Blog - Page 54 of 77 - FunCycled - Interior Design, Kitchen Cabinet Painting, Furniture Repurposing in Upstate NY

Posted on April 28, 2015April 28, 2015 by Sarah

Updating an Ethan Allen Hutch – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends,

How are you? We finished up the Vanguard show house design last week and it opens today. We would love for you to stop by! Here’s a the info for the Vanguard show house. It’s only open until May 17th and the time is going to fly by!!

Once the set up was done, we had really fun weekend with my high school pal Theresa. It’s been over a year and a half since she’s been at our house so she hasn’t gotten to see our store before. We worked together at the shop on Saturday and then went hiking as families. It was a blast!
Then on Sunday night we went to the preview party at the Vanguard Show house. Getting a night out with the hubby, getting all dressed up, and talking to designers and music lovers all night was my kind of evening. I so enjoyed it! John was looking pretty handsome, too! ;)
Let’s talk furniture makeover, shall we? This hutch was in great shape originally, but needed a little updating.

I wanted to do a bright pop of color because it’s spring! Who doesn’t love color all year long? I know I do! If you’d like to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. We painted the outside with Benjamin Moore’s color Topeka Taupe. The inside fabric and knobs are from Hobby Lobby.

The best part is, this hutch is currently for sale! Please check out our Furniture For Sale page to see if it’s still available!

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 April 21, 2015April 21, 2015 by Sarah

Rainwashed Dresser For Sale – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

How’s it going? Today I’m headed to the Vanguard show house to hopefully finish the interior design project we are doing. We’ve had many questions about what the Vanguard Albany Symphony show house is. It’s a historic home on the Hudson River in Glenmont and different designers were selected to take a room to redesign. You buy tickets (which can be purchased from most Price Chopper’s) to tour the home. This event helps to support the Albany Symphony orchestra. Here’s a link to more information about the times and directions: http://www.vanguard-aso.org/pdf/SH2015/SH_2015%20rev%203.pdf

It will be open starting April 28th until May 17th so plan to pick up your tickets and stop by. I will be there for the designer days on 5/2, 5/6 and 5/12 from 12:30-3:00pm and I’d love to see you there. It’s a stunning house!

The week before last more than half of our store sold out! Thank you so much for that! I was stressing out a bit because I found out with one weeks notice that we owed a TON of money for taxes. I had been filing quarterly and doing what I thought was all the right things, but I must not have claimed enough of the deductions. So the sales made it possible to send in a good chunk of what we needed to pay. I was thanking God all week for providing.

Not to be a complainer, but taxes are the toughest part about what we do. For those of you who don’t know much about how small business work, we have to set aside about 30-40% of whatever we make to go back to taxes. That’s what makes our prices quite a bit higher than someone who’s redoing furniture as a hobby and selling it on craigslist without a business name. Ok, I’m going to stop ranting about that now.

I was able to update our About Us page thanks to a family photo shoot with my friend, Nancy. Here are some of the many new pics I adore. Thank you, Nancy!

You’re here for a furniture makeover… that’s right. This one is simple but such a transformation. Here it is before.

I wanted to try a new color called Rainwashed by Sherman Williams. I was reading in HGTV magazine that it’s one of Joanna Gains favorite colors and I decided to give it a try. Is there anything she’s done that I haven’t liked? Nope. Don’t think so. If you’d like to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. I can definitely see why she likes this color. It’s subtle and sophisticated. Almost a robin’s egg blue but very very light and soft. (It looks more white in the pictures than it actually is)

Then I lightly distressed it and added all new hardware. New hardware with a dresser like this is a must in my opinion!

I also did a small waterfall end stand in the same color, but added a poster of postcards to the front of the door.
Before:
After:

The dresser and end stand arecurrently for sale! Please check out our Furniture For Sale page to see if it’s still available!

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on April 14, 2015April 14, 2015 by Sarah

How to Make a Lego Storage Cabinet – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi All!

Last week was school break for our kids so we wanted to incorporate a fun project to get the kids involved a little bit. This cabinet has been sitting for months and months in our barn. I’ve been trying to figure out what I wanted to do with it and no design ideas came to me. It was pretty simple from a detailing perspective and nothing seemed quite right.

Then last week this idea hit me! Let’s make a cabinet for Lego storage!! What took me so long to think of that??

To make the Lego brick style drawers. We started by gluing two 1 inch pine boards together so that the knobs would be thick enough to stick out from the drawer fronts. Then we used a 2 1/4 hole saw to cut each circle. The size of your hole saw may need to vary depending on the size of the dresser drawer.

You’ll want to draw a grid to make sure each circle is attached with equal distances apart.

We then used liquid nail under each circle and screwed through the back of the drawer to attach each circle to the drawer front. Then you’ll need to fill each hole that is made from the center of the hole saw with wood filler and sand it all smooth.

Now it’s time to paint. If you’d like to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post.
Our son, Josh, helped us make the knobs for the dresser. I’ll do a tutorial about that soon!! Check these out!!

Here the finished product and it’s FOR SALE!! Check out our Furniture For Sale page to see if it’s still available.

Happy FunCycling Friends,
Sarah ;)

Posted on April 7, 2015April 7, 2015 by Sarah

Art Nouveau Desk & Glass Secretary Cabinet Makeover – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

How was your weekend? As you know, we celebrated Easter. My favorite celebration… because as the old hymn says, -John Wilbur Chapman You can order that canvas here. Happy Easter from our family to yours.

This Easter was also my mom’s 60th birthday and my brother’s 38th birthday. For my mom’s 60th, we planned a surprise birthday party. Mom loves birch trees so I wanted to do a mostly white party with flowers, and a few light colors. I thought you might like to see all the decor and the best part? Mom was actually surprised!! Miracles of miracles. lol

For the plate setting, I used plastic plates from Target. First a large plate, then a white napkin, then a live greenery, and then the small plate on top. It added a unique visual component to the setting that I loved.

Speaking of a visual component that I love; wait until you see this transformation. Beth found this secretary cabinet along side the road for free. Holy cow!! Why would anyone chuck this?? I wanted it so badly. Now granted, it needed a lot of work but we can do that. It had no back panel, no front door, and peeling veneer.
(photo from Beth)

It was going in a white hall so Beth gave me creative freedom to design something unique! Boy do I love when that happens!! It needed structural help, too, which made the project much more difficult than we thought. Probably double the time. In the end, I think it paid off?? You tell me.

If you’d like to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. We lightly distressed all of the edges to show some of the wood through the black as well. This was painted with Benjamin Moore’s Dragon’s Breath color. We spray painted the original hardware with oil rubbed bronze and a new knob for the door that was built.
Here it is!!

The moral of this story?? If you find something like this… please don’t throw it away. Give it to me or let me make it beautiful for your home!!

Happy FunCycling Friends,j

Sarah ;)i

Posted on March 31, 2015March 30, 2015 by Sarah — 4 Comments

Hope International Fundraising Auction Today!

FunCycled was thrilled to partner with Hope International in October 2014 as a financial advocate. We were motivated by the call to serve and invest in entrepreneurs in developing nations. Our fundraising provides money for small business loans – a loan as small as $100 can change a family forever. This is called Hope Rising!! John and I are passionate about empowering the poor to provide for themselves and their families through the life changing power of Christ-centered microfinance. It’s our heartbeat and we hope to show you enough that your heart will be encouraged to help in this way too.

During 2014-15, on the 31st of those months that have 31 days, FunCycled will 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 31st, 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 a family trapped in poverty has a pathway to income and a sustainable future. That sounds like a win to us!t

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

Mid Century Chair Set painted grey with white dipped legs. The fabric is chartreuse, white and grey.

Retail Value: $550

Starting Bid: $175

Happy bidding friends!
Sarah ;)

Posted on March 31, 2015March 30, 2015 by Sarah — 1 Comment

Gray Dresser For Sale – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends,

How are you? We are doing great! We’ve been working hard on the interior design project for the Vanguard Showhouse next month and pushing to restock more in the store. Here’s a sneak peak of the indoor/outdoor table that we built for the showhouse using salvaged parts from historic Albany homes that were torn down.
It melts me. Would you like a table made from salvaged history? Use our Contact Us form to email me for pricing info.

We celebrated John’s grandma’s 90th birthday. She’s such a sweet, gentle lady who taught my husband so many things. We all love you GG!

We also started offering home decor arrows at our store and mirrors made with old wood frames. So stop by and check them out (272 River Street, Troy, NY 12180).

This weeks Tuesday’s Treasures is a stunning makeover because the dresser itself was beautiful to begin with. Please no comments about how I shouldn’t have painted it (you’re on the wrong blog if you don’t want to see furniture painted). lol

Here it is before! A heavy, deep beautiful dresser.

If you’d like to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. We lightly distressed all of the edges to show some of the wood through the black as well. This was painted with Benjamin Moore’s color Silver Fox and glazed with Valspar’s Antiquing glaze.

I added new hardware on the top to give it a softer look. Then we added a protective clear coat.

This dresser is also for sale!!! Check out our Furniture For Sale page for size and pricing info. Happy funcycling friends!

Sarah ;)

Posted on March 24, 2015March 24, 2015 by Sarah — 2 Comments

Black Hutch For Sale – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

How are you? I’m super psyched that the snow is beginning to melt and the brown grass is peeking through. I was convinced my husband’s nose would never not look like Rudolph’s again from working in freezing temps all day long. Projects are going well, you all are buying our designs and for that, I am excited! Thank you!!

Another big announcement is that we were asked to design a room in the Vanguard Showhouse that will be opening at the end of April. We’re designing custom pieces and some will be made out of repurposed parts of old homes that were torn down in Albany. I am excited about this opportunity to completely transform a space in this house and I can’t wait to show you some of furnishings and decorative details we create.

Today’s transformation is classic. I usually try to post designs that I love that aren’t as commonplace but, it’s always good to be reminded of timeless beauties that I adore, too!

Here’s the hutch before:

The size of this hutch is perfect. Not too big, not too small. It’s solid wood, but man it needed some updating. The glass is the first ugly thing that caught my eye so we had new glass cut for the top doors. Up next would be the hardware… it had to go and I went with a more “Stickly-like” drawer pulls that can stand the test of time.

We tried a new black paint and were pleasantly surprised by how well it worked.

If you’d like to see how we paint furniture, check out our How to Paint Furniture post. We lightly distressed all of the edges to show some of the wood through the black as well.

Here’s the transformation for you!!

This hutch is also for sale!!! Check out our Furniture For Sale page for size and pricing info. Happy funcycling friends!

Sarah ;)

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Sarah — 1 Comment

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Mint Green Dresser – Tuesday’s Treasures

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!! I love this holiday. Did you know that according to legend St. Patrick used the three leaf clover (or shamrock) to explain the Trinity? That’s a good reason to like it, but to be completely forthright, I love it because my husband makes the best corned beef and cabbage on the planet. He cooks the corned beef, then cuts it up and adds cabbage and carrots, and stir fries it all in about 17 pounds of butter so it’s salty and crispy and oh my word so good!

One thing I haven’t had time to really get into on the blog is that our daughter Harmony went through testing last month. She has been sick for about 6 months and after blood work, an endoscopy and genetic testing, the doctors believe she has celiac disease and needs to be on a strictly gluten free diet. With John having a culinary degree and many of my friends being gluten free, the thought of going gluten free didn’t scare me that much. Week after week, I’ve been having major #momfail moments -forgetting to check a label assuming I knew, forgetting altogether she’s gluten free and telling her to eat mac and cheese. Man oh man! We’re getting better slowly. The hardest part for us is that we are on the go all the time and it’s so hard to find a place to eat out that has gluten free AND kid friendly food. It makes us want to start a GF restaurant. It’s the entrepreneurial spirit in us! Lol! If you live in our area and know of kid friendly, gluten free restaurants, please share them with me. I’d love help! Also, I wouldn’t mind fun, GF lunch ideas if you have them. ;)

In the spirit of St. Patrick’s day I had to share a green furniture makeover today. Although this isn’t what you picture as St. Patrick’s Day green, it’s the closest that I have at the moment. :) Give me credit for trying at least. lol

Here’s the dresser before.

To see how we paint furniture check out our How To Paint Furniture post. We used a gallon that we already had for the color, but the best match to a swatch that I could find was Benjamin Moore’s Cool Mint 582. We decided on the color by letting our facebook fans pick from these choices. If you haven’t already started following us on Facebook, please join in on the fun here. You’ll get to see furniture before it ends up on our site and help me make fun decisions like this.

Here are the afters for you!

This adorable little dresser is FOR SALE!!! Check out our Furniture For Sale page for pricing and size info.

Happy funcycling friends!

Sarah ;)

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Sarah — 2 Comments

Chevron Nursery Dresser – Tuesday’s Treasures

Hi Friends!

How are you? I almost started this post saying… man, it’s been a busy week here!! :) Then I realized, I’m pretty sure most of my posts have started that way lately. Instead, I want to say thank you!! You all keeping us busy is AWESOME. Maybe I should say, it’s been a great week! Because maybe this busy is the new normal. Which would be such a wonderful next in our story.

We were thrilled to get so much publicity from our episode of Flea Market Flip airing last week. We were on the front page of the Times Union paper, in the Troy Record, on CBS New Channel 6, and other local blogs. We were so thankful to all the great writers, caring photographers, and videographers who shared our story. I also wanted to say thank you to one of our customers who has helped us every step of the way with the marketing and PR since our store opened. Thank you, Kori Ann! I couldn’t have done any of this without you.

All the glory goes to God most of all! This is a gift from Him and doing what we love every day is a privilege and a blessing that we don’t take lightly!

This week’s antique piece was made by American of Martinsville furniture and was so unique! I was hoping we could do a fun design on it because of the straight lines! When Lesley reached out to us, she had seen this dresser on our Upcoming Projects page and thought it might work in her daughter’s nursery. She wanted to incorporate grey, white and yellow. I adore chevron patterns so I mentioned working with chevron on the drawer fronts. She was game and off we went to design.

To see how we paint furniture check out our How To Paint Furniture post. This dresser was painted with Benjamin Moore’s Simply white, the chevron grey is Silver Fox by Benjamin Moore. The hardware is from Hobby Lobby and we used chevron tape from Frogtape. If you’ve ever taped off chevron before, you’ll know how much of a PAIN IN THE TUSH it is. This makes chevron super easy!

You ready for the after… you may wanna sit down. Just sayin. ;)

Oh and if you missed it, we posted about what it was like being on Flea Market Flip day one on the blog last week!

Happy funcycling friends!

Sarah ;)

Posted on March 5, 2015September 4, 2018 by Sarah — 79 Comments

What it’s like being on Flea Market Flip – Part 1

Hi Everyone!!!

We were on HGTV’s Flea Market Flip competition and the show aired on March 1st showing that WE WON! If you missed it you can download it from iTunes here: Happy Flipping Anniversary Or you can watch it on Amazon Prime here: Happy Flipping Anniversary

Fun isn’t even a good enough word to describe what it was like being on the show. It was a dream come true for me. I’d been watching the show for years with my friend, Marcie. We would eat ice cream and drink coffee until all hours of the night watching one DVR’d episode after episode. Marcie urged me to try to get on the show. I really thought there would be no chance at all. We emailed the casting crew and didn’t hear anything back for about 4-5 months. Then they emailed us back and asked us to do a Skype interview. That was AWKWARD at best. Holy cow, I thought for sure there was no way we would be chosen. Have you ever had a Skype interview? Well, then you understand. ;)

When John and I got to the hotel late the night before, I realized I forgot my bathroom bag. Good thing I wasn’t going on TV the next day because I had no hair straightener, shampoo, blow dryer, tooth paste, or deodorant. And I forgot my phone charger and iPad. Oh wait! I WAS going on TV the next day. Do you think I was stressed or nervous? Maybe, just a touch :). I totally begged the front desk for the necessities and made it work. To bed we went and it was one of those night’s when you wake up 100 times to make sure you didn’t miss the ungodly early alarm that was set. A girl must not be late her first time meeting Lara Spencer and miss being on Flea Market Flip. I woke up early and forgot to ask for shampoo so I had to walk to the front desk looking like poop. Who did I meet in the hall while looking like poop? One of the guys working for Flea Market Flip… the sound tech. I found out that was him later when we met at the filming. Oh hi… yeah, you’re the guy in the hall this morning. lol

The first day of filming was a brisk, misty day. We had to be there bright and early (about 6am) to meet our producers and get set for the day.

When we got the the flea market, they wired us with our microphones and we met our producer (each team gets one). There are usually multiple teams being filmed at the same time. I had read on other blogs that you usually get time to look through the flea market to get an idea of what pieces you would like to buy before filming starts. That morning we found out we were the first team up for filming so had no time to check out the flea market. We had never been to the Stormville Flea Market and it’s HUGE. That being said, it was overwhelming! I asked the producer if we could run it for like 10 minutes to get an idea of which direction even had furniture. Every other team would have time to look as they waited for their turn to be recorded. They gave us 10 minutes and we ran! I found a couple things I liked, but you can’t talk to any vendor for any reason. Just look! Continue reading What it’s like being on Flea Market Flip – Part 1

The best part is, this hutch is currently for sale! Please check out our Furniture For Sale page to see if it’s still available!

The dresser and end stand arecurrently for sale! Please check out our Furniture For Sale page to see if it’s still available!

This dresser is also for sale!!! Check out our Furniture For Sale page for size and pricing info. Happy funcycling friends!

This hutch is also for sale!!! Check out our Furniture For Sale page for size and pricing info. Happy funcycling friends!

Sarah Trop