maybe even sat on the couch for an hour with your family?? That’s what we’ve been up to! It was so nice having my family together this Christmas (except my brother in law Jess – miss ya!).

It’s a crazy ride squeezing 19 people in my parent small house, but we don’t mind. We actually like the crazy. I love hearing the kids laugh and play with each other. I love the chaos of 9 kids ripping into gifts at the same time. I love sitting in a circle reading Luke 2 and year by year little ones start to read the passage as well. I love my dad’s breakfast.
The bowl of bacon…
And I love these people!!
Let me hear all about yours!! There’s a little comment section below. What’s your favorite moments from this Christmas?

We must move on to the furniture. It’s why you stopped by, right? We have another fun hutch makeover to share. We bought it from a barn sale in Columbia county and all of the proceeds from the sale goes to raise money for an orphanage. A great reason to buy furniture!

Kevin and Melanie came into our store and were going to buy two of our smaller hutches. We started talking about it and they really wanted something that could be a small bar for their home. I mentioned taking this hutch off our upcoming projects page and customizing it into something that would be a better fit for them. They loved the idea and gave me so much creative liberty.

We painted the whole piece using Benjamin Moore’s Glen Ridge Gold and lightly distressed it. The fabric on the back and the hardware is from Hobby Lobby. If you would like to see how we paint furniture, check out our How To Paint Furniture post.

John removed the two top two drawers and boxed them in using the original drawer sides and backs since they were solid wood.

The bottom drawer then had no top so it made it look unfinished. So he cut the top off of the top drawer and attached it to the bottom of the new boxed in section. (He may be a man genius) Continue reading Hutch Turned Into a Wine Bar – Tuesday’s Treasures

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Sarah — 3 Comments

Pantone’s 2015 Color of the Year – Marsala Hutch – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

Can you believe it’s already the week of Christmas? It is with much embarrassment that I’m still not done shopping, still haven’t wrapped a thing and haven’t even had a chance to sit down and write a list of what I still need to buy for some people. Partly it’s because we’ve been really busy at the store and with custom orders and I have to say thank you so much to all of you who chose to buy our furniture, home decor and gift cards for others for Christmas this year. We genuinely want to say thank you for making this dream of ours possible. I also haven’t had a chance because I’m trying to enjoy the time with people and soak in the wonderful gift that God sent to us and the whole reason we are celebrating. Celebrating Christ’s birth. How Many Kings would step down from their throne, to romance a world that is torn all apart? Our king… and we are humbled by this gift.

How many of you follow the color trends predicted for the upcoming year? I didn’t until about 5 years ago. I like to see how it shows up in different design elements throughout the year. Well, Pantone has announced the color of the year for 2015 to be Marsala. Before I even knew that, I had designed this hutch for our store. It sold already, but I had to share the before and after and show you how the color of the year looks on a piece of furniture. If you would like to custom order a hutch from our Upcoming Projects page or have us paint a hutch you already have, use our Contact Us form. We would love to do that for you!

Here’s the hutch before:

As per the norm, I wanted to change out the hardware and remove the spindles on top. I just don’t like that look. If you’d like to see how we paint furniture, check out our How To Paint Furniture post. I used paint I already had for the hutch, but I would recommend using Valspar’s Claret as a pretty close match.

I also glazed this using Valspar’s Antiquing glaze.
Here are the after pictures for you!

And remember…

Have a very merry Christmas, from our family to yours. :)
Sarah ;)

Posted on December 16, 2014December 16, 2014 by Sarah — 2 Comments

Black High Boy Dresser – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi friends!

How was your week? We’ve had a hectic week building a 10 foot farm table, an 8 foot maple custom dining room table, and a custom built coffee table. I can’t wait to share them with you, but I have to wait to get pictures in the homes of the customers who bought them. Soon friends, soon. ;) We had a bit of a scare this week with John’s grandmother having a heart attack. John traveled to visit her expecting the worse, but she’s doing much better. Thanking God for more time with her.

Congrats to Amy and her family for winning the photo competition on our FunCycled facebook page. They now have a $100 FunCycled gift card coming their way. If you want to see new pieces before they make it to the blog and get chances to win free things, please “Like” our facebook page!!

On today’s Tuesday’s Treasures I have a classic transformation of a high end piece. This dresser is solid wood… no veneer here friends. It has dovetail joints and the drawers slide smoothly.

Here it is before:

We painted the dresser black using Benjamin Moore’s black enamel and lightly sanded all of the edges. Even though it’s was an expensive part of the transformation, I felt like this dresser needed new hardware. All of the hardware is from Home Depot.

If you want to see how we paint furniture, check out our How To Paint Furniture post. Ready for the after pictures??

This piece is available now on our Furniture For Sale page or stop by our store at 272 River Street, Troy, NY to take a look at it.

The furniture photos are by Chelsea Bos Photography. Have a great week friends! Thanks so much for stopping by. :)

Having fun upcycling!
Sarah ;)